MUSHROOM CULTURE. 211 



gous diseases. They are induced by overwatering, or 

 ventilating, and by syringing the plants upon dull days 

 and late in the day, when the moisture remains a long 

 time upon the foliage. When fungi of any kind appear, 

 the diseased portion should be burned and the plants 

 syringed with ammoniated copper carbonate, or copper 

 sulphate solution. 



MELONS. 



During the early summer, vegetable houses can 

 often be used for forcing melons, with profit. They 

 should be started in March, and grown in four-inch pots 

 until the lettuce or other crop is taken off in April. 

 The care is the same as for the cucumber. Hackensack 

 is one of the best sorts for the purpose. 



CHAPTER XV. 



MUSHROOM CULTURE. 



It often happens that in greenhouses there is no 

 occasion for using the space beneath the benches for 

 ordinary greenhouse crops, and many florists have found 

 in the mushroom a crop that can be grown at a slight 

 extra expense of labor and material, and if a good yield 

 is obtained the proceeds may more than equal those from 

 the plants grown on the bench itself. If any of the 

 tables are not to be used until spring, a mushroom bed 

 can also be made upon them, and the crop can be har- 

 vested before the bench is needed. 



The best results are obtained at temperatures of from 

 55 to 60 degrees, and this is secured in the average green- 

 house. When houses are run at a slightly lower tem- 

 perature, a larger amount of heating material can be 



