SPAWNING AND AFTER-TREATMENT. 39 



lower parts of the bed are of no use. If one drenching 

 is not sufficient to moisten the bed properly, another 

 should be given. The flat form of bed is of course much 

 more easily watered, and is on the whole the best for beds 

 under cover. The position of beds will have a great in- 

 fluence on the quantity of water they require, so that it is 

 almost impossible to give precise directions on this head; but 

 I can scarcely conceive a case in which it will be necessary 

 before six or eight weeks after the formation of a bed, 

 and I have seen fine crops gathered without a single water- 

 ing having been given. In watering old beds one ounce 

 of guano to the gallon of water will prove beneficial. 



Vermin in Mushroom Beds. 



10 



Woodlice are the greatest pests the mushroom-grower 

 has to dispose of, and the most effective way of getting 

 rid of them is by destroying them with boiling water. 

 The surface of the bed being firm and covered with 

 smooth firm soil, the only likely place to afford these 

 creatures the interstices they usually retire into when 

 disturbed, or when not employed in eating the head of 

 every little mushroom that presents itself, is round tho 

 edges of the bed, and in the slit which often occurs 

 between the bed and wall or sides of the shelves that 

 support it. There they are likely to be found in great 

 numbers^ and may be destroyed wholesale by pouring 

 boiling water all along the crack. If the beds be co- 



