MR. \v. WELLS-RIDLEY'S LINES. HOI 



is deeply indebted to Mr. Ridley for proving that the ideal line is a 

 practical possibility, and for giving me sufficient information to enable me 

 to get it on the market. 



I have only a few more observations to offer to students before we 

 consider the question of dressing lines. 



Salmon lines are imperilled and injured by many causes ; now by 

 Spey casting in close quarters, where it is impossible to keep the line 

 from skirting rocks and other traps in the way ; now by the wrong 

 dressing; again, perhaps, by not polishing when necessary, and 

 frequently by being left wet on the winch. 



I use the word " perhaps," as line-dressing is a subject I hold an 

 open mind upon. It all depends upon what a man wants and how much 

 time he has to get it. If he wants an ideal dressing it is to be had, but 

 not in a hurry. The time is not far distant when everybody will learn to 

 waterproof lines with a lasting preparation that improves them from the 

 very first, one that will permeate the whole texture and provide a smooth, 

 elastic, and protecting surface that will not deteriorate. Only after years 

 of attention and personal experiment did I hit on certain reliable methods 

 and ingredients which I employ when fishing. The evidence of others, 

 however, had been carefully considered, and their various materials tried 

 and exhaustively tested. 



The plan I recommend for river-side dressing has a first and a second 

 process. In the preliminary work the oil penetrates round lines, makes 

 them somewhat solid and, with subsequent care, permanently waterproof. 

 The final touches result in such a smooth surface with a new " Ridley," 

 or an old ordinary, that no sign of roughness can be seen or felt. An 

 equally happy result can be relied on with the " Kelson Enamelled " line. 

 This fact of itself goes to prove the similarity between the " Ridley " and 

 the "Enamelled." 



As Mr. Ridley's lines are distributed throughout the country 

 (gratuitously, let me add), the best method of dressing them and my 

 own, when wanted in a hurry, is as follows : 



Soak the new line for forty-eight hours in the " Dressing for Fishing 

 Lines," sold at Apothecaries' Hall, Blackfriars, London. Then tie it up 

 at each end out of doors, full length, and allow it to remain untouched 



