HINTS TO FLY-DRESSERS. 67 



dresser at present is merely acquainted with the 

 mechanical part of the art, dresses from artificial 

 specimens, knows little or nothing of the natural 

 insect, and is rarely a good angler. He is a 

 copyist of a copy, and does not know whether 

 that which he has to copy is a good likeness of 

 the living subject or not. A fishing-tackle maker, 

 to be a great and good one, should have an insect 

 museum, the flies, caterpillars, and beetles, fish 

 feed on, preserved in cases, named and numbered, 

 and the season of each noted. From these models 

 he should dress his flies : and when he finds he 

 has succeeded in framing perfect copies, he should 

 note down the materials he has used in their 

 formation, and then he will have sure guides for 

 the fly-dressers he employs. He should pay 

 those persons well, and engage none who do not 

 deserve high pay ; and should charge his customers 

 a remunerative price. The generality of flies 

 are sold at too low a price. They cannot be 

 made well at a low price. They must be defective 

 in every way, and hence the purchaser meets 

 with little success, much loss of time and of 

 money, for cheap things are always the most ex- 

 pensive in the end. There have been persons 

 advertising to make, at Is. 6d. a dozen, the flies 

 I recommend. At that price the hooks and gut 

 must be of inferior quality, the workmanship 

 'scamped/ so that the hooks will draw after a 



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