THE ROD. 277 



CHAPTER VI. 



THE ROD AND SPECIAL EQUIPMENTS. 



(U THE EOD. (-2) LINE. (3) WINCH. 



"TESTIMONY IK like an arroic shot from a long-bow ; the/am of" it depends on the strength 



of thf. haml that ilrami it. ARGUMENT in tike an arrow from a crow-bou; which ha* equal 

 force thotii/h *hot by a child." 



BACON. 



THE ROD. 



WITH striking brevity the above extract sets forth the two methods I 

 wish to adopt in support of my case, together with the peculiar value 

 inherent in each of them. The case itself, occupying the chapter's first 

 half, may be stated as an attempt to turn the cooling stream of reason 

 and fact upon one of the burning questions of the day ; for in the whole 

 range of Salmon-angling topics, there is, perhaps, no one single subject 

 so liable to produce a heated discussion as the simple question, " What 

 style of rod is the best ? " 



These discussions usually derive their warmth from sweeping 

 generalisations that have no more solid basis than individual taste 

 acquired by mere tradition or pure chance. Fifty generations and more 

 have confessed that argument about matters of taste is argument thrown 

 away ; how much greater, then, is the waste of time and energy to argue 

 from taste on what is not really a matter of taste at all, but a matter of 

 fact, in which, moreover, the facts are simple enough for a final, because 

 a thoroughly practical, decision. 



