BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 319 
gradual narrowing and termination of the long funnel shaped inclos- 
ures.” 1 
The several sections of the net having been joined together, the front 
edge of the square is hung to a 2J to 2J inch mauilla rope, called the 
“head rope,” which is fastened to the beam at each end, and generally 
in three other places at equal distances on the beam. The end of the 
head rope that fastens to the after end of the beam, that is, the end of 
the beam which is aft when the trawl is on the vessel’s rail, has a piece 
of chain 4 or 5 feet long attached to it; this is used to make fast to the 
trawl-head; and chain is preferred, since it can not be chafed by the 
dandy bridle. The “foot” of the net — that part which fastens to the 
foot rope — is first hung to a small manilla rope (about 1J inches in cir- 
cumference), called the “ balch-line,” which is a little longer than the 
foot rope, to which it is seized with marline, the seizings being put on a 
foot apart on the wings and about half that distance in the “ bosom,” 
as the middle of the curve formed by the foot rope is called. 
The foot rope is generally made of old towing hawser, which on the 
large smacks from Grimsby is about 7 J inches in circumference. This 
is unlaid and laid up the opposite way, so that it will be more flexible. 
It is served or “rounded ” from end to end with small rope, say from 2 to 
2^ inches, this being, like the hawser, partly worn. This rounding is put 
on for the double purpose of (1) increasing the size of the foot rope, and 
thereby making it heavier, so that it will lie close to the bottom, while, 
being large, it is easier to drag along without “digging”into the ground; 
and (2) for preventing the chafe to which it otherwise must be exposed. 
The rounding is generally put on by machinery, since it is difficult to 
get it on properly by hand. 
The trawlers that fish principally for soles generally put a piece of 
chain 15 to 20 feet long in the middle of the foot rope, or else weight it 
with lead, to make it “ bite” the ground; otherwise the soles would es- 
cape beneath it, as they lie so close to the bottom— often partially cov- 
ered with sand or mud. When chain is used, it is first wound around 
with old net until it is made as large as the rest of the foot rope, when 
the whole is served with small stuff in the manner already described. 
To each end of the ground rope, and forming part of it, is attached a 
piece of chain, which is long enough to fasten around the trawl-head. In 
the trawling apparatus invented by de Caux the ground rope is fitted 
1 Deep-Sea Fishing etc., pp. 60-62. 
