RAISING MUSHROOMS AT HOME 



By the courtesy of the publishers of The Woman's Home Companion, the author 

 is permitted to republish his article, " Raising Mushrooms at Home," which appeared in 

 the October, 1901, number of that excellent monthly encyclopedic in all home matters. 



'N October is the time to prepare the manure and beds 

 for house-raising of mushrooms. During the warm 

 months they can not be cultivated without trial of 

 one's temper and test of one's taste. Any one hav- 

 ing control of a cellar can raise a fine crop of expec- 

 tations, and may raise a crop of mushrooms by either 

 accident or experience. They are at all times the 

 most contrary of growths, and require the nicest man- 

 agement and much patience. The first thing to do is to select a well- 

 ventilated spot away from direct drafts, where the temperature can be 

 maintained at from fifty to sixty degrees and a moist atmosphere as- 

 sured. Thoroughly cleanse the cellar and give it an entire covering of 

 whitewash. 



Decide upon the size of bed desired. In width the bed should not 

 exceed reaching distance* to its center when there is a pathway on each 

 side of it, say six feet. The length of the bed should reach to its use- 

 ful stopping-place. If the cellar has a portable heater in it, and is warm, 

 the bed should be ten to twelve inches in depth ; if the heater is walled 

 in, or the cellar is cool, the bed should be fifteen inches deep. 



Calculate how much fresh horse-manure, with the long straw only re- 

 moved from it and that has not been rained upon, it will take to make 

 a bed of desired dimensions solidly tramped. Get it, put it in a com- 

 pact heap, and keep it covered from rain. It will heat rapidly and get 

 smoking-hot, because a fermentation sets in which produces heat. If 

 loam can be procured from a pasture or elsewhere it is well to add one- 

 fifth (in bulk) of it to the manure, mixing it thoroughly. This addi- 

 tion retards the fermentation and absorbs the ammonia a valuable fer- 



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