STEEL-CENTRED RODS 51 



and the merest piece of luck that I did not com- 

 pletely ruin it. 



I possess two trout-rods which are steel-centred. 



This plan is the invention of the late David 



Foster, of Ashbourne, in Derbyshire, a noted 



angler and fishing-tackle maker, and the father of 



. the Messrs. Foster who still continue the business. 



Mr. Hal ford states that he is of opinion that 

 cane-rods, steel-centred, cannot last, inasmuch as 

 the unyielding nature of the metal, and the yield- 

 ing texture of the cane, cannot act in unison, and 

 he still further expresses his belief that such would 

 be the result if ordinary wood were used instead 

 of cane, and that the steel-centred cane rods are 

 considerably more expensive than the already 

 somewhat costly ordinary cane-rods. 



This may be so, but as regards Mr. Foster's 

 invention of steel-centring ordinary wood, I must 

 beg to differ with him very decidedly. It is the 

 one only point to which I could possibly take 

 exception in either of the two works which he has 

 written, and which I have found to be as valuable 

 as they are practical and useful. The two rods I 

 have, made by Mr. Foster, are simply perfection, 

 and they have had work enough to try any rod 

 which was ever made, and in all weathers. Their 

 power is extraordinary, and yet they are very sen- 

 sitive, more so than any other rods I ever handled, 

 and this quality is very apparent when playing a 



