394 SATURDAY IN MY GARDEN 



MUSHROOMS. Mushrooms may be grown out of doors even in 

 the smallest garden. The experiment is not a costly one, and 

 August is the ideal time for making the attempt. Diagram 71 

 will suggest some of the methods to be employed. 



The first essential is to get the necessary materials together. 

 Procure fresh stable manure (straw litter manure, not peat litter), 

 shake out well, leaving as little straw as possible ; the better the 

 manure the better the bed will bear. After shaking out stack 

 the short manure closely, just as you would prepare a hotbed, 

 and there let it remain for a week. Then turn it over, and place 

 what has been outside the heap into the centre ; repeat this turn- 

 ing at intervals of three days. Four turnings should be sufficient, 

 and if dry, use water enough to moisten the manure gradually 

 at each turning. If you get your material right in regard to 

 moisture, whatever shape you make your beds, whether flat beds 

 or ridges, you will not be likely to experience any trouble after- 

 wards. The ideal temperature is 55 to 60. 



For making outdoor beds the material should be put in a heap, 

 the measurements of which should be two feet six inches at the 

 bottom, two feet six inches high, and six inches wide at the top, 

 and the shape when completed should be that shown in Figure 1. 

 The bed may be made to any length required, but it should be 

 rendered quite firm. When it is completed and properly shaped, 

 stakes should be put down the centre by which to gauge the heat, 

 and the whole should then be covered with a long litter. 



When a temperature of 80 has been reached the bed is 

 ready for spawning. A couple of bricks should be enough for a 

 small bed. They should be broken up into pieces about two 

 inches square, and inserted into the bed three inches deep in the 

 manner indicated in Figure 2, at a distance apart of eight inches. 



The next operation is to cover the whole bed with fresh fibrous 

 loam, and beat it well down. It should then be watered, and the 

 surface made smooth with the back of a spade. Now cover the 

 bed with Russian mats, as shown in Figure 3. The object of this 

 is to keep out the light and to avoid excessive moisture. 



If these rules be followed the first crop of mushrooms should be 



