MUSHROOM. 189 



should be laid on two inches of mould that out of 

 the trench, if dry and good, will do ; otherwise, if 

 to be brought, and a choice made, that of a kindly 

 loam is to be preferred. After having been laid on, it 

 is to be beaten closely together, and when the whole 

 is finished, the bed must be covered about a foot 

 thick with good oat straw ; over which should be 

 laid mats, for the double purpose of keeping the 

 bed dry, and of securing the covering from being 

 blown off. In the course of two or three days the 

 bed should be examined, and if it is considered that 

 the heat is likely to increase, the covering must be 

 diminished for a few days, which is better than 

 taking it entirely off. 



In about a month or five weeks (but frequently 

 within the former time, if the bed is in a high state 

 of cultivation) mushrooms will most likely make 

 their appearance, and in the course of eight-and- 

 forty hours afterwards they will have grown to a 

 sufficient size for use ; in which case the author re- 

 commends that, instead of cutting them off close to 

 the ground, they be drawn out with a gentle twist, 

 filling up the cavity with a little fine mould, gently 

 pressed in level with the bed. This method of 

 gathering is much better than cutting, as the part 

 left generally rots and breeds insects ; one in par- 

 ticular, the wood-louse ; all of which are destructive 

 both in frames and on mushroom-beds. Many are 

 the different powders with which the author has tried 

 to destroy them, but they were all entirely useless. 

 At last he was induced, from what he was informed, 

 to try the following ; and if it did not entirely de- 

 stroy them, it kept the frames and beds almost 



