MUSHROOM CULTURE. 



Our readers are, of course, well acquainted with Mushrooms of the meadows, so abundant in 

 many places in the damp, cool weather and dewy nights of autumn. Some pass them without 

 notice, or think of them only as Toad-stools, while others seem to rush for every tiny specimen 

 as eagerly as though they were gathering diamonds. We desire to show how Mushrooms can be 

 cultivated so as to secure a supply during the spring and early summer, before they can be obtained 

 from the fields. It is difficult to grow them in the heat of summer, but in spring and autumn 

 they may be grown without difficulty. There are a good many varieties, but the one cultivated 

 and the one we find growing wild in the autumn is Agaricus campestris. 



All that is needed for success is a temperature 

 from 50 to 60 degrees, some fresh horse manure 

 and a little spawn. Having procured what fresh 

 horse manure is needed, mix it well with about 

 one-third of its bulk of good loam, and you are 

 prepared to make your beds in whatever place 

 ^.T you prefer. If you determine to form beds, make 

 them narrow, certainly not more than five feet in 

 breadth, and about fifteen inches in height. The 

 material must be made compact by beating down 

 as evenly as possible. If under cover, the beds 

 may be made flat on the top, but if in the open 

 air should be rounded to shed the rain, somewhat 

 as shown in the small engraving. After the beds 

 have been made a week there will be consider- 



AGARICUS CAMPESTRIS. able heat produced by the fermentation of the 



manure. Bricks of spawn should have been secured previously, and they can be had of most 

 seedsmen, postage or expressage free, at about thirty cents a pound. Break them into pieces 

 about as large as walnuts and insert in the beds, just below the surface, about ten inches apart. 

 One pound of spawn is sufficient for a space two by six feet. If there seems to be much heat, do 

 nothing for a week or ten days, until it somewhat subsides. Then cover the bed with an inch 

 or more of good earth, pressing it down with the back of a spade. It is not likely in a large bed 

 water will be needed at all ; but if the material should appear very diy, water lightly with warm 

 water. In small beds or boxes, or any thing of the kind, it is probable water will be needed once 

 or twice. Mushrooms will begin to appear in about six weeks after planting the spawn, and can 

 be gathered for three or four weeks. In 

 gathering, take up the Mushroom entire, 

 leaving no stem in the bed, and placing a 

 little earth in the hole made by its removal. 

 When the crop is gathered, cover the bed 

 with a little more earth, beat it down gently, 

 and give a pretty good moistening with MUSHROOM BED. 



tepid water, and in about a month more you may expect that another crop will be produced. 

 Many of our readers have succeeded, even on a first trial, but it is with this as with all new 

 things, that success is not always certain. 



The Mushroom is very accommodating, and will grow as well in the dark as the light, in 

 cellars or sheds, in beds or boxes, if the temperature is about right and uniform. For the Paris 

 market, and, indeed, for exportation, they are grown in the neighborhood of Paris in immense 

 quantities in old stone quarries, which are really under-ground caves. It will be well for those 

 who are fond of Mushrooms, or who feel an interest in the matter, to make a trial in a small way 

 at first. There is another variety of Mushroom found in a great many parts of the country, and 

 in some places quite abundantly in the spring. It appears as if honey-combed, and is most 

 abundant in thin woods or orchards. It is known as the Morel, (Morschella esculent a t ) and we 

 have heard of its cultivation in only one recent case in Europe. 



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