30 MUSHROOM CULTURE. 



" A short time back, attention was directed to the supe- 

 rior quality of French mushroom-spawn, and as a natural 

 consequence several London seedsmen imported it for 

 sale. Some months back I obtained possession of a 

 stable, and, wishing to grow mushrooms in it, procured 

 a few tons of horse manure, just as it came from the 

 dung-pit of the hotel stables. It was vdry wet, and con- 

 sequently when thrown together it heated violently. 

 However, by frequent turning for a week or ten days 

 this tendency was reduced, and then five beds were 

 formed of it, adding one-fourth of perfectly dry soil from 

 a cucumber-house. I say perfectly dry, because the soil 

 had lain in the house for fifteen or eighteen months 

 without receiving a drop of water, and therefore may 

 almost be considered as thoroughly dry. Intimately 

 mixed with the fermenting dung, it had the tendency 

 that I desired viz., subdued the excessive moisture, and, 

 after the bed had been made up a week, brought it to 

 the temperature necessary to receive the spawn. 



" Having great faith in the good qualities of fresh loam 

 from an old pasture for the production of mushrooms of 

 superior quality, I had a quantity dried and warmed. 

 I had a coat of this three inches thick laid over each bed, 

 and then forked carefully in, taking care to mix the soil 

 and dung as intimately as possible. Re-formed and left for 

 a few days the beds attained the necessary warmth ; then 

 they were made quite firm, and were ready for spawning. 



