Rod-making. 277 



the outset, for you will often be tempted to use a piece 

 excellent in all other respects, except that one little trans- 

 verse groove on its inner surface. But you must resist the 

 temptation, or you sacrifice the one merit which amateur 

 work should always have honesty. 



Next examine the cane, to see how much available ma- 

 terial it contains. The opposite sides, marked at the 

 knots by the eyes where the leaves once grew, are al- 

 ways worthless. Therefore, direct yeur attention to the 

 intermediate portions. Scrutinize the burns carefully, 

 for if these are so deep as to destroy the cuticle, the 

 strength has been destroyed as well. One deep burn 

 may utterly ruin a cane otherwise excellent. Next see 

 that it is fairly straight, and the knots not too protuber- 

 ant. Then look to the color of the cuticle. A boxwood 

 yellow is a good sign, while a uniform, or partly uniform, 

 bluish cast of color is a bad indication. Neither of these 

 color rules are, however, without frequent exception, so 

 if everything else seems propitious, you may risk a de- 

 fect in this. 



I am aware that a bluish color is usually regarded as 

 fatal, while a bright straw-colored interior is considered 

 an equally sure indication of merit ; and I have reason 

 to believe that the conscientious maker not unfrequently 

 rejects or accepts his material on these characteristics 

 alone exterior defects of course excepted. During the 

 last fifteen years I have split very many canes, and never 

 without applying the tests described on pages 279 and 

 280. One of the strongest and most elastic bamboos I 

 ever saw was decidedly off color. While running a rapid 

 stream in a canoe last September, I was thrown backward 

 from my seat by a tree which had fallen across the stream. 

 We thought we could squeeze under it, and thus save the 



