Experiments carried out during the carry months of four consecutive years lead to the following conclusions: (1) high soil moisture accentuates the pre‐emergence damping‐off of peas; (2) a useful measure of disease control is obtained by dressing the seed with red cuprous oxide or an organic mercurial preparation. The addition of a sticker is undesirable with both fungicides; (3) whereas cuprous oxide has, more often than not, exceeded the mercurial preparation in giving increased emergence, the latter has the advantage of reducing the amount of seed‐borne (Ascochyta) disease. In addition, the danger of an overdose is less with the mercurial preparation than with cuprous oxide; (4) the presence of a growth‐promoting substance in a mercurial preparation gave no increased beneficial effect, as regards emergence, vigour of growth, or reduced liability to phytoddal