FISHIXG-LINES. 253 



HOW FlSH-LlNES ARE MADE. 



American fish-lines are the best in the world, because we use the 

 most perfect machinery and materials in their manufacture. There 

 are in this country five or six large establishments devoted exclu- 

 sively to this production. They represent a capital of about $250,000, 

 and produce about $100,000 worth of lines per year. The fish-line 

 is an object of contempt to a certain class of closet philosophers, but 

 its production at least employs money and brains with the same 

 earnestness that marks our manufacture of more weighty objects. 

 The largest fish-line factory in the world is the Highland Mills, 

 Orange County, in this State, and if our anglers were only capable of 

 boasting a little they might brag of our beating the world in the quality 

 as well as in the quantity of our lines. In visiting this establishment 

 I learned many interesting facts about the materials and the processes 

 of making fish-lines. We all feel a certain awe and curiosity about 

 the slender, tapered line that flies through the air so gracefully, yet 

 has the amazing strength to hold a Salmon, a Trout, or a Bass in his 

 most frantic efforts to escape. And the feeling is well justified, for 

 not only is a fine line a proper object for respect and interest, but 

 many of the processes of its creation are secrets veiled from the eye 

 of even the elect. Lines are made of three substances, either cotton, 

 linen, or silk, and they are either twisted or braided. The twisted 

 lines may be made by hand, but braided lines are always made by 

 machines devised especially for the purpose. For fine lines, only the 

 finest, strongest, and longest fibers can be used. The selection of the 

 material is, therefore, made with great care. It is spun to order in 

 sizes to suit different kinds of lines. The bleaching of the yarn has 

 to be very carefully done to prevent any loss of strength by chemical 

 action on the fiber, and only vegetable dyes are used in coloring. 



In the storeroom are piles of flax in skeins, which has been spun 

 to order in Ireland, France, Belgium, and Germany. A variety of 

 flax is needed, because that of one country is most desirable for its 

 durability and that of another for its strength, so that the union of 

 several kinds of thread in a line gives it greater general excellence. 

 The exact size must be maintained throughout the thread. And the 

 exact amount of twist, varying from two to nine turns to the inch, 

 must be given ; for if the threads be either too loosely or too tightly 



