232 THE SCIENTIFIC AKGLEK. 



made up into both salmon and trout rods; but the 

 most deplorable error, the one to be most assiduously 

 avoided, is cross-grained joints. There are individuals 

 careless and unprincipled enough to make up short or 

 cross-grained wood in most rods made by them. This 

 defect is most noticeable in colored japanned articles. 

 The steel-centred salmon rod is a weapon several feet 

 shorter than the usual old-style lengths; a rod of four- 

 teen being quite equal to an all-wood tool of sixteen-and- 

 a-half feet. 



The LINE and REEL need but little comment. The 

 former should be from one hundred to one hundred and 

 twenty yards in length for all round lake and river work. 

 Salmon lines, as well as trout, are plaited taper, both 

 double and single. Personally, we prefer a straight line, 

 no matter of what material it may consist. The fine 

 ends are worn and frayed by the constant friction, be- 

 coming soft, limp, and waterlogged, whilst the thicker 

 parts of the line, not coming in for a fair share of the 

 work, remain sound and good. The weakest part of a 

 line, always in constant casting or spinning, gets the 

 twist and turn, and is thus more readily frayed away. 

 The hair and silk, cotton cord, and plaited hemp lines 

 are inferior both in point of strength and durability to 

 silk, 'plaited, and prepared to resist the action of the 

 water and friction. The new Acme line, as we have 

 already pointed out, is an advance on the waterproof silk 

 lines. The annoyance of a bad or defective line can only 

 be equalled by a defective reel. The salmon reel should 

 be bronzed, and when made with check, this action 

 should be of steel. Brass cogs are a delusion, being 

 simply useless for heavy wear. It is no uncommon thing 

 for an ordinary reel of this description to get completely 

 deranged, through the non-durability of the centre parts. 

 This is particulary noticeable in Indian Mahseer fishing, 

 in which the wear of the winch is heavier still. The ad- 



