MUS 



[ 019 ] 



MUS 



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 j 

 than any other thin permanent enclo- 

 sure. 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 mush- 

 rooms. It is also convenient to be 

 able to open the house opposite where 

 you wish, either to get in fresh mate- 

 rials 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 mush- 

 rooms 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 upright 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 conve- 

 nient width to reach over for all neces- 

 sary 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 first 

 of January 



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 

 productiveness of the bed. It some- 

 times happens, that beds will not come 

 into production for five or six months, 

 they should not, therefore, be impa- 

 tiently destroyed. 



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, waterings 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 cover- 

 ing. 



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 \vhen 

 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 

 stiimps left in the ground decay, and 

 become the nursery of maggots, which 

 are liable to infect the succeeding crop. 



Other Modes of Cultivation. Some 

 gardeners merely vary from the pre- 

 ceding 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 Sep- 

 tember or October, when the bines of 

 the plants decay, the bed is care- 

 fully 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 gentle 



