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they hold the dye best. Wool is not good for 

 the fly, as it soaks the water, and is dull and 

 heavy. Pig hair, that next the skin, with the 

 stiff and coarse bristles picked and cleared 

 away, and mohair, which is Spanish goat hair, 

 a most beautiful brilliant substance for fly 

 making when dyed well; white seal's fur, and 

 furs of different kinds of a white colour. White 

 hackles are best for yellows, oranges, gold 

 colours, blues, greens, &c. ; red hackles do best 

 to dye claret, red, or fiery browns, olives, and 

 cinnamon browns, &c., and black hackles for 

 sooty olives, and tawny colours. When the 

 angler sees a white old cock he should buy 

 him to procure his hackles, or a black cock, a 

 grey cock, and old red cocks of every hue, all 

 of which are good for dyeing. These also 

 must be washed in soap and hot water before 

 being dyed, and the flue stripped off, tied in 

 bunches (see the bunch of white hackles in the 

 Plate of Feathers, ready for the dye) of proper 

 sizes, and when about to be put into the dye- 

 pot, wet them and the hair in hot water. 



Provide a small crucible or earthen pot, 

 glazed inside, with an earthen handle, to hold 

 a quart of soft water, and before you put in 



