APPENDIX. 177 



instantly be dropped into a small vessel containing a little 

 linseed-oil ; a tea-cup will do nicely, and a tablespoonful of 

 oil quite sufficient. They should not be dropped in cold 

 water, as this latter would make the hooks too brittle, and 

 exactly the opposite to what they were before ; oil will there- 

 fore be found the best. If the hooks break off at the barb 

 or at the bend when you are testing them, they are too 

 hard, and the rest of that sort should be softened ; and the 

 very best plan that I have yet tried is to push them into a hot 

 potato. I had a dozen hooks of a fresh shape once sent me 

 by a friend of mine to try ; on testing them with my thumb- 

 nail I broke two of them just above the barb. I could see 

 that they were too hard, so I roasted a large potato, and 

 while hot I broke it in two and put the remaining hooks in 

 the fractured part and closed it up again, and put it on one 

 side to cool, and took the hooks out when cold, and I found 

 it had made a capital job of them. 



Boots, dressing for. Strawson's waterproof will be found 

 the very best dressing out for boots. This preparation is very 

 simple in application, and will keep out the melting snow 

 In fact, during the winter, or very bad and wet weather, the 

 angler should never go fishing without his boots being so 

 dressed, that is, if he values his health and likes to walk in 

 comfort. 



Jack lines, to dress. " King's Ceroleum " is the best and 

 simplest dressing for lines that I know of, and has the merit 

 of being very cheap. Full instructions are given with every 

 packet. 



Chub lines, to dress. In chub fishing down a stream 

 during very foggy or misty weather, the damp causes the 

 line to stick to the rod and rings, and gives the angler con- 

 siderable trouble to make it run freely. In order to reduce 

 this to a minimum, the angler should rub thirty yards or so 

 of his line with a little palm-oil. 



Pike baits, preserving. If the angler wishes to preserve 

 some natural baits for spinning for pike, he will find " King's 

 Fish Preservative," treated according to instructions on each 

 packet, to be the very best and simplest preparation he can 

 use. 



