The pole should be round, smooth, and about five inches in diameter at the base, growing gradually smaller toward the top.
Fig. 36.
Fig. 37.
For its support a wooden box is necessary, the average size being three feet long, two feet wide, and one foot high. Remove the top of the box, and directly in the centre of it cut a hole large enough to admit the pole. Take two sticks, two inches wide, and long enough to fit lengthwise in the box, and two shorter ones fitting the box crosswise, and nail them securely in the position shown in Fig. 36, driving the nails from the outside of the box. Slip the pole through the hole which has been cut in the top, and then stand it in an upright position between the four sticks in the centre of the box (Fig. 37). Be sure that the pole stands perfectly straight; then, before nailing down the top, fill the box with sand, bricks, or stones, packing them tightly around the pole; this will give sufficient weight to prevent its tipping. Nail the top on, and cover the box with moss or green cloth, and bank it up with flowers.
How to Dress a May-pole.
In olden times the May-poles were painted in alternate stripes of yellow and black, but a white pole is prettier and shows the decorations to better advantage. Tack the ends of eight or ten variously colored ribbons, one and one-half inch wide, around the pole near the top. For a pole ten feet high the ribbons should be four yards long. Around where the ribbons are fastened on, suspend a wreath of flowers, as shown in Fig. 38. Decorate the extreme tip of the pole with gaily colored streamers, or small flags.
