314 



(ILEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Apk. 15. 



High-pressure Gardening. 



BY A. I. ROOT. 



GROWING MUSHROOM SPAWN IN AMERICA; 



SOME NEW AND VALUABLE PACTS 



FROM OUR GOOD FRIEND 



E. GRAINGER. 



Mr. Root:—Somo time ago I read (in Glean- 

 ings I believe it was), that mushroom spawn 

 could not be produced in the ordinary hot-bed 

 frames. For several yeai? we have found, in 

 taking down our hot-bed frames in the fall, 

 that the manure which was put in early in the 

 spring time was more or less full of mushroom 

 spawn. If these beds were covered, we used to 

 get quite a nice lot of mushrooms until the 

 frost prevented their growing. Without using 

 any spawn whatever to start them, they just 

 seemed to grow of their own accord. Last fall 

 we took some into the greenhouse, put it under 

 the soil where we grow lettuce, and it produced 

 mushrooms successfully during the winter. 

 Had we saved all the manun^ with mushroom 

 spawn in it we could have made a very large 

 bed without the expense of buying spawn. We 

 use quite a lot of cow manure in connection 

 with our potting soil. Sometimes we get it in 

 the summer, about August, from milkmen who 

 are in the habit of milking their cows under a 

 clump of trees. Last year we got one man to 

 bring us some of this, which was perfectly dry. 

 It was laid in a pile in the sun, exposed to the 

 weather. It got wet during a thunder storm, 

 and I noticed, in a day or two after, it com- 

 menced to heat. We leveled the pile down un- 

 til it was about a font deep: and when doing so 

 I saw that it was full of a white stringy sub- 

 stance which experience has taught me to 

 recognize at once as mushroom spawn. We 

 took it into the potting-shed, threw it under 

 the bench, covered some (ine soil over it. gave 

 it a wati'ring, and in a short lime we picked 

 the best and tinest mushrooms we ever saw 

 grown in the wintiM'. They were extra fine, 

 and came Mp thick all over the bed. This year 

 we have gone into this more extensively, fol- 

 lowing directions given in best works on mush- 

 room culture, using imported spawn. They 

 have been tolerably successful, but do not pro- 

 duce as many nor as fine mushrooms as the 

 beds made as described above. To test the two 

 we look some of th(! spawn from the hot-bed 

 frames, just as it was. and buried it in a corner 

 of our mu«hroom-bed that was spawned with 

 imported brick spawn, and we noticed the 

 mushrooms came sooner there, and were finer, 

 than those grown on the other part of the bed. 

 We made one bed in the summer, putting the 

 manure into one of our greenhouses after all 

 the plants had b^en tak^n out. It got very dry 

 from the heat of the sun; and, being busy, we 

 neglected to water it. and did not expect to gel 

 any mushrooms. Then- was no spawn used; 

 yet where the drip from a ventilator got on the 

 bed. and gave sufficient moisture, very fine 

 mushrooms grew thickly, showing that, had 

 the proper amount of moisture been given, the 

 bed would have been quite as successful. 



We give you these facts from our observation, 

 which, we think, go to prove that the main 

 point in growing mushrooms is to have the 

 beds just moist enough; and when the temper- 

 ature becomes low enough they are bound to 

 grow. 



It would appear from the above, that any 

 manure has more or less spores in it. that pro- 

 duce mushiodui spawn; and it requires only 

 the right temperature to develop ihi'm. We 

 are now trying some in a cellar, which, we 



think every thing considered, will be the best 

 place, as the temperature can more easily be 

 kept equal. 



There are three distinct kinds grown here; 

 viz., the '"hoi'se" mushroom, which we some- 

 times find in the fields in the fall ; the common 

 meadow mushroom, which is the kind general- 

 ly produced from imported spawn; and the St. 

 George mushroom, this last being the best of 

 the three varieties. It is stronger.larger, much 

 heavier, and has more substance in it. This is 

 the kind produced by the cow manure referred 

 as above, and we think it is the same variety 

 advertised in the Ariierican Florist as new. 



We find mushrooms very profitable hei'e, get- 

 ting from ()0 cts. to .?2.00 per lb., average-sized 

 ones selling froDi 60 cts. to 75 cts. a dozen in the 

 summer. We will let you know later on how 

 we succeed with the beds we are trying in the 

 cellar. E. Grainger. 



Toronto, Can., Feb. 24. 



[Friend G., we are very glad indeed to get 

 the above facts. It has been impressing itself 

 on my mind for some time, that a good many of 

 these so called toadstools are edible mushrooms. 

 You know I made one experiment in that line; 

 and the result was, that what we had thrown 

 away as toadstools proved to be as good mush- 

 rooms as any on the market. , I have read 

 somewhere of a scientific man who made tests 

 of all the mushrooms that could be found. He 

 had each specimen properly cooked, and then 

 took one mouthful. If it tasted good, and no 

 unpleasant result followed, at the next meal he 

 ate a dishful. This settled the matter that it 

 was an edible variety. Now, this can be very 

 easily done, and I am quite certain that a sin- 

 gle mouthful of even the poisonous varieties 

 would be safe. Another thing that impresses 

 itself on my mind is the fact that people are 

 often made violently sick by eating freely of 

 some article of food that their system was unus- 

 ed to— green cucumbers, for instance, and new 

 fruits and vegetables of various kinds. And 

 another thing along in this line, I am inclined 

 to think that one might so accustom himself, by 

 taking a little at a time, that he could eat, at 

 least to a certain extent, of the so-called poi- 

 sonous mushrooms. I am very glad indeed to 

 know there is a probability that we shall very 

 soon be able to grow our own spawn; nay, fur- 

 ther ; that there is already in our fields just as 

 good mushrooms as any to be found anywhere 

 in the world. Of course, neither mushrooms 

 nor anything else will grow unless some seed 

 has been planted at some time. This spawn 

 you mention must have existed on your premis- 

 es, and perhaps it has been for years unnoticed, 

 only waiting for the right kind of encourage- 

 ment, such as you have been giving it. to spring 

 forth and minister to your wants.] 



THE PLANT -beds AND THE GREENHOUSE FOR 

 APRIL, 1893. 



The greenhouse has done nobly. We never 

 before had such nice plants with such steady, 

 uniform, vigorous growth, as this has given us. 

 But its beauty is just now pretty much on the 

 wane, because the orders have cleaned out 

 nearly every thing that is fit to be shipped. 



The six rows of American Wonder peas that 

 were sown in Decemh(>r are now white with 

 bloom, and aNo contain pods, some of them al- 

 most large enough for use. The greenhouse 

 seems to liav« had some peculiar effect upon 

 the peas, to keep them growing and bearing. 

 Snails threatened .several times to eat up the 

 peas and every thing else; but a prompt and 



