184 Fly -rods and Fly-tackle. 



. What man who forms his judgment on the merits, and 

 not from prejudice and it is to such only that it is 

 worth while to appeal will for a moment think of tak- 

 ing a poorly - fitted simple ferrule of inferior material 

 (when perfect - fitting and good material is easily to be 

 had), as a standard from which to form a true opinion 

 of its merits ? Would the reader think it fair-play should 

 a visitor to his country judge its inhabitants from the 

 most debased of the population, and declare that all 

 were of that stripe, and that the people of the United 

 States were the scum of the earth ? I think not. And, 

 as he would justly protest against such an expression as 

 an outrage, so do I protest against these charges, and 

 for the same reason. 



Besides quite a number that I still retain, there are 

 many rods of my own make in use, presents to friends. 

 The ferrules of all these are short and without dowels, 

 and all made from german-silver tubing drawn inside 

 and out. None of them are furnished with any device 

 whatever, except the mere cohesion of the inner within 

 the outer ferrule, to hold them together when in use. 

 Never in twelve years or more of my own experience, 

 nor, I believe, in that of those using my rods, has a fer- 

 rule either split or bent, or a joint thrown apart. And 

 yet I am but an amateur maker, a professional man with- 

 out mechanical training, resorting to rod-making merely 

 as an amusement. It stands to reason that a trained me- 

 chanic could do better work. Besides, the ferrules used 

 by me for the last five years were drawn too large in the 

 first instance ; and in subsequently reducing the diame- 

 ter, the thickness was also reduced, resulting in a much 

 thinner f errule that I proposed certainly not heavier than 

 an ordinary visiting-card. Therefore we have not hero 



