56 CHRYSANTHEMUMS 



be the best method to use. The other 

 method, and the one that is more generally 

 used at the present time for the plants, 

 is to make a wire frame about the plant, 

 tying the blooms to the frame or to strings 

 carried from one part of it to another. If 

 properly arranged, and if good judgment is 

 used in tying the blooms, the operator can 

 produce a finished plant that will be sym- 

 metrical in form and outline, without the 

 slightest trace of stiffness. 



There are slight modifications of the form 

 of the frame that the ingenuity of the 

 operator will suggest, but the following is 

 the general plan of construction: Use six 

 iron stakes of such size and length as the 

 plants will require. No. 8 galvanized 

 wire makes good stakes for plants that will 

 tie out to about three to four feet in diameter; 

 larger plants should have stakes two and 

 one half to three and one half feet long, 

 made from quarter or five sixteenths inch 

 iron rods. If a loop is made at the top 

 it will be found convenient. For plants 

 that will measure, when tied out, seven to 

 eight feet in diameter, use stakes three 

 and one half feet long. Place one in the 



