I'liBULiAl'V 15, 1906. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



847 



A Corner in the Basket Room of the A. L. Randall Co., Chicago. 



oight days, when the temperature has 

 dropped to 75 dej^rees, ttie covering of 

 soil about two inches deeji is put on. 

 The soil should not be wet, but should be 

 in such a condition that it will pack 

 firmly without baking and should be 

 beaten evenly and smoothly with the 

 back of a spade. The bed sliould by all 

 means be curtained, both as a shade 

 from light and as a means of prevent- 

 ing evaporation as much as possible. 

 After tiie soil is put on it will cause a 

 rise in the tem])erature of the bed, prob- 

 ably to about 80 degrees, but it will soon 

 begin to come down slowly and after it 

 has fallen to 70 degrees, a covering of 

 hay or straw should be jnit on to try 

 and maintain this heat in the bed as long 

 as possible. After the bed has been 

 spawned about four weeks, examine oc- 

 casionally and when the mushrooms be- 

 gin to appear remove the covering, as 

 they would work up through this and 

 make it very inconvenient to pull them. 

 Try and oljviafe the necessity of water- 

 iiig until your trop lias been 2Mthere<l. 

 l\v maintaining as moist an atmosphere 

 around your bed as possible. This can 

 be done by spraying under tiie bench 

 where your bed is and over the covering 

 with water at a temperature of 80 de- 

 grees, the frequency of apidicnlion be- 

 ing regulated by the amount of evapora- 

 tion. If tliis is excessive, it n'ny be 

 necessary to spray three times a day. 

 but twice, or even once, migiit be suf- 

 ficient. In liarvesting your crop don't 

 pull the mushrooms straiglit up, but twist 

 the stem around in the soil so as to l>reak 

 it awav without disturbing the mvcelium. 



After tiie crop is gathered, give a good 

 watering with water at a temperature of 

 SO degrees, cover over with an inch of 

 Iresh soil, beating lUiwu as before. Put 

 a good covering ov(>r tiie bed and treat 

 as for the first crop and in the course of 

 from four to five weeks a second crop 

 will aj)pear, this second crop oftivi prov- 

 ing about as good as the first. 



\V. tS. Croydox. 



Greenhouse Heating. 



HEATING FRAME WITH STEAM. 



1 would like to know how 1 could build 

 a hotbed, so that I could heat it with 

 steam and how the steam pipes should 

 be arranged. The hotbeds would face 

 south. M. F. ('. 



What ]s known and generally under 

 stood as a hotbed is made of feriueut- 

 iiig material, stable m.anure, leaves, or 

 refuse liops and the lie.at germinated by 

 fermentation makes the hotbed. What 

 you arc attempting would better be called 

 a heated frame. 



A number of sasli heated by steam 

 or hot water is a most useful adjunct to 

 any commercial place. Often they are 

 heated by a separate heater, but there 

 is no difliculfy about heating them with 

 steam if that is the method of lieating 

 your greenhouses. From the nearest 

 ]Munt of your steam pipes, run a 1 ^\-inc\\ 

 ]>ij>e. one to your frames, and on enter- 



ing the frames lei the pipe be a foot 

 al)o\e the surface of the bed. Let it 

 drop gradually, if only one inch in 

 twenty feet to the furthest end. There 

 will be very little chance to make pro- 

 vision for return ot condensed steam to 

 the lioiler or main return in greenhouse 

 hikI don't attempt il. .\t the extreme 

 end of the heating pipe in the frame 

 put a 1-inch valve. It will l)e necessary 

 t() o|>en this valve two or three times in 

 iweiity-four hours to let (Uit any con- 

 i|eiise(l steam, but that will be little loss, 

 ;iii'l it two or three feet of the end and 

 the lowest point of tlie l>ipe should con- 

 tain condensed steam it would still be 

 h'>t. It would also be well to tap on a 

 pet cock near end of pipe to let out air 

 ;itid admit steam. Of course it will be 

 iiecess.'iry to protect your steam pipe 

 thoroughly if it has to pass underground 

 nr in the open air from the greenhouse 

 to the frame, but those things will sug- 

 iTi'st tiiems«d\('s to you. W. S. 



WILL HEAT THREE HOUSES. 



We lia\e what is called a brick-yard 

 steam boiler ten feet long, three feet 

 f(Uir inches in diameter; thirty-eight 

 .'Viu<h flues. How many houses will 

 a boil«>r like tliis lie.at up? It is good 

 for li!.^ pounds of steam. Houses are 

 ISO foot long, tucnty-niue feet wide; 

 walls are four feet six inches high; ridge, 

 twfdve feet, even span. To keep the houses 

 at .".") decrees to GO degrees, with the 

 \\>atlier at tlie coldest at zero, how many 

 rows of 1-inch pipe will it take to a 

 house? Would a steam trap help to 



