2.5
The road-nets should be of twelve threads, and the hayes of sixteen. The length of the road-nets may be twelve, twenty-four or thirty-feet; that of the hayes sixty, a hundred and twenty, or a hundred and eighty feet. If they are longer, they will be unwieldy. Both kinds should be thirty knotsi.e., ten meshes, so that the extreme height, if the net was fully stretched, would be five feet. Poachers now use slip-knots or nets about four feet deep with a mesh of two-and-a-half inches. high, and should have meshes of the same width as those of the purse-nets.
2.6
At the elbows at either end let the road-nets have slip-knots of string and the hayes metal rings,The rings running down the two sides were used for joining two nets together. and let the cordsi.e., the cords running along the top and bottom of the nets. be attached by loops.
2.7
The stakes for the purse-nets should be thirty inches long, but some should be shorter. Those of unequal length are for use on sloping ground, to make the height of the nets equal, while those of the same length are used on the level. These stakes must be so shaped at the top that the nets will pull off readily and they must be smooth.The author means, I think, to imply a contrast between the stakes of the purse-nets and those of the other nets. The second αὗται in the text can scarcely be right: possibly καὶ αὗται λεῖαι should be omitted, or αὐταί, they themselves, read with Dindorf. The stakes for the road-nets should be twice the length of these, and those for the hayes forty-five inches long. The latterOr perhaps he means both sets. should have little forks with shallow grooves, and all should be stout, of a thickness proportioned to the length.
2.8
The number of stakes used for the hayes may be large or small; fewer are required if the nets are strained tight when set up, more if they are slack.
2.9
A calf-skin bag will be wanted for carrying the purse-nets and road-nets and hayes and the bill-hooks for cutting wood and stopping gaps where necessary.
