6i 



effect in arm and wrist. I do not recommend a rod made 

 up of three or more different kinds of wood, as I think 

 it impossible to get the action quite true. From a practical 

 experience in rod making during the last forty years, I 

 have come to the conclusion that the very best wood is 

 the dark-coloured blue mahoe, free from flaws, and which 

 is superior to greenheart, lancewood, or hickory, being 

 very tough and fibrous, and which, if good, appears, when 

 broken, to be composed of a series of strings welded 

 together. It will keep its pitch marvellously well. I have 

 tested it by leaving a two-pound weight tied to a peice of 

 line attached to a joint of this wood for a whole night, 

 and, when removed in the morning, it has sprung up as 

 straight as if it had not been used. For top joints, 

 lancewood or greenheart are preferable. 



It is now some thirty years since I first introduced 

 the blue mahoe wood for rod making, and I have used it 

 ever since with unvaried success and satisfaction. Many 

 a gentleman angler has brought the rod I had previously 

 made for him, telling me of the extraordinay work he had 

 done with it, recounting anecdotes of its performance, 

 and saying the rod was as good as the first day he used it. 

 Formerly this wood was very difficult to procure, but now 

 large importations are received from the West Indies both 

 at London and Liverpool. I found this wood out quite 

 accidentally in Birmingham. The owner was making 

 ramrods of it, and its peculiarly pleasant aroma attracted 

 my attention. I sprang a piece, and found it came well 

 back to its pitch, which pleased me so much that I bought 

 up all he had, and the next day commenced making a rod 



