182 FRENCH MARKET-GARDENING 



The beds themselves are made up by placing the 

 prepared manure in heaps and layers, and then pressing 

 it firmly with the feet and knees until the required 

 degree of solidity is secured. All loose pieces of 

 manure or litter are then " combed " away from the 

 surface with the hands, to give a finished and tidy 

 appearance. 



When the temperature has sunk to 80 Fahr. the 

 beds are ready for " spawning." This work is generally 

 done by a more experienced workman. He breaks 

 the loose cake of spawn into pieces about 3 or 4 in. 

 square, and pushes each piece well into the manure- 

 bed about 6 in. from the other. 



The beds thus " spawned " are then ready to be 

 " cased over " with a layer of soil. The Parisian 

 growers prefer for this purpose a mixture of rich 

 loamy soil and mortar rubble, or old plaster of Paris. 

 This is passed through a half-inch sieve, and is well 

 mixed up in advance. A layer of this compost, from 

 i-J- to 2j in. thick, is then spread over the beds with 

 a little flat wooden shovel, the back of which is used 

 to make the surface even and regular. 



Two or three weeks after these various operations 

 have been performed satisfactorily, the young Mush- 

 rooms begin to appear on the surface of the soil. When 

 large enough 2 in. or a little more across the tops 

 they are picked and sent to market. 



In these Parisian caves, owing, no doubt, to the 

 equable temperature and the proper degree of humidity 

 in the atmosphere, the beds will produce mushrooms 

 for eight or nine weeks, and often longer under very 

 favourable circumstances. The mushrooms are 

 picked every day, and not once or twice a week, as in 



