MUS 



MUS 



may be found, however, and should he 

 collected, when it appears in the spring. 

 It generally occurs spread through the 

 texture of cakes, or lumps of dry, rotted 

 dung. Put it in a heap under a dry shed; 

 and a current of air, passing through the 

 shed, is of great utility. If kept dry, 

 spawn may he preserved three or four 

 years ; if damp, it will either vegetate be- 

 fore being planted or putrefy. 



Spawn must not be so far advanced in 

 vegetation as to appear in threads or 

 fibres; for, when in this state, it is no 

 longer applicable to a mushroom-bed ; it 

 may produce a mushroom if left to itself, 

 but otherwise is useless. Spawn proper 

 for inserting in a bed should have the 

 appearance of indistinct white mould. 



May be raised. Spawn is capable of 

 being raised artificially. The following 

 is the manner: Two barrow-loads of 

 cow -dung, not grass-feel, one load of 

 sheep's-dung, and one of horses', well- 

 dried and broken so small as to pass 

 through a coarse sieve, are well mixed, 

 and laid in a conical heap during March, 

 in a dry shed, being well trod as it is 

 formed, to check its heating excessively. 

 This heap is covered with hot dung, four 

 inches thick, or only with mats if the 

 shed is warm; for here, as in all the 

 stages of growth, the heat should only 

 range between 55 and 60. In about a 

 month the heap is examined; and if the 

 spawn has not begun to run, which is 

 shown by indistinct white fibres pervad- 

 ing its texture, another covering, of equal 

 thickness to the first, is applied over the 

 old one ; in another month it will indu- 

 bitably make its appearance. The time 

 varies from three to ten weeks. 



May be increased. If a small quantity 

 of spawn only can be collected, it may 

 be increased in the following methods, 

 the first of which is chiefly recommend- 

 able on account of its simplicity and fa- 

 cility of adoption : 



Small pieces of the spawn may be 

 planted a foot asunder, just beneath the 

 surface of the mould of a cucumber-bed 

 constructed in the spring. In about two 

 months the surface of the spawn will as- 

 sume a mouldy appearance ; it may then 

 be taken up, with thf3 earth adhering to it, 

 and when dried stored as before directed. 



The second mode is variously prac- 

 tised. In the course of May a heap of 

 the droppings of cows, sheep, and horses, 

 or any one or two of them, without the 



admixture of any undecornposed straw, 

 is to be collected, and one-fifth of road- 

 scraping with one-twentieth of coal-ashes 

 added, the whole being mixed together 

 with as much of the drainings from a 

 dunghill as will make it of the consist- 

 ency of mortar. Being well incorporated, 

 it is then to be spread in a dry, sheltered, 

 airy place, on a smooth surface, and 

 beaten flat with a spade. When become 

 of the consistency of clay, it is to be cut 

 into slabs about eight inches square, a 

 hole punched half through the middle of 

 each, and piled to dry, an opening being 

 left between every two bricks. When 

 perfectly dry, a fragment of the spawn is 

 to be buried in the hole previously made: 

 it will shortly spread through the whole 

 texture of the slabs, if kept in a warm, dry 

 place, when each may be broken into 

 four pieces, and when quite dry laid on 

 shelves separate, and not in heaps, 

 otherwise a bed will be formed for the 

 spawn to run in. Mr. Wales recommends 

 the composition to consist of three-parts 

 horse-dung without litter, two of rotten 

 tree-leaves, two of cow -dung, one of 

 rotten tanner's bark, and one of sheep's 

 dung, mixed to the consistency of mortar, 

 and moulded in small frames like those 

 used by brick-makers, six inches long, 

 four broad, and three deep. Three holes 

 to be made half through the bricks, an 

 inch apart, with a blunt dibble, for the 

 reception of the spawn. They should 

 be put on boards for the convenience of 

 moving abroad during fine days, as they 

 must be made perfectly dry, which they 

 often appear to be on the outside when 

 they are far otherwise internally. Before 

 they are perfectly dry they require great 

 care in handling and turning, from their 

 aptitude to break ; but in about three 

 weeks, if dry weather, when perfectly 

 dried, they become quite firm. To per- 

 vade them with the spawn, a layer of 

 fresh horse-litter, which has laid in a 

 heap to sweeten, as for a hotbed, must be 

 formed, six inches thick, in a dry shed. 

 On this a course of the bricks is to be 

 laid, and their holes completely filled 

 with spawn ; and, as the bricks are laid 

 in rows upon each other, the upper side 

 of each is to be scattered over with som<* 

 of the same. The bricks are not placed 

 so as to touch, so that the heat and 

 steam of the dung may circulate equally 

 and freely. The heap is to terminata 

 with a single brick, and when completed 



