46 THE COMPLETE SPORTSMAN 



plices can meet at some appointed spot, and 

 share the spoils wdthout further interruption. 



If, on the other hand, it is decided to use gut 

 as the most efficient fabric for casts, there is no 

 better way of ensuring the provision of perfect 

 material than by keeping a small private herd 

 of silkworms, from which the necessary product 

 can be obtained fresh every day to meet the 

 fisherman's requirements. These docile and 

 industrious little creatures are very tame and 

 easy to manage, will soon learn to eat mulberry 

 leaves out of their master's hand, and can be 

 taught to perform a number of entertaining 

 tricks calculated to while away the longest 

 winter evenings. At his fishing-box in Hamp- 

 shire, my uncle. Sir Noel Biffin, reared a large 

 flock of silkworms, each of whom he knew by 

 name and grew so fond of that his face would 

 often be suffused with tears when the game- 

 keeper informed him that the supply of gut was 

 running short, and it became necessary to evis- 

 cerate another of his charming pets. 



It is the greatest mistake to assume that any 

 sort of line and any kind of gut is good enough 

 to catch a fish ^vith. It is, however, certainly 

 true that in times of stress a broken cast has 



