206 THE FLOEAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



days to keep it from fermenting, for it loses its necessary element 

 (nitrogen) if allowed to do so. This is the substance from which 

 the mushrooms derive their principal supply of nourishment, and 

 nitrogen is found in considerable quantities in the dung of horses, 

 and without it the cultivator cannot attain success. 



I will just remark that whether the beds are made on the floor 

 of an outhouse, or upon the shelves of a mushroom-house, the prin- 

 ciple is the same. The beds must be made up firm and solid, or little 

 success will attend the cultivator's efforts. The compost should be 

 rammed hard as the filling-in goes on ; not filled up and beaten on the 

 top, for it is then impossible to make it so firm as it should be at the 

 bottom. I generally proceed by giving the bed a thorough beating, 

 as each layer of two or three inches of compost is put in, and by 

 that means I have no difficulty in forming it sufficiently solid and 

 compact. Ten inches of compost will be a proper depth, and when 

 it begins to heat, and is likely to get too hot, holes must be bored 

 regularly over the bed, at a distance of eight or nine inches apart, 

 to prevent it heating too violently. Watch the bed closely, and 

 directly the heat declines, and the temperature stands at 80° or 90°, 

 fill in the holes to within two inches of the surface with the same 

 compost as used for the bed, and then insert a piece of spawn about 

 the size of a small hen's egg in each. In a few days after spawning, 

 put on a covering of maiden loam, neither too wet nor too dry, two 

 inches in thickness, and beat firm as before. The soil can be put on 

 at once, if there is no danger of the bed overheating. JS T o time 

 must be lost either in spawning the bed or covering it with soil, after 

 the danger of overheating is past, or the heat will be gone before the 

 spawn begins to run, and a long time will elapse before the bed 

 commences to bear. 



Beds that are made up in cold houses should also have a covering 

 of dry hay to retain the heat ; those in a heated structure are best un- 

 covered, so as to expose the mushrooms tothe influence of the air ; they 

 require this element to give them a good flavour, and without it they 

 are not wholesome, nor are they so solid and fine, for they grow 

 thin, lanky, and well-nigh flavourless in a very close and confined 

 atmosphere. Too high a temperature will also impair the quality 

 of the mushrooms, and render the beds less productive ; from 50° to 

 60° may be taken as a safe average. 



In watering the beds the utmost caution is necessary, for they 

 are frequently very seriously injured through having too much, or 

 from its being applied too cold. So long as the materials of which 

 the beds are composed feel moist, no water will be required : this 

 can be easily ascertained by thrusting the hand into the bed. Water 

 should always be applied about the warmth of new milk, and through 

 a fine rose. If the bed happen to get dry, give several gentle 

 waterings instead of one thorough soaking. Good spawn must be 

 used, otherwise the heat of the bed will be wasted, and get too cold 

 for the reception of a second lot of spawn. Beds prepared as 

 advised, will begin to bear in six weeks from the time of spawning, 

 and last about two months in full bearing. A few mushrooms 

 will continue to come longer than that ; but they do not follow in 



