CHAP. VI.] MUSHROOMS. 16-3 



The whole is then beaten quite smooth and 

 Tery hard, and slightly covered with oat straw, 

 which should never be more than six inches 

 thick. In about a month or six weeks the 

 mushrooms will be ready for the table ; and 

 when gathered they should be pulled up bv the 

 roots, and not cut off, as the root, if left in the 

 ground, will decay, and be injurious to the 

 young plants. 



Mushrooms may also be made to grow on 

 lawns and in pleasure-grounds, bv procuring 

 some bricks (as they are called) of mushroom 

 spawn in April or May ; and, after Breaking 

 them into pieces about an inch or two inches 

 square, burying the pieces at intervals all over 

 the lawn. In each place a little of the turf 

 should be raised, under which the spawn should 

 be inserted, and the turf then pressed down 

 over it. The lawn should be afterwards rolled, 

 and no other care will be requisite till the plants 

 are ready for gathering, which thev will be in 

 September, if the summer has been tolerably 

 warm and dry. This plan seldom succeeds in 

 small gardens, as in those situations the mush- 

 rooms, as soon as they appear, are generally 

 eaten by the snails. 



