Rocksalt, s. Mineral salt.
Rod, s. A long twig; anything long and slender; an instrument for measuring; an instrument of correction made of twigs; an implement for angling.
The wood for fishing rods should be cut about Christmas (and some insist that if left in the open air for twelve months afterwards it will season better, than if stowed in a dry place). Hazel is the wood generally procured for this purpose, and of all the sorts that of the cob-nut grows to the greatest length, and is, for the most part, straight and taper; the butt-end should rather exceed an inch in diameter; but of whatever wood the rod is composed, the shoots for stocks, middle pieces, and tops, must be of proper size, well-grown, and as free from knots as possible. The tops should be the best rush-ground shoots, without knots, and proportionally taper; the excrescent twigs are to be cut off, but not close, for fear of hurting the bark, which ought never to be touched with a knife or rasp; for, although they will dress neater, it considerably weakens them: these pieces are to be kept free from wet until the beginning of the following autumn, when such as are wanted to form a rod should be selected, and, after being warmed over a gentle fire, set as straight as possible, and laid aside for two or three days, when they must be rubbed over with a piece of flannel and linseed oil, which will polish and fetch off any superfluous bark; they are then to be bound tight to a straight pole, and so kept until the next spring, when they will be seasoned for use; (some, however, prefer keeping them from eighteen months to two years, before they are made up); they are then to be matched together in just proportion, in three, four, or more parts, according to the width of the water, or the wish of the maker; taking care that the different joints fit so nicely, if ferruled, that the whole rod may move as if it were but one piece. If the parts are not ferruled, observe, that they must be cut to join each other with the utmost exactness, and neatly spliced with glue, boiled very gently in strong quick lime-water, keeping it stirred until it becomes smooth and all alike, and then are to be whipped over the glued part with waxed thread.
Elder, holly, yew, mountain ash, and hip briar, are all natives; the former, prepared as follows, is by some thought to excel any of the latter; a branch of the elder tree of three years’ growth is to be cut about the third week in November; it is then with a saw to be separated at every joint; sometimes, when the branch is exactly straight, a length of two joints may be made, for the two shoots which spring from each joint grow alternately from the different sides; these double lengths should be taken from the biggest end of the branch, and will be near three quarters of a yard long; one of these will make the thick end of the top; the other joints are split into four, shaving off the bark and the pith, and every joint tied by itself; the thick end of every piece should be placed towards the butt of the rod; after being split, the pieces should be tied together, and kept a year at least to season; when wanted, they should be first planed and rasped taper, and square; the edges then filed off exactly round and smooth; the splice must be rubbed very thin with shoe-makers’ wax, filling the outside of the joint so, that when wrapped close with fine white silk, the splice may not be bigger than the joint is, an inch above it. The hip briar is easily found in hedges of old inclosures, which have not been plashed for many years; but it should be thoroughly seasoned before it is split, or the small pieces will be apt to warp in drying; it is cut into lengths of eight or ten inches for tops, spliced or glued together; after which they are properly tapered with planes and fine rasps, finished off with sandpaper, and the joints wrapped with silk well waxed; a small piece of whalebone is added to the wood, spliced and wrapped in a similar manner; to this finish, however, some gentlemen object, and wonder at the prevalent custom of loading rods with eight or ten inches of whalebone at the top, since that particular part should be light and elastic; and they contend, that the whalebone is dull, heavy, and much too flexible; the Scotch fishing rod makers use tortoise shell at the end of their tops, and it is lighter and springs better than whalebone.
The reed or cane rod, on account of its lightness and elasticity, is the best for fishing at the bottom, whether with a running line or float, especially when angling for those fish which bite tenderly, as roach and dace; of these some are contrived to go into the butt, and make a walking stick, others are composed of many short joints; all of which are inclosed in a bag. The tackle shops have a variety of these; but in purchasing a reed or cane rod, be careful that it strikes well, and that the bark which grows round the joints, is not rasped into; a very common fault which the rod makers are guilty of; and the consequence of which is, that it is thereby rendered weaker at the joints than elsewhere, and there being no bark to repel the wet, it soon rots, and whenever a large fish is hooked, certainly breaks. Another thing to be observed is, that the medium between the ferrule and the joint that goes in, is not cut too fine; if it is, and a good fish is struck, it is odds but a part of the rod, line, and fish, are all lost together.
The rod composed of the hazel will not do for fly-fishing, the least wet being apt to warp and render it crooked.