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When covering with flower-pots it is necessary to have a number of small wooden platforms. These should be about eight inches square, with a hole in the centre about half an inch in diameter and a slot cut away to the front edge. From the middle of the back edge a one-inch square must be cut and a piece of hoop-iron attached across the opening. This is to accommodate a jarrah stake one inch square and allow the platform to be slid up or down the stake. By driving a thin wooden wedge between the hoop-iron and the back of the stake the platform can be fixed at any desired height.

The graining of the wood should run from side to side of the platform, lest it split from front to back through the weak narrow area between the two cuts. Splitting from side to side can be prevented by fixing two light slats of wood (cleats) on the under aspect of the platform from front edge to back edge, one about one inch from each side.

On the upper surface of the platform about an inch to each side of the longer cut and approximately an inch from its inner end, drive a one-inch brass nail about three-quarters of its length into the wood. Fix a piece of 16-gauge galvanized wire round one nail, leaving it just loose enough to swivel. Make a hook in the other end of the wire so that it can be caught round the other nail. Rusting is avoided by using the brass nail and the galvanized wire.

It is three inches from the hole for the stake to the long

slot into which the flower-stem is to be placed. A triangular bracket should be made one inch thick, three inches along one side, and four inches along the other side of a right angle. The short side will be attached to the underside of the platform. The four-inch side is to rest against the stake and steady the platform.

A piece of hoop-iron should be accurately bent and hammered into shape to fit round the lower front edge (the hypotenuse) of the bracket. Its ends should project beyond the back edge of the bracket on each side. They will keep the bracket from moving across the face of the stake. The projecting corners of hoop-iron can be snipped off, flush with the back aspect of the stake, or, better still, turned over at right angles, giving a stronger steadying effect. Painting the platforms will help to prevent warping or splitting. When not in use, keep them under cover.

Five-inch flower-pots are the most useful for the actual covering of the blooms. The drainage hole must be blocked and the base covered, on its outer surface, with cement moulded to form a slight mound, so as to shed water readily. The cement mixture used should be almost liquid, for water will be drawn thirstily into the earthenware of the pot. A wooden mallet for driving stakes into the ground will save spreading the top of the stake. Alternatively a heavy piece of wood should be held on the stake-top and the hammering done with an axe-head.

Stakes available from timber-yards and plant shops are apt to vary greatly in thickness. Those for supporting covers must be uniform in dimensions of their cross-sections, so as to be readily adaptable to the slots and wedges. They should be carefully selected and kept for this one use. Jarrah twists less than red gum. Stakes should be free from flaws in graining and will last longer if oiled. The wedges should be about three inches long, one inch wide, and about half an inch thick at the bigger end.