262 



HENDERSON'S HANDBOOK OF PLANTS 



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called spawn is not easily imagined to be 

 either, though we know, by the use of the 

 microscope, that the germs or spores are to 

 be found in countless numbers on the "gills " 

 of the fully-developed Mushroom, and these, 

 without doubt, when falling in a congenial 

 " soil," form the spawn which we plant to de- 

 velop the Mushroom. But an extended 

 botanical or physiological inquiry is not neces- 

 sary to the subject of culture. As there is no 

 necessity for light in Mushroom culture, the 

 usual method of growing them, where there is 

 a green-house, is to use the sheds used for 

 potting, packing, or for covering the boiler 

 pits ; and the portion of them used for Mush- 

 room growing is generally four feet from the 

 back wall, starting on the floor of the shed 

 with the first bed, the additional beds being 

 formed of shelving of the same width, and 

 from twelve to fifteen inches deep, raised one 

 above another to the top of the wall, like 

 steamboat sleeping berths. Of course, if the 

 shed is used for growing Mushrooms exclu- 

 sively, these beds will be formed in the middle 

 and front of the shed, leaving say three fQet 

 walks between each tier of Mushroom beds ; 

 for example, if the shed is eleven feet wide, 

 it will give two Mushroom beds four feet wide 

 on each side, with a three-feet walk in the 

 centre ; or if twenty-two feet wide, the beds 

 for Mushrooms should be four feet wide at 

 front and rear, with an eight-feet bed in the 

 centre, and three feet walks all around, the 

 eight-feet bed being accessible from the walks 

 on either side. When a Mushroom bed is 

 made under the green-house bench, the bench 

 must be made of slate or other material, to 

 prevent the water getting through, otherwise 

 Mushrooms could not well be raised under it. 

 The bed must also be formed under such 

 benches as have no pipe or flues under them, 

 as the heat from such near to the bed would 

 be hurtful. Where there is a superfluity of 

 cellar-room, there is no better place to raise 

 Mushrooms, as the cool moisture of the atmos- 

 phere and the uniform temperature of the cellar 

 is more congenial to the growth of this vege- 

 table than structures above ground. The beds 

 may be formed of the size and depth above 

 recommended ; or, where portable Mushroom 

 beds are wanted, boxes may be used of the 

 requisite depth and of convenient size. The 

 temperature of the apartment where Mush- 

 rooms are to be grown during the winter 

 months should range from 55 to 65, and, 

 consequently, it would be useless to attempt 

 to grow the crop in the winter months unless 

 artificial means were used to keep the tem- 

 perature to that height ; for though the 

 manure in the beds were up to 80 when first 

 made, it would only partially raise the tem- 

 perature of an unheated building in winter. 

 Probably the best time to begin making the 

 beds for a crop wanted in winter is during 

 August and September, as at that season the 

 temperature is high enough to cause the 

 spawn to germinate freely, so that the first 

 beds made in August will give the first crop 

 during December; those in September, in 

 January or February ; and so on. The fol- 

 lowing plan, given in our work, "Gardening 

 for Profit," has been extensively practiced for 

 the past fifteen years, with rare instances of 

 failure, even by those who never before 

 attempted the culture of the Mushroom : 



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"Let fresh horse droppings be procured from 

 the stables each day, in quantity not less, 

 perhaps, than a good barrowful. To every 

 barrowload of droppings add about the same 

 weight (which will be a little less than one- 

 third in bulk) of fresh loam from a pasture, or 

 sod land of any kind, in fact, that has not 

 been manured ; the danger of old manured 

 soil being, that it may contain spurious fungi. 

 Let the droppings and soil be mixed together 

 day by day as the droppings can be procured. 

 If they can be had all at once in quantity 

 enough, so much the better. Let the heap be 

 turned every day, so that it is not allowed to 

 heat violently, until you have got enough to 

 form the bed of the dimensions required. Be 

 careful that you keep it under cover, so that 

 it cannot possibly get wet. Now, from the 

 prepared heap of droppings and soil, spread 

 over the bed a thin layer; pound this firmly 

 down with a brick, and so on till it reaches a 

 depth of eight inches. Be careful that it is 

 not more nor less than eight inches ; more will 

 cause the mass to heat too violently, while less 

 is hardly enough. Into this bed plunge a 

 thermometer ; in a day or two the bed will 

 heat so that it will run up to 100* or over ; 

 and as soon as it declines to 90", take a dib- 

 ble, or sharp stick, and make holes three or 

 four inches deep all over the bed at twelve 

 inches each way ; into each hole put a piece 

 of spawn about the size of a hen's egg, cover- 

 ing up the hole again with the compost, so 

 that it will present the same level, firm sur- 

 face as before the spawn was put in. Let it 

 remain in this condition for about ten or 

 twelve days, by which time the spawn will 

 have 'run' through the whole bed. Now 

 spread evenly over the surface of the bed 

 nearly two inches of fresh loam ; firm it down 

 moderately with the back of a spade, and 

 cover up the bed with three or four inches of 

 hay or straw. This completes the whole 

 operation of 'planting the crop.' Nothing 

 now remains to be done but to attend to the 

 proper degrees of heat and moisture. If you 

 can control the means of heating, so that the 

 place can be kept uniformly at a temperature 

 of 60, all the better; if not, it may range 

 from 40 to 60. It should never get below 

 40?, else the bed will become cold and delay 

 the crop until too late in the season to be 

 profitable. Unless the air of the house has 

 been unusually dry, the Mushrooms will 

 appear before any water is required ; but 

 examination should be made, and if the sur- 

 face of the bed appears dry, a gentle sprinkling 

 of water, heated to about 100", must be given. 

 With this treatment, beginning in August, 

 our first crop is ready for use in December; 

 while beginning in September, the crop should 

 be ready in January and February. The 

 Mushrooms do not come up all at once, but 

 from three to four weeks will be needed to get 

 off the first crop. After this, a slight dress- 

 ing of fresh soil about half an inch in depth is 

 spread over the bed, and again beaten down 

 with the spade ; this is gently watered with 

 tepid water when dry, and a second crop of 

 Mushrooms (often better than the first) is 

 gathered in March or April. To show how a 

 simple oversight in our operations may defeat 

 the whole work, I will state that in my first 

 attempt at Mushroom growing I labored for 

 two years without being able to produce a 



