THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE OF AMERICA. 



785 



W ith a little working- this soil will become loose and in 

 perfect physical condition to produce most any crop. Ask 

 any greenhouse man why he is so particular about the 

 soil on his benches. Ask him what he does to make a 

 good rich soil. He will tell you that humus, nitrogen 

 and phosphorus are all essential to perfect plant growth. 

 Soils that are porous, black and full of humus are filled 

 with plant food and the roots of whatever crop sown on 

 them can feed easily through the .soil. The French farm- 

 er removes the top soil of his small acreage and takes 

 it with him when he moves into new ground. He puts in 

 a great deal of time in getting it in the right state of fer- 

 tility and he would rather move it than build up another 

 soil. 



Any soil can be improved. In fact, it can be made to 

 improve itself. Sow a thin soil to vetch, cowpeas, clover 

 or alfalfa and they will grow in fertility while you take 

 off a yearly crop of seed or grain, which can be used as 

 meal for livestock feeding. Many farmers have found 

 that sowing legumes in corn, cotton or small grain, and 

 then turning this legume under when the seed bed is pre- 

 pared for the following year's crop, adds greatly to the 

 soil's condition and supplies large amounts of available 

 plant food. Thousands of farms have been saved w'ith a 

 three-year rotation of clover, clover following a crop of 

 corn or oats, being seeded with the oats and yielding two 

 cuttings, then being turned under for the next year's 

 crop. 



In soils where clover inoculation is abundant, clover 

 has been used to wonderful advantage because of its 

 ability to take nitrogen from the air and store it in its 

 roots. All legumes if properly inoculated will take nitro- 

 gen from the air and store it in the little wart-like 

 btmches. in their roots. The soil contains air, and wher- 

 ever air is found it contains nitrogen, the elemental plant 

 food. If your soil is hard and your seed bed in which 

 you sow- legumes, or an}- other crop, is not properly pul- 

 verized, it will take longer for a legume crop to build u]! 

 your soil. It is easily possible by the proper use of a 

 few simple crops to bring back any soil into a state of 

 fertility that is indeed an improvement on its virgin con- 

 ditions. And it is the purpose of these series of articles 

 to point out the how and why of these facts. Any ques- 

 tions that the readers may want to ask me I w-ill be 

 pleased to answer, for I want to make these articles as 

 plain as possible and of benefit to all. 



MUSHROOM CULTURE. 



By H. F).\xexd.'\le. 



.Mushroom (Agaricus campestris) is the name applied 

 to a number of varieties of fungi, but the variety culti- 

 vated is designated as above. 



.Anyone having a regular supply of horse manure and 

 a building where a temperature of 65 degrees can Ik- 

 maintained, may have a constant supply of mushroom^ 

 all through the winter and spring months. 



The best results are obtained in specially constructed 

 mushroom houses. 



These should be so built as to be able to exclude the 

 light when not required, as this facilitates the keejjing ol' 

 a consistent amount of atmospheric moisture and an even 

 ten-ii)eraturc. 



The l)eds are made on benches of any convenient 

 width, having a depth of twelve to fifteen inches, and 

 may be arranged one above the other. 



Alushroom growers prefer the manure from highly fed 

 horses, but the manure from horses receiving ])hysic 

 should not be used. 



The manure should be gathered daily, and all but the 

 .shortest litter shook out, and then spread in a thin laver 

 in a drv shed. It should be occasionally turned. .\ little 



experience is necessary to judge the right conditions of 

 moisture, etc. 



The reason for this jjreparation is to prevent violent 

 fermentation and to maintain a more congenial heal over 

 a longer period. 



When suflicient manure has accumulated to make a bed 

 it should be transferred to the bench in the mushroom 

 house and there pounded solid to a depth of twelve inches. 



.\ hotbed thermometer should then be inserted and as 

 soon as it shows a decline from 80 degrees the bed is 

 ready for spawning. 



The spawn should be broken into small pieces about 

 two inches square and inserted just below the surface 

 about nine inches a]«rt ; after this a covering of fine loam 

 — previously warmed — should be placed on the bed 

 about two inches thick and firmed with back of a spade; 

 over this should be placed a little litter to keep the surface 

 from drying. 



.\ temperature of ()5 degrees with damping of warm 

 water on the floor and surfaces of the beds as conditions 

 demand is all that is required for the ne.xt five or six 

 weeks, wd-ien the mushrooms should begin to appear. 



The temperature should then be dropped to 55 degrees. 

 In gathering mushrooms, remove the whole stalk, for if 

 cut ofl^, leaving a portion of the stalk, this will decay 

 and give rise to other fungus harmful to the mushrooms. 



NEW WINTER FLOWERING BEGONIA. 



A \'er\- desirable begonia, I'lorence Davenport, which 

 acliieveil wonderful popularity in Boston this season, orig- 

 inated as a s])ort from Gloire de Lorraine at the green- 

 houses of A. AI. Davenport, Watertown, ]\Iass. The 

 foliage is similar to that of Lorraine, but is a little darker 

 m color. The flowers are the same size as Glory of Cin- 

 cinnati, but when the plants are seen in block appear a 

 trifle deeper in color. Its habit closely resembles that of 

 Cincinnati, though it grows into a n-iore bushy and 

 sliapels plant. 



