in Melon Beds. i 1 3 



the middle of March the entire bed was completely covered, 

 and in many parts they had thrown themselves up in large 

 hillocks, some growing out of others. Thirty-five button 

 mushrooms were gathered from some of these hillocks at one 

 gathering ; the bed still continuing to bear equally well up to 

 the month of May ; and it would, 1 think, have borne up to 

 June, but it was necessarily destroyed to make room for ano- 

 ther melon bed. By this mode of culture, the thickness of 

 the mould, and hot atmosphere of the bed, necessary for the 

 growth of melons, will prevent the mushrooms from appear- 

 ing before Februaiy. After the month of March the bed 

 should be shaded from the mid-day sun, and plenty of air 

 given, and water occasionally. Too much care cannot be be- 

 stowed on a mushroom bed, when first made ; for if it is 2 or 

 3 ft. high at first (which is the height I recommend for a 

 mushroom bed), it heats too violently, thus destroying the 

 fungous quality of the dung. To avoid this danger, when I 

 make a bed for mushrooms alone, whether under sheds or 

 glass, I make the bed 18 in. high at first, letting it remain so 

 for five or six days, and examining it every day, to see that 

 the heat does not exceed 100°; and when I find the heat 

 decline, I again add 18 in. more on the bed, making, on the 

 whole, 3 ft. high, of long and short stable dung, quite fresh. 

 The bed should still be examined every day ; and, when the 

 heat is on the decline, spawned in the usual way. The bed 

 must be then covered with the before-mentioned loam to the 

 depth of 3 in., and never less. To insure a good crop of 

 mushrooms, both in quality and quantity, I am quite con- 

 vinced that it is a very bad practice to reject long litter in 

 the formation of the bed ; for this reason, beds made with 

 horse droppings only soon decay, and consequently the spawn 

 must perish, after producing but a middling crop of mush- 

 rooms. Such beds as these, which are usually made only 

 about from 9 to 12 in. high, and generally on shelves, will, 

 I believe, never produce a plentiful crop in the winter 

 months, unless there are fires kept to heat the atmosphere of 

 the sheds where they are grown ; but, if I am not correct in 

 this opinion, I hope some of your able correspondents will set 

 me right. In my beds there is a steady and a lasting heat, 

 and they do not decay so soon by at least six weeks as those 

 made by horse droppings only. I have each bed bearing gene- 

 rally from ten to thirteen weeks ; and when I have taken them 

 down, I have always found them a solid mass of spawn from 

 top to bottom. 



I never cover my beds close on the mould. When made 

 in a shed, I have the litter which I cover with supported from 



