SPAWNING AND CARE OF BEDS 



be used either in ordinary cellars or mush- 

 room houses where the beds are made on the 

 floor only, or it is equally applicable in 

 mushroom houses or deep cellars where it 

 is desirable to make use of the floor space 

 and at the same time to arrange shelves in 

 tiers. It will readily be seen from Plate 

 III, b, that the shelf-bed system will often 

 permit one to multiply the amount of avail- 

 able space four or five times. This multi- 

 plication of bed space is, to a certain extent, 

 at a sacrifice of convenience. It is fre- 

 quently the only practicable plan, in order 

 to operate on a paying basis, since a single 

 tier of beds would make it necessary to in- 

 vest perhaps twice as much in the plant as 

 for the same amount of bed space when ar- 

 ranged in three tiers. 



The ridge bed. In the relatively low- 

 roofed caves of Paris the ridge bed system 

 alone is practised, and there it has its dis- 

 tinct advantages. This system means more 

 labor both in the preparation of the bed and 

 in the subsequent care of it. It permits of 



71 



