JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



WEEKLY CALENDAR. 



JUNE 14—20, 1877. 



Clock 

 before 

 San. 



Mean. 

 60.3 

 59.9 



3 Sunday after Trinity. 



Sale of Orchids at West Leigh. Leicester. 



Boyal Horticnltural Society — Great Summer Show. 



Diss and Blackheath Show?. 



3 44 



8 44 



3 44 



3 44 



From obseryationa taken near London daring forty.three years, the average day temperature of the week is 72,3^ ; and its night temperature 



MUSHROOM CULTURE FOB THE MILLION. 



■^m)^^yw. ■^^ ""^^ Mushrooms not more generally 



^''^ ^rK'■l' cultivated? Not beeauee the process is 



r fl^ , It / at all difficult, for it is very simple, but 



L " ^ ' W probably because of its supposed difficulty. 



" Mushrooms are very delicious," says my 



amateur friend ; '• but then you know 



,.; they are grown iu a structui-e specially 



adapted to the purpose, fitted with slate 



shelves, heated with hot-water piping, and 



in point of fact are just a luxury for the 



rich, esceptins when one can gather them in the fields in 



autumn." Now this, as all gardeners know, is an entire 



mistake ; and I am sure I shall be doing good service 



and obtain the thanks of many ladies by showing how a 



supply of this breakfast-table delicacy is within reach of 



everyone having command of a little stable manure in 



spiing, summer, and autumn, if not in winter. 



I have to build a Mushroom house whenever time can 

 be spared, but meanwhile a supply is maintained by 

 making beds in all sorts of nooks and corners. Two beds 

 are now in fall bearing in what will one day be a con- 

 servatory stokery. Soil has just been placed upon a 

 succession bed made in a shed used for stoxung coke ; 

 other beds will follow in an open shed that is used as a 

 soil shed in winter; and if it is found necessary other 

 beds will be made in the open garden and kept covered 

 with straw. Some years ago 1 used to grow excellent 

 Mushrooms in a cellar beneath an old ruinous garden 

 cottage which unfortunately was infested with rats, who 

 after a time took a fancy to my Mushroom beds, burrow- 

 ing in them like so many rabbits, so that I had to acknow- 

 ledge myself beateu for once ; for it was in vain that we 

 organised grand rat hunts and made fresh beds, the de- 

 funct rats were promptly succeeded by a fresh batch 

 which made straight for the Mushroom beds with pro- 

 voking celerity. I allude to this to show that some 

 caution is called for when beds are made in old buildings. 

 Proceeding now to consider the few and simple details 

 of culture it may bo stated, as a general rule, that the 

 bed should be a yard wide and 2 feet high in the colder 

 months of the year, in order to retain heat in it sufficiently 

 long to bring the crop to perfection ; half that height 

 being ample in summer and early autumn. The length 

 of the bed may range from a yard upwards. If there is 

 any difficulty in obtaining enough manure, some loam or 

 ordinary garden soil may be mixed with it in the proportion 

 of one-fourth of soil to three-fourths of manure. I have 

 no objection to some straw among the manure, only in 

 that case special care is given to make the bed ijuite firm 

 by a little extra ramming and stamping. In making the 

 bed the dung is thrown-in in layers '•( inches thick, well 

 pressed together till the required height is reached. The 

 reason for making the bed so firm is that heat may be 

 generated quickly and that may not readily escape, which 

 would happen in a loose manure heap. In most instances 

 the spawn may be inserted when the bed is made, but if 

 the manure is very wet it may become so hot as to injure 



Ko. e46,-VoL. XXXII , New Seeieb, 



the spawn, and therefore it is well to exercise a little 

 caution and to wait a week, or longer if there is a sus- 

 picion of risk. The spawning is done by breaking up the 

 spawn cakes into pieces the size of a walnut, inserting 

 them in holes made with a dibble 2 or 3 inches deep and 

 the same distance apart in the surface of the bed, cover- 

 ing the surface immediatelj' afterwards with a couple of 

 inches of rich loam, pressing it gently down with the 

 back of a spade. Then if there be a steady heat in the 

 bed, very warm but not hot and burning, a full crop of 

 Mushrooms may be looked for in from five to six weeks 

 from the time of spawning, and a daily supply may be 

 gathered for about a month. 



If the soil becomes dry a moderate soaking of tepid 

 water must be given, the condition of the soil always 

 being a safe guide as to the necessity for watering or 

 otherwise. 



This slight sketch of a rough but very satisfactory 

 method of growing Mushrooms will, I hope, prompt the 

 many readers to turn to account such contrivances as 

 may be available ; for even if they have no shed or 

 cellar they may yet have an old packing case or two, 

 which would not only answer the purpose equally well, 

 but would present the novel aspect of a portable Mush- 

 room bed. — Edward Luckhurst. 



IXIAS. 



This beautiful family of bulbous plants is now com- 

 mencing to bloom and to dazzle the eye with gorgeous 

 and various colours. I know of no genus of bulbs that 

 has such a variety of colours ; it contains all the most 

 telling — viz., yellow, red, scarlet, rose, white, blue, and 

 even green ; nearly all the intermediate shades both 

 brilliant and soft are also strongly represented. 



The best time for seeing a collection of Ixias in bloom 

 is a warm sunny day, when they are well expanded ; the 

 sight then, looking on a bed of this lovely Cape bulb, is, 

 as I have already stated, simply dazzling, and when once 

 seen never to be forgotten. I have often seen lovers of 

 flowers when suddenly catching sight of a bed struck with 

 the greatest admiration. It is pleasing to notice the great 

 strides that have been made during the last few years by 

 hybridising; so much so that in Loudon's "Encyclo- 

 paedia of Hants" twenty-two species are mentioned, of 

 which only two are now in prominent cultivation ; these 

 are crateroides and viridiflora. This, I think, shows 

 fairly well that the efforls of the hybridiser have been 

 crowned with success. The kinds of late introduction 

 are of much brighter colour, broader petal, larger flower, 

 and of a stronger constitution — in a word, far surpassing 

 the older varieties. 



I will now detail their culture, which is extremely 

 simple, under four important headings — namely, situa- 

 tion, soil and manuring, planting, and protection. 



SiTU.VTioN. — This is a point on which all future attain- 

 ments greatly depend. For the Ixia family a sunny, 

 warm, and naturally sheltered position is necessary ; the 

 stronger the sun strikes on them and the calmer the 

 No. 149e.— Vol. LVII., Old Sehies. 



