46 MUSHROOM CULTURE 



It is then pressed into as compact a mass as possible by 

 a rammer or mallet, building it up until it forms a bed 

 10 in. thick in front and 20 in. at the back. After a bed 

 formed of this description of materials has been thus 

 put together, rapid fermentation takes place ; and when 

 the most violent fermentative action has passed, and a 

 temperature of 80 is found in the bed, spawn is put 

 into it by means of a dibber. I employ brick spawn 

 obtained from good makers, but, to vary and possibly 

 prolong the period of production, I introduce a certain 

 quantity of spawn saved from old beds. This is longer 

 in its development than the made spawn, and appears as 

 a subsidiary crop. After the bed is spawned, a covering 

 of compact loamy soil is spread on the surface, 1J in. to 

 2 in. in thickness, and well beaten upon it so as to form 

 a smooth and hard crust. A temperature ranging from 

 50 to 60 should be maintained in the house. A 

 lower temperature abstracts the heat from the bed more 

 rapidly. 



" When the mushrooms begin to exhibit weakness, as 

 after the bed has produced a certain quantity they will 

 do, from the exhaustion of the more stimulating portions 

 of the manure, I find it an excellent practice to ad- 

 minister a sprinkling^of water in which a handful of salt 

 has been thrown (that quantity of salt to a three-gallon 

 can). Saltpetre, though in much smaller quantities, is 

 equally valuable given in the same way. The practice 



