DYEING, BLEACHING, ETC. 47 



therefore may be fully relied upon. They are 

 sold in bottles, Is. each, and the following is the 

 list of colours : Green olive, medium olive, brown 

 olive, green drake, grannom green, slate, iron 

 blue, canary, and red spinner. With this set, 

 and say, a claret and a brown from the ordinary 

 list, the trout fly dresser should be in a position 

 to dye any shade that he will require. 



Of course, in dyeing, as in the other processes 

 of the art, it is a mistake for the amateur to tie 

 himself down to too hard and fast rules. The 

 end aimed at should always be in view. If a 

 clear idea of the desired colour be in the mind, 

 all is likely to go well. The manner of attaining 

 to this idea is tentative for the amateur at least. 

 Blending is often useful, even at a late stage of 

 the process ; at the same time, it is only fair to 

 add that Messrs. Crawshaw's " Special Dyes " 

 are so well and accurately compounded as to 

 remove all necessity for blending, as far as it is 

 possible to do so. 



The directions issued with the dyes are as 

 follows : 



Thoroughly wash all the feathers, &c., before dyeing, 

 in a weak solution of ordinary washing soda in boiling 

 water, so as to remove the grease ; then rinse well in 

 cold water to remove all traces of the soda. Dissolve 

 the dye in boiling water, using for a quart of water 

 about the quantity of dye that can be taken up on the 

 point of an ordinary penknife, stir thoroughly until 

 dissolved, then put in the material to be dyed, and keep 

 stirring until the required shade is obtained. All the 

 colours, with the exception of the canary, will require 

 a little vinegar or other acicl to be added to the dye 

 bath, in order to fully bring out and fix the colour. The 

 acid should be added after the feathers have been in the 

 dye -bath for a short time. 



When fully dyed wash the feathers in cold water, and 

 dip them for a few minutes in a weak solution of alum 

 say, about ^oz. to a quart of water. This last pro- 

 cess will fix the colours, and make them fast, 



