JOURNEYMEN ROD-MAKERS. 13 



poise — heaviness, lightness, strength, weakness, 

 springiness, partitioned with graduated evenness 

 — will be lost. The fly-fisher should test the 

 balance of the rod before it is brazed and finished, 

 and if it have defective pieces, or if it be im- 

 properly tapered or graduated, he can point out 

 the defects to the artisan. One joint of fresh 

 wood, or one with a flaw or flaws in it, wiU 

 destroy the equilibrium of the whole fabric. Rod- 

 makers are desirous of information. Show them 

 the remedies, and they will use them. There are, 

 however, some journeymen, so indolent and care- 

 less of their employers' reputation, that, although 

 they discover, in the working, some flaw in the 

 wood, they will hide it, if they can, by varnish 

 or other means, rather than recommence the joint 

 on flawless material, and thus the vendor and the 

 purchaser are victimised. Such men ought never 

 to be employed on fine work ; as masters, unable 

 to rely upon them, cannot guarantee their work- 

 manship to the angler. Journeymen in the 

 employ of some master tackle-makers, put in, 

 for " scamping " — slurring hastily over — their 

 work, the plea of low wages, and justly, in many 

 instances, I have reason to know. A cheap 

 salmon fly-rod is the dearest thing one can buy. 

 The price should vary from three to five guineas. 



