33 FISHING KITS AND EQUIPMENT 



German silver is the usual ferrule material on all 

 rods of good grade and is perfectly suited to the pur- 

 pose. It should be remembered, how- 

 ever, that German silver is not all of 

 one quality, and the mere fact that the ferrules are of 

 " German silver " does not guarantee them unless the 

 material and workmanship are right. The best Ger- 

 man silver ferrules are hand-wrought and approach 

 steel in hardness. On the cheaper grade rods nickel- 

 plated ferrules are used, and on some rods plain brass 

 ferrules. Both of these should be avoided. To the 

 novice a ferrule is a ferrule, and that is the end of 

 it; the old-timer, however, knows that there are cer- 

 tain qualities which the ferrule must have in order to 

 be entirely satisfactory. In the first place the fer- 

 rules should be "waterproof" in order to prevent 

 rotting of the rod material at their bases. In the 

 waterproof ferrules a metal disc is placed across the 

 inside of the ferrule next to the wood of the joint, 

 thus making it impossible for water to reach the wood. 



Also, the ferrule should be " ser- 



I * rated" or "split." This means 



that the end of the ferrule which 

 SERRATED FERRULES. f s secured to the rod joint is, in 

 the case of serration, cut into saw-teeth or crown- 

 shaped; or, in case the ferrule is split, that the base 

 of the ferrule is cut or split in several places. Both 

 of these processes are for the purpose of making the 

 ferrule easier to bind hard and fast to the rod joint, 



