222 
FOREST AND 
S T R E A .M 
May, 1919 
'i 
I 
FIVE HINTS 
I F your boots get wet inside take sev- 
eral handfulls of dry pebbles, heat 
them very hot and put them in the boots. 
This will dry them quickly. 
* * * 
A good pocket match box can be made 
by telescoping empty 12 and 10-gauge 
shot-gun shells. 
* * » 
Always carry a little roll of stove- 
pipe wire and some string. It will come 
in pretty handy around camp. 
* * 
An improvised camp spoon can be 
made by using an oyster shell attached 
to a split stick. 
Whenever you are in unfamiliar woods 
make a distinctive or original mark on 
certain trees so you will recognize them 
if you ever have occasion to pass that 
way again. Ordinary blazes are mis- 
leading sometimes. 
Jack, Iowa. 
A GOOD CAMP GRATE 
A very simple take-down grate for 
camp use can be made by using 
three pieces of iron about fourteen 
inches long by 1 inch wide to % inch 
Figure 2 
thick and three A-inch iron rods. 
Bore holes about a quarter of an inch 
from the ends of the flat pieces of iron. 
Form them into a triangle and insert the 
rods, holding them in place with nuts. 
Figure 1, shows the different parts of 
the grate before they ai’e assembled and 
Figures 2 and 3 the method followed 
in putting them together. Sharpen the 
Figure i 
rods so they can be readily pushed .into 
the earth around the fire. 
R. R., Maryland. 
E are depending upon the 
friends and admirers of our 
old correspondent Nessmuk to make 
this department worthy of his 
name. No man knew the woods 
better than Nessmuk or wrote of 
them with quainter charm. Many 
of his practical ideas on camping 
and “ going light ” have been 
adopted by the United States Army ; 
his canoe has been preserved in the 
Smithsonian Institution; and we 
hope that all good woodsmen will 
contribute to this department their 
Hints and Kinks and trail-tested 
contrivances . — [Editors.] 
TO PATCH A BOOT 
T O keep a patch on a rubber boot or 
wader from curling up at the edges 
is a much easier process than one might 
imagine. First, carefully clean the sur- 
face of the rubber where the patch is re- 
quired, then attach it as usual and tack 
the edges down lightly with thin, sharp- 
pointed tacks. When the patch has set, 
draw the tacks and fill the holes with 
rubber adhesive paste or liquid. When 
this dries cover the entire patch with 
cement, making sure that you have an 
unbroken, even coat. Patches attached 
in this manner usually stick in spite of 
rough treatment and don’t curl up and 
come off at the first contact with rock 
or snag, as very often happens with 
patches that are put on carelessly. 
THE BEST FLY DOPE 
I F your various correspondents want 
the very best fly dope to really keep 
the varmints off they have only to refer 
to the pages of “Woodcraft” to secure it. 
Nessmuk was in the North Woods at all 
seasons of the year. When the hilari- 
ous skeeter thrummed his guitar; when 
the rapacious black fly thrust his javelin 
and when the unseen punkie burned his 
poisoned torch. He didn’t risk citronella 
nor eucalyptus. Tar oil was his “dope” 
and the writer can testify to its marvel- 
ous efficacy. “Three ounces pine tar, two 
ounces castor oil, one ounce pennyroyal 
oil, simmer all together over a slow fire 
and bottle for use.” 
If every summer camper who may be 
exposed to one or more of these dreaded 
pests will read Nessmuk’s advice about 
insect pests he will bless the old man 
again and again, that is if he will fol- 
low the advice which is sound, solid 
sense. Osceola. 
ONE WAY TO START A FIRE 
H ERE’S a simple way to start a fire 
without matches, flint, steel or 
sticks: Everyone knows how to start 
paper burning with a magnifying glass, 
well, that’s just the trick, only use a 
front lense from your field glass. It will 
make a very strong glass and the 
brighter the sun the easier it is to start 
the fire. After your tinder begins to 
smoke a little, blow on it and it will 
break into a flame very much sooner. 
You don’t have to keep a big fire going 
all day in camp so as to have it ready 
to cook on at suppertime, just keep a 
smouldering one and you can start it 
again very easily by fanning a little. 
Almost all hunters nowadays carry 
field glasses and consider them an es- 
sential part of their outfit. They are 
invaluable for searching out and finding 
game, but it is well to know of another 
way in which they can be made to ser^’e 
a useful purpose. E. C. T. 
