510 THE KITCHHEN-GARDEN. [OCT. 



in such a place, they could be effectually defended from excessive 

 wet, cold, frost, and snow, and would consequently be very produc- 

 tive. Likewise, if in this place there is a pit, like that in a hot- 

 house, a bed of dung may be made therein, raised at top above the 

 pit in a rounding manner, on which the spawn is placed, earthed 

 over near two inches thick, and then covered well with straw. Or 

 in such a pit you may, by mixing a quantity of strong horse dung, 

 moist stable litter, and rich loamy earth together, have the spawn 

 generated ; by filling the pit with this mixture, the dung predomi- 

 nating so as to produce a slow and lasting fermentation, and covering 

 the whole over with about an inch deep of light earth and a good 

 coat of straw, the spawn will be produced ; and from this, abundant 

 crops of mushrooms, in regular succession for several months. 



You may likewise make beds in the common hot -bed way, place 

 thereon frames and glasses, and when the violent heat is abated, 

 spawn the top all over, cover it with an inch and a half or two inches 

 of earth, then thickly with straw, and lay on the glasses to protect 

 the beds from rain. 



Mushroom beds may be made in any month, when the weather is 

 mild and dry, but those made in the beginning of this, is generally 

 most productive, and besides, they retain more heat on the approach 

 of winter than if made in September. However when a second bed 

 is to be made it would be well to make one in each month. 



Endive. 



Continue every week to tie up some full grown endive for blanch- 

 ing, as directed in page 453, tying no more at a time than in pro- 

 portion to the demand or consumption ; for if it is not used soon 

 after being sufficiently blanched, it becomes tender and is subject 

 to rot, especially if the season proves wet. Some people blanch 

 endive by laying boards or tiles flat on the plants ; they will whiten 

 tolerably well by this method, but their growth during the period 

 of whitening is greatly checked thereby, which is certainly of 

 some importance. 



Others draw earth round the endive plants efter their being tied 

 tip in the usual manner, this may do very well in dry weather, but 

 if rain ensues, many of the leaves will rot, and the entire be greatly 

 injured. 



If you have stout endive plants, and neglected in September to 

 set out a sufficient number, that work may be done in the first 

 week of this month, but it ought not to be deferred longer : these 

 late plants will keep better, if the season should prove favourable 

 that they may attain a tolerable size, than those of a more forward 

 growth. 



Or to preserve late endive for winter use, as well from the 

 effects of too much wet as frost, you may in the first week of this 

 month, prepare a sloping bank of light earth in a warm situation, 

 the sloping side fronting the south and the bed raised two feet 

 higher behind than in front : on this plant, tolerably close, some 

 stout middle sized plants, and on the approach of severe weather, 



