Raising Mushrooms at Home 



one hundred and twenty-five or one hundred and thirty degrees. Do 

 not disturb the bed, however high it goes. When it falls to between 

 ninety and eighty degrees plant the spawn. If possible, keep the tem- 

 perature up for several days. It should then fall slowly to sixty 

 degrees, but go down no farther. Never plant on a rising temperature. 



Mushroom-spawn comes in brick-shaped blocks. They can be pur- 

 chased, of good quality, from any reliable seedsman. These blocks 

 are made of a mixture of dungs, through which the mycelium, or vine, 

 from which mushrooms grow, has been run. After this mixture is filled 

 with the vine (badly named spawn) it is pressed into blocks and dried. 

 It should be kept dry until used. Spawning a bed is nothing more 

 than placing cuttings of this exceedingly fine vine under the influence 

 of moisture and heat in a soil fitted for its growth (such as the bed 

 should be), then inducing it to run and fruit. Spawn is originally made 

 to grow by planting the seed of mushrooms in specially prepared dungs 

 and germinating them. The mycelium, or vine, coming from this 

 germination is called "virgin spawn," and is perpetuated in its growth 

 by running (training) it through manures, pieces of which form the 

 spawn of commerce. 



With a sharp hatchet cut the bricks into twelve pieces of equal size ; 

 a fine, clean meat-saw may be used, as it reduces breakage. With the 

 hand make holes in the bed ten inches apart each way. These holes 

 must be so deep that when the lumps of spawn are thrust firmly down 

 into them the top of the lumps will be not less than one inch or more 

 than two inches below the surface of the bed. Cover the lumps firmly. 

 Have the surface of the bed as even as possible. Without having to go 

 very far into the cold region of mathematics, the number of bricks of 

 spawn needed is easily figured. Ascertain the number of holes, ten 

 inches apart, that can be made in the bed. Divide this number by 

 twelve, and lo ! you have it. 



After the bed is spawned it is well to lay a double thickness of news- 

 papers over it, putting a few plastering-laths or light sticks upon them 

 to keep them in place. This is to keep the heat in the bed, as it is 

 desirable that the temperature should not run down too rapidly. It 

 should be two weeks falling to sixty degrees. 



Ten days after spawning, if the heat of the bed has gone down to 

 sixty-five or sixty degrees, cover the bed with two inches of loam and 



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