VEGETABLES 65 



up to two inches in depth should be placed on the 

 beds when the spawn is running freely. Choose a 

 sheltered spot for an outdoor bed. Mushrooms for 

 autumn and winter should have a bed the south 

 side of a wall or hedge ; if for spring and summer, 

 behind a north wall. Should the heat of the beds 

 become too hot, make a few holes down the centre 

 of the bed with an iron stick or bar. 



Mushrooms ought to appear in six weeks, but 

 that cannot be depended on, and sometimes are much 

 longer in producing them. Outdoor beds if well 

 covered seldom require watering, but if they become 

 dry they must be moistened with lukewarm water. 



The usual time to water mushroom beds is im- 

 mediately after gathering. People often make the 

 mistake of not watering enough when the mush- 

 rooms are getting forward, as mushrooms always 

 grow best in the fields after rain ; and, when arti- 

 ficially grown, warm liquid manure may be given 

 frequently to beds in bearing. 



Mushrooms may also be grown on lawns and 

 in pleasure grounds by procuring some mushroom 

 spawn in April or May, and by breaking the bricks 

 into pieces about two inches square and burying 

 them at intervals all over the lawn. In each place 

 raise a small piece of the turf and insert a piece of 

 the spawn, and press the turf down over it ; then 

 the lawn should be rolled, and the mushrooms will 

 appear in September. The same spawn will produce 

 plants for several years in succession, and the lawn 

 may be mowed just as usual. 



The following is of the best plans to make a 

 mushroom bed : First take some fresh horse-drop- 

 pings from a stable where the animals have been 

 highly fed, and place under a dry shed ; then turn it 



