34 THE DRY-FLY MAN'S HANDBOOK 



one and the oil has been placed in a glass dish, it is 

 by no means unlikely that a piece of the bottom of 

 the vessel will be pumped out with dire consequences. 

 Pumping should continue until the bubbles of air 

 cease to rise out of the line in any appreciable quan- 

 tity. The line is then taken from under the receiver, 

 removed from the oil, and squeezed through the 

 fingers, and subsequently through a piece of linen, in 

 order to remove as much of the surplus oil as possible, 

 for the less oil there is left in the line the more chance 

 is there of the drying process becoming thoroughly 

 effected." 



" Next it should be wound on the frame with the 

 end looped round the first hook. When the surface 

 is no longer wet, take the line off the frame and make 

 it up into a large loose hank, and hang it up in a 

 warm place to get thoroughly dry. This may take 

 any time up to two months, but after the second coat, 

 as the inside of the line becomes filled up with the 

 oil, the process of drying becomes much more rapid. 

 When the line is thoroughly dry, so dry that when 

 stretched between the hands no little beads of oil 

 force their way out, the second coat may be applied 

 and the line treated in the same way as before, and 

 wound on the frame, beginning at the second hook. 

 If the line appears to be at all stiff, it should be coiled 

 up into quite a small coil, with a diameter of, say, four 

 inches, and worked about in the hands until soft. A 

 varnished line will not stand this treatment, but when 

 pure oil is used, the dressing is so pliant that any 



