Rods and Rod Material. 169 



ASH AND LANCEWOOD. 

 SpeciSc gravity : 



Next in order, through seniority, comes the ash and 

 lancewood rod. The butt is of the white-ash that of 

 wide grain, and with the dense intervening portion white 

 and bone-like in texture, is the kind available for rods. 

 An old billiard-cue is an excellent source from which to 

 derive the material. If the grain is either very narrow 

 (one-sixteenth of an inch or less) or very wide, the wood 

 is apt to be weak. Select that having a grain about one- 

 eighth of an inch wide, and nine times out of ten it will 

 be good. Anything off the white in color is a bad sign. 

 Red-ash is worthless. Any redness in the grain, though 

 the more solid portions are of good color, is an unfavor- 

 able indication. 



The middle joint and tip are lancewood. This is im- 

 ported from the West Indies and South America in poles 

 from fifteen to twenty feet long and three to ten inches 

 in diameter. It is very stiff, strong, and elastic. Its 

 quality can be quite well judged by its color, that of a 

 bright yellow being the best. It works in a kindly man- 

 ner under a keen plane, and altogether is an excellent 

 material, and the only one, except bamboo, fit for tips in 

 single-handed rods. The Cuban lancewood is the best. 



The ash and lancewood rod has gone out of fashion of 

 late years, and has fallen in general estimation to a posi- 

 tion by no means commensurate with its merits. Some 

 still think that, take it all in all, this combination makes 

 the best of wooden rods, and it seems to me they are 

 not very far wrong. 



I have seen an ash and lancewood rod do the most 

 surprising work. 



