54 THE PIKE. 



for fishing-lines, which I have used for many years, 

 and found to answer well : 



Of boiled cold-drawn linseed oil a pint, a wine- 

 glassful of gold size, two tablespoonfuls of copal- 

 varnish, poured all together into an earthen pipkin ; 

 cover with a small cheese-plate or tin patty-pan to 

 keep out dust, and place on hob of kitchen-stove- 

 for three or four days to simmer, stirring the 

 ingredients occasionally until the gold-size and 

 copal is thoroughly incorporated with the oil. 

 Then coil the line loosely in an eld pie-dish, pour 

 enough waterproofing over the line to cover it, 

 place paper or something over, and stand them for 

 two or three days in a gentle heat for the line to 

 soak thoroughly full of the dressing ; after this is 

 done, take the end of line off the top coil, and draw 

 all the line through a piece of an old kid-glove 

 held between the fingers and thumb, squeezing out 

 all the superfluous dressing, letting the line fall on 

 to a large sheet of paper to save it from dust or 

 dirt. When this is done hang it in coils on, or 

 wind it round, an old clothes-horse or the backs of 

 two chairs, where leave it for two or three days to 

 dry ; then stretch it, on a warm day, in the garden 

 between smooth nails driven into the walls or 

 fence, or between trees, and polish the line by 

 rubbing it with a little sweet oil on a piece of soft 

 leather or old kid glove. 



Another recipe is : 



Of boiled linseed oil, one pint ; beeswax, quarter 

 of a pound. Put the oil in a gallipot and stand it 

 in water kept boiling while the wax is added in 

 small pieces ; when melted immerse the line and 

 let it remain some hours in soak. When this is 

 done the line should be tightly drawn through a 



