332 Report of the Horticulturist of the 



this cannot be gained without experience. Sometimes even exper- 

 ienced growers do not secure good results from their beds on account 

 of poor spawn or faihire of some sort in securing the conditions 

 most favorable to the development of the crop. Faithful attention 

 to what may appear to inexperienced growers to be trilling details^ 

 is essential to success. The novice may consider these details unim- 

 portant, but experience teaches the ^contrary and impresses the 

 lessons so thoroughly that they are not forgotten in a day as may be 

 the case with some point in printed instructions which he is 

 following. 



Gardeners who are forcing vegetables in the vicinity of villages 

 and small cities where mushrooms are seldom seen in winter market, 

 will probably find that an effort to bring this luxury to the attention 

 of their customers will result in a considerable demand for mush- 

 rooms at paying prices. During the winter of 1893-4 all of the 

 mushrooms that were sold from the Station greenhouses brought 

 one dollar per pound in the local market and at this price the de- 

 mand exceeded the supply. The beds yielded on an average about 

 three-fourths of a pound per square foot of surface. Some idea of 

 the market prices in New York city during the same period may be 

 gained from the following quotations taken from Garden and 

 Forest. 



December 27, 1893. One dollar per pound. 



April 11, 1894. Fifty cents per pound. Mushrooms are just 

 now a little higher but all winter long the wholesale price has been 

 steady at about fifty cents per pound. 



May 2, 1894. Mushrooms are now plentiful at fifty cents per 

 quart. 



December 5, 1894. Mushrooms are in rather short supply and 

 command $1.25 per pound. 



Mushrooms were grown in two of the greenhouses at this Station 

 during the winter of 1893-4. In one, the main crop was tomatoes. 

 It was heated with hot water, having two flow and two return pipes 

 under the side benches, and no pipes under the center bench. The 

 space under the center bench was used for the mushroom beds. The 

 temperature was varied somewhat during the day to suit the differ- 

 ent stages of development of the main crop, usually being kept 

 between 60 and 70 degrees, Fahr. At night the temperature was 

 kept as nearly as possible at 55 degrees, Fahr., but occasionally, on 

 account of insufiicient heating capacity, it dropped below 50 degrees. 



