(from Nancy Bush’s pattern description):

…I’ve kept to the pattern for the most part, working a Dutch Heel and Flat Toe, but I’ve adjusted the order in which the stitches are decreased for the gussets, so that the round begins at the back of the heel.  In the past, knitted garters would have held up this type of stocking.  These garters were narrow strips of knitting, about 30” (76 cm) long and 2 1/4” (5.5 cm) wide. According to The Workwoman's Guide, garters were typically made of "worsted cotton, or soft wool wool worked on 12 to 30 stitches, depending on the thickness of the yarn. They were most commonly worked in garter stitch, but ribbing, stockinette stitch, or a succession of squares of different patterns were also used.