.TT/ITRK IN SHEDS, ARCHES, ETC. 45 



means by which I have been for several years able to 

 raise large quantities of excellent mushrooms, in a place 

 originally but ill adapted for the purpose, I may induce 

 some of those persons who desire the luxury of what 

 Soyer called ' the Pearl of the Fields/ to turn their 

 attention to the subject of their growth. 



" I had a large, open, airy shed at command, but it 

 was liable to be affected by changes in the weather, and 

 was altogether too draughty and cold in winter, and too 

 hot in summer. I built within this shed, with rough fir 

 boards, an inner shed, 18 ft. long, 6 ft. wide, and 8 ft. 

 in height ; two receptacles for beds were formed, one on 

 the floor, the other above it : and to give the requisite 

 heat in winter, I passed a flue, formed of 9-in. socket 

 pipes, through the house; with this I can always command 

 an adequate amount of heat. The material of which 

 the beds are formed is chiefly droppings, collected from 

 an enclosed and covered exercise ground. These drop- 

 pings are trampled by the horses, and mixed with 

 straw broken up with the manure by the passage of MM 

 horses. 



" When first collected it is piled up in a large neap, 

 in a perfectly dry state, and when wanted for the bed is 

 thrown out, sprinkled with water, and fermented for 

 about a week ; while hot, it is taken to the house, and 

 as it is thrown in is mixed with a small quantity of soil 

 of a loamy character, and a barrow-load of leaf soil. 



