276 Fly-rods and Fly-tackle. 



sional rod-maker at work on a rod of this kind, nor have 

 I ever heard or read any description of the method by 

 them employed, except in such vague and general terms 

 as to be of little value as a practical guide. The follow- 

 ing process is one of some fifteen or twenty I have elab- 

 orated, and though it may excite a smile from the pro- 

 fessional when compared with his simpler and perhaps 

 more certain method, still I can say one thing with con- 

 fidence for it it will, if carefully followed, give the de- 

 sired result. 



But more difficult than to make the rod, is it to find 

 material of a quality fit for the purpose. For such a 

 rod of poor material, even though the workmanship be 

 unexceptionable, recalls the remark of Cicero concerning 

 Bibulus " He is a man [it is a rod] upon whom [which] 

 no one but a philosopher can look without a groan." 



Good bamboo is very rare, as has been before inti- 

 mated. The Calcutta variety is that almost universally- 

 used in rod-making that distinguished by the charred 

 marks on its exterior. 



In selecting it choose the heaviest canes. Examine 

 them narrowly for worm holes, particularly at the knots, 

 pounding with the butt of the cane, when in an approxi- 

 mately horizontal position, upon the floor, to see if any yel- 

 low worm-dust shakes out. The effect which these pests 

 produce on the cane is singular. They seem to feed on 

 the pithy interior only, perforating the rind compara- 

 tively but seldom. But where they have crossed the 

 fibre, though the exterior is apparently unaffected, still 

 the strength at that point is absolutely destroyed. No 

 strip so marked, even at but one single point, must ever 

 be introduced into a rod, for there it has not the strength 

 of the weakest pine. Make this a matter of principle at 



