2 GARDENING INDOORS AND UNDER GLASS 
so of water (as described for seed sowing) and let 
them soak up what they need, or until the surface 
of the soil becomes moist. This does the job more 
evenly and thoroughly than it can be done from the 
surface, and is also a safeguard against damping off, 
that dreaded disease of seedlings which is likely to 
carry away your whole sowing in one day —a de- 
caying of the stem just at or below the soil. 
From the time the seedlings come up they should 
be given abundance of light, and all the air possible 
while maintaining the required temperature. It 
will be possible, except on very cold dark days, to 
give them fresh air. Never, however, let a draft of 
air more than a few degrees colder than the room 
in which they are blow directly upon them. 
The secret of growing the little plants until they 
are ready for their first shift is not so much in the 
amount of care given, as in its regularity. Tend 
them every day — it will take only a few minutes 
time. When the second true leaf appears they will 
be ready for their first change, which is described in 
Chapter VI. 
