32 



.The Weekly Florists' Review. 



July 16, 1908. 



Vegetable Forcing. 



MUSHR<X>MS. 



Does It Pay to Grow Them ? 



' ' Does it pay to grow mushrooms ? " is 

 a question that has often been asked. If 

 florists or gardeners are asked the ques- 

 tion, some will reply that it does not pay. 

 Others, again, will say that there is more 

 money in mushroom growing than in any- 

 thing else. 



The writer has been growing mush- 

 rooms for the market since 1896 and will 

 tell the readers of the Eeview a few 

 facts . about mushroom growing. In the 

 first place, mushrooms should be grown 

 in a simple atfd scientific way, and not 

 after th^ old, complicated methods used 

 fifteen OT twgpty years ago. 



V ;j;^OId Method. 



Accdrdiltgi to fte old method, the ma- 

 nure waa' prepared i^or about six weeks, 

 and forked thjfougtL.;^ery few days, with 

 lots of h^d labor'} "Then it was put in 

 beds and immediately packed down as 

 hard jas possible, with the feet, and the 

 beds I wei-fe made tip, |ibout fifteen or 

 twenty inches thick. sWhen the heat 

 went down to 90 de^ees the beds were 

 spawned, and the spawn was put down 

 about three inches in the manure. After 

 that the soil was put on the beds 

 about three inches thick, and packed 

 doT^rn hard. After a.J,(ttv weeks the beds 

 were ' sprinkled with warm water to 

 "bring the mushrooms up." 



I am not surprised that those growers 

 could not make a success in mushroom 

 growing, as that treatment is enough to 

 kill any spawn. What spawn requires 

 to grow well is some fresh air, and pack- 



If You Grow Mushrooms 



and 'want the best spawn made, use 



ANGLO-AMERICAN 



? Made Direct from Spores. Write today for tree sample 



brick and what dealers near you are handling our spawn. 



AN6L0-AMERIGAN SPAWN CO., Kenietl Square, Pa. 



^ 



Mention The Review when you write. 



A BED or MUSHROOMS 



Raised from our Spawn, will bear Joneer and yield bett«>r than from any other variety of 

 Spawn. This is proven by facts. Full particulars and information how to aucceed in mushroom 

 raising free. We warrant you, if using our method of growing mushrooms, that all will go well 



KIRKEBY&eUNDESTRUP SEED CO., 4273 Milwaukee Afe„ChlcagO 



MUSHROOM SPEPIALISTS 



Mention The Review when you write. 



»/■:!; 



FliORISTS have a gplendid oppor 

 tunity of nisiiig Miuhrooms by 

 atUizing the waste space under the 

 bemchea. and then utiliziiurthe waste 

 material of expended maahroon 

 beda in growing flowers. Lambert' I 

 Pare Culture MUSHROOM 

 SPA WK, the beat Spawn in the market, ia aold by all 

 leadins acedamen. A fresh aample brick, enough for 

 a trialbed, together with illustrated book oo "Maah. 

 room Culture," will be mailed poati>aid upon receipt 

 of 40o in postage atampa. Addresa Amerioav 

 Spawn Company, St. Paul, Minn. 



Mention The Review when you write. 



do that. We have all the doors open in 

 both ends of the mushroom sheds, so that 

 the air has free* circulation during the 

 time the beds are put in, as the manure 

 needs plenty of air before the heat goes 

 down. Fresh manure should always be 

 used in mushroom growing, though a 

 month old or so is not too old. The straw 

 or hay does not need to be shaken out. 



Spawnios the Beds. 



When the beds are laid they should ' 

 not be packed down too hard and the 



Mtishrooms Grown by PattI Swansea. 



• J 



THE cost of labor saved 

 ' in six months will buy 

 and install a Skinner Sys- 

 tem of Greenhouse Irri- 

 gation. 



'/':': 



The Skinner Irrigation Go. 



TROY, O. 



Mention The Review when you write. 



SWANSON'S 



New varieties of Mush- 

 room Spawn is the best 

 Spawn on the market. 

 Write for price list and 

 book about Mushrooms. 



Paul Sw^anson, 



2743 W. 47III St.. ' 



CHICAGO 



Mention The Review when you write 



manure should be nice and moist. The 

 beds should not be spawned before the 

 heat goes down to 70 or 75 degrees and 

 about three-quarters of an inch of soil 

 is enough to cover the beds with. The 

 soil should be left loose on top and not 

 packed down at all. 



It is useless to make the beds up too 

 thick, as no more mushrooms can be 

 picked on a very thick bed than on a 

 thinner one. From seven to nine inches 

 is about the right thickness in a bed. 



ing the beds so hard and putting so much 

 soil on top excludes the air from the 

 spawn. If mushrooms are grown in a 

 simple and up-to-date way, they are a 

 good paying crop, and the market is 

 increasing every year. 



A Modern Method. 



In order to grow a good crop of mush- 

 rooms, it is not necessary to fork through 

 the manure very much in preparing it for 

 the beds. The heat will go down much 

 more quickly in a pile of manure if it 

 is left alone, than if it is forked through 

 every few days, and if it is watered it 

 will not burn dry in the pile. 



We do not go through our manure at 

 all when it lies in a large pile outside, 

 but bring it into the mushroom sheds 

 the way it comes. Then we water it and 

 go through it twice in the beds, as we 

 have our beds arranged so we can easily 



Mtishrooms Supplied Chicago Restatirants by Paul Swanson. 



