To STAIN SlLK-AVORM GlJT. 171 



cold coffee or tea twelve hours. Tinging the gut thus does 

 not weaken it or render it less pliable. Logwood and alum 

 form a decoction very commonly in use for staining gut. 

 Lemon-juice and indigo produce a delicate tinge. The outer 

 skins of onions, when steeped, produce a dye which stains a 

 yellow or leather-color without injuring the gut. 



Stoddart states that walnut leaves produce a brown dye, 

 which is a good general tinge for all waters ; and such mate- 

 rials as stain the gut a neutral tinge, or bluish, are best for 

 clear waters. Steep two handsful of walnut leaves in a 

 quart of water, and when cool, soak the gut in the water two 

 or three hours. The rind of the American black walnut forms 

 as good a dye for general use as can be obtained. A bluish 

 dye is obtained by boiling a handful of the dust or shavings 

 of logwood a quarter of an hour in a quart of water, adding 

 a lump of alum half the size of an almond. Dip the gut in 

 the decoction while it is yet very warm, and allow it to re- 

 main half an hour, or until the shade required is obtained. 

 Gut should be entirely dried after staining it, and then it 

 should be thoroughly washed in tepid water, when, after dry- 

 ing it perfectly, it should be rolled in chamois skin, or stretch- 

 ed on a board with the ends fastened to keep it straight. An 

 excellent plan for keeping the gut straight upon which flies 

 are tied is Hutchinson's, before mentioned. The distances 

 between the loops or rings and the hooks should be so grad- 

 uated as to accommodate different lengths of gut, as illustra- 

 ted on the page of trouting-tackle, thus enabling the fly-fisher 

 to change his flies or replace one quickly. This plan is ex- 

 cellent for drops, but stretchers would require too long a fly- 

 book for convenience. On going a-trouting, I usually put up 

 a couple of casts, such as I may think will suit the waters 

 which I contemplate fishing. For most waters I rig a stretch- 

 er and two drops ; and I seldom make a mistake in the selec- 

 tion of flies. In the early spring I employ the cinnamon as 

 the stretcher for one cast, a red ibis .as a stretcher for anoth- 

 er, and a mallard wing, with claret body, for the third. The 



