28 ON DYEING. 



boiling water, using for a pint of water, about the 

 quantity of dye that can be taken up on the point 

 of the small blade of an ordinary penknife. Stir 

 thoroughly until dissolved, then put in the material 

 to be dyed, and keep stirring until the required 

 shade is obtained. The following colours green 

 olive, medium olive, brown olive, green drake, 

 grannom green, slate, iron blue, and red spinner 

 will require a little vinegar, or other acid to 

 be added to the dye bath, in order to thoroughly 

 bring out and fix the colour. 



When fully dyed, wash the feathers well in cold 

 water, and dip them for a few minutes in a weak 

 solution of alum, say about \ oz. to a quart of boil- 

 ing water, wash thoroughly in cold water, and dry 

 as previously described. The alum in this case 

 is used as a mordant, its effect being to discharge 

 any superfluous colour, and fix the remaining dye 

 so as to render it quite fast. 



In case any shade should be required which is 

 not exactly hit off by any one of these colours, two 

 or more of the dyes can be mixed together in any 

 proportion, or the addition of some of the other 

 colours made by Messrs. Crawshaw, and sold in 

 similar packets, may be necessary. 



These special dyes are illustrated on the plate 

 facing page 30, and in the particulars for dyeing 

 any portion of the artificial flies given in a suc- 

 ceeding chapter, are referred to by the numbers 

 appended in each case. The coloured block im- 



