346 AMERICAN ANGLER'S BOOK. 



the butt, and, as a consequence, the more the upper part will 

 be relieved of the strain. 



To demonstrate this theorem, let any person who is curious 

 on the subject, place a two or four ounce weight in his tobacco- 

 pouch, and suspend it to the end of his line, after passing the 

 line through the rings of a well-proportioned Salmon-rod, and 

 he will find that the tip will bend, while the lower part of the 

 rod will remain comparatively straight. Let him increase 

 the weight to eight ounces, and the curve will be transferred 

 to the next joint below,' the tip assuming more the direction 

 of a straight line. Then, by increasing the weight succes- 

 sively to twelve and sixteen ounces, he will find that there is 

 little or no curve in the tip, the additional weight having 

 drawn it nearly or quite straight, and transferred the trans- 

 verse strain proportionately towards the lower part of the 

 rod, where it is strong. 



A rod of sixteen feet, which I deem sufficiently long, need 

 not weigh over two pounds two ounces ; and one of seventeen 

 feet should not exceed two pounds six ounces. Of the two, 

 I prefer the smaller, on account of the ease in casting with it, 

 for it is no boy's play to wield a heavy Salmon-rod for hours. 

 The smaller has power enough to kill any Salmon. The 

 dimensions of such a rod, if in four pieces of equal length — 

 measuring the diameter of the inside or "male" ferules as 

 they come in order from the butt outward — should be eleven, 

 eight, and five-sixteenths of an inch, and the diameter of the 

 butt half way between the ferule and lower end, seven- eighths 

 of an inch ; the thickest part, where the reel-band is placed, 

 say nine inches above the end, should be an inch and five- 

 sixteenths. 



A seventeen-foot rod — supposing the butt and second joint 

 each to be four feet six inches long, and the third joint and 

 tip four feet— should have the two upper ferules the same 



