For May, 1920 



181 



season, it blooms out of season in Summer. This 

 species and its several varieties, namely, Lcnnei, 

 Nigra. Alexandrina, Nobertiana, and Speciosa, which 

 differ little from the species in color of flower or time 

 of blooming, are among the hardier of the Magnolias. 

 The flowers of Lcnnei are crimson outside instead of 

 purple and it blooms a little later than the species, 

 Soiilaiigcana. Soiilangcana is a hydrid produced from 

 Obovata and Yulan. 



Magnolia Thompsoniaxa : Thompson's Magnolia, a 

 hybrid of Magnolia glauca and tripctala, is of garden 

 origin and not as hardy as either of its parents. It 

 forms a small tree but also grows in shrub form. The 

 fragrant flowers of this hybrid appear in June and 

 July making it one of the latest blossoming Mag- 

 nolias. Its foliage, though coriaceous, is deciduous 

 in the North. 



Magnolia Stell.vta : Magnolia stcllata or Hallcana 

 (Hall's Magnolia), a native of Japan, has a spreading 

 and shrub-like growth. This species flowers freely 

 aufl comes into bloom, when quite small. Its sweet 

 scented blooms appear before its foliage in late March 

 and April and resemble those of the Water Lily, be- 

 cause of their narrow petals. When in the bud. its 

 semi-double flowers are pink. This Magnolia is quite 

 hard\- and is one of the earliest flowering trees, or we 



suppose we should say Shrubs, as it almost always is 

 grown in shrub form. If it is given ample room, it 

 will without pruning grow into a well shaped shrulj. 

 Specimens 40 years old are no more than 12 feet high. 

 Stcllata is very suitable for a small lawn or garden 

 It has a twiggy growth and each twig bears a flower. 

 This species belongs to the Chinese section of Mag- 

 nolias. 



Magnolia Pakviflora and Watsoni : Among other 

 Magnolias, whose blooms appear before their foliage 

 is Parviflora. a small tree, a native of Japan, whose 

 fragrant, wdiite cup-shaped flowers are borne on long 

 pedicels, and have pink sepals and crimson stamens. 

 This species blooms in June. Closely related to Par- 

 liflora is JVatsoni, also a native of Japan, the beauty 

 of whose white sweet scented June Blooms is in- 

 creased by the crimson center formed by its bright 

 colored stamens. 



We have spoken thus far only of those smaller 

 flowering trees which attain a height of no more thaiu 

 30 feet. We may say that many Magnolias which 

 do not come within this class because they ultimately 

 reach a greater height, nevertheless begin to bloom 

 when quite small. Of these Magnolias we will speak 

 in our next article which will be on "Ornamental 

 Flowering Trees of Medium Size." 



Growing of Mushrooms 



S. W. Carlquist 



IT is not as difficult to grow mushrooms successfully 

 as many people seem to think. A cellar or tight shed 



under the barn is a good place to grow mushrooms 

 during the Summer months ; whereas for Winter and 

 cold weather it will be necessary to have a place either 

 provided with some means of heating or so constructed 

 that the place will be frostproof. For summer use the 

 beds should be made up from March to May and for 

 winter crops from September to December. Good ma- 

 terial for beds is best obtained from livery stables. In 

 gathering up the manure take all the saturated straw- 

 with the droppings, pile this into a rather deep compost 

 and have on hand some good moist friable soil about 

 one-third in bulk to the manure. As soon as the manure 

 pile shows signs of fermentation turn the mass over 

 thoroughly, mix, and see that the manure on the outside 

 gets in the center and vice versa. After the compost 

 has been turned, cover over with a layer of soil, incor- 

 porating this with the manure, and repeat the opera- 

 tion morning and evening until in about a week's time 

 the rank heat has subsided and the whole mass presents 

 a dark brown spongy color. With the addition of soil 

 each time of turning, as mentioned above, there is little 

 danger of the compost overheating and burning. Should 

 the mass show signs of dryness, however, use the water- 

 ing can until sufficient moisture is obtained. 



In laying the beds have two men do the operation, 

 one to shake up and throw in the manure, and the other 

 to pack in the material firmly and even. Lay the beds 

 firmly, about 14 to 16 inches thick and then pound or 

 tramp down to about 10 to 12 inches. Place a ther- 

 mometer in the bed and when after a few days the tem- 

 perature has subsided to 85° or 80° spawn the bed. 

 Fresh American pure culture spawn is alwa>s reliable 

 and will produce a good crop of solid fine flavored mush- 

 rooms. P.reak up the bricks of spawn into pieces about 



3 to 4 inches S(|uare, place over the bed 12 to 14 inches- 

 apart. Take a trowel and plant in the bed so that each 

 piece will be covered with about 1 inch of manure. Firm 

 the bed down, smooth and level. In about ten days 

 or two weeks cover the bed over with some good garden- 

 soil passed through a rather coarse sieve, spread out 

 level and firm down to an inch thickness. The ideal tem- 

 perature in a mushroom house is 55°. In the summer 

 months it is sometimes hard to keep the temperature 

 down below 60 to 65°, but by keeping the floor well 

 sprinkled and the place tight and dark in the day time 

 and by opening the door or ventilator wide by night or 

 even having a large cake of ice on the floor, the tem- 

 perature may be kept below 70° most of the time. If 

 the room stays around 70° for any length of time the 

 whole crop is liable to be ruined as maggots will be sure 

 to develop. As soon as the beds show signs of dryness, 

 they should be given a sprinkling of tepid water in 

 which a handful of nitrate of soda has been dissolved 

 to each two gallons of water. Pick the mushrooms by 

 twisting them up from the bed. .\fter each picking go 

 over the beds, pick up all rotted dead heads or withered 

 small specimens and fill in all the holes with soil. After 

 the beds have been in bearing for some time and the 

 crop shows signs of weakening, sieve a layer of good 

 moist soil over the whole bed. Water this, using tepid 

 water and nitrate of soda as mentioned above and the 

 beds will soon show new life. This operation may be 

 repeated from time to time. If proper temperature and 

 a good growing atmosphere is maintained a bed of good 

 material should continue to bear for about three months' 

 time. Be sure to procure the spawn from a reliable 

 firm and keep the same in a dry airy place some time 

 before it is needed. The writer has been growing mush- 

 rooms for si.xteen years and rarely has been unable to 

 pick good specimens any month during the year. 



