190 THE VEGETABLE CULTIVATOR. 



entirely clear. Get some of the tuberous root of 

 the black bryony, which grows in the hedges ; slice 

 it thin and small, into small garden pans, and cover 

 it lightly with moss, as this insect, like the mush- 

 room, prefers darkness to light. Let the pans be 

 put in different places of the bed, and in the morn- 

 ing shake the intruders into a pail of boiling water : 

 repeat the same at intervals, and but few will remain 

 to be troublesome. 



After what has been mentioned, the author will 

 close with a few other hints the method of cultivat- 

 ing the mushroom on ridge dung beds, which has 

 been successfully practised during the last century, 

 and still continues to hold its place, though not its 

 high rank, since mushroom-houses (which will be 

 noticed hereafter) have been so generally adopted. 



Where a mushroom-bed is permanently to re- 

 main, a covered shed will be found most convenient, 

 as the necessary work of the bed, &c., can be done 

 with more facility than when open to the different 

 changes of the weather. For this purpose a dry 

 place should be chosen (the more sheltered the 

 better) whereon to build a shed of sufficient breadth, 

 thickness of covering, a space to go round, and 

 the roof high enough for a man to walk under ; the 

 length, according to what is wanted, either ten, 

 twenty , or thirty feet. The shed should run from 

 north to south ; the north end must be closed en- 

 tirely up; .the sides, with the exception of two 

 small sliding shutters, must be weather boarded, 

 and the roof thatched with straw. It may be built 

 of any rough materials; it will last many years, 

 and be found a good substitute for a regular mush- 



