FISHING ROD MATERIALS 43 



able, and all more or less excellent for rods, 

 that the beginner may be tempted to try others 

 than those recommended. But my advice is 

 that he confine his first experiments to either 

 dagama or bethabara. Then, after he has 

 acquired some knowledge of squaring, round- 

 ing, and finishing solid wood, and fitting hand 

 grasps, ferrules and tops, he may feel safe in 

 making a split bamboo rod, since this will be 

 the goal of his ambition. 



Good Calcutta bamboo is very difficult to 

 obtain. Japanese bamboo is inferior to it, and 

 I would not advise its use. Nearly all of the 

 Calcutta bamboos are marked with alternate 

 bands or patches of natural and scorched 

 enamel. Two varieties are commonly known. 

 The so-called " male " bamboo has thicker 

 walls than the " female " and is generally 

 chosen for this reason. Careful experts tell 

 us, however, that in this thick-walled bamboo 

 the strength diminishes more rapidly from 

 enamel surface to hollow center than in the 

 thin-walled bamboo. The enamel or rind is 

 tough and hard. Under this the cells increase 

 rapidly in size and their walls diminish in 

 strength, the inner part being more pith-like 

 than in the thin-walled bamboos, whose cells 

 are smaller and their walls stronger. 



