429 



served after dark or by takinj^- the fruit bodies into a dark room. Tlie 

 mycelium of this pkmt is also luminescent, so that broken pieces of 

 wood containing the mycelium often glow. The mycelium of Armil- 

 laria nicUca (page 489) often causes rotten wood to glow in the same 

 way. 



Recently a Japanese species of Plciirotus, the genus to which our 

 oyster mushroom (page 529) belongs, has been reported as luminous. 

 Only the gill-surface glows, but it is said that several of the fruit- 

 bodies together can emit enough light to enable one to read by it. 



Mushroom-growing 



]\Iushrooms have been grown for market in European countries, 

 especially in France and England, for a very long time. In more re- 

 cent years they have been grown on an increasingly large scale in this 

 country, so that now one can purchase mushrooms in the market at 

 any time at prices usually ranging from fifty cents to one dollar a 

 pound. These are grown mostly in specially constructed mushroom- 

 houses or in greenhouses, but any one who has a well ventilated cellar 

 may grow mushrooms provided he can control the temperature to a 

 certain extent. The temperature should l)e kept between 50° and 60° F. 

 If it gets colder than this the spawn will not grow, while if it gets 

 much warmer the spawn or the growing crop will mold. 



In making up mushroom beds well-cured manure from a horse 

 stable should be used. The manure must be cured without allowing 

 it to dry out or burn, l)ut, also, it must not l)ecome too wet. When it 

 is placed in the bed it should be c^uite damp but not wet, and should 

 be evenly distributed and packed rather firmly to a depth of about six 

 to ten inches. After allowing several days for the temperature to 

 become adjusted the bed will be ready to receive the spawn. 



Spawn, which consists of the mycelium of a mushroom mixed 

 with the sul)stratum in which it grew, can be purchased from seed- 

 houses in brick form. Each brick should be broken into eight or ten 

 pieces and the pieces planted about a foot apart in the manure, being 

 covered to a depth of one or two inches. From one to two weeks 

 after planting the spawn will be seen to be growing and spreading. 

 The bed should then be covered with about an inch of well-sifted, 

 moist, light garden-soil. 



The amount of moisture present is very important. The air sur- 

 rounding the beds ought to be nearly saturated with moisture con- 

 stantly, and for this reason the beds must be protected from drafts 

 which would blow the moisture away. If the manure had the proper 

 amount of moisture in it when it was put in, the beds probaijly wdl 

 not need watering for several weeks. They must be watched closely 



