42 MUSHROOM CULTURE. 4 



where the culture is pursued on a large scale. Where 

 there are several beds in bearing, the mushrooms should 

 be gathered every morning. In all cases they should 

 be pulled or twisted out, never cut out, so as to leave 

 decaying stumps in the beds. The holes made by 

 pulling out the mushrooms should be filled with a little 

 aii3 bam, of which a small heap may be kept in the 

 house for this purpose. 



Cleansing the House. 



A word as to the necessity of a thorough annual 

 cleansing of the mushroom-house. The fact that the 

 French cave-cultivators find it necessary to shift from 

 cave to cave, and find that after a cave has been in use 

 a certain time, mushrooms cease to be produced in it, 

 should act as a caution in this respect. In summer, 

 when there is no need to attempt the culture indoors, 

 the house should be thoroughly cleaned out, lime-whited. 

 every surface scraped and washed, and the house freely 

 opened, so as to thoroughly sweeten it. 



