MUSHROOM CULTURE 161 



the escape of excessive heat. The bed is not yet finished ; 

 it must stand in this condition but covered with long 

 litter for some few days while assuming a proper degree 

 of warmth. Quite likely the interior will at first 

 register 100, but we must wait until it sinks to 80 before 

 planting the spawn. Professional growers gauge the 

 temperature by means of test sticks which they embed 

 deeply in the heap. Every morning the sticks are pulled 

 out, and if they can be held just comfortably by the bare 

 hand the growers conclude that the heap is ready. This 

 is a good enough method for the skilled worker, but the 

 uninitiated will be well advised to use a thermometer. 



When 80 is registered the bed or heap is ready for 

 planting. Take a brick, break it into eight pieces (a bed 

 of the dimensions mentioned above will require about 

 sixteen bricks, which are usually considered the equiva- 

 lent of a bushel and cost, roughly, 65.) and insert each 

 about two inches down in the manure, the smoother 

 surface upwards. Do this with a trowel and level the 

 surface so that there are no ridges left to provide pockets 

 for rainwater. A space of eight inches should be left 

 around every piece. 



Two or three days after the spawn has been fixed in 

 position and the thermometer indicates that the tem- 

 perature is on the down grade, the whole bed is covered 

 with from one to three inches of earth, well beaten flat, 

 according to whether a heavy or light soil is used. Clay, 

 it may be stated, should be avoided for this purpose. 

 Next, give a sprinkling of water and cover the mound 

 with a layer of straw to afford protection and ensure 

 complete darkness. Far better than straw or litter are 

 Archangel mats, but as these cost, in pre-war times, one 



