Vegetable Growin: 



By Various Authorities. 



GROWING MUSHROOMS. 



llv A. J, Smith, Lake Geneva, Wis. 

 The mushroom is one of our most highly 'prizeii 

 deHcacies and can be grown as easily as many other 

 products of the soil. The cultivation of the mushroom 

 was first recorded in Paris in the sixteenth century. 

 At the present time there are several distinct types 

 of mushrooms, cultivated within the last five or six 

 years. There has been produced by Professor Dug- 

 gar of the Cornell Universit}-. later with the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture, three or four types distinct from 

 any others under cultivation. The principal features 

 of these types is the quicker action of the mycelium, 

 and consequently will produce a crop of mushrooms 

 two weeks earlier than the English ^Iilltrack spawn. 

 This spawn is placed on the market under the name 

 of Pure Culture by the Lambert American Spawn 

 Lompany. The different varieties are named as fol- 

 {• iws : Alaska. Pure White Columbian, Brown or Tan 

 ' Olor, Bohemian and Holland Creamery, Brown. 

 These varieties are all Pure Culture, specified because 

 each variety is pure in itself. The production of this 

 -pawMi has made the mushroom a safer crop. Where 

 conditions are adaptable for the product, the comfort 

 of the mushroom must always be considered. The 

 conditions upon which failure will result, no matter 

 how perfect your bed may be. depend upon atmos- 

 pheric conditions, dry atmosphere, cold draughts, 

 stagnant air, lack of moisture and sudden changes in 

 temperature. The mushroom house should be erected 

 purjjoseh- for nuishroom culture. There are many dif- 

 ferent methods used for building mushroom houses. 

 In my opinion the ideal house is the house that is built 

 beneath the surface of the ground, or partly so. Dig 

 out six feet deep, ten feet wide, build concrete walls 

 one foot above the level of the ground. Place an 

 equal span roof on these walls. This will give you two 

 beds on each side four feet wide with a two-foot center 

 walk, leaving an aperture in the roof two feet square 

 for the purpose of conveniently handling the manure. 

 The spawn, of course, is an imiiortant cause of failure 

 or success, but is not nearly so much worry to the 

 grower as when the English Milltrack was used ex- 

 clusively, as our dealers are now getting a fresh sup- 

 ply monthly, whereas with the Milltrack spawn it re- 

 ceived so many places of storage before it received the 

 final call to its natural condition that the word "luck" 

 was generally used where a grower was successful. 

 At the same time J do not believe that under improved 

 s]5awn conditions,' the advocating, of many writers on 

 mushroom culture, mushrooms can be grown success- 

 fully in anv hole or place. Mushrooms need a suitable 

 and comfortable place to grow in. and where the con- 

 ditions are right and the beds are made right, there 

 is no reason why you should not have a good crop of 

 mushrooms. 



A fair crop of mushrooms is three-quarters of a 

 pound to one square foot. I ha\e seen places where 

 the beds have been made in the corner of a large cellar, 

 the bed being well made ami spawned with good 

 spawn. The result of these conditions is that you will 

 get a few mushrooms from t!ic strongest mycelium 

 threads, but the fact that the large body of cold air 

 Hoating tiu-ou'di the cellar will naturalh" fall on vour 



bed. preventing the weaker mycelium threads to head 

 or knob, therelore will spread itself flat over the sur- 

 face of the bed, indicating fungus. 



Preparing the manure for the beds is done in a num- 

 ber of different ways. The reason for this, as a rule, 

 is the quantity of manure you can collect at one time. It 

 takes me ten da>s to get enough manure for a bed thirty 

 feet long, four feet wide and one foot deep. I spread this 

 manure rather thinly in an open shed until I have enough, 

 and then turn it all into a pile about eighteen inches deep 

 and keep it turned every day for twelve days, always 

 having the pile eighteen inches deep. I use three 

 wheelbarrow loads of good soil to every load of man- 

 ure and by mixing the soils with the manure every 

 day it obtains an even temperature. 



i find sawdust, baled shavings, and short straw, that 

 has been used for bedding the horses, not objectionable 

 when used in sinall quantities, as these commodities 

 have a tendency of retaining the urine and ammonia. 

 The depth of the mushroom bed varies among dift'er- 

 ent growers, but I believe beds twelve inches deep 

 cover all arguments. In making up the beds, they 

 should be made firm by treading the manure until the 

 required depth has been a'ttained. The temperature 

 should run up to 110 to 120 degrees, and when it cools 

 down and returns to 90 degrees it is safe to spawn. 

 It is good practice to lay the spawn bricks on the bed 

 three or four days before the bed is ready for spawn- 

 ing, the reason for this being that it starts the my- 

 celium into action, and also softens 3^our bricks of 

 spawn and saves a good deal of waste when cutting 

 them into small pieces. I cut a brick of spawn into 

 twelve pieces and insert these in the manure one inch 

 below the surface and ten inches apart. The bed 

 s^hould be covered with soil one and one-half inches 

 thick about a week after the bed is spawned ; this 

 gives the mycelium a chance to get into action. Before 

 the bed is cased over, the soil should be pressed down 

 even all over the surface of the bed with the back of 

 the shovel. Cover the bed over with a thin layer of 

 clean straw until the mushrooms appear, and then re- 

 move it. By using Pure Culture sijavvn, mushrooms 

 will appear in four weeks under proper conditions and 

 in six weeks you will be gathering your first mush- 

 rooms. 



The temperature of the house should be kept around 

 58 degrees. Ventilation is an important point. A 

 small circulation of fresh air is necessary. The water- 

 ing of the bed. when necessary, should be done thor- 

 oughly with warm rain water at 80 degrees. Water- 

 ing too often will cause black spot and fogging-off of 

 the pin-head mushrooms. Be careful to avoid over- 

 watering. 



The question of feeding mushrooms with manure 

 water does not always ajipeal to the average grower, 

 but from experience I find it to be a great help, espe- 

 cially on heavv cropped beds. I use hall sheep manure 

 and half horse manure soaked together for several 

 days, and then drained off. adding 100 i)er cent, clear 

 water, and put into the whole amount one pound of 

 saltpeter. Do not water the bed when it is moist; 

 wait until it shovv.s signs of dryness. Do not allow 

 the manure water to touch the mushrooms, as it dis- 

 colors them. 



