The Plain Reel most useful. 75 



wrap or two ; put the end of the part that is left through 

 a ring, and press it on each side with your thumb-nail, 

 which will leave a half circle for the ring to play in ; 

 wrap up to the ring with your silk, and so past it, till 

 you have covered the piece of copper fastening, and 

 finish neatly off by two or three loop-knots ; and so on 

 till all the rings are tied on. Then put a couple of brass 

 hoops on the end of the butt ; the end one fixed and the 

 other to slide, first having cut a groove for the flattish 

 brass of the reel to lie in. Rub all the wrappings with 

 any bright hard substance, to make them smooth and 

 level. 



Stain the butt with ink, and when dry varnish it, as 

 well as your top, which may either be stained the same 

 colour or left as it is, according to fancy, and your rod 

 when dry will be fit for use. Such a rod, if well made, 

 will equal any London rod for the purpose intended ; it is 

 obtained at a much less cost, and will be more highly 

 appreciated, as being your own handiwork. Rings can 

 be procured of any dealer, and are better stamped out 

 of the solid metal than soldered, since they are not apt 

 to open. To make a loop for the point, twist a piece of 

 brass wire twice round a pricker and leave ends sufficiently 

 long to tie it on by, and on no account put a piece of 

 whalebone on the top, as it spoils all rods. 



The plain Reel is by far the beat for all purposes, and 

 those with a short axle, and the plates of large circum- 

 ference, as the one figured on Plate vin, are much better 

 and stronger than the old-fashioned ones. It should be 

 held to the rod by a sliding ferrule or hoop, passing over 

 one end of the flattish brass, which should be made to fit 

 into a bed prepared for it, by which means the reel is 

 readily shipped and unshipped, as sailors would say. If 

 you have a multiplying or stop reel, present it to the first 

 juvenile angler you meet, not forgetting to give him six- 



