Book I. CULTURE OF THE MUSHROOM. 601 



gether. so that every part of it may be equally fermented, and deprived of its noxious 

 quality." 



3426. Forming the bed. Abercrombie says, " Mark out the ground-line of a bed 

 four feet wide at bottom, the length to be governed by the quantity to be raised; from 

 this, work with an inward slope, so as to terminate with a narrow roof-shaped ridge 

 along the centre, three feet or more in height. In building the bed, shake and mix 

 the dung well together : beat it down with the fork, but do not tread it : leave it to set- 

 tle, and to expend the first heat in vapor. When the dung is in a fit state to make into 

 a bed, which it will be in about three weeks or a month after it has been put together to 

 ferment, let the bottom for it be marked out about seven feet wide, and as long as you 

 choose to make it ; let the foundation on which it is made be dry, and let it be worked 

 up in a sloping manner, so as to terminate with a narrow roof-shaped ridge along the 

 centre, about four feet or more in height. In making the bed, shake and mix the dung 

 well together; beat it down well with the fork; and if the dung be long and dryish, 

 tread it down as you proceed." (M'Phail.) 



3427. Moulding the bed. " Having proved by trial-sticks left some days in the bed, 

 that the heat is become moderate, you may cover two thirds of the sloping bank with 

 mould two inches thick, leaving the top of the ridge open for the steam to evaporate 

 as it gradually rises. When the exhalation is finished, the top may also be earthed 

 over ;" or, earth round the bed four inches high, forming a ledge of mould two inches 

 thick. 



3428. Planting the spawn. " Divide the large cakes of spawn into small lumps. 

 These may be planted in rows six or eight inches asunder. Place the lumps of spawn 

 about six inches apart in the same row, inserting them through the mould close down to 

 the surface of the dung : or, the dry spawn may be broken or scattered over the bed ; 

 being covered with earth to the depth specified above." (Abercrombie.) 



3429. M'Phail directs, " When the bed has been some time made, and the heat sufficiently declined, 

 the spawn may be put into it ; but, for fear of the heat being too great in the upper part of it, it had best 

 be at first spawned only half-way up all round. Take the spawn in small pieces, and stick it into the sides 

 of the bed, in rows about three or four inches, piece from piece, so that the spawn and earth about to be 

 laid on, may meet. When the bed is spawned as high up as it is thought the heat of the bed will not in- 

 jure it, take good, strong, rich earth, of a loamy quality, and cover the spawned part of the bed with it, 

 about two inches thick, beginning to lay it at the bottom of the bed, beating it firm with the spade. The 

 earth should be in a pliable state ; not wet, nor over dry." 



3430. Covering the ridges. " The inconvenience of a bed exposed to the weather, 

 is, that it is sometimes necessary to cover it from wet, where there is danger of thus ex- 

 citing a fermentation. When the bed is even under a shed, it is necessary to apply a co- 

 vering from three to twelve inches thick, as the strength of the dung declines, or as the 

 bed may be exposed, at the sides, to rain, snow, or frost. The covering may be either 

 clean straw and long dry stable-litter, or sweet hay and matting ; the latter is to be pre- 

 ferred. Lay it thin at first, and increase it as circumstances demand." 



3431. Ridges in open sheds are formed and planted exactly in the same manner. 



3432. In rearing in close sheds behind hot-houses, where the temperature approaches to 

 50 or 55 degrees in the winter months, from the heat arising from the hot-house furnaces, 

 the ridge mode above may be adopted, or a flat bed similarly composed and planted.' 



3433. Infiued sheds, or mushroom-houses on the common plan, the method of forming 

 the dung-bed, earthing, and planting is the same as in the three last modes : sometimes, 

 however, the beds are formed in a walled pit, and flat, or sloping, on the surface, like a 

 cucumber-bed. 



3434. German mode of cultivating the mushroom. The culture of mushrooms on 

 shelves, in flued sheds or houses, is a German practice, introduced to this country by 

 Oldacre. The plan of Oldacre's house has been already given (figs. 279. to 281.) 

 M'Phail describes a similar one, " as a good method of propagation." (Gard. Rem. 

 p. 108.) To either houses the following directions will apply : — 



34.35. Compost for the beds. Collect a quantity of fresh horse-dung, that has neither been exposed to 

 wet nor fermentation, clearing it of the long straw, so as to leave one fourth, in quantity, of the shortest 

 litter, when incorporated with the horse-droppings ; then add a fourth part of tolerable dry turf-mould, or 

 rather maiden earth, and mix it well with the dung before mentioned : the advantage derived from the 

 mould or maiden earth is the union of the whole into one compact solid substance, so congenial to the 

 growth of mushrooms. If dung from the rides of a livery-stable, or the round of a horse-mill, can be 

 procured, and mixed with a fourth part of short litter, and added to as many fresh horse-droppings as will 

 cause a gentle warmth, when made into beds, it will be found superior, for the production of mushrooms, 

 to horse-dung that is gathered from the stables. 



3436. The method of making the beds. Form the beds on the shelves and ground-floor by placing a 

 layer about three inches thick of the prepared mixture. Then, with a flat mallet, beat it as close together 

 as possible, next add another layer of the compost, repeating the same process as before, and so on until 

 the beds are formed into a solid body, seven inches thick, making the surface of the beds as smooth and as 

 even as possible. The reducing the beds into a very solid body is a most essential point ; for, without it, 

 you cannot expect success : and the thickness of them must also be particularly attended to ; for, where 

 there is a much greater body, the beds will be subjected to a strong fermentation, and will be prevented, 

 by evaporation, from retaining that consistency in the dung, which is absolutely necessary for the produc- 

 tion of a good and plentiful, crop. On the contrary, if a much less quantity be laid together, the heat and 

 fermentation will be insufficient to prepare the beds for the nourishment of the spawn ; but the assistance 



