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particularly where the banks of the stream are 

 high, and gently shelving strands rare. Be- 

 sides, the handle of it is extremely useful in 

 wading, as it serves for a prop to steady your- 

 self on the stones and gravel, and as a sort of 

 sound to measure the depth of water, as you 

 proceed along. The handle should be made of 

 strong and light wood, and consist of different 

 pieces screwing into one another, or it may be 

 made telescope fashion, so as to allow you to 

 lengthen and shorten it at pleasure. The but- 

 end should be adapted for the insertion, by 

 means of a screw, of a double sort of spike, 

 consisting of a strong, flat, and pointed blade, 

 of about five inches long, and of a small stout 

 crook, sharpened on the inside like a hedger's 

 bill-hook. This last adjunct will be found 

 useful in hooking and cutting off branches of 

 trees and other impediments in which the line 

 may happen to get fastened. The handle 

 should be about five feet and a half rather 

 longer than shorter than this length and the 

 hoop round which the mouth of the net is 

 placed, should form at least a circle of fourteen 

 inches in diameter. Landing-net hoops should 

 be made as light as possible, and should each 

 consist of four pieces of brass rod, stiffly jointed 

 together, so as to form a perfectly round circle 



