SPAWNING AND CARE OF BEDS 



Spawn the beds, or to case them, a profuse 

 development of mould occurs, and also later 

 the smaller species of ink caps, or Coprinus 

 fimetarius. This is more frequent where 

 shavings or saw^dust constitute a consider- 

 able part of the compost. This growth will 

 do no harm, but where it occurs profusely 

 before spawning it is just as well to wait a 

 few days. If the mould continues abundant 

 after spawning, it may be eliminated by fur- 

 ther compression of the compost, or by early 

 ^'casing," as subsequently described. 



Spawning and casing. Attention is di- 

 rected elsewhere to the kinds of spawn and 

 the procedure of spawn-making; so that 

 here the use of the spawn will alone be dis- 

 cussed. When brick spawn is used the 

 bricks may be broken into about 9 to 12 

 or more pieces (each piece about the size of 

 a hen's tgg) and one piece will be required 

 for each square foot of bed space; of flake 

 spawn an amount half as large as one's fist 

 is not excessive. In spawning, lift the com- 

 post and insert the piece deep enough with 



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