This article reports on the reduction in plant stand which sometimes occurred in field experiments where seed was pelleted with pure calomel using a resin-alcohol sticker. There are studies that have shown that pure calomel used as a seed dressing gives a good control of white rot (Sclerotium cepivorum Berk.) on salad onions. In these experiments resin-alcohol/calomel treated seeds behaved inconsistently, and laboratory tests indicated that in some instances seed treated in this way does not germinate satisfactorily. The disease control advantage obtained with calomel is lost when germination is adversely affected. This failure was found to be due to the effect of the sticker on germination. Experiments using a cellulose-ether sticker (Polycel) showed this material to be quite satisfactory as a sticker and it did not affect germination, nor, when used with calomel, disease control.