CULTIVATION OF MUSHROOMS. 255 



that is, the point when the beds are ready for planting the spawn, 

 seems to be one of the most important and critical features of the 

 business. The material must be of a suitable temperature, prefer- 

 ably not above 90 F., and not below 70. The most favorable 

 temperature, according to some, other conditions being congenial, 

 ranges from 80 to 85 F., while many prefer to spawn at 70 to 75. 

 Many of the very successful growers, however, do not lay so much 

 stress upon the temperature of the bed for the time of spawning as 

 they do upon the ripeness, or the cured condition, of the material in 

 the bed. This is a matter which it is very difficult to describe to 

 one not familiar with the subject, and it is one which it is very dif- 

 ficult to properly appreciate unless one has learned it by experience. 

 Some judge more by the odor, or the ** smell," as they say, of the 

 manure. It must have lost the fresh manure ** smell," or the 

 ** sour smell," and possess, as they say, a ** sweet smell." Some- 

 times the odor is something like that of manure when spawn has 

 partly run through it. It sometimes has a sweetish smell, or a 

 smell suggestive of mushrooms even when no spawn has run 

 through it. 



Another important condition of the material is its state of dry- 

 ness or moisture. It must not be too dry or the spawn will not run. 

 In such cases there is not a sufficient amount of moisture to provide 

 the water necessary for the growth of the mycelium. On the other 

 hand, it must not be too wet, especially at the time of spawning and 

 for a few weeks after. Some test the material for moisture in this 

 way. Take a handful of the material and squeeze it. If on releas- 

 ing the hold it falls to pieces, it is too dry. By squeezing a hand- 

 ful near the ear, if there is an indication of running water, even 

 though no water may be expressed from the material, it is too wet. 

 If on pressure of the material there is not that sense of the move- 

 ment of water in it on holding it to the ear, and if on releasing the 

 pressure of the hand the material remains in the form into which it 

 has been squeezed, or expands slightly, it is considered to be in a 

 proper condition so far as moisture is concerned for planting the 

 spawn. 



WHAT SPAWN IS. 



The spawn of the mushroom is the popular word used in speak- 

 ing of the mycelium of the mushroom. The term is commonly used 

 in a commercial sense of material in which the mycelium is grow- 

 ing. This material is horse manure, or a mixture of one or two 

 kinds of manure with some soil, and with the threads of the mycel- 

 ium growing in it. The mycelium, as is well known, is the growing 



