FISHING 



271 



snell. Both these processes will be explained 

 in the due course of this article. 



tackle-maker's varnish. 



Another article or material is required to 

 make a finish on the waxed silk when it is 

 tied or whipped on rod or hook, and that is 

 varnish of the right kind to waterproof the 

 silk and give it a polished and attractive ap- 

 pearance when finished. The best varnish 

 for general uses is that which is made by the 

 oil and colormen from bleached or whitened 

 shellac. This is first dissolved in chloroform 

 or ether and alcohol is added, but this proc- 

 ess is beyond the ordinary amateur and had 

 better not be tried. Sufficient of this varnish 

 can be bought for a few cents, or if not, a 

 tablespoonful of brown shellac dissolved in 

 half a pint of alcohol will make a good sub- 

 stitute, and last for years if kept corked. 



The pinion feather of a chicken or almost 

 any one of the wild ducks will make a cap- 

 ital brush with which to apply the varnish. 

 Or a camel's-hair or sable pencil will last a 

 long time if you cleanse it in a little alcohol 

 every time it is used. 



A 25-cent pair of embroidery scissors are 

 the next necessary tool to the tackle tinker, 

 and he is now ready to take his first lessons 

 in tackle, beginning at the very beginning 

 with patience and perseverance as his chief 

 mental qualities ; and practice, practice, prac- 

 tice, as his triple watchwords. 



HOW TO SNELL A HOOK. 



A snell is a length of silkworm gut, which 

 is a transparent thread drawn from the silk- 

 worm's sac of silk after a certain prepara- 

 tion by the Spaniards, who make a business 

 of it in the employ of the English market. 



A brief description of this process may in- 

 terest my young readers who may not have 

 known what the fishing snell is made of. 

 The usual idea is that it is catgut, the same 

 as a fiddle string. But this is of course not 

 so, as I have intimated. 



The Bombyx mori or ordinary silkworm, 

 which spins the silk from which silk dresses 

 and the silk of the spool of the silk I recom- 

 mended above are made, is bred and fed on 

 mulberry leaves until it begins to leave off 

 eating. This is a sign that, it is ready to spin 

 its silk, and if it be left to do so in the or- 

 dinary way a cocoon or egg-shaped white 

 ball of fine silk is the result, and this would 

 not do for fish snells, but does well enough 

 for spool silk and ladies' silk dresses. 



Instead of letting the silkworm spin the 

 cocoon, the worm is taken while yet alive, 

 and immersed in wine-vinegar and water. 

 The next day the dead worm is taken out of 

 this pickle and the silk in the body of the 

 worm, which is contained in two little sacs 

 or receptacles, is taken out and stretched 

 into long or short threads according to the 



capacity of the worm. These harden in the 

 air and sunshine, and before hardening fin- 

 ally they are stretched between pins, to dry 

 out. They are then boiled in soapy water 

 and a skin of yellow membrane is denuded 

 from the thread by the teeth of the men and 

 women sorters who do this kind of work, 

 and are natives of the country. Those who 

 have seen this operation say that it is often 

 painful to the worker, as the thread some- 

 times cuts the lips and draws blood. 



The threads or lengths of gut are now 

 tied in lots of 100, and these in lots of 1,000, 

 and sent to Great Britain and the United 

 States in large quantities, which is of course 

 regulated by the crop and the demand. The 

 hanks of gut vary from eight to twenty-five 

 inches in length. I have in my possession 

 Japanese gut which is twelve feet long and 

 clear and round and strong, and I have also 

 a strand drawn from the American silkworm 

 (Attacus crecopia) by myself on Long Is- 

 land, which is nine feet long and very fine 

 and strong and of a coffee tint. It is as 

 strong as the finest silkworm gut of the same 

 gauge. Some day this gut will supercede the 

 Spanish gut in this country. 



This gut can be obtained from all the 

 tackle dealers, and is costly or cheap, accord- 

 ing to quality and length. It is best to buy 

 a hundred strands, which come together in 

 one hank. Cutting off the crinkled ends, you 

 next immerse as many strands as you re- 

 quire for snells in tepid soft water — i.e., 

 water that has been boiled, or collected in a 

 shower and warmed. Let the gut remain a 

 few hours in the water to soften, then take 

 it out and proceed to tie loops in both ends. 

 When you have tied sufficient for your prob- 

 able needs, procure a soft board of deal, or 

 other soft wood, and stretch this gut between 

 nails driven in the board. This straightens 

 the gut, and when it is dried snip off the end 

 loop which is the least sightly and perfect 

 so that about five or six inches remain of the 

 snell with a loop at one end. 



HOW TO TIE THE SNELL ON THE HOOK. 



Take a length of your silk thread and wax 

 it with a small piece of wax the size of a 

 pea. Then take up your hook between the 

 forefinger and thumb of the left hand, with 

 the bend and part having the barb held flat 

 and firm between the ball of the thumb and 

 the first joint of the forefinger. Now take 

 the end of the silk with the right finger and 

 thumb and place it on the shank of the hook, 

 holding it in place between the left fingei 

 and thumb, and proceed to tie on the gut 

 snell from the end of the hook shank to the 

 bend opposite the barb (Fig. 1). Having 

 wound the silk neatly to a point opposite the 

 barb of the hook, you must fasten the whip- 

 ping in this way : Make the last turn of the 

 silk over your left forefinger and pass the 

 end of the silk up through the loop thus made 



