THE LINE. 173 



immediate future ? Our reply is, that in the course of 

 the next decade or so, still further reductions will 

 take place. The length of a rod, as is now well 

 known, has very little to do with the distance it can 

 be made to cast the fly ; the casting powers entirely 

 depend on the pliancy and strength, hence it is that 

 the very hardest, and we may also add, the most 

 weighty (for one characteristic is almost inseparable 

 from the other) woods are so far superior to open- 

 grained northern timber. Bone, as is already known, 

 is too heavy, buffalo horn is too limber when dressed 

 in tops. The result of our investigations is, that a 

 combination of the best metal and the best wood, 

 would, if arranged correctly, and in right proportions, 

 be an advance in a desirable direction. We therefore 

 had a rod made of the very best of strong woods, 

 with a fine bevilled steel centre, and this proved when, 

 after some alterations, it was completed, to bear out 

 the hopes conceived in respect to it. We had been 

 enamoured of this idea theoretically, practically it 

 gives every promise of ultimately meriting the pains 

 and researches we bestowed upon it. The reel upon 

 the new rod is made inside the butt, so to speak, thus 

 all nuisance of the line entwining around the reel 

 is entirely avoided. The general working of the 

 implement proves this to be a decided advantage 

 over the old side-fixing system. 



THE LINE should be plaited of waterproof silk. The 

 eight-plait waterproof fly lines have gradually, during 

 the last forty years, superseded the old hair, as well 

 as the hair and silk lines. As we have elsewhere 



