THE GROWING PERIOD 



the conditions. A satisfactory bed will 

 bear continuously from two to three or four 

 months. After a bed has apparently ceased 

 to bear it should not immediately be dis- 

 carded; but rather an examination should 

 first be made, since sometimes an application 

 of water heavier than usual may cause it to 

 yield an additional supply. It has been ad- 

 vised to water at such times with a dilute 

 saltpeter solution, or with liquid manure, 

 but the writer has not found these methods 

 sufficiently beneficial to justify a general 

 recommendation of this sort. It is possible 

 that watering with some complete fertilizer 

 might be of service, although this has not 

 been well demonstrated. If the examina- 

 tion reveals fresh-looking spawn in the bed, 

 the removal of the old soil and the substitu- 

 tion of a thin layer of fresh, rich earth may 

 be a stimulus to renewed productiveness. 



Care during production. Beds which 

 are yielding heavily will, of course, require 

 considerable water, and no grower can make 

 a greater mistake than to follow the now 



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