392 HANDLE OF THE WHIP CH. XVII 



near the ground, and leave it in irregular patterns 

 on the portion which is used as the butt of the stick. 

 The natural knots of the holly are usually the proper 

 distance apart to look well on the stick ; they are filed 

 to the proper shape, and if there are not enough of 

 them, artificial ones are made by leaving elevations 

 when reducing the size of the stick. In some whips 

 the knots are left quite prominent, in others they 

 show slightly ; this is a matter of taste. The ma- 

 jority of coachmen like to have a few knots close 

 to the upper end of the stick, to keep the thong 

 from sliding down when it is caught up. 



White hickory, worked perfectly plain, without 

 any knots, makes a beautiful stick and looks like 

 ivory. It is particularly pleasant to handle if 

 properly proportioned, but unless the thong is very 

 soft, it is liable to slip down the stick. Owing to 

 the stick having no knots, the thong can be quickly 

 freed from it for use. 



A good holly stick should have a diameter of six- 

 tenths of an inch where it leaves the collar or ferule, 

 and of three-tenths of an inch at its upper end. A 

 hickory stick, being heavier and stiffer, should be 

 very little over a quarter of an inch at the upper end. 



Some coachmen fancy a ' dog-legged stick ;' that 

 is, one with a crook more or less square, a short 

 distance above the ferule, but it is certainly not 

 handsome, and usually it is not pleasant to handle. 



The handle, or hand-piece, of the whip, is ten and 

 a half inches long, including its ferule, or collar, 



