SEPT.] KITCHEN VEGETABLES. 113 



more sure ; and the time of reaping may be reckon- 

 ed upon with equal certainty. The difference of 

 time, from first proceeding to make the beds, to 

 gathering mushrooms, will generally be three or 

 four weeks. By the first method you may reap in 

 six or eight weeks, and by the latter in ten or twelve. 

 Proceed thus : 



After having laid a floor, as hinted at above, of 

 ashes, stone-chips, gravel, or brick-bats, so as to 

 keep the bed quite dry, and free from under damp ; 

 lay a course of horse-droppings, six inches thick. 

 These should be new from the stable, and must not 

 be broke ; and the drier the better. They may be 

 collected every day, until the whole floor or sole be 

 covered to the above thickness ; but they must not 

 be allowed to ferment or heat* 



In the whole process of making up, the bed 

 should be as much exposed to the air as possible ; 

 and it should be carefully defended from wet, if out 

 of doors. When this course is quite dry, and judged 

 to be past a state of fermentation, cover it, to the 

 thickness of two inches, with light dry earth ; if 

 sandy, so much the better. It is immaterial whe- 

 ther it be rich or not ; the only use of earth here 

 being for the spawn to run and mass in. Now lay 

 another course of droppings, and earth them over, 

 as above, when past a state of fermentation ; then a 

 third course, which in like manner earth over. This 

 finishes the bed, which will be a very strong and 

 productive one, if properly managed afterwards. 



Observe, that in forming the bed, it should be a 

 little rounded, in order that the centre may not be 



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