254 



N i: W I] N C; LA N [) FA K M K II, 



I VI.. 2G, 1S30. 



24. Serotiiiuiii, 



25. Saliiioiieum, 



26. Parvuliiin, 



27. Pupyraiteuiii, 



28. Pnlluluin, 



29. Clirysocomuni, 



30. Warraluli, 



31. Snbini, 



32. Chrysoidep, 



33. Parkii, 



34. Pallens, 



35. Staiiiiiicuni, 



36. IMutabile, 



37. Bicolor, 



38. Ver.sicolor, 



39. Stcllutiim, 



40. Oriiatum, 



41. Fulvcscetis, 



42. R'.ibicuniluin, 



43. Bluiicltiin, 



44. Deucaiitliiitii, 



Late pule purple. 

 Quilled 8al(nun-col'd. 

 Small yellow. 

 Paper ulillc. 

 I'alc pink. 

 Tnsselled yellow. 

 Ytllow wiuratali. 

 Gulden Iritus. 

 Double Indian yellow. 

 Parks small yellow. 

 D'ble (flM jiale orange. 

 Pale but]'. 



Chnngeablo pale buff. 

 Two-eolored inrurned. 

 Two-roloreil red. 

 Starry purple. 

 Tassclled lilac. 

 Brown |iurplc. 

 Early blu^^ti. 

 Blush. 

 Double Indian white. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



BOSTON, FKIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 1830. 



roR THE NEW ENOI.AND I'ARMER. 



MUSHROOMS. 



Mr Fessenden — I am not aware that niucli 

 attention lias been devoted to the cultivation of 

 the vegetable named at the head of this articio, in 

 this section of l!io country, although some at- 

 tempts have been made in one or more of the 

 Southern States, but with what success I nm not 

 informed. 



The mode of constructing the beds, the collect- 

 ing of the spawn, or originating it, and of propa- 

 gating from it, are described with much particu- 

 larity by Loudon, in his Encyclopedia of Garden- 

 ing, and in Fessenden's New American Gardener, 

 as well as by McMahon, in his treatise upon the 

 same subject. 



It was my intention to have transcribed from 

 these works, some of the directions in relation to 

 the culture of the Mushroom, for the benefit of 

 those who might he disposed to attempt it. But to 

 do justice to the subject, and to place before your 

 readers all the directions needful to a complete 

 understanding of the manner of preparing the 

 materials, to the formation and spawning of the 

 beds, or of originating the spawn, I find would 

 occupy much time and labor that may be dis- 

 pensed with, and you can make such seleciioiis 

 from these works as you may deem requisite, and 

 thereby confer a particular favor upon the public 

 at large, and the writer in particular. 



My attention has recently been directed to this 

 .•subject by a highly respected anil accomplished 

 amateur Horticulturist, who.se cultivated taste in- 

 duces, and whose affluent circumstances uflurd 

 him the means, of extending the blessings of Hor- 

 ticulture. In a letter received from him, he re- 

 marks, '•There is one production of the Garden 

 which is much, I may say, wholly neglected here, 

 (New York) and I hope you may have successfidly 

 attcmpteil it, to Hlimulate us. I mean the Mush- 

 room. 1 made the alli'mpt this fall, hut I could 

 procure no spawn that was good from the nurserv 

 men here, and the privaie gardens are destitute of 

 it. The same disappiiinln.eiit I met with in Phila- 

 delphia. This luxury has biciinie vimv common 

 in Europe, anil a recommendation in ilie New j 



England Farmer, as on all occasions, would be 

 well received here." 



.Mushrooms may be produced without planting 

 the spawn, or, as it is termed, without spawning 

 the beds. The President of the Massachusetts 

 Horticultural Society caused a bed to be prepared 

 and planted with asparagus roots. It was com- 

 posed of horse manure, that had lain two or three 

 years in heaps, the bed was made as such usually 

 are, for such a purpose. One single shoot of as- 

 paragus only appeared to reward his labor, but In 

 the autumn the whole surface of the bed was co- 

 vered with nmshroorns, and the supply was abun- 

 dant for the whole season. The method recom- 

 mended by Loudon for raising this vegetable, 

 without planting the spawn, is more simple than 

 is the preparation of the bed for the raising of 

 asparagus. He observes, " after having laid a 

 floor upon the surface of the ground, of ashes, 

 stone chips, gravel, or hrick-bat.s, so as to keep 

 the ground ipiite dry and free from under damp, 

 lay a course of horse dro[ipiiigs, r.ew from the 

 stable, si.\ inches thick. Tlicy must not be broken, 

 and the drier they are the better. They may be 

 collected every day if your stable does not fur- 

 nish enough at once to complete the first layer of 

 the above thickness. But they must not bo allow- 

 ed to feriTieiitor heat. The bed should be ex[)osed 

 to the air as much as possible while making up, 

 hut carefully defended from wet if out of doors, 

 or it may be nuule in a cellar, or under a shed. 

 When the first course is quite dry, and supposed 

 to be past a state of fermentation, cover it with 

 two inches of light dry earth. If sandy so much 

 the better. It is immaterial whether it be rich or 

 not, the oidy use of the earth being for the spawn 

 to run en mass in. Then lay another course of 

 droppings and earth over as before, when it has 

 fermented. Then a third in like manner, and the 

 bed is completed. It should be a little rounded 

 in order that it may not be more wet or moist in 

 the centre than on its sides. This may be efliect- 

 ed by the formation of the floor at first, and the 

 bed will then be of equal strength in all parts. 

 Beds are sometimes made with two courses, in- 

 stead of three, and when materials are scarce, 

 three, four inch courses with an inch of earth 

 between each, and a two inch covering or two 

 have been found to answer." 



I may trouble you again upon this subject. My 

 present purpose is to awaken attention to it. The 

 Horticultural Society will probably ofl'er a jiremi- 

 um as a stimulus to the cultivation of the Mush- 

 room. ZKBKDEE COOK, Jr. , 



DorcJiester, Feb. 20, 1830. 



I:. 



GEN. DEARBORN'S ADDRESS. 



[Conrludtd from iiuft 209.] 



Holland has been distinguished, since the period 

 of the Crusades, for her flower gardens, culinary 

 vegetables, and plantations of fruit trees. The 

 north of Europe and this country, are still de|ienil- 

 ent upon her florists, for the most .splendid varie- 

 ties of the bulbous rooted plants, and her cele- 

 brated nurseries, which long replenished those of 

 I''nglanil, have been recently enriched by the ac- 

 quisitions of Van Mons and Diiquesne. Several 

 of the new kinds of fruits produced by those inde- 

 latigiiblc experimentalisls, already ornament our 

 g.irilrns, and with the excellent varielii-s created 

 by Knight, promise to replace those, which have 

 cilliir become extinct, or ace so deteriorated in 

 quality, as to discourage their farther cultivation. 



This nil tliuil 111 li\ bridous fructification is foun 

 cd on Liiiiui ijs' Si\ual .System ,of Plants, but t 

 venerable President of the London Horticultui 

 Society, is entitled to the merit, of having fi 

 pra(!lical!y availed of a suggestion, which emaiu 

 eii from the beautiful theory of the northern Plii f 

 On the African coast of the Mediterranean, C 

 custom, bascil on the same princifdes, has prcva <■ 

 . ed, from the earliest ages, in the cultivation of t 

 I Date — that "Tree of Life" to the natives of tho|<' 

 sultry regions. The stamens and pistils of il 

 species of Palm are produced on diflerent ire 

 and those which aflbrd the former beiug relatii 

 ly quite low, it is necessary to cut ofl' the blussoi 

 and place them, by means of ladders, over the * 

 of the female trees, which arc very lofty. If tl 

 is not done, the pollen does not reach the stigni. 

 jand there is no fruit. This practice, howey. 

 does not derogate from the honor due to the g 

 I entific Knight, to whom we are unquestional 

 ^ indebted for that valuable discovery, by whi 

 i new varieties of every species of fruit and flow 

 may be infinitely multiplicil. 



Having been so long dependent upon our irai 

 jatlantic colaborators, it now becomes a duty 

 I attempt a reciprocation of the numerous benel 

 we have received ; and by emulating their ze 

 intelligence, and experimental industry, wc m 

 devclope the resources of our own country, whi 

 1 offers such an extensive, interesting, and proti 

 I field of research to the adventurous naturali 

 Many of the most useful and magnificent acqui 

 tions of the groves, fields, gardens, and consert 

 j tories of Europe, are natives of the Western I 

 I niisphere. The indigenous forest-trees, ornamei 

 'al shrubs, flowers, fruits, and edible vegetables 

 • North America are remarkable for their varic 

 I size, splendor, and value. Extending from t 

 I Polar regions to those of the tropics, and frotn I 

 shores of the Atlantic to the waves of the I'acil 

 I this mighty section of the continent embrac 

 I every clime and every variety of soil, termitigw 

 j innumerable specimens of the vegetable kingik 

 in all the luxuriance of their primeval and urn 

 : plored domains. 



t Catesby, Pursh, Michaux, Mulenburg, Bigelo 

 j Nuttall, Eliot, Torrey, Coldcn, Bartram, Bartt 

 Hosack, Mitchell, Darlington, Ives, Dewey, Hitc 

 cock, and Short, have rendered themselves illi 

 Irious, as disciples of Botany, by traversing o 

 I immense forest.*, mountains, and prairies, and ■ 

 jploring the borders of our mighty rivers and liiki 

 in quest of additions to the Flora of tlie Unit- 

 Stotes. 



Peters, Hosack, Lowell, Perkins, Prince, Mc.M 

 hon, Cox, Dean, Thocher, Adlum, Powel, ai 

 Buel, have, by precept and example, a.«.sidu)ius 

 fostered a tasle (or cullivution, and suoces,srnl 

 promoted developments, in all the various brain- 

 es of rural economy. As (lioneors in the Fcicn. 

 and art of .Agricultine or ganleninp, their -serv 

 CCS have been invaluable ; and while most 

 them still live to ludiold the rapid and extcnsii 

 progress of their cherished pursuii.s, the inqiortai 

 restdts of their experiments, and the gladdeniii 

 influeiicc of their beneficent labors, iheir naini 

 will bo ever held in gratelul remeud.rance, : 

 distinguished benefiiclors of their country. 



Enlightened by their instructions, and rouse 

 by their maidy enihusia.<>m, let us /.ealuiislv imital 

 their commendable cflbrts, and endeavor to ret 

 der our institution, as beneficial, in its practici 

 o|>erBtions, as it is cheering, i'l theoretical promis* 



