SPAWNING AND CARE OF BEDS 



length. By compression it is not meant that 

 the bed should be hammered with a mallet. 

 On the other hand, it should be firm enough 

 even before spawning to support a person 

 without his sinking, say, more than i or 2 

 inches. 



Each ridge bed should be about 20 to 24 

 inches wide at the base, tapering gradually 

 to a top which should not be more than 6 

 inches across. These beds may be from 12 to 

 14 inches high. The dimensions indicated 

 will give to the ridge beds a gentle slope from 

 crest to floor, which will permit of the pro- 

 duction of heavy clusters. If the slope is 

 much steeper, the mushrooms developed 

 will be smaller, since they will not only be 

 subject to more rapid drying out, but the 

 clusters will also pull away more or less 

 readily from their attachment to the spawn 

 below, and thus will not reach the maximum 

 size possible. The same matter of gentle 

 slope applies to the flat bed when this is not 

 ^^sided" by boards. To the American com- 

 mercial grower, however, the sort of flat 



