which put a handful of salt, and a little argol, and stir them till dissolved: then boil them well

in a sauce-pan. When the water is cold, scrape your quills, and steep them in it for ten or twelve days, then dry them, and rub them with a woollen cloth.

The materials most necessary for an angler to have out with him, and which may be well carried in his pockets, are, lines coiled up; spare links; two worm-bags, one for brandlings, &c. and the other for lob-worms; a plummet to fix the depth of the water, of a pyramidal form; a gentle-box; floats and spare caps; split shot; shoemakers' wax in a piece of leather; silk; hooks, some whipped on and some loose; a clearing-ring, which is of use to disengage the hook when entangled; a landing-net, to land large fish with; the disgorger, which when a fish has gorged the hook, by putting it down his throat, till you touch the hook, at the same time pulling the line, it will easily come away.

CHAP. III.

The general Baits used in Angling, where found, and how preserved.

Truer relative to his rods, lines, books, &c. I HE reader being furnished with the best shall give him a list of the baits in general of use in angling; but must desire him to observe, that fish take all sorts of baits, most eagerly and freely, when he presents them to them in such order and manner as nature affords them, or as they themselves generally gather them.

THE LOB-WORM, DEW-WORM, GARDEN-WORM, TWATCHELL, OR TREACHET,

Found in a garden or church-yard late in a summer's evening, with a lanthorn. When the summer proves a very dry one, they may be forced out of their holes with the liquor produced by bruising walnut-tree-leaves in water. The best of these are those which have a red head, a streak down the back, and a broad tail, from which they derive the name of squirrel-tails.

This is a principal worm for salmon, chub, trout, barbel, and eels of the largest size.

BRANDLINGS, GILT-TAILS, AND RED-WORMS, Found in old dunghills, rotten earth, cows' dung, hogs' dung; but the best are those to be met with in tanners' bark after it is thrown by.

These, especially the two first, are for trout, grayling, salmon-smelts, gudgeon, perch, tench, and bream: the three last take the red-worm, well-scoured, exceedingly well.

MARSH OR MEADOW-WORMS,

Found in marshy ground or the fertile banks of rivers, are a little blueish, require more scouring than the brandling or gilt-tail, and are taken from Candlemas to Michaelmas.

This is a choice worm in March, April, and September, for trouts, salmon-smelts, gudgeon, grayling, flounder, bream, and perch.

TAG-TAIL,

Found in marled lands, or meadows after a shower of rain, or early in the morning in March

or April, if the weather is mild and temperate, and is a most excellent bait.

you an

This is an excellent bait for a trout, if gle with it whilst the water is discoloured by rain.

HOW TO SCOUR AND PRESERVE WORMS.

Get a quantity of moss, the best is that which is soft and white, and grows on heaths, but as this is scarce to be had in some parts, in lieu of it any kind that is fresh and sweet; rinse it well from the earth that hangs about, and then wring it very dry: put your worms and it into an earthen pot, cover it close that they do not crawl away, and set it in a cool place in summer, and in winter in a warm one, which will prevent the frost from killing them change the moss every fourth day in summer, and once a week in winter, or at least let the old moss be taken from them, washed, squeezed pretty dry, and put it to them again. If you want them to be quickly scoured, a little boleammoniac put to them will accomplish your desire; or you may put them in water for three or four hours, and they will soon be scoured, yet be very weak, but being put to good moss, they will speedily recover. When the knot near the middle of the brandling begins to swell, he is sick; and for fear they should die, feed them with crumbs of bread, and with the yolk of an egg and sweet cream coagulated over the fire. Never steep your worms in moss to scour them above ten days, in which time they will be perfectly fit for use.

There is another way of cleansing and preserving worms recommended by many anglers, and is a very good one for every kind of them except the lob-worm: take a piece of very coarse cloth,

which has never been shrunk in the fulling-mill, wash it very clean, and let it dry: then soak it in the liquor where a fat piece of fresh beef has been boiled, and wring it out, but not so hard as to press out all the liquor; then lay it in a deep earthen pan, that has a large bottom, and put your worms thereon, that they may crawl in and out, and so scour themselves: when they have remained there twenty-four hours, wash out your cloth as before, but do not dry it; then wet it again with some of the same liquor, and having placed your worms thereon, keep them in a close cellar: repeat this every other day during the heat of the summer, and you will not only preserve your worms alive for three weeks or a month, but make them very red, clear and tough. When you take them out for angling, put them into moss that has been well washed and not wrung dry; and when you come home at night, put them again into the pan, by which they will recover and gather fresh strength. Take care that there is no salt in the beef liquor, for if there is your worms will purge themselves to death.

Mr. Gay, in his Rural Sports, is particularly partial to the gilt-tail, as is apparent by the following lines.

You must not every worm promiscuous use:
Judgment will tell the proper baits to chuse.
The worm that draws a long, immod'rate size,
The trout abhors, and the rank morsel fries;
And if too small, the naked fraud's in sight,
And fear forbids while hunger does invite.
Those baits will best reward the fisher's pains,
Whose polish'd tails a shining yellow stains:
Cleanse them from filth to give a tempting gloss,
Cherish the sully'd reptile race with moss :
Amid the verdant bed, they twine, they toil,
And from their bodies wipe their native soil.

PALMER-FLY, PALMER-WORM, WOOL-BED, OR
CANKERS,

Found in herbs, plants, and trees, where they are bred, if not a perfect caterpillar, yet undoubtedly a species thereof: they gain the name of woolbeds from their outward parts being woolly." These and the May-fly are the foundation of flyangling.

These are good baits either for trout, chub, grayling, roach, or dace.

BOBS,

Found in sandy or mellow ground, and got by following the plough in Autumn, are worms as big as two maggots, have red heads, and their bodies full of soft guts. Put them in a tub with some of the mould that you gather them in, keep them in a warm place, and they are an excellent bait from the first of November till the middle of April. You may boil them the morning you intend angling, in milk and water, for two minutes, which will make them tough; and put them in a box where gum-ivy has been rubbed.

These are choice baits from the beginning of November until after the middle of April, for chub, roach, dace, salmon-smelts, trout, bream, tench, and carp.

COW-TURD-BOB OR CLAP-BAIT,

Found under a cow-turd from the beginning of May to Michaelmas: it is bigger than a gentle, but very like one: it is best kept in the same earth you find it in,