Stránka:roll 1910.djvu/133

BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA ii>^ na-tah, a Sioux chief, once shot his arrow through a cow buffalo ^ and killed her calf that was rufining at the other side. But the long bow is more effective than the short one. The old English bowmen, the best the world has ever seen, always shot with the long bow. The finest bows and arrows are those made by the professional makers, but there is no reason why each boy should not make his own. According to several authorities the best bow woods are mul- berry, osage-orange, sassafras, Southern cedar, black locust, apple, black walnut, slippery elm, ironwood, mountain ash, hickory, Cali- fornia yew, and hemlock. Take a perfectly sound, straight, well-seasoned stick 5 or 6 feet long (your bow should be about as long as yourself) ; mark off a 5-inch space in the middle for the handle ; leave this round and a full inch thick ; shave down the rest, flat on one side for the front and round on the other for the back, until it is about one inch wide and J4 oi an inch thick next the handle, tapering to about one-half that at the ends, which are then " nocked," nicked, or notched as shown (Cut I). These notches are for the string, which is to be put on early. Draw the bow now, flat side out, not more than the proper distance, and note carefully which end bends the most; then shave down the other side until it bends evenly. The middle scarcely bends at all. The perfect shape, when bent, is shown in Cut II. Trim the bow down to your strength and finish smoothly with sandpaper and glass. It should be straight when unstrung, and unstrung when not in use. Fancy curved bows are weak affairs. The bow for our boy should require a power of 15 or 20 pounds (shown on a spring balance) to draw the string 23 inches from the bow ; not more. The best string is of hemp or linen; it should be about 5 inches from the middle of the bow when strung (Cut II). The notches for the string should be two-thirds the depth of the string. If you have not a bought string make one of strong, unbleached linen. thread twisted together. At one end the string, which is heaviest at the ends, should be fast knotted to the bow notch (Cut V) ; at the other it should have a loop as shown in Cut IV. In the middle it should be lashed with fine silk and wax for 5 inches, and the exact place marked where the arrow fits it.