4 THE SALMON FLY. 



the grasp of one's hand, observation may be wanting in care a statement 

 which I will illustrate, not from the spacious field of nature, but from the 

 smaller sphere of an Editor's experience. 



A few years ago, a Fisherman came into my office on some angling 

 business. Not knowing me by sight, he got into a discussion on Salmon- 

 flies, and presently declared: "I don't believe in Kelson's flies" 

 (meaning those figured in "Land and Water"). He added: "The 

 wings are a deal too heavy and have too much stuff in them." In con- 

 firmation he produced from his pocket-book a fly, shewing what he 

 considered a fair amount of "wing" for the Usk v a river which then 

 wanted a "heavy" wing. On comparing this fly with the original 

 pattern, which the critic had pronounced to be over bulky in the wing, 

 he was soon compelled to confess himself mistaken. It was seen that, 

 after all, my flies were constructed with less wing-material than his, and 

 that the difference in appearance was due to the way in which the 

 material was disposed. In my patterns each component strip of fibre in 

 the wing was displayed to view in fan-like expansion, whilst in his fly 

 one half at least of its constituents were hidden by the other half, the 

 strips being compressed into an untidy bunch. It was also evident that 

 this local authority was unacquainted with the principle, that the bulk of 

 wing in a given pattern is variable according to the river, or even according 

 to different parts of the same river, as well as in relation to weather and 

 the condition of the water. Unfortunately this case is a typical one. 



Exactitude is needed in applying our principles, i.e., in adapting our 

 means to the ends in view. Having clearly and definitely before our eye 

 what those ends are and what they demand, we should not relax our 

 efforts until we have mastered the means that best satisfy those demands. 

 In this connection let me show what I mean, by reference to the most 

 simple of all operations (fully explained in Chapter III.) in making 

 " floss-silk " bodied flies, viz. : the waxing of the silk. What is the 

 object here? Evidently to manage the waxing (1) without soiling the 

 fingers ; (2) without breaking the silk, or weakening it by letting it 

 untwist, or by rubbing it too hard ; (3) without getting too much wax on 

 so as to quite spoil the floss-silk which covers it. Now, in spite of the 

 fact that there is for doing this a method so simple that the dullest 



