74 



SALMON AND TROUT. 



a section of the cane of one of these bamboos used in the con- 

 struction of the larger joints, and it will be noticed that the 

 fibres, shown by the little spot marks, are much denser at the 

 outside than towards the centre, which when the canes are 

 green, is merely pulp. It is only, therefore, this outside part, 

 or rind, that is used in rod-making, and during the process of 

 manufacture the skin must be most carefully preserved ixom 

 injury, whilst the balancing, &c., of the rod has to be effected 

 before the various strips are cemented together. This is a 

 matter of great delicacy and diffi- 

 culty, as will be understood when it 

 is borne in mind how troublesome 

 it is to properly balance a rod con- 

 structed of even the ordinary solid 

 woods where the plane can be used 

 after the joints are fixed. Either 

 from want of knowledge or proper 

 machinery, many so-called cane 

 rods are put together so that they 

 have to be subsequently filed or 

 planed to get the requisite spring, thus removing the most 

 essential part of the cane. These inferior rods are then 

 painted, or burnt over again to imitate the natural colour of the 

 original skin, from which, however, they are easily distinguished 

 by experts. The dotted lines outside the V i^i the engraving (fig. 

 i) show the shape of the strips as first split out — the interior 

 solid line that of the finished strips when ready for jointing after 

 having been 'machined,' The cement used in the process of 

 gluing together is said to be impervious to damp : it is, how- 

 ever, I believe, strictly a trade secret. 



Probably one of the reasons why it has been supposed by 

 fly fishers that these rods will not stand the heavy work brought 

 to bear upon them in salmon fishing is the use of inferior cement 

 in the process, and the glue subsequently oozing out of the 

 joints in wet weather, thus tending to make them come loose 

 afterwards. In Mr. Kelson's report on the collection of salmon, 



