NETS AND NET SETTING. 501 



"be fitted with proper " floats" to keep the net at the 

 surface or extended in proper form, even if sunk 

 below it. Cork will naturally form the best kind of 

 float, but it is not at all necessary. Dry wood, of any 

 light kind of timber that swims well on water, answers 

 the purpose almost equally well. The wood of the 

 alder is one of the best for this purpose. 



It absorbs water less, if the floats before use are 

 somewhat charred in the fire, after being dressed 

 into form; they require to have a hole for the line 

 pierced through their centre, lengthwise. It is not 

 necessary to have sinkers attached to the lower edge 

 of the net in still water such as lakes. If however 

 there is a current, of course suitable leads should be put 

 on to prevent the net rising. When set, a net should 

 form a wall, as nearly as possible vertical, against 

 which a fish should strike without being aware of its 

 presence. The twine therefore of which it is constructed 

 should be as thin as is consistent with sufficient strength, 

 and spare hanks of it should be carried, together with 

 mesh sticks and needles, for mending breakages, which 

 it is important to have looked to as soon as possible. 

 Twine for making nets should always be tanned, to 

 preserve it from the water. * It takes a good net- 

 maker to mend holes neatly, but the art of net-making 

 is not of itself an art difficult to acquire, and travellers 

 who are likely to use nets would do well to get a few 



* Nets, lines, etc., of fishermen can be tanned as follows: 

 Catechu bark bruised Ib. 

 Sulphurate of copper ounce 

 Hot water I gallon 



Boil till the copper is dissolved, remove from the fire to cool, and 

 steep the article to be tanned in the solution for twenty-four hours. 

 Afterwards wash them in fresh water and dry (Sea Fishing, by John 

 Bickerdyke, Badminton Library, 1895, p. 217). 



