Ill 



THE ARTIFICIAL FLY OF COMMERCE 



It is incomprehensible why British and Amer- 

 ican fly-makers in recent years have gone out of 

 their way to tie "fancy" flies when the natural in- 

 sects are so beautiful in form and color; so varied, 

 so graceful, that if they are copied true, fancy flies 

 are exceedingly commonplace when they are put 

 side by side. It is obvious that the originators 

 never saw, or considered, God's handiwork: per- 

 haps, in their egotism, they tried to improve on it; 

 but it is certain they miserably failed, as we all must 

 do, in any like attempt. 



We have become so accustomed to using certain 

 well-known artificials with more or less success that 

 our confidence in them has become inflated, or at 

 least satisfying. 



Mary Orvis Marbury gives some amusingly 

 naive accounts in her book, "Favorite Flies," of 

 how some of these historic masterpieces were born. 



13 



