52 SALMON AND TROUT. 



that when the ' Manchester Twine Cotton Spinning Company *" 

 first started they sent me some Hnes, both dressed and un- 

 dressed, which were exceedingly perfect, and which I beheve, 

 after fourteen years' occasional service, to be still as strong as 

 ever — in fact, so strong that on trying one of them just now 

 with both hands a friend of mine failed to break it. This line, 

 however, is what is termed * cable-laid ' — twisted, that is, in the 

 same manner as a ship's cable — the principle of which is that 

 whilst the cable itself is twisted from right to left, the separate 

 ropes of which it is composed are twisted from left to right. 

 The result of this is that the two twists counteract each 

 other in their mutual inchnation to kink, and when wetted, 

 the cable, instead of swelling, hardens and contracts. Of the 

 plaited hemp lines issued by the same Company I have 

 nothing good to say, neither did any of the dressings of those 

 that I have seen properly effect their object, and if they 

 did so temporarily, my experience is that they would not 

 stand. 



In the case of the particular line to which I refer, no 

 semblance of dressing of any sort now remains, or did remain 

 after the first few months, or, perhaps, weeks, of real ' service 

 in the field,' on any part of the line which had come into actual 

 use. The strength, however, was and is, I think, bulk for 

 bulk, unequalled by any lines that I have met with made of 

 silk. The latter, however, possess the great advantage of taking 

 the dressing, or waterproofing, perfectly, and admitting after- 

 wards of a smoothness and polish which facilitate very greatly 

 the running out and the reeling in of the line. 



These dressed silk lines also, if not absolutely so strong as 

 those made of hemp (and they have improved of late years), can 

 be made quite strong enough for all practical purposes. I say 

 advisedly ' can be made,' because I have found the most unex- 

 pected differences in the strength of different so-called silk 

 lines of the same thickness, and where they have been said to 

 be of the same manufacture. The best rough and ready method 

 of testing is to take a foot or two of the line between the hands 



