MUSHROOM 151 



receive the spawn. This may sometimes be obtained from 

 old mushroom beds, but it is best to depend on that sold 

 by seedsmen, as it is more certain to be free from other 

 fungi. The operation of spawning consists in putting 

 pieces of the spawn bricks the size of small hens' eggs in 

 holes made about two inches deep and ten or twelve inches 

 apart. Afterwards the holes should be filled with the soil 

 and the surface firmed and smoothed off. 



If the work has been well done and the conditions are 

 favorable, the spawn should commence to grow in seven or 

 eight days; at the end of that time it should be examined 

 and any pieces that have not started should be removed 

 and be replaced by fresh spawn. A failure in germination 

 is indicated by the absence of white threads in the manure 

 around the spawn. When the spawn has nicely started and 

 begins to show itself on the surface, the bed should be cov- 

 ered with a layer one inch thick of fine, slightly moist soil, 

 which should be pressed down smoothly and firmly. 



In damp cellars mushroom beds do not need water, but 

 if the surface gets dry they should be watered with tepid 

 water from a fine rose watering pot. The mushrooms 

 should show in from five to eight weeks, and the bed con- 

 tinue to yield for two or three months. The spawn bricks, 

 as they are termed by seedsmen, are simply flat square 

 pieces of a mixture of manure and loam into which spawn 

 has been put and has grown until it fills the whole piece. 

 Afterwards these bricks are dried, and form the mushroom 

 bricks, or spawn, of commerce. 



Native Mushrooms. There are quite a number of 

 native mushrooms that are edible, but since there are 

 also several poisonous kinds one should be careful about 

 trying unknown sorts. Among the edible kinds are the 

 several sorts known as puff balls (Lycoperdon) . When 



