"with a Plan of the Mushroom House. 



557 



moist; and, for this reason, I prefer close-bottomed shelves to 

 open ones, as the beds will not be so soon dried, and will, there- 

 fore, require less watering. Great caution ought to be used 

 when preparing the dung for the beds, so as not to have it too 

 moist ; and I have frequently seen beds made, without due regard 

 to this, that have totally failed. In this case, the mushrooms 

 appear quite thick all over the beds; but they quickly disappear 

 again, without coming to maturity. The sole reason of this is, 

 that the beds have been made of too wet dung ; and, when this 

 happens, the beds ought to be immediately destroyed, and fresh 

 ones made : it will be folly to wait, thinking there will yet be a 

 crop, as the mushrooms will never more make their appearance. 

 The mushroom house ought to be kept about 60° of heat until 

 the mushrooms appear; and then 55°, as nearly as possible. 



The same method of pre- 

 paring the dung, spawning, and 

 moulding, answers exceedingly 

 well for ridge beds. I have 

 nothing to say against the ridge 

 system, only the beds are not 

 so conveniently got at in bad 

 weather. By opening these beds, 

 when the frost is very severe, 

 they often receive such a chill, 

 that it is some time before they 

 recover ; and, except they are 

 very well protected in wet wea- 

 ther, that will likewise be inju- 

 rious to them. But, in mush-r 

 room houses, you can get at the 

 beds in any sort of weather, with- 

 out any risk or trouble : the 

 mushrooms are perfectly clean; 

 and the whole of the crop is at 

 once exposed to view, as they 

 will not require to be covered 

 with anything. 



The plan I have sent you 

 {Jig. 96.) is of my winter house, 

 9 Ft. heated by 4-inch cast-iron pipes, 

 fed from an adjacent boiler; 

 which likewise heats a range of brick pits, 89 ft. long and 7 ft. 

 wide. My summer house is exactly the same, only without 

 the hot-water pipes. Both houses are ventilated by means of a 

 slide in the door ; and a wooden trunk up through the arch and 

 roof, with a slide in the bottom part of the trunk. 

 Stoke Place, Jan. 27. 1834. 

 Vol. X.— No. 56. R R 



