CULTIVATION OP FUNGI. 79 



straw which has been thoroughly trodden underfoot in tlic 

 stable or riding- school. When this is placed in a heap, it is 

 soon penetrated in every direction with spawn, and may be 

 used in several ways for the production of Mushrooms. 

 Splendid crops may be obtained from it, from Asparagus- 

 beds, from mould in spent Cucumber and Melon-frames, 

 either covered with green turf or exposed, as well as from 

 the ordinary jNIushroom-shed. 



It has been questioned whether Mushrooms might not be 

 raised successfully on la^rns, and there is no doubt that 

 this sort of cultivation Nvould succeed. But even supposing 

 it should, it must more or less interfere with the nice keeping 

 of the surface, a point of so much consequence to English 

 gardeners, which would inevitably exhibit here and there 

 dead patches, the effects of the last year's growth. And if 

 A. arvensis (Plate 10, fig. 4) should be chosen, which would 

 probably be more easy of cultivation in such situations than 

 any other species, the extent of dead surface would be consi- 

 derable. There is another very great objection to the culti- 

 vation of this species, which is that the spawn at times gives 

 out a most oppressive smell. During the last summer I was 

 astonished at the very powerful odour which arose from the 

 large rings of Agaricus arvensis, creating at once a sense of 

 nausea. This, indeed, was so annoying, that even the labour- 

 ers, whose perceptions of such matters are not in general 

 very delicate, observed it. This observation applies also to 

 the Champignon (Plate 14, fig. 5), which is one of the most 

 eligible in other respects for lawn cultivation. The spawn 

 of A. arvensis penetrates to a great depth, and ]\Irs. Ilussey* 

 relates an instance where the scent was so overpowering, 



* The reader should refer to the article Fairy Rings, in Mrs. Hussey's 

 ' Illustrations of British Mycology,' appended to her account of Agaricus 

 Oreadet. 



