202 NEW ZEALAND GARDENING. 



the long litter in the centre. The treading prevents over- 

 heating, and retains the heat longer, saving all the ammonia. 

 When thus made up and the heat has subsided to 75 deg. or 

 80 deg., it is ready for spawning. This should be done 

 by making holes in the sides of the bed a foot or so apart. 

 In these put pieces of spawn about the size of small apples, 

 and cover the bed thickly with long straw to ward off wet 

 and maintain an equable temperature. In a couple of weeks 

 or so the spawn will have run sufficiently for the bed to be 

 earthed up, which should be done by placing an inch thick 

 of soil over it and patting it down firm and smooth. Then 

 replace the straw as a protection to the mushrooms, which 

 will make their appearance in eight or ten weeks. In 

 gathering mushrooms never cut them, only twist them gently 

 off; if cut, the remaining stems soon rot, and injure the 

 succeeding spawn. To be successful the site for the bed 

 must be a high and dry one, for if low, and water lies or 

 soaks into the manure, it will drown and perish the spawn, 

 and failure will be the result. If the object is to have mush- 

 rooms during Summer, the position chosen for the bed 

 should be a cool, shaded one, a good place being in an 

 orchard under trees, or at the back of a south wall or build- 

 ing where the sun does not shine, as mushrooms cannot en- 

 dure hot air, and must have plenty of atmospheric moisture, 

 in imitation of what they get naturally when they come up 

 in pastures and other places during the Autumn. The thick 

 covering helps to give them this, as it arrests evaporation, 

 and the vapour escaping from the soil is held in suspension 

 under the straw. Even in some mushroom houses it is 

 necessary to cover the beds, as when the houses are lofty or 

 not closely sealed, the atmosphere becomes arid, and the 

 mushrooms die off as soon as they show themselves through 

 the bed. Spawn may be had from most seedsmen. 



How to Fumigate. Fumigating cans may be had at 

 any seedsman's shop. The following plan is, however, simple 

 and efficient. Take an empty nail can or oil drum, perforate 

 it with holes in the bottom and half-way up the sides. In this 

 light a fire of sticks (two or three handfuls) ; while this is 

 burning, prepare the leaf, which may be damaged tobacco 

 from the stores, local grown leaf, or tobacco paper. If the 



