THE BAIT-CASTING ROD 15 



"set" from heedless or careless handling, a matter 

 which the rodster should bear in mind. 



True greenheart grows only in British Guiana, 

 where immense forests of the trees are to be found, 

 and, by the way, greenheart timber is the chief export 

 of the island. Dutch Guiana also boasts of green- 

 heart, but the tree so named is thought to be a dif- 

 ferent species from that of the one found in British 

 Guiana. Greenheart is said to be the hardest wood 

 known to dendrologists, and more durable than steel 

 or iron when buried in water or placed in contact 

 with the soil. Logs of the wood have remained 

 under water for 100 years and have kept in perfectly 

 sound condition. It is largely used for lock gates 

 and our navy is said to be investigating its possibili- 

 ties as an armor-backing material in the place of teak 

 wood now used. If greenheart be, as is said, the 

 strongest timber in use, with a crushing strength of 

 12,000 pounds to the square inch, 65 per cent, 

 greater than that of English oak, what wonder that 

 rod makers early turned their attention to the 

 material? 



In greenheart we have an excellent rod material, 

 Wells ranking it above bethabara, and I think for 

 the amateur rod maker it deserves that place, for it 

 is more easily worked as well as procured; but in the 

 matter of "toughness" resiliency and shooting 

 power I believe that bethabara should be given 

 first position, with greenheart a close second. How- 



