166 Bulletin 227. 



Places Suitable for Growing Mushrooms. 



Cellars or basement rooms where the temperature in the winter 

 does not go below 55" or does not rise above 65", are suitable places 

 for growing mushrooms. It is not advisable to make them under 

 the living part of the house, since the odor of the manure will fill the 

 house. They can also be groAAn in stables which are not too cold in 

 the winter. If grown under benches in greenhouses, the beds must 

 not be too near heating pipes, and an oil cloth screen must be sloped 

 under the bench to turn off the drip from water used on the benches 

 above. Since this bulletin is prepared for amateurs, the question 

 of the commercial growing of mushrooms in caves or in houses 

 especially built for the purpose will not now be considered. Beds 

 can be prepared on the cellar or basement floor by using the wall for 

 one side of the bed. A board or plank one foot to 15 inches in width 

 can then ])e stood on edge three to four feet from the basement wall 

 and held in position l)y the necessary upright scantlings and sup- 

 ported at intervals to hold the material in position. In this wa}" a 

 box of the desired width and length can be made, the floor of the 

 basement or cellar serving as the bottom. If more space is desired, 

 tiers of beds can be made; that is, two or three or four beds one above 

 the other against the cellar wall. This is a common practice. Cross 

 pieces from the uprights can be nailed on, upon which the floor of 

 the upper beds can be laid. These should be made of lumber at 

 least one inch in thickness. A space about 20-24 inches should 

 l)e left between the top of one bed and the l^ottom of the one directly 

 above it. All these places should have some ventilation, but there 

 should not be air currents and care should be taken to make the 

 rooms in which the mushrooms are planted clean and sweet in order 

 to avoid as far as possible any conditions which would encoiu'age 

 insects and other enemies of mushrooms. 



Preparation of Material. 



The best material which has been found for the cultivation of 

 mushrooms is horse manure as it comes from well-littered stables. 

 The best is that whicli is littered with straw, though manure littered 

 with shavings or sawdust is used, but it usually recjuires a longer 

 time for curing. While it is desirable to have some straw in the 

 manure, a large percentage of straw is objectionable, and when a 

 large amount of straw is present the coarser straw should be removed. 

 The manure is then piled under shelter either in the stable or in some 

 shed. During the summer or autumn it may be piled in an open shed. 

 In the Avinter when it is quite cold, an open shed would probably in- 



