io8 



GARDENING. 



Dec. is, 



Good berries may be grown on any soil, 

 sand, clay, muck, loam, gravel or a com- 

 bination of each, provided the same be 

 highly fertilized, well drained and thor- 

 oughly cultivated. 



Early fruits are usually most desirable 

 and light soils with southern exposure 

 are best adapted for that purpose. Light 

 soils however, require heavy fertilizing, 

 more mulch in summer, are more liable to 

 injury by drouth and produce lighter 

 crops. Clay soil must be well drained, is 

 more difficult to prepare, mature later 

 crops and not so favorable for winter 

 protection. 



The ideal berry ground would be, 1st, a 

 rich sandy loam with clay subsoil. # 2nd, 

 a dark loam or gravelly loam mixed 

 slightly with clay, and a clay subsoil, all 

 having a southerly or eastern slope. Any 

 of these mixed soils, will make good berry 

 gardens by applying good barn yard 

 manure, which contains all the essential 

 elements required. When such manure 

 cannot be obtained then commercial fer- 

 tilizers rich in nitrogen and potash should 

 be applied. 



Avoid low flat land unless under- 

 drained, it is usually cold, late and more 

 subject to frosts. Avoid steep hillsides as 

 being more subject to drouth and wash 

 of soil by severe rains. M. A. Thayer. 



Mushrooms. 



GROWING MUSHROOMS. 



J. B.H., Brooklyn, N. Y., asks: Question 

 No. 1. — It is sometimes said that mush- 

 room raising is a difficult art requiring 

 long experience, and thecrop an uncertain 

 one. Is this your view? 



Ans. — Any one of intelligence can raise 

 mushrooms, at the same time it is an un- 

 certain job. Beginners often have as good 

 success as old practitioners. 



Ques. No. 2.— What are the principal 

 causes of failure, and why, in your opin- 

 ion, is the industry not oftener followed? 



,1ns. Poor materials, poor quarters, 

 neglect. Faint heart. Also lack of ap- 

 plication and personal interest. Itis a 

 crop that one's soul and hands must 

 enter into; dawdling won't grow mush- 

 rooms. 



Ques. No. 3. — What was the average 

 wholesale price of mushrooms last sea- 

 son, and do you anticipate much change 

 in the price during the next few years? 



Ans. — Don't know. Consult a whole- 

 sale commission merchant in the New 

 York market. 



Ques. No 4 — What would be a rough 

 estimate of the cost, per square foot of 

 bed, of the manure and labor, and gath- 

 ering and marketing the crop? 



Ans. — Can't tell, so much depends on 

 the man employed. In order to grow 

 mushrooms successfully one must put his 

 own hands as well as his heart and 

 pocket to the wheel. Manure is always 

 a local question. 

 Ques .No. 5. — Given intelligent manage- 

 ment and some little experience (that of 

 a year or two for instance) what weight 

 of marketable mushrooms per square 

 foot of bed, might be reasonably counted 

 on? 



Ans. — Three-fifths of a pound. 



Ques. No. 6.— What kind of building is 

 in your opinion the best for a mushroom 

 house, and failing that, what structure 

 would you recommend on I he score of 

 economy'/ Would it be practicable and 

 economical for a beginner to hire a 

 florist's greenhouse in preference to build- 

 ing? 



Ans.— A. close wooden shed, dark, low, 

 and perfectly dry and free from draught 

 is the cheaper and as good as any. But 

 any building, pit or cellar can be made to 

 answer. 



Ques. No. 7. — How much capital would 

 be necessary to start in a small way? 



Ans. — That depends upon the person 

 going into the business. If he intends 

 hiring the work done, my advice is go 

 slow, but if he is to do the work himself 

 $500 should give a fellow a nice start. 



Ques. No. 8.— In short how would you 

 advise a beginner to proceed, desirous of 

 starting in a somewhat tentative manner 

 at first? 



Ans —Get his coat and vest, collar and 

 tie off, then on with his overalls and go 

 right into the manure and dirt with his 

 own hands and stick to it without a 

 growl or a let up every day for four 

 months, then he'll have a better idea of 

 things than any outsider can give him. 

 Personal application means success. 



Wm. Falconer. 



MUSHROOMS IN fl BASEMENT. 



I have bought the book "Mushrooms 

 and How to Grow Them" with a view to 

 growing some in my basement. I wish 

 to ask if it is absolutely necessary to use 

 manure? I propose to grow them in a 

 bed made on a concrete floor. The fur- 

 nace is in an adjoining room and I can 

 keep the temperature anywhere from 40° 

 to 60°. I can use manure if it is actually 

 necessary but do not care to bring it into 

 the house if I can get good results with- 

 out it. The soil I shall use is fine loam 

 with well rotted cow manure which has 

 been "turned over" about two years. 

 How many bricks of spawn must I buy 

 for a bed 9 by 4 feet and how deep shall 

 I make the bed if I use no manure? 



C. S. S. 



Loam alone or loam in which some old 

 cow manure has been mixed may - grow 

 mushrooms, but if you want a good crop 

 of them'you had better come right down 

 to orthodox principles and use well 

 prepared manure. If the manure has 

 been well prepared beforehand and 

 brought into the cellar just when fit to 

 be built into beds it won't be objectiona- 

 ble. Go by the teachings of that book, it 

 is made up of practical facts. Four bricks 

 might do, but better get five. 



DISEASED MUSHROOMS. 



I send a small box of mushrooms that 

 seem rather curious to me, as they grow 

 up in a clump and had no frill on them; 



they looked to me as though they were 

 not wholesome, but I tried a few and 

 they tasted all right. Will you give me 

 your opinion as to what is the matter 

 with them. These are the only ones on 

 the bed of this sort. " B. F. 



New Jersey. 



It is a genuine case of "Flock." This is 

 caused by another fungus parasitic in the 

 gills of the mushroom. It never occurs in 

 great quantity, only here and there in a 

 bed, and often not at all. Discard all 

 such diseased mushrooms, for if they 

 didn't kill you when you ate them, they 

 mightn't act so pleasantly with everyone 

 else; they are regarded as unfit for food. 



Miscellaneous. 



OUR NATION'S FLOWER. 



The final selection of a national flower 

 is still before the people of America. 

 Societies especially formed for this pur- 

 pose alone have been in active service for 

 some time, and the question has even 

 entered the domain of patriotic bodies 

 and received their deliberate discussions. 

 It is a question that will remain before 

 the public in a mild or violent form until 

 some action is taken that will forever 

 settle it. It is well therefore that the 

 attention of the readers of Gardening be 

 called to the matter, as they may be 

 interested in the final decision. 



Many species have their champions, 

 some chosen after due thought, and 

 others sanctioned because of some pass- 

 ing fancy. In the patriotic societies flow- 

 ers connected in some way with historic 

 events naturally suggest themselves, and 

 in one case an over enthusiastic society, 

 a chapter of The Daughters of The Ameri- 

 can Revolution, has chosen the trailing 

 arbutus, and has passed resolutions 

 petitioning members of Congress from its 

 state to urge the passage of a bill naming 

 that flower as an emblem of our county. 

 They cite fourteen reasons, the strongest 

 of which are: First, it was the first 

 flower seen by the patriots at Valley 

 Forge after their terrible mart\'rdom; 

 next, it was the first American flower 

 seen by the Pilgrims of New England, 

 who called it the Mayflower after their 

 vessel; for number seven it asserts that 

 its habitat is the thirteen original states; 

 reason number nine states that there is but 

 one species, which is an error according 

 to Nicholson, who mentions Epigwa 



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