MUSHROOM. 339 



rather dry, and turned soas to expel the violent heat, a layer 

 four inches thick is placed on the floor of the cellar and 

 beaten down firmly. Another layer of the same thickness 

 is added, and the same beating process carried out, and 

 so on till the bed is made of sufficient thickness. I make 

 my beds fifteen inches in depth when artificial heat can 

 be obtained of fifty degrees, but in cold cellars the bed 

 should be at least eighteen inches. 



"Spawning the Bed. I spawn my beds when the tem- 

 perature declines to eighty-five degrees at about three 

 inches under the surface, though the heat in the centre of 

 the bed may be one hundred degrees. The spawn is broken 

 in pieces of about one and a half to two inches, and I 

 insert them about seven inches apart each way, and so 

 deep as to admit of being covered about an inch with the 

 same material as the bed is composed of, firming it well 

 about and over the spawn. 



"Soiling the Bed. This is done in eight days from 

 the time of spawning. I put two inches of fine loam all 

 over the bed. making it firm by beating it well with the 

 back of the spade, damping the surface, and passing the 

 back of the spade over it at the last to give a smooth 

 finish to it. As soon as the soil is placed on the bed a 

 covering of hay is placed over it rather thinly, doubling 

 it as the heat declines. 



"Gathering the Crop. In six weeks from the time of 

 soiling I usually gather my first crop of Mushrooms, 

 and cut from ten to twelve pounds weekly from a 

 space of two hundred square feet, or, for the whole 

 crop, an average of about one pound per square foot, 

 some of them measuring five inches in diameter. In 

 gathering I draw the Mushrooms out of the bed with 

 a twist, so ac not to disturb the roots remaining, after- 

 ward filling the holes with some fresh loam. Water about 

 ten degrees warmer than the cellar is applied when the 

 surface of the bed becomes dry." 



