RODS AND RINGS. 875 



Hickory is next to greenheart in point of weight, and is very reliable. 

 It has, however, a greater tendency to warp after getting wet, and is 

 now chiefly employed in the more solid portions of the rod, such as butts 

 or second joints. 



Greenheart comes from the West Indies, and is very generally used. 

 Some makers use it alone in the manufacture of salmon and trout rods, 

 but I do not myself favour the wood, it being too flexible for the lower 

 parts of a rod in my opinion. It is very elastic, and may be drawn 

 down to an exceedingly fine size without becoming brittle. A 7ft. joint 

 little thicker than a swan quill at the largest end, is commonly formed 

 of this wood in the make up of a Castle Connell salmon rod. As the 

 joints of a rod made of greenheart are seldom or never straight when 

 fresh from the hands of the sawyer, it is found necessary to render it so 

 by heat and by suspension with weights attached. The straighter the 

 piece of wood is at first, however, the better for the chance of the rod 

 remaining so during its service. 



Ash and willow are usually made into second joints or butts ; lance is 

 often used in the Nottingham rods for tops ; and deal, as it bores readily 

 and is light, serves the purpose of butts in these latter cheap elegant 

 pieces of tackle. 



Of the hollow woods or canes, only one is of real utility for a good 

 spinning or fly rod, and that is the bamboo of the East Indies. Its 

 natural length is frequently twenty feet, and the tenacity of its fibre 

 places it far above the other candidates for favour amongst the canes. 

 Of course, the making of a cane rod is by no means so nice a piece of 

 work as the manufacture of a rod from various solid woods. Never- 

 theless, there is in the case of the split cane rod a great deal of art 

 necessary for perfect finish and reliability. The Carolina cane is usually 

 used for butts. 



The jungle cane, a China growth, but also found in other parts of the 

 Asian continent, is chiefly used for tops, and the making of the split cane 

 rods to which I have just referred. It grows as big as a man's body, and 

 it is only the outer bark or skin wh?'ch is of any use for the purpose 

 named. This is split up into strips, and accurately fitted and whipped, 

 so that there are often nine sections in a second joint of a rod of this 

 make. 



The following remarks are sent me by a tackle maker, and they partially 

 confirm my previous statements : " The best rods are variously made of 

 bamboo, hickory, and East India cane, with ash for the bottom joint. 

 Hickory is used for the second and middle joints of the best rods, with 

 tops of lancewood and bamboo. There are fly rods made of all hickory* 

 others, for spinning, of cane, which is imported from South Carolina and 



