114 THE CULINARY GARDEN. [sEPTi 



more wet or moist than the sides. This may be 

 done in forming the sole or floor at first, and the 

 bed would then be of equal strength in all parts. 

 If it be made up against a wall in a cellar, stable. 

 Or shed, it may have a slope of a few inches, from 

 the back to the front, less or more, according to its 

 breadth. 



I have sometimes been contented with two cour- 

 ses, as above, instead of three ; and often, when ma- 

 terials were scarce, have made them up slighter, 

 thus : Three four-inch courses of droppings, with 

 one inch of earth between each, and a two-inch co- 

 vering at top. Such a bed as this, I have had pro- 

 duce for ten or twelve months together ; but very 

 much depends on the state of the materials, and on 

 the care taken in making it up ; also on the after 

 management. 



The drop])ings of hard-fed horses only are iisefuL 

 Those of horses on green food, will, of themselves, 

 produce few or no mushrooms. This I have proved 

 in more than one instance, much to my disappoint- 

 ment. And I have moreover found, that the richer 

 the heej) of the horses, the more productive are their 

 droppings. I have made up beds from farm-horses, 

 fed partly on hard, and partly on green food ; and 

 from carriage or saddle horses, fed entirely on corn 

 and hay; treated them in the same way in every re- 

 spect ; and have found, not once, but always, those 

 made from the latter most productive. 



Droppings from corn-fed horses may be procured 

 at the public stables in towns, or at inns in the 

 country, any time in the year j and if the supply be' 



