

392 TO PRESERVE LINES AND REELS. 



of a red, or Shaker, or Wethersfield onion gives different 

 shades, and the bark of the walnut or butternut gives another 

 color. The leaves of the tomato, when they can be had fresh, 

 give a beautiful green, and a different shade from green tea. 



To preserve Gut. Always keep your stock on hand, or 

 when not in use for a length of time or during the winter sea- 

 son, in stout parchment-paper, or parchment if you can get 

 it, slightly saturated with pure olive-oil. Do not coil your 

 gut, but let the strands be at full length. After placing your 

 . lengths in position, roll up your paper, tie up, and envelop 

 with an outside wrapper. An old angler of thirty years' ex- 

 perience gave this as his method some years ago, and Rev. 

 Dr. Bethune, in his " Waltonian Notes," approves of it. It 

 can be relied upon as the best method. 



Gimp is a thicker substance, and much more easily seen by 

 the fish when fresh and bright. To discolor, rub over with a 

 light coat of beeswax slightly softened. 



^ To preserve Lims. Always, after using your line, be you 



/ at your home or abroad, run your line off on the floor or dry 



boards, where exposed to the sun, or, if in the house, in a dry 

 room, until the moisture is entirely evaporated. A reel, such as 

 is used by the ladies for winding off yarn, worsted, or thread, is 

 convenient, and should be a part of the angler's outfit. There 

 are some that are made with narrow slats, and can be screwed 

 to a table, and being designed so that they can be opened and 

 closed like an umbrella, they are easily carried with the 

 other fixtures of the sportsman. Some anglers use oil, sper- 

 maceti, or India-rubber preparations on their lines for their 

 preservation, but, as a general rule, they are better for your 

 boots or shoes than your line. When rubber is used, white 

 is preferred, unless your line be dark : one part of rubber to 

 two parts of turpentine, heated until the rubber dissolves ; to 



