THE HANDLING OF THE PLANTS 155 
For vegetables, annuals, and other temporary plants, the best 
labels are simple stakes, like that shown in Fig. 177. Garden 
stakes a foot long, an inch wide, and three-eighths inch thick 
may be bought of label manufacturers for 
three to five dollars a thousand. These take es 
alg 
a soft pencil very readily, and if the labels are feng 
taken up in the fall and stored in a dry place, 
they will last two or three years. 
For more permanent herbaceous plants, as 
rhubarb and asparagus, or even for bushes, a 
stake that is sawed from clear pine or cypress, 
eighteen inches long, three inches wide, and an 
inch or more thick, affords a most excellent «&\_, yy 
label. The lower end of the stake is sawed to 177. The common 
a point, and is dipped in coal tar or creosote, stake label. 
or other preservative. The top of the stake is painted white, 
and the legend is written with a large and soft pencil. When 
the writing becomes illegible or the stake is needed for other 
plants, a shaving is taken off the face of the 
label with a plane, a fresh coat of paint added, 
and the label is as good asever. These labels 
are strong enough to withstand shocks from 
whiffletrees and tools, and should last ten 
years. 
1, kano ake Whenever a legend is written with a lead 
label, with theleg- pencil, it is advisable to use the pencil when 
end covered: the paint (which should be white lead) is still 
fresh or soft. Figure 178 shows a very good device for preserv- 
ing the writing on the face of the label. A block of wood is 
secured to the label by means of a screw, covering the legend 
completely and protecting it from the weather. 
If more ornamental stake labels are desired, various types can 
be bought in the market, or one can be made after the fashion 
of Fig. 179, This is a zinc plate that can be painted black, on 
