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direction of your left-hand fingers ; next bring 

 the silk round the wing on the right side of 

 the shank, drawing it towards your left through 

 the separated wings; pass the silk once more, 

 as you did in the first instance, through the 

 wings. Now cut off the roots of the wings, 

 and bending the points of the wings, by taking 

 them together between your right-thumb and 

 fore-finger, down towards the bend of the hook, 

 and holding them down on the shank firmly in 

 that position, lap your silk three times between 

 the bent-down wings, and the point of the 

 shank. This operation forms the head of the 

 fly, and serves to keep the wings from falling 

 back, and to retain them in an upright posi- 

 tion. Now take your dubbing, whatever it 

 may be but that composed of mohair is, 

 perhaps, the best for beginners to commence 

 with and laying it thinly round your silk, 

 well waxed, spin the silk three or four times 

 sharply round, between the thumb and fore- 

 finger of the right-hand, which will cause the 

 dubbing to stick round it firmly and evenly ; 

 and then take your silk, with the dubbing 

 spun neatly about it, and lap it close under the 

 wings on the side next the bend, four or five 

 times, or until you see that there is sufficient 

 dubbing lapped round the hook to form a body 

 of proper length and thickness. Then putting 



