210 Fisninc inv Amertcan WATERS. 
head, and lashing the water with its tail, exceeded any thing 
Tever had on. An old angler who was on the opposite side 
of the river, and has himself killed above fifty salmon this 
season, said it was the wildest fish he ever saw. 
“Well, not to be prolix,I give you the result of many 
hours’ study in few words, prefacing them with the observa- 
tion that the rod is as straight and serviceable now as when 
first made, and has never failed or needed repair. 
“For the butt, 52 feet of well-seasoned, selected memel, 
with the fibre of the wood running straight in the direction 
of the rod; if these conditions are not observed the wood is 
useless. For the middle piece, 4% feet of selected ash. For 
top, 4¢ feet of lancewood. The memel butt is brass-hooped, 
has good strong brass hoops for the wheel, and is joined to 
the ash middle-piece with the usual brass ferrule. The lance- 
wood top and ash middle-piece are joined with a new splice, 
which is superior to the ferrule joining for its lightness, im- 
possibility of any shifting, and the quickness with which it 
is put together. This is the ‘modern splice for fly-rods,’ 
which is illustrated and described on page 160, under the 
head of‘ Trouting Tackle.’ 
“There are twenty rings, graduating in size from the butt 
to the top, including the top ring, which is just large enough 
to allow the line to run freely. Proper ringing ofa rod dis- 
tributes the weight of a fish equally over it until it comes to 
the ring on the butt end. The rod graduates from the butt 
end to the top, is neither stiff nor supple, and throws a long 
line. The weight of the whole rod will give an idea of the 
thickness of each piece. 
“J wish to draw especial attention to the material of the 
butt, the ringing, and the new splice. This new form of 
splice obviates the only objections (loss of time in tying, 
loosening of splice during use, and the wearing of the ends 
of the splice) against a spliced rod, and renders it incompar- 
ably superior to a ferruled rod.” 
Francis Francis states that “the best wood is unquestion- 
