THE CULTIVATION OF MUSHROOMS 



1377 



have stored up nourishment and are 

 ready to develop the mushroom, or sporo- 

 phore, which is to bear the reproductive 

 bodies, or spores. 



Up to the period covered by the present 

 investigations the spores have seldom 

 been used in a commercial way. The 

 spawn maimer has depended upon finding 

 spawn in his pastures, or in his manure 

 piles, or having it appear spontaneously, 

 as it is termed, in prepared beds; and this 

 spawn he has used in the propagation of 

 other spawn by a process which we may 

 liken, perhaps, to that of propagation by 

 cuttings. 



Commercial Mushroom Growing 



The successful cultivation of mush- 

 rooms in America has not been so gen- 

 eral as in most of the European countries. 

 It is in France and in England that the 

 mushroom industry has been best devel- 

 oped. France is, properly speaking, the 



home of the present mushroom Industry. 

 Unusual interest has been shown in the 

 United States in the growth of mush- 

 rooms within the past few years, and it 

 is to be hoped and expected that within 

 the next ten years the industry will de- 

 velop to the fullest limit of the market 

 demands. The latter will, of course, be 

 stimulated and developed by the increas- 

 ing popular appreciation of this product. 

 In some cities and towns there is already 

 a good market demand for mushrooms, 

 while in others they may be sold only 

 directly to special customers. This should 

 be borne in mind by prospective growers. 

 A glance at the figures indicating the 

 quantity of mushrooms passing through 

 the Central market of Paris will afford 

 a fair idea of the extent of this industry 

 in France. The following tables give 

 approximately the total quantity sold dur- 

 ing several successive years and the pro- 

 duction by months: 



Quantity of Mushrooms Passing Through the Central Market of Paris, 1898-1901 



Production of Mushrooms for the Paris Market in 1901, by Months 



MONTH 



January. . 

 February 

 March. . . 

 April .... 



May 



June 



Total 

 production 



Pounds 

 902,000 

 895,400 

 941,600 

 917,400 

 985,600 

 877,800 



MONTH 



July 



August. . . . 

 September. 

 October. . . 

 November. 

 December. 



Total 

 production 



Pounds 

 734,800 

 651,200 

 653,400 

 649,000 

 655,600 

 726,000 



Causes of Failure 



Success in mushroom growing depends 

 on intelligent study of conditions and on 

 experience. While many American grow- 

 ers have been successful in the produc- 

 tion of mushrooms, a much larger num- 



ber have failed. In most cases their fail- 

 ures have been due to one or more of the 

 following causes: 



1. The use of poor spawn, or of spawn 

 which has been killed by improper stor- 

 age. 



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