68 BULLETIN 479, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
In these bundles the trees stand transportation well and they do 
not heat or dry out readily. Packed in this manner, they have been 
left in a warm place for 6 days and were cool and moist when the 
bundle was opened. 
SHIPPING. 
Because of the danger which accompanies delays en route of 
growth starting, of drying out, of heating, or of holding up planting 
operations, shipments of nursery stock should preferably be by 
express ; or, if the packages are small, by mail. Shipments by freight 
are much cheaper, and for distances up to 300 miles have proved very 
satisfactory in California. Special arrangements can sometimes be 
made with freight agents to put a shipment through promptly, but 
the risk is greater than with express shipments. Shipments are 
liable to be delayed under the best of conditions, because express or 
railroad officers do not always realize the necessity of prompt de- 
livery. To avoid this, it is believed best for the shipper to indicate 
plainly on the outside of each crate that the contents are "perish- 
able," that they contain "live plants" the "prompt delivery" of 
which is " necessary," or some similar phrase. Night shipments are 
preferable to day shipments. 
DISEASES AND INJURIES IN NURSERY. 
DAMPING-OFF. 
Damping-off is a source of great danger to young seedlings. This 
disease is most commonly caused by one of three fungi, Pythium 
heharyanum Hesse, Rhizoctonia sp., and Fusarium sp., and its pres- 
ence in a bed is indicated in a very characteristic manner. The stems 
of seedlings attacked exhibit a rather dirty, watery, or rotten appear- 
ance at the surface of the ground and for a quarter of an inch or 
more upward. The stems become flaccid and limp in this section, 
and the seedlings topple over unless they are held up by surrounding 
plants. There is no recovery. Seedlings are most susceptible to 
danger from this source during a period of from 2 to 6 weeks fol- 
lowing germination, and some species are more susceptible than 
others. The seedling may even be attacked before it appears above 
the ground. 
