p>&k Culture of the Mushroom 



though this last was a trying spring for fruit trees, I have had 

 this season the finest and best crop of peaches and nectarines I 

 ever had in my life. 



Melbury Gardens, Sept. 6. 1834. 



Anr. IX. On the Method of growing Mushrooms practised at Stoke 

 Place, with a Plan of the Mushroom House there. By Mr. Andrew 

 Patrick. 



As you requested me to send you the plan of one of my mush- 

 room houses, I, at the same time, have sent you an account of 

 ray method of growing mushrooms. It may be new to some, 

 though it is old to me, as it is a method which I have practised 

 for many years ; and, I am proud to say, I have never missed a 

 crop. No sort of compost is necessary. 



I take a quantity of dung, fresh from the stables, and throw it 

 together in a heap, until I think I have got a sufficient quantity for 

 my purpose. This, of course, will heat violently ; and will fre- 

 quently, when turned, appear quite white. Many gardeners will at 

 once condemn this practice : however, experience has taught me 

 to approve it; and the whiter the dung is, the better I like it. 

 Having procured a sufficient quantity for my purpose, I proceed 

 to turn the heap ; rejecting only the longest of the litter, and 

 preserving all the droppings with the shorter litter. Having 

 done this, should any part of it be dry or white, I proceed to 

 turn that over again ; and, as I go on, I take a watering-pot and 

 rose, and sprinkle it just sufficiently to make it ferment. When 

 the whole is finished, I throw it up lightly into a conical heap, 

 again to ferment. If the weather should prove very frosty or 

 wet, some of the long litter that was shaken out at the first 

 turning must be thrown all over the heap, to keep it dry until 

 the heat arises ; which, according to the state of the dung, will 

 hi from four to seven days. This second fermentation will be 

 strong, but perfectly sweet, as all the rankness will be gone 

 from the dung in the first fermentation. It will now be in a fit 

 state to put into the shelves or beds. If you can procure enough 

 fresh dung at once for your purpose, it must be thrown together 

 In a heap (as I before said), short and long together, and not be 

 turned until it heats itself dry ; then treat it as I have before 

 explained. Having the dung thus prepared in a strong fer- 

 mentation, and neither wet nor dry, proceed to put it into the 

 shelves ; putting a layer of dung all over the bottom of the 

 shelves, about 6 in. thick. Beat that down as tightly as you 

 p'>ssibly can ; and then put on another layer, and beat that as 

 before ; and so on, till your beds are 9 in. thick when finished. 

 In the course of three or four days, the dung on the shelves will 



