138 AMATEUR RODMAKING 



that were put into the market were made by 

 H. L. Leonard of Bangor, Maine. This was 

 about 1870, and Dr. A. H. Fowler soon fol- 

 lowed. Mr. Murphy, however, claims to have 

 made one some time before. 



" The first split bataboo rod that I made 

 myself was in June, 1869. It was put together 

 in four sections ; made, not of Calcutta bam- 

 boo, but of Chinese, which is much harder, 

 homogeneous, and more difficult to obtain 

 than the former." 



As Mr. Mitchell was, in his time, one of 

 the really great rodmakers, it is of more than 

 passing interest to give his opinion as to the 

 value of the enamel on Calcutta bamboo. Re- 

 ferring to the burning of the culms, he says 

 that, as you cannot retain all the enamel on 

 the rod, it is just as strong if all the enamel 

 is taken off; in fact, the enamel or silex on the 

 outside of the bamboo only stiffens but does 

 not strengthen it. 



While all the available testimony seems to 

 show that three-strip cane rods were made 

 first in England, the following paragraph is 

 of particular interest, as it leads us to believe 

 that four-strip rods were new in England in 

 the early seventies. It was printed in the Lon- 

 don Field on May 3, 1873 : 



