100 
FOREST A N I) S T R E A M 
February, 1918 
T J TE are depending upon 
1 /1/ the friends and ad¬ 
mirers of our old cor¬ 
respondent Nessmuk to make 
this department worthy of his 
name. No man knew the 
woods better than Nessmuk 
or wrote of them with quaint¬ 
er charm. Many of his prac¬ 
tical ideas on camping and 
"going light” have been adopt- 
To Convert Leather Into String 
A S a rule leather strings are stronger 
when cut from the leather, parallel 
with the backbone, but strings of greater 
length and of great durability can be cut 
'spirally from scraps of leather. 
In one edge of a stick of convenient 
size, say one inch by one-half, and eight 
inches long, cut a rectangular notch as 
wide as the thickness of the leather to be 
cut, and about one-half inch deep. In 
the center of the piece of leather cut a 
circle an inch in diameter, and carry the 
cut spirally outward to a sufficient extent 
to make an inch of string of the required 
size. Then thrust the end of the stick 
through the hole thus made, and press the 
string down against the bottom of the 
notch. Now press the blade of the knife 
into the wood, across the notch, and close 
against the edge of the string. Grip the 
stick and the knife handle in the right 
hand, and pull the string with the left. 
The result will be more string. 
The notch shoulql be wide enough that 
the leather'will pass through it freely, but 
not wide enough that the leather will tilt 
or crimp. 
A string so cut will be somewhat “curly” 
at first, but a little use, or soaking and 
stretching, will soon take the kink out 
of it. 
Fitting up the Buckskin Pouch 
1 HAVE a buckskin pouch, made like 
Nessmuk’s which he describes in his 
book, “Woodcraft,” and of the same di¬ 
mensions, nine inches wide by six deep. 
On the inside of the back half I have 
sewed two pockets and ten loops t,o hold 
cartridges for my squirrel rifle, a .32 Win¬ 
chester single shot. The sheath for the 
hunting knife is sewn as Nessmuk de¬ 
scribes it. These are the dimensions of 
nly knife and sheath: Knife is 8J/2 inches 
long, the blade running the full length of 
the buckhorn handle; the sheath is made 
of buckskin, back length bP/2 inches, front 
length inches, front width rjj'g inches, 
between the back and front sides of the 
sheath is sewn a strip of hard leather 1/16 
inch in diaemter; this keeps the edge of 
the knife from cutting the stitches. The 
handle loop is 3 by' inches. 
Stowed inside the pouch are the follow¬ 
ing articles: Ditty-bag (made of buckskin, 
4J/2 inches deep by 3 inches wide), con¬ 
taining fully as many things as Nessmuk 
mentioned and probably more. These 
things seem trivial in print but sooner or 
later will be found useful. It is a ques¬ 
tion of personal taste as soon as one gets 
beyond the absolute essentials, as one man 
might prefer chewing-tobacco while an¬ 
other would want chewing-gum. The 
pouch also holds a possum hook, made of 
a large cod hook with the barb filed off 
and a half-inch right angle bend pointed 
at the other end; fish hooks, frog hook, 
shoemaker’s wax, and a coil of brass wire, 
size 24. And in regard to the ditty-bag, if 
you cannot get one of buckskin, use an 
empty bag that has formerly' held the 
used in this manner. First, open the blis¬ 
ter ; this is not hard to do if the skin is 
tender, but if it is tough try this trick. 
After a hole has been made in the skin, 
place your thumbs on either side and bear 
down hard and away' from the blister; this 
will tighten the loose skin and force the 
water out. Then cover with a piece of 
adhesive tape. 
To carry needles in the woods I utilize 
one of the little metal cases which are 
used to hold ladies’ eyebrow pencils. It is 
just the right length for a medium sized 
SECTION REMOVED SHOWING NEEDLES INSIDE. 
darning needle; will hold several of them, 
and will absolutely' protect the points. The 
little drawing shows how snugly the needles 
fit in this case. 
v Jim Ferguson, New York. 
A Quick Fire in the Rain 
O N a very wet day in fall a few years 
ago we had the uncomfortable expe-. 
rience of being soaked, as we were at the 
time several miles from anything but natu¬ 
ral shelter. We came upon an overhanging 
rock and promptly took possession of the 
space beneath it. My pal, after telfing me 
to make myself comfortable, started "up 
the side of the hill. In a few minutes he 
returned with an armful of pine. He took 
three or four sticks and whittled them 
nearly through, taking care not to break 
off the chips. The wood was then stacked 
up with the chips inside and lighted, and 
in a few minutes we had a good fire. 
The wood, being full of rosin, was almost 
impervious to water and took fire readily. 
This is an old Indian trick. 
Albert J. Roth. Pittsburgh. 
“makin’s” of cigarettes. These have handy 
draw strings for closing. Do not forget 
to carry a roll of adhesive tape if you do 
much walking on your trips. This comes 
in handy for big blisters and should be 
The Value of Trap Drags 
1 V/IANY people who trap do not realize 
•l’’-*- the value of a drag as a trap fasten¬ 
ing. The drag has a number of advantages 
over staking a trap; namely when the 
ground is frozen (as it should be when it’s 
time to trap) and it is rather difficult to 
drive stakes, a stake being unyielding 
gives the animal a better chance to escape 
especially if a larger animal is caught than 
the trap was set for. 
Now for drags. There are several styles,, 
each well adapted for its special use. In 
wooded country it’s not hard to find drags." 
One of the most simple and sure drags 
for small animals, up to and including fox, 
is a brush drag. This is made by cutting a 
small brush and trimming off several of the 
lower branches, leaving a small part on the 
