9 



For the purpose of arming your hooks, use line, 

 small, strong silk, well waxed, laying the hair on 

 the inside of the hook, otherwise the silk will fret 

 and cut it. 



It may be well to observe, that hooks of every 

 description are injured by being shaken together 

 in papers, boxes, &c. ; the beards get intermixed, 

 and are either broken or blunted. Those espe- 

 cially which are required for your pocket-stock 

 should be stuck into flannel, the same as needles 

 are kept by ladies, and if a little oiled, they will 

 be better preserved from rust. 



Floats. 



The best kind of floats for slow waters are those 

 made of Muscovy duck quills; but for strong 

 streams, good sound cork without flaws or holes, 

 into which a quill of fit proportion is inserted 

 through a hole bored by a hot iron, will be pre- 

 ferable. The cork should be pared to the form of 

 a pyramid, ground small with a pumice-stone, 

 and coloured according to fancy. You must poise 

 your floats with shot, so that when on the line they 

 will stand perpendicularly in the water, and thereby 

 give you notice of the slightest nibble. 



A good paint for cork floats may be made by mix- 

 ing a little copal varnish with white lead for white, 

 and copal varnish with green powder for green. 



Baits. 



The lob- worm, garden-worm, and dew-worm, 

 or trechet, are found in gardens and church-yards 

 at night; those with red heads, broad tails, and 

 streaked down the back, are the best. These 

 worms are excellent bait for barbel or eels, and 

 are found towards the -la tier end of the summer. 



