8 FARMERS BULLETIN 789. 



"When a house oecomes infested all compost should be gathered 

 with the utmost care, removed to the outside, and thoroughlj- disin- 

 fected by drenching with boiling water, or it may be hauled to a dis- 

 tance and spread upon the ground as fertilizer or destroyed by burn- 

 ing. The ground occupied by the mushroom beds should be thor- 

 oughly scalded, and the woodwork of the mushroom house treated 

 to a wash of creosote or crude carbolic acid, either of which is repel- 

 lent to the mites. After complete disinfection has been accomplished 

 the house should be screened, to guard against subsequent introduc- 

 tion of the pest by means of flies. All manure forming the beds 

 should be steamed, according to the directions under the head of 

 " Mushroom maggots." Care should be used to purchase spawn 

 coming from reliable sources. With these precautions it is unlikely 

 that trouble will be experienced from the attacks of mushroom mites. 

 Close watch should be kept, however, for any signs of their presence 

 in the beds, and the compost destroyed upon their first abundant 

 appearance, as it is impossible to secure good results with mushrooms 

 when they are once thoroughly infested by these mites. All applica- 

 tions of sufficient strength to destroy the mites are likewise injurious 

 to the mushrooms, and it is futile to attempt to control them by any 

 artificial means once the mushroom bed has become infested, as the 

 mites are buried so deeply in the compost that no insecticide will 

 reach them, 



A predacious mite, which belongs to another family,^ frequently 

 occurs in beds infested by the mushroom mite, feeding upon the latter, 

 and at times l^ecoming so numerous as entirely to Avipe out the pest. 

 This predacious mite may be known by its longer legs and its manner 

 of lamning swiftly over the compost or the mushrooms. Cases have 

 been observed where it has occurred in such abundance as greatly to 

 outnumber its host. It does not attack the mushrooms after the de- 

 struction of the mushroom mite, but seeks other feeding grounds or 

 dies of starvation. 



SPRINGTAILS. 



At times the surface of a mushroom bed becomes alive with minute 

 brown or black insects which, when disturbed, leap about like fleas 

 in an extremely erratic manner. These are known as springtails,- 

 since the springing is performed by the aid of two short bristles 

 situated on the end segment of the abdomen. These insects (see fig. 

 4) are often attracted to the manure used as compost, where they feed 

 on the decaying vegetable matter present, but on occasion they may 

 become very injurious in mushroom houses. A correspondent in St. 

 Louis, Mo., reported that in one of his mushroom houses a bed 150 



1 Gamasidae. 



- Achorctitcn <iniHituin Xicolet ot al» 



