PUTTING WORMS ON HOOKS. 191 



and in any strong, clayey, cultivated soil. It may 

 be used as soon as found, and that is its chief 

 recommendation. 



There are many other sorts of worms recom- 

 mended by angling authorities ; but I recommend 

 none of them except as &pis-aller. Some anglers 

 use white slugs, and the black ones so cut as to 

 show their white insides, and say they are good 

 baits for barbel, chub, and eels. Never use them 

 when you can get worms. 



Having now described the best worms for 

 angling, I must tell how they are best put upon 

 the hook. Make the points of your fore-fingers 

 and thumbs rough, by dipping them in sand, bran, 

 or dry earth, and you will obtain a light and firm 

 hold of the worm, which will prevent it from 

 slipping through your fingers as you bait your 

 hook. With moist or slippery fingers you can 

 never bait your hook properly, and in the attempt 

 you lose much time ad injure the bait. 



In baiting with a single worm, insert the point 

 of your hook just beneath the flat part of the 

 head, and work the worm lightly up the shank of 

 the hook and beyond it up your line, until not 

 more than a quarter of an inch of the tail, or at 

 most half an inch, when the worm and hook are 

 large, projects or hangs beyond the point of the 

 hook. When you use well-scoured and tough 

 worms, if they are large lob or blue-heads, you 



