SPAWN-MAKING 



and maintain in culture the varieties which 

 might prove to be most suitable. 



The tissue culture method. While study- 

 ing in my laboratory in 1899 Miss Fer- 

 guson v^as able to determine certain of 

 the conditions governing spore germination, 

 and as a result of this, it was hoped that a 

 method of using spores in spawn-making 

 would be practicable. Certain difficulties 

 arose which we were not able satisfactorily 

 to overcome, and the use of spores was 

 temporarily abandoned. Meanwhile, the 

 writer ascertained, as might well have been 

 anticipated, that fragments of growing 

 mushrooms, obtained under aseptic condi- 

 tions, may be made the starting point for 

 pure cultures of spawn. This is based on 

 the fact that a small piece of the inner tis- 

 sue of a fresh mushroom will, when placed 

 on any suitable sterile nutrient medium, 

 promptly develop a mycelium, thus yield- 

 ing a culture of the spawn. In making cul- 

 tures in this way, however, it should be re- 



97 



