CH^P. VI.] MUSHROOMS. 163 



everv fine day, except when it is very windy ; 

 and when the bed. cools down to a milk-warm 

 heat, it should be immediately spawned by 

 putting in, in four rows, pieces of spawn as 

 large as a moderate-sized orange, each piece 

 being ten inches apart. The bed should then 

 be beaten with a heavy spade, and afterwards 

 three inches at least of good meadow mould 

 should be put over the bed, when it should be 

 again beaten very hard. Having proceeded 

 thus far, the whole bed should be covered with 

 some fresh litter from the stable, about four 

 inches thick, and the mats should be again put 

 on. The work is now completed for a time. 

 In about a fortnight, the mats being removed, 

 the covering should be shaken up, and as much 

 more litter as is alreadv on the bed having been 

 added, the mats should be replaced as before. 

 In another fortnight this operation should be 

 repeated, and very soon after the mushrooms 

 will begin to appear. When this is the case, 

 the litter must be again shaken up, and the 

 beds, while they continue in bearing, must be 

 carefully looked over two or three times a week. 

 Great care must be taken after the beds are 

 once made to keep them as much as possible 

 from the rain. 



"If beds are wanted to bear from November 

 to February, the manure need not be spread 

 out till the middle of September; and if the 

 beds are wanted to bear from 31 arch to June, 

 October is the proper month to begin spreading 

 out the manure. In every other respect, how- 

 ever, the beds should be managed as above 



m 2 



