DOMESTIC NOTICES. 



nected with the open air by a pipe, and with 

 the air of the green house by another pipe, 

 would answer the purpose; — or a tin drum 

 might be formed over the hottest part of the 

 flue into which the outer air may be admitted 

 and passed into the house, when warm. Many 

 plants refuse to expand the flowers properly in 

 a green house when there is plenty of light and 

 heat, solely from the want of fresh air. 



GoosEBEKKiEs. — A Constant reader, (Tren- 

 ton, N. J.) This fruit does not succeed here 

 so well as in England, because our climate is too 

 hot and dry for it. In Maine and Canada they 

 bear very finely. To succeed in your garden, 

 you must choose a border on the north side of 

 a paling fence — trench it two feet deep, laying in 

 the bottom spit of the trench a heavy dressing 

 of fresh stable manure. In this plant the best 

 English gooseberries, of such sorts as Crown 

 Bob, Gascoigne, AVhite-Smith,Royal Sovereign, 

 &c. The bushes should be about three feet 

 apart. When planted keep the bushes trimmed 

 to a single stem, and thin out the shoots, in 

 March, pretty freely. The next, and most im- 

 portant point, is to keep the whole border 

 mulched, 6 inches deep, to jjreserve the cool- 

 ness and moisture of the earth — in order to 

 prevent mildew. The best substance for mulch- 

 ing gooseberries is salt hay ; the next best tan- 

 bark. It is better to have a dozen plants grown 

 in this way, with large clear fruit than a hun- 

 dred, as we usually see them, covered with 

 mildew. 



Growing Mushrooms in Winter. — /. B. 

 (Philadelphia.) Nothing is easier than to pro- 

 duce a crop of mushrooms under the stage or 

 under the walk of a green-house, if the walk 

 is one made partly open of wooden slats. All 

 you want is mushroom spawn, [seed] which 

 may be bought at any of the large seed stores, 

 manure and warmth. The following direc- 

 tions by Glenny, are so much to the point on 

 mushroom culture, that we cannot do better 

 than reprint them. The theory of growing 



mushrooms may be reduced to a rule that is 

 unerring in numerous ways. First; horse 

 droppings, or short dung, with body enough to 

 generate heat, will alwaj's produce a crop of 

 mushrooms if spawn is inserted. Consequent- 

 ly, a mushroom bed may be made like a hot- 

 bed, anywhere, so that it be kept dry. Sec- 

 ond; horse droppings or short dung, in too 

 small a quantity to generate heat of itself, will 

 nevertheless, produce mushrooms when spawn- 

 ed, if the temperature of the house is kept up. 

 Consequently, a large pot filled all but two 

 inches with horse droppings, a lump of spawn 

 put in, and two inches of mould at the top, 

 will yield mushrooms in great plenty, if put in 

 a stove, (or hot-house of high temperature). 

 Shelves two feet wide, with a two-inch ledge in 

 front, may be filled as full as possible, on a 

 slope, with droppings or short dung hy which 

 means the wall of a shed or out-building capa- 

 ble of keeping the frost out, may be made to 

 hold several tiers, one above the other, two 

 feet distance being enough from one shelf to 

 the other, the moulding and spawning being 

 similar to all other beds; but the temperature 

 ought to be steady, and no draught admitted. 

 This mode of culture in a cellar is very desira- 

 ble, light being not at all requisite to the pro- 

 duction of the mushroom. The principal at- 

 lention required is to have the dung of a good 

 genial warmth at the time the spawn is insert- 

 ed. After it has begun to work well, all that 

 is necessary is to keep off frosty cold winds and 

 draught. A covering of clean straw is of great 

 service, and it must not be forgotten that mois- 

 ture is necessary, though too much of it is 

 mischievous. Mushroom houses have been 

 erected on various plans; but as almost every 

 kind of structure, from a cellar to an attic, 

 from a stove to a shed, can be made available, 

 we should never think of constructing a house 

 on purpose. There is not a corner that may 

 not be appropriated to the culture of this valu- 

 able esculent. 



