128 HINTS TO DRY-FLY FISHERMEN. 



shaped and straightened before working up ; if the 

 glueing-up is properly and carefully carried out 

 with glue which will resist the action of damp, and 

 if varnish be used which will stand, they must be 

 sold at a comparatively high price. Beyond all, do 

 not be deluded by any long-winded praise of the 

 mathematical accuracy of the hexagon formed by 

 the glued cane, nor by any puffing of the excellence 

 of the work as evidenced by the fact that the joins 

 where the sections are glued-up are invisible. 

 The former of these is produced by rasping down 

 the outside or bark of the cane after it is glued-up, 

 or, in other words, taking away from your rod the 

 hardest, most elastic, and most reliable portion of 

 the material of which it is made ; and the invisibility 

 of the joins is a trick specially designed to cover 

 inferior workmanship by filling up any little inac- 

 curacies with " Plaster-of- Paris " or some cunning 

 " cement " before varnishing. 



As to the reel-line, solid plaited silk dressed is 

 the best material, although there is plenty of room 

 for improvement in the quality of the silk used, 

 in the mode of plaiting, and in the composition of 

 the dressing. It should be quite stout in the 

 middle, and parallel in thickness throughout, ex- 

 cepting for about five yards at each end, which 

 should gradually taper from the stout to as fine a 

 point as is compatible with the strength required. 

 A line before being used should be kept in a dry 

 place for at least six months, and should be well 



