l!r>4 STUDIES OF AMERICAN FUNGI. 



the bed, some instrument in the form of a maul is used to tamp it 

 down. Where there are tiers of beds an instrument of this kind 

 cannot well be used. Here a brick or a similar heavy and small in- 

 strument is used in the hand, and the bed is thus pounded down 

 firmly. This is a tedious and laborious operation. Many growers 

 do not regard it as essential that the beds should be very firmly 

 packed. In such cases the material is distributed on the beds and 

 the successive layers are tamped down as firmly as can well be 

 done with the back of a fork or an ordinary potato digger, which 

 can be wielded with the two hands in between the beds. In the ex- 

 perience of these growers the results seem to be just as good as 

 where the beds are more firmly packed down. 



It is the practice in some cases where the bed lies against the 

 side of the house to build up the material of the bed at the rear, 

 that is, at the side of the house, much deeper than at the front, so 

 that the depth of the bed at the back may be eighteen to twenty 

 inches or two feet, while the front is eight to ten or twelve inches. 

 This provides a slightly increased surface because of the obliquity 

 of the upper surface of the bed, but it consumes probably a greater 

 amount of material. It probably is not advantageous where the op- 

 erations are carried on on a large scale, where abundant room is 

 available, where the material for making the beds is expensive, 

 and it is desirable to obtain from the material all that can be drawn 

 in a single crop. The same practice is sometimes recommended and 

 followed in the case of the beds made in cellars. 



In the making of beds with fresh material, that is, with unfer- 

 mented manure, as was done by Mr. William Swayne of Kennett 

 Square, Pa., one season, the coarser material is put in the bottom of 

 the bed, and then as the manure is distributed in the bed the soil is 

 sprinkled on also, so that finally when the bed is completed the pro- 

 portions of soil and manure are the same as when it is mixed in at 

 the time of fermentation. In making the beds in this way, should 

 any one be led to attempt it, it would be necessary to guard against 

 a too high temperature in the fermentation of this fresh material; 

 the temperature should not run above 130 degrees. It would also 

 require a longer time from the making of the bed to planting the 

 spawn than in the case of those beds where the manure is fermented 

 and cured before being made up. Probably the total amount of 

 time from the beginning to the completion of the preparation of the 

 bed for spawning would not be greater, if it would be so great. 



The beds all having been made, they are left until they are in a 

 suitable condition for spawning. The determination of this point, 



