MUSHROOM GROWING 77 



high temperature. 'By adding, say, two barrowloads 

 of soil to the cartload of manure and mixing well before 

 the manure is formed into a heap for the purpose of 

 fermentation, this mould will answer the useful pur- 

 pose of absorbing the nitrogen, preventing its escape, 

 and preserving it for the Mushrooms later on. The 

 manure after being placed in a heap as advised should 

 remain so for, say, three or four days. If not overdry 

 when put up three days is quite long enough, but 

 if moderately dry four days is not too long. The 

 safest and best plan is to put a trial stick in the heap, 

 one long enough to reach to the centre, say, three feet 

 deep. It should be examined on the second and every 

 subsequent day, and if the stick becomes in any way 

 too hot for the hand to bear the heap must be opened 

 out at once and the manure spread out for a few hours 

 to cool, and afterwards put up again in the same way, 

 and the same precautions taken with the trial sticks, 

 etc., as regards heat, and if still too high the heap must 

 be opened out again to cool and be reformed in the 

 course of a few hours as before, when it will be found 

 that the heat will have dropped to about 85 or 90, 

 and ready for forming the beds. The work of opening 

 up the manure again in removing it to the Mush- 

 room house will further reduce the temperature a 

 little, bringing it down to about 80 or 82, which, as 

 we said before, it should be at the time the beds are 

 formed. 



Before leaving the important subject of the manure 

 let us again reiterate the vital points to observe in its 



