7 6 THE CULTURE OF VEGETABLES 



time it tends to diminish the size and lower the quality of the 



crop. 



In the management of the manure two essentials must be borne 

 in mind. Not only is nourishment for the plant required, but warmth 

 also. Probably a large proportion of the failures to grow Mushrooms 

 might, if all the facts were known, be traced to some defect in the 

 manure employed, or to some fault in its preparation. It must be 

 rich in the properties which encourage and support the development 

 of Mushrooms, absolutely free from the least objectionable odour, 

 for the plant is most fastidious in its demand for sweetness, although 

 it can dispense with light ; and there must remain in the manure 

 when made into a bed a sufficient reserve of fermentation to insure 

 prolonged heat, no matter what the temperature of the atmosphere 

 may be. Of course, the duration of the heat will depend very much 

 on the care with which it is conserved by suitable covering and 

 management. These requirements, formidable as they may seem, 

 can be insured with extreme ease ; indeed, the work is apparently 

 far more difficult and complicated on paper than it proves to be in 

 practice. 



The manure should come from stables occupied by horses in 

 good health, fed exclusively on hard food. The most suitable store 

 is the floor of a dry shed, or under some protection which will prevent 

 the loss of vital forces. Ammonia, for example, is readily dissipated 

 in the atmosphere or washed away by rain. The manure should 

 neither be allowed to become dust dry, nor to waste its power in 

 premature fermentation. Operations may be commenced with three 

 or four loads. A smaller quantity increases the difficulty of main- 

 taining the requisite temperature when fermentation begins to flag. 

 The first procedure is to make the manure into a high oblong heap 

 well trodden down. If the stuff be somewhat dry, a sprinkling of 

 water over every layer will be necessary. In a few days fermentation 

 will make the heap hot all through, and then it must be taken to 

 pieces and remade, putting all the outside portions into the interior 

 with the object of insuring equal fermentation of the entire bulk. 

 This process will have to be repeated several times at intervals of 

 three or four days until the manure has not only been fermented but 

 sweetened. When ready it will be of a dark colour, soft, damp 

 enough to be cohesive under pressure, but not sufficiently damp to 

 part with any of its moisture, and almost odourless ; at all events 

 the odour will not be objectionable, but may be suggestive of Mush- 

 rooms. Make a long bed, having a base about four feet wide, and 



