148 VEGETABLE FORCING 
practice with many vegetables is to make the first shift 
into flats, and the second and perhaps additional shifts 
into pots. A 2-inch pot may be used the first time, a 3 or 
4-inch the second, and if desired for tomatoes a 5 or 6-inch 
the third. More explicit directions for transplanting each 
crop will be given in later chapters. 
Care of plants—One of the greaiest dangers in the 
starting of plants is over-watering. No more water 
should be used than is necessary to keep the boxes or 
beds moist. Too frequent as well as too profuse water- 
ing should be avoided. A fine lot of plants may be ruined 
by a single careless watering. High temperatures are 
also disastrous, especially if there is an excessive supply 
of soil moisture. Proper ventilation is of the greatest 
importance. See Chapter X on Watering, Heating, Ven- 
tilating and Shading. 
Damping-off is caused by fungous diseases which some- 
times play havoc among young vegetable plants. It 
usually attacks the stems of the plants at or near the 
surface of the ground. If the infection is severe, it may 
spread rapidly over the beds and cause many plants to 
rot off and die. The trouble may be avoided by the use 
of clean soil, by steam sterilization, and by proper ven- 
tilation and watering. When the disease is known to be 
present, watering only between the rows will be found to 
be a valuable preventive measure. In other words, if the 
plants are kept dry there will be less danger of the fungus 
entering the tissues. 
