261 



HENDERSON'S HANDBOOK OF PLANTS 



MUS 



change in my operations, which I give in 

 detail. First, however, I will give some idea 

 of my house. It had been a storage cellar for 

 roots,60x24 feet, with a cement floor, and below 

 ground level. I had six rows of 23^ inch pipe 

 put in to keep up a proper temperature in 

 severe weather, tore out all the shelves and 

 benches of the old system, and formed the 

 bed on the floor. I received the manure by 

 the cars from New York, and had it unloaded 

 and carted at once, making the bed the same 

 day, passing the manure through openings in 

 the walls, and levelling it to an even depth of 

 fifteen inches. The next day I had soil from 

 the vegetable garden, a rich mellow loam, 

 carted and put on to the depth of three 

 inches over one half of the bed, lengthwise in 

 the house. The other half of the bed I had 

 forked up loosely thi-ee inches in depth, so as 

 to dry and ferment as quickly as possible, 

 throwing open all the windows and doors. In 

 twelve days after making the bed in the part 

 that had no soil upon it, I cut drills with a hoe 

 sixteen inches apart and two inches deep 

 lengthwise of the house, to receive the spawn, 

 • leaving drills uncovered two days.' Finding 

 the temperature in the bottom of the drill to be 

 95", and the bed belowgetting dry, I took soil by 

 hand, and spreading a little thinly in the bot- 

 tom of the drill, I put in the spawn, which 

 was in cake form, broken into pieces the size 

 of a small egg, then moistening it in each 

 drill by a sprinkler, I partially closed the 

 house, so as to hold a warm damp moisture 

 over the spawn. On the second day, finding 

 the temperature falling, I pulled the manure 

 loosely over the spawn with a lake, and plac- 

 ing a thermometer at the same deptii as the 

 spawn, I found next morning the temperature 

 to be 90°. I then tamped the bed down to a 

 level surface, and passing the soil from the 

 other part of the bed upon the spawned part, 

 I forked up the surface loose, and threw the 

 house open again to dry the bed ready for 

 spawning, which was in half the time of the 

 first part. When spawned half the soil was 

 passed over again and the whole surface made 

 even and tamped down firmly. In five weeks 

 I gathered Mushrooms, and continued to do so 

 until the following May, when the warm 

 weather set in and the Maggot played havoc 

 with them in all stages. The soil was 

 thoroughly charged with ammonia as it lay 

 upon the surface of the bed during the whole 

 fermentation, and furnishing the food for the 

 Mushroom. The moisture of the house was 

 kept up by fermenting manure in oil barrels, 

 which were recharged as they cooled off. The 

 temperature was kept at 57", as nearly as pos- 

 sible ; other artificial heat l)y steam or flue 

 heating would have answered nearly the 

 same purpose. 



"For growing Mushrooms in fruit-houses 

 such as a peachhouse or grapery, I use hot- 

 bed sashes, forming the frames with boards, 

 making the beds directly vipon the soil of the 

 border. These beds I form with the manuie 

 as soon as received, making them one foot in 

 thickness, and treading down firmly. I then 

 spread one and a half inches of soil evenly 

 over the surface, and fork up an inch or so of 

 the manure with it, intermixing it slightly so 

 as to prevent the soil forming a cake-like sur- 

 face ; I then add two inches of manure, which 

 is left loose on the top of the bed. I find that 



MUS 



the soil lessens the fermentation near the sur- 

 face, and that a large amount of the ammonia 

 is gathered in the loose manure which is 

 much cooler and damper than the body of the 

 bed below the soil. I spawn at a temperature 

 of 90*^ to 95'', placing the spawn in drills one 

 foot apart and two inches deep, using one and a 

 half bricks to a sash 6x3 feet, finishing with 

 one and a half inches of soil direct from the 

 vegetable garden. I find when fresh manure 

 is formed into b(Kls, that when the fermenta- 

 tion is ceasing, the manure becomes nearly 

 dry, so that there is no danger of raising 

 the temperature when the beds are soiled 

 directly after spawning. The sashes are then 

 put on, each one being tilted an inch or so to 

 let out the moisture given off by the beds, so 

 as to keep the soil dry upon the surface until 

 the Mushrooms appear, after which the soil 

 must be kept moist, the supply of air being 

 regulated so as not to allow it to become dry. 

 Strong light, or sun's rays must be kept off 

 the sashes to keep an even temperature, as a 

 sudden raise of 10" would be of great detriment 

 to the young Mushrooms near the surface. I 

 spread half a peck of soil charged with Am- 

 monia under each sash over the surface of the 

 bed every two weeks, after gathering has 

 commenced, which should be in from five to 

 six weeks. Frames made up in this way will 

 bear good crops from November to April. 



"Remakks. Mushroom spores will repro- 

 duce themselves in fourtepn days, from dry 

 spawn put into active state, so in case where 

 the beds have been found dry, after fermenta- 

 tion has ceased, which is often the case if not 

 watched closely ; after having been spawned 

 two weeks, take a watering pot with a fine 

 sprinkler and water the surface so as to pen- 

 etrate about two inches with water at 90 

 degrees, at the same time raising the temper- 

 ature of the house 10 degrees. Mushrooms 

 will then appear in from five to six weeks. 



' ' Best Tempekatuke for Mushroom-house 

 57 degrees. 



' ' Best Condition. Moist only to a percep- 

 tible degree, the surface soil kept damp by 

 watering moderately with clear water, of a 

 temperature of not less than 80 degrees, ap- 

 plied with a syringe or a watering-pot with a 

 fine sprinkler. To have the beds packed 

 solidly, as recommended by a great many 

 growers, is a mistake, as the thread-like 

 spawn, cannot travel freely enough through 

 the material of tho bed — have the beds firm 

 only. For storing spawn in a dry state, with 

 which to spawn other beds, it is best to have 

 it in solid material as it will handle better 

 than in flakes. 



' ' Atmosphere. The best means to keep the 

 atmosphere of a Mushroom-house moist, is to 

 place a few barrels of fermenting manure in 

 the house, changing them when cooled off. 

 This will obviate running the risk of getting 

 the beds too wet from the syringe or watering 

 pot. 



' ' Ventilation. The passage of air must be 

 from the top, and must be fully under control 

 at a temperature not below 45 degrees on 

 entering the house. Avoid all currents of air 

 on the surface of the bed when in bearing. 



"Heating. "Use hot-water pipes as little 

 as possible, and only when the house drops 

 below 55 degrees. Hot-water pipes within 

 eight inches of the bed will damage the Mush- 



