QUANTITY PRODUCTION 295 



phur or of coarse, dry sand or gravel. Sometimes 

 if placed in a cool, dry atmosphere so that the 

 excess of moisture is evaporated they may be 

 saved. 



Dry sand or fine gravel sprinkled over the 

 moss when the seeds are planted is the first and 

 best preventive of damping off. It covers the 

 soil with a substance on which the fungus cannot 

 readily establish itself, and thus separates the un- 

 healthy from the healthy plants. If good care in 

 general is supplemented by the use of this dry 

 sand or gravel, the fungus has little chance to 

 spread from plant to plant. 



Of course, one is obliged to be on the lookout 

 for insect pests, slugs, cutworms, crickets, 

 aphides, and thrip, which are sometimes very 

 destructive. Slugs, cutworms, and crickets re- 

 quire instant attention when they first attack the 

 young plants. The appetites of these pests often 

 increase to greater proportions than can be ap- 

 peased by the growth of the remaining plants and 

 they must be carefully sought in or under the 

 boxes. 



Sometimes slugs may be headed off for a time 

 by sprinkling lime, red pepper, quassia, or to- 

 bacco dust in their paths. Thrip and the aphides 

 are best destroyed by fumigating the houses once 

 a week or twice a month with tobacco smoke ; the 



