176 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



July, 1913 



Mushrooms out of Doors 



John Gall 



MUSHROOMS can be gr6wn as 

 successfully out of doors as they 

 can in houses or under the pro- 

 tection of sheets ; but it is a crop that 

 the grower must take special pains in 

 preparing for, or failure will be the re- 

 sult. Mushrooms may be grown in 

 meadows by inserting pieces of the 

 spawn in the turf at distances of about 

 six to seven feet apart. The proper way 

 to do this is to cut a hole about one foot 

 deep and one foot wide in the turf, tak- 

 ing care to save the top sod to place 

 down again. 



Fill up the hole with fresh horse man- 

 ure and the short, littery straw which 

 accompanies it in equal quantities. The 

 manure should be exposed to the wea- 

 ther for a fortnight for the purpose of 

 drying, and must be protected from rain. 

 At the end of this period put it up in 

 a good-sized heap to ferment. Open it 

 out in about eight days to let out foul 

 steam, then put up again for eight days, 

 and of>en afterwards in the same man- 

 ner in another eight days. The man- 

 ure then will be ready to place in the 

 holes and the spawn can be inserted 

 in it. 



When filling the holes with manure, 

 bear in mind that room must be left for 

 the sod to be placed back at the same 

 level as it was before. Press the man- 

 ure into the holes as hard as it is pos- 

 sible to do so, and always bear in mind 

 it must be in a fairly dry condition. 



Break each cake of spawn with the 

 hands into about a dozen equal parts, 

 burying one piece in the manure in each 

 hole, using also the fragments which 

 may happen to fall from the pieces. 

 Plant deep enough to allow a quarter 

 of an inch of the manure to cover the 

 spawn ; then place over the manure 

 half an inch of the soil which came out 

 of the hole, pressing it hard down, and 

 finishing by placing the sod of earth 

 with the grass on back in its place, 

 treading it firmly down. The best time 

 to do this is in the month of July. 



OUTDOOR BEDS 



For mushroom beds out of doors the 

 manure is prepared in the same manner, 

 but it must be from corn-fed horses. 

 The beds should be placed in some well- 

 sheltered, shady position, as mushrooms 

 are difficult 5to produce during the sum- 

 mer months on account of the heat then 

 usually prevailing ; therefore, have the 

 beds placed where they can be kept 

 shady and cool. They should be built 

 in round-topped ridges two and a half 

 feet wide and the same in height. 



In building, tread down as firmly as 

 possible. Insert a thermometer in the 

 bed about eight inches deep as soon as 

 it is completed. The heat will probably 



rise to about ninety degrees Fahrenheit 

 in the course of about nine days, after 

 which it will begin to fall. Immedi- 

 ately it falls to seventy-five degrees ' it 

 will be time to spawn the bed. 



The spawn should be prepared in the 

 same way as for the turf, and the pieces 

 inserted ten inches apart all over the 

 surface of the bed. The beds must be 

 protected from rain by covering with 

 straw, mats, or some such material. In 

 the course of a week after the spawn has 

 been inserted it will start to run, mean- 

 ing that tiny white threads will radiate 

 from it into the manure, and a sort of 

 mildewy mould appear round it. It will 

 now be time to apply a coating of loamy 

 soil to the surface of the bed to the 

 depth of about half an inch when well 

 beaten down hard with the back of the 

 spade. The work is now completed, ex- 

 cepting that the bed must be kept dark 

 and protected from rain by being cover- 

 ed over. 



I have found it a good plan to place 

 a thermometer on the surface of the bed 

 under the covering. An effort should 

 be made to keep the temperature as 



nearly as possible to about sixty de- 

 grees Fahrenheit. If it is found below 

 this figure, more covering must be 

 added ; if above this, some must be re- 

 moved. The beds should be uncovered 

 in about five weeks' time, brushing 

 away any mould or dirt which may 

 have gathered on the surface. If the 

 soil should at any time appear dry, give 

 the bed a watering with tepid water (not 

 cold), and cover up again as before. In 

 about ten days' time mushrooms will 

 make their appearance in good numbers. 



now TO G.\THER THE OEOP 



When gathering mushrooms, do not 

 cut the stalks, but give each one a 

 gentle twist with the fingers, pulling 

 up with it the whole of its stalk and the 

 small pieces of roots usually attached 

 to it. A good mushroom bed remains 

 in profit from eight to ten weeks. After- 

 wards it should be taken up and used 

 for greenhouse purposes or applied to 

 the land. If a constant supply of mush- 

 rooms be desired a new bed should be 

 made up about every six weeks. Your 

 first bed should be ready for spawning 

 early in July. In purchasing spawn 

 from your seedsman, you should stipu- 

 late for it to be at least less than a year 

 old. 



c 



Cabbage and Caulifloiver Culture 



'Geo. Beddwin, Toronto, Ont. 



ABBAGE and cauliflower are two 

 of the most popular and whole- 

 some vegetables that we have. 

 Both are of the one family. They are 

 not appreciated as they should be , for 

 two reasons : First, because when grow- 

 ing them for ourselves we do not give 

 them sufficient attention, and, second, 



because we cannot always get them 

 fresh from the corner grocery or vege- 

 table waggon. 



The cabbage is used in three different 

 forms, namely, sliced raw cabbage, the 

 ordinary boiled cabbage, and the salted 

 or sourkraut, the German nation's fancy 

 dish. The first form, raw cabbage, is 



