74 



SALMON AND TROUT. 



will be noticed that the fibres, shown by the little spot marks, 

 are much denser at the outside than towards, the centre, which 

 when the canes are green, is merely pulp. It is only, therefore, 

 this outside part, or rind, that' is used in rod-making. The V 

 shows the shape of the strips cut out ; and as it is found prac- 

 tically impossible to complete a rod out of any single cane, the 

 separate joints are partly completed and then fitted to each 

 other by selection from different bundles. 



The ordinary butts of split-cane rods, as well as the upper 

 joints, are hexagonal, and are simply made of six V-shaped 

 strips, glued together. In the best class of rods, however, the 

 butt is built double, as in fig. 2. Fig. 3 shows a section of the 

 upper joints, and fig. 4 the same with a steel centre. 



FIG. 2. 



FIG. 3. 



FIG. 4. 



Complaints have often been made to me that the ordinary 

 split-cane rod is deficient in casting power as against a wind, 

 and I must say that my experience tends to confirm the truth 

 of the statement. In order to meet this objection, however, 

 Messrs. Hardy Brothers and others have added in some of 

 their rods a steel centre to each joint, so as to increase their 

 ' stiff springiness,' so to speak. The little dark mark in the 

 middle of fig. 4 shows this steel centre or core. 



I had a i4-ft. light salmon or grilse rod made for me on 

 this principle by Messrs. Hardy, with which I found I could 

 get plenty of power, whether the wind was high or low, and 

 from whatever direction it blew. On a calm day I could cast, 

 with a heavy salmon line, over thirty measured yards on the 

 level, and this probably represents as much as is often required 



