254 GARDENING FOE THE SOUTH. 



its heat longer than that of the horse, a mixture of the two 

 may be safely employed. 



In four or five weeks after spawning, the bed should be- 

 gin to produce, and if kept dry and warm will last several 

 months. A gathering may take place two or three times 

 a week according to the productiveness. If it should not 

 come on in two or three months, a little more warmth 

 or a sprinkling of water will generally bring it into plen- 

 tiful bearing, unless the spawn has been destroyed by over- 

 heating or too much moisture. In gathering the mush- 

 rooms detach them with a gentle twist and fill the cavity 

 with mould ; do not use a knife, as the stumps left in the 

 ground become the nurseries of maggots, which are liable 

 to infest the succeeding crop. Gather before they become 

 flat, when half an inch or more in diameter, and still com- 

 pact and firm. 



Use. This "voluptuous poison" has been cultivated 

 and in high esteem among epicures since the time of the 

 Romans. They are employed in catsups, pickles, and rich 

 gravies, and considered by those accustomed to them very 

 delicious. Dried and powdered they are preserved in close- 

 ly stopped bottles for times when they are not to be pro- 

 cured fresh. 



MUSTARD. (Sinapis alba, and S. nigra.) 



The leaves of the White Mustard, (S. alba) are used for 

 salads, and the seed of the Black Mustard, (S. nigra) fur- 

 nishes the well-known condiment. Both are hardy annual 

 Cruciferous plants, and succeed in any good common loam, 

 but where sown in September to stand the winter, as is com- 

 mon in the South for early greens, the soil should be rather 



