244 STUDIES OF AMERICAN FUNGI. 



venient reaching distance from the alley. The beds of the center 

 tier have access from the alley on either side and are usually seven 

 feet in width. The width of the alley varies according to the mind 

 of the owner, from two to three or three and one-half feet. The 

 narrow alley economizes space in the structure of a house ; the 

 wide alley, while slightly increasing the cost of the structure, makes 

 it much more convenient m handling the material, and in moving 

 about the house. The beds are constructed of one-inch boards. 

 Various kinds of lumber are used, the hemlock spruce, the oak, Georgia 

 pine, and so on. The beds are supported on framework constructed 

 of upright scantling and cross stringers upon which the bottom 

 boards are laid. These occur at intervals of three to four feet. The 

 board on the side of each bed is lo to 12 inches in width. The 

 bottom bed, of course, is made on the ground. The upper beds in 

 the tier are situated so that the distance is about three feet from the 

 bottom of one bed to the bottom of the next above. Figs. 228 to 

 231 show the general structure of the beds. 



Heating. One portion of the house is set apart for the boiler 

 room, where a small hot water heater is located. The position of the 

 heater in one of these houses is shown in Fig. 227. In other cases, 

 where the plant is quite a large one, a small separate or connecting 

 boiler apartment is often constructed. In other cases, where the 

 house is connected with or adjoining a system of greenhouses 

 devoted to hothouse vegetables, the water pipes may run from the 

 general boiler house which supplies the heat for all the houses. 

 The water pipes in the mushroom houses are sometimes run beneath 

 the boards or the walk in the alley, or in other cases are run just 

 beneath the roof of the building. 



Cultivation of mushrooms under benclies in greenhouses. This method 

 is practiced to quite a large extent by some growers. In the house 

 of Mr. William Swayne, Kennett Square, Pa., a number of large 

 houses, devoted through the winter to the growing of carnations, are 

 also used for the cultivation of mushrooms, a single long bed being 

 made up underneath the beds of carnations. In these houses the 

 water pipes providing heat for the building run along the sides of 

 the building underneath the carnation beds at this point. Under 

 these beds, where the water pipes run, no mushroom beds are made, 

 since the heat would be too great, but under the three middle rows 

 of beds in the house, mushroom beds are located. In this way, in a 

 number of houses, several thousand square feet of surface for mush- 

 room beds can be obtained. The carnations are grown, not in pots^ 

 but in a general bed on a bench. In watering the carnations, care 



