CULTURE IN SHEDS, ARCHES, ETC. 55 



suggestions, but even if a small early vinery were occu- 

 pied with plants, it would be desirable and practicable 

 to introduce a series of rough boxes devoted to mush- 

 room culture. 



Apart from empty greenhouses altogether, the space 

 beneath the stages in numbers of glass-houses of every 

 type may be utilized for the production of mushrooms. 

 These positions are usually unoccupied, occasionally they 

 are used for storing fuchsias, &c. in winter, but very 

 seldom are they turned to so good account as they might 

 be in the way I recommend. The stage in the small 

 greenhouse is frequently elevated so that there is plenty 

 of room to get beneath it: if at the back or end there is 

 no way of walking readily under the stage, an opening 

 should be made. The only difficulty that could possibly 

 occur would arise from the drip from the plants on the stage 

 above. This, however, can be easily guarded against by 

 spreading a piece of tarpaulin or oil-canvas over the bed 

 or beds. With beds properly made, a coat of dry hay or 

 litter, and a piece of tarpaulin, every owner of anything 

 in the shape of a greenhouse with a stage in it may grow 

 mushrooms throughout the autumn, winter, and spring 

 mouths, and even in summer by keeping the surface of 

 the hay or litter moist. Of course, if there be room for 

 but one bed, a succession cannot be kept up, and in this 

 case a bed should be made in autumn, which, if well 

 managed, should be in full bearing for a month or six 



