MUS 



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MUS 



Warm and gentle moisture has much, to 

 do with the growth of the mushrooms ; 

 therefore, if the shed is covered in with 

 slate or tiles, the space between the 

 rafters inside should be well stuffed with 

 straw of any kind, which can *be fastened 

 up by nailing cross strips of boards from 

 rafter to rafter. Then, after the bed 

 is made, spawned, and finished, the front 

 of the shed may be stopped up with thick 

 and well-thatched hurdles, which would 

 be warmer and better than any other thin 

 permanent enclosure. These hurdles 

 can be readily opened whenever light is 

 wanting, either to examine the beds, or 

 to cover, or to uncover, or to collect, the 

 mushrooms It is also convenient to be 

 able to open the house opposite where 

 you wish, either to get in fresh materials 

 to make a new bed with, or to take out 

 an old one. If the length of the shed 

 be from 21 to 30 feet, it should give a 

 large supply of mushrooms during the 

 winter and spring months. The beds 

 should be made along the back of the 

 house. 



Previously to making up the beds, a 

 board about nine inches high should be 

 placed as a frontage-board, from three to 

 four feet distant from the wall, which is 

 a good width for the bottom of the bed. 

 This front board may be supported up- 

 right by driving three or four short stakes 

 into the floor. The bed may be from 

 two to three feet high at the back, sloping 

 down to nine inches in front, which will 

 give a very convenient width to reach 

 over for all necessary purposes. Have 

 the materials ready to make the 'first bed 

 about the last week in August. Let this 

 occupy one-third of the length of the 

 shed. Make up another of the same 

 size about the last week in October, and 

 the remaining third about the 1st of Ja- 

 nuary. 



In four or five weeks after spawning, 

 in spring and autumn, the bed should 

 begin to produce, but not until much 

 later in summer and winter ; and if kept 

 dry and warm, it will continue to do so 

 for several months. 



A gathering may take place two or 

 three times a week, according to the pro- 

 ductiveness of the bed. It sometimes 

 happens that beds will not come into 

 production for five or six months ; they 

 should not, therefore, be impatiently de- 

 stroyed. 



Watering. In autumn, the bed will 



not require water until the first crop is 

 gathered, but it is then to be repeated 

 after every gathering; a sprinkling only 

 is necessary. In spring and summer, 

 during dry weather, the same, course is 

 to be pursued. As excessive or unequal 

 moisture is studiously to be avoided, the 

 best mode of applying the water is to 

 pour it through a rose-pan on to a thin 

 layer of hay, which has previously been 

 spread over the bed, and thus allow it to 

 percolate by degrees. In winter, water- 

 ings are not allowable ; to keep the 

 mould moist, hot fermenting mulch may 

 be put on outside the covering. If the 

 bed is in the open ground, on a warm 

 day succeeding to wet weather, it may be 

 left uncovered for not more than two or 

 three hours. During excessive rains, the 

 additional covering of mats, &c., must 

 be afforded ; and, on the other hand, if 

 a moderate, warm shower occurs during 

 summer, after excessive droughts, it may 

 be fully admitted, by taking off the co- 

 vering. 



Mode of Gathering. In gathering, the 

 covering being carefully turned off, only 

 such are to be taken as are half an inch 

 or more in diameter before they become 

 flat, but are compact and firm. Old 

 mushrooms, especially, should be rejected 

 for the table, as it is found that some 

 which are innoxious when young become 

 dangerous when tending to decay ; they 

 also then lose much of their flavour. 



Each mushroom is detached by a gentle 

 twist completely to the root; a knife 

 must never be employed, for the stumps 

 left in the ground decay, arid become the 

 nursery of maggots, which are liable to 

 infect the succeeding crop. 



Other Modes of Cultivation. Some 

 gardeners merely vary from the preceding 

 by building entirely of dung, without any 

 layers of earth. Many gardeners grow 

 mushrooms in the same bed with their 

 melons and cucumbers. The spawn is 

 inserted in the mould, and on the hills 

 of the beds, as soon as the burning heat 

 is passed. In September or October, 

 when the bines of the plants decay, the 

 bed is carefully cleaned, the glasses put 

 on and kept close, and when the earth 

 becomes dry, water is frequently but 

 moderately given, as well as every gentle 

 shower admitted when necessary. A gen- 

 tle heat is thus caused, and the produce 

 is often extraordinarily abundant, fre- 

 quently two bushels, from a frame ten 



