50 THE SALMON FLY. 



feather taut and pull gently yet towards you, when the quill will begin to 

 split. Continue pulling steadily in this way till the feat is accomplished. 

 Take care not to pull harder on one side than on the other, especially at 

 starting. Next place the side to be used on a smooth, hard surface, the 

 point end towards you, the butt away from you. Press the fore-finger on 

 the point, the second finger on the butt, and, with a fine, sharp-pointed 

 penknife, scrape away any remaining pith until not a particle remains, 

 This delicate operation must be done with a light hand, or the quill will 

 be severed. If the feather does not split as you wish, cut off with quite 

 the point of the knife, say, half the quill by one stroke of the blade from 

 end to end, and the feather is ready for use. 



For myself, however, I never use a vice for any purpose. I find it 

 easy enough in this case to seize the fibres in the way described above, 

 and then place the butt of the feather between the teeth, and pull the 

 coloured side away. Perhaps the vice may be used in making the 

 bodies of all such patterns as " The Chatterer " ; for when numberless 

 small feathers constitute the body of a fly, the dresser holds the hook, not 

 by the bend, as usual, but by the shank. Unless his fingers are in good 

 fettle, the vice, under the circumstances, might be of some little service 

 to him, especially in putting on Strip wings. 



The old books on fly-dressing used to give directions for stripping off 

 one side of a Cock's hackle, but this plan is a mistake. All hackles, 

 equally coloured right and left of the quill, should be "doubled" before 

 use. One hackle thus serves to take the place of two which were 

 formerly used ; the fly fishes better, and money is saved. Directions for 

 " doubling " are given in Chapter III., in company with an Illustration 

 of the process. But to meet the purpose needed, in some parts of Wales 

 it is commonly supposed that these feathers can be "licked into shape," 

 and that by " doubling," the fibres are bent and spoilt at their roots. 

 This idea is an illusion, seeing that the minute portion of each fibre bent 

 by the necessary pressure given is restored in the process of winding. 

 The ha,ckle being wound on its side, the stem " bites " the very portion 

 supposed to be injured, with the result that the " spring " and " spread " 

 of the lower fibres are, in all respects, equal to that of the upper ones. 



Wings. Before detailing the kinds of feathers most commonly in 



