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HENDERSON'S HANDBOOK OF PLANTS. 



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over the bed a thin layer; pound this firmly 

 down with a brick, and so on till it reaches a 

 depth of eight inches. Be careful that it is not 

 more nor less than eight inches; more will cause 

 the mass to heat too violently, while less is hard- 

 lv enough. Into this bed plunge a thermome- 

 ter- in a day or two the bed will heat so that it 

 will run up to 100 or over; and as soon as it de- 

 clines to 90, take a dibble, or sharp stick, and 

 make holes three or four inches deep all over 

 the bed at twelve inches each way; into each 

 hole put a piece of spawn about the size of a 

 hen's egg, covering up the hole again with the 

 compost, so that it will present the same level, 

 firm surface as before the spawn was put in. Let 

 it remain in this condition for about ten or 

 twelve days, by which time the spawn will have 

 run' through the whole bed. Now spread 

 evenly over the surface of the bed nearly two 

 inches of fresh loam; firm it down moderately 

 with the back of a spade, and cover up the bed 

 with three or^four inches of hay or straw. This 

 completes the whole operation of ' planting the 

 crop.' Nothing now remains to be done but to 

 attend to the proper degrees of heat and moist- 

 ure. If yon can control the means of heating, 

 so that the place can be kept uniformly at a tem- 

 perature of 60, all the better; if not, it may 

 range from 40 to 60. It should never get be- 

 low 40, else the bed will become cold and de- 

 lay the crop until too late in the season to be 

 profitable. Unless the air of the house has been 

 unusually dry, the Mushrooms will appear be- 

 fore any water is required; but examination 

 should be made, and if the surface of the bed 

 appears dry, a gentle sprinkling of water, heat- 

 ed to about 100, must be given. With this 

 treatment, beginning in August, our first crop 

 is ready for use in December; while beginning 

 in September, the crop should be ready in Jan- 

 uary and February. The Mushrooms do not 

 come up all at once, but from three to four 

 weeks will be needed to get off the first crop. 

 After this, a slight dressing of fresh soil about 

 half an inch in depth is spread over the bed, 

 and again beaten down with the spade; this is 

 gently watered with tepid water when dry, and 

 a second crop of Mushrooms (often better than 

 the first) is gathered in March or April. To show 

 how a simple oversight in our operations may 

 defeat the whole work, I will state that in my 

 first attempt at Mushroom growing I labored for 

 two years without being able to produce a single 

 Mushroom. In my apprentice days I had known 

 no such word as fail in so simple a matter; but 

 here, on my first attempt, on my own responsi- 

 bility, I was met by total failure. Every author- 

 1 ity was consulted, all the various methods tried, 

 but with no better success. In all such cases 

 something must be blamed, and I pronounced 

 the spawn worthless; but this could not well 

 be, as a friend had abundant crops growing 

 from spawn received from the same source. 

 Driven into a corner by this information, I made 

 another exploration of my ' authorities ,' and was 

 fortunate to find in one of them a single sen- 

 tence that at once showed where my error had 

 been; it was to 'be careful to delay the cover- 

 ing with mould until ten or twelve days after 

 the bed had been spawned.' Now, in all the 

 different methods I had tried, I had in each in- 

 variably put in the spawn, and at once put on 

 the two-inch covering of soil, which had the ef- 

 fect to shut down the steam, thereby raising the 

 temperature in the bed to a degree that de- 



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stroyed the spawn, and consequently defeated 

 my whole operations. My excuse for this di- 

 gression is to show the importance of what 

 might otherwise bethought unnecessary details. 

 Although spawn is procurable at cheap rates in 

 all horticultural stores, yet .to such as desire to 

 make it themselves, I give the following brief 

 directions : Take equal portions of horse drop- 

 pings, cow dung, and fresh loam, and mix the 

 whole thoroughly together, as you would make 

 mortar; then form it into cakes about the size 

 of large bricks; place these on edge, under 

 cover, until they become half dry; then insert 

 into each a piece of spawn half an inch or so 

 square, and let the bricks remain until they are 

 quite dry; then spread about eight inches of 

 horse dung over the floor of the shed, on which 

 build the bricks in a pile three feet wide by 

 three feet high, keeping the side in which the 

 spawn has been put uppermost; then cover 

 them over with sufficient stable manure, so as 

 to give a gentle heat, not exceeding 100, 

 through the whole. In two or three weeks the 

 spawn will have spread itself through the whole 

 mass of each brick: they are then removed to a 

 dry place, and will retain their vital properties 

 for many years. There is not the least question 

 that the cultivation of Mushrooms for market, 

 forced in the manner detailed, will give a larger 

 profit for the labor and capital invested than 

 that from any other vegetable. The supply has 

 never yet been half enough, and sellers have 

 had prices pretty much as they pleased. I know 

 of no house that has been especially erected for 

 the purpose, and the markets have been sup- 

 plied from beds formed in out-of-the-way cor- 

 ners, giving only an uncertain and irregular 

 supply, very discouraging to buyers. I have no 

 doubt whatever that Mushroom houses, roughly 

 built, but exclusively devoted to that purpose, 

 would, in the vicinity of any of our large cities, 

 pay a profit of fifty per cent, per annum on the 

 cost of construction." The following method, 

 written by S. Henshaw, of New Brighton, Staten 

 Island, we can, with great confidence, recom- 

 mend, as Mr. Henshaw has long been known 

 as the most successful Mushroom grower in the 

 vicinity of New York. His plan, which we be- 

 lieve is entirely novel with him, of covering the 

 beds with green sods, is of great importance, 

 and we believe this is the first time this natural 

 and common sense method has been given to 

 the public. Mr. Henshaw writes as follows: 

 "Mushrooms are rapidly becoming a favorite 

 article of food, and, so far as I know, the demand 

 for them, in winter has never been supplied, that 

 is, in a fresh state; of course they can always be 

 had canned, but these are a very poor substitute 

 when one has become accustomed to cat them 

 fresh. Physicians tell us they are the nearest 

 approach to animal food of any vegetable, being 

 rich in phosphates and ammonia, and, as brain 

 food, superior to fish. Formerly, any out-of-the- 

 way place was thought good enough to grow 

 them in, and in the seedsman's catalogues in- 

 structions were given for growing them, often 

 only copied from European catalogues, recom- 

 mending the use of cold sheds, barns, etc., for 

 use in winter. This method is all good enough 

 in a milder climate than ours; but around New 

 York, in winter, it could only result in failure. 

 We have grown them in all sorts of places, and, 

 from experience, find that all the labor is thrown 

 away, for winter forcing, if the temperature is 

 anywhere below 50. Until lately my only place 



