December 12, 1888.] 



Garden and Forest. 



497 



would not seem possible for its roots to gather a particle of 

 moisture, yet never dropping its leaves, this plant main- 

 tains an existence for many years, a remarkable example 

 of adaptation to environment. When the rains begin, 

 whether it be in March or not until August, it puts forth new 

 branches and flowers, and continues to bloom while the 

 atmosphere retains any considerable degree of humidity. 



Nature's plan 

 for disseminat- 

 ing and perpetu- 

 ating the species 

 amidst condi- 

 tions so excep- 

 tional is also in- 

 teresting. How- 

 ever pendant 

 the stems, the 

 dehiscing cap- 

 sules are held 

 upright by a 

 bending of their 

 pedicels ; there- 

 fore a strong 

 wind is required 

 for the dislodg- 

 ]n e n t of the 

 seeds, a wind 

 which ^\■ i 1 1 

 sweep them 

 along the face of 

 the cliffs, and 

 haply plant one 

 here and there 

 in an open seam. 

 It must be that 

 all the seeds 

 which fall upon 

 the soil perish ; 

 for I have never 

 seen a plant 

 grownig in soil 

 about the dozen 

 localities for this z.. 

 species repeat- f 

 edly visited by 

 me. Restricted 

 in its habitat to 

 so uncommon 

 and austere con- 

 ditions, the 

 species is, as 

 w o u 1 d be ex- 

 pected, extreme- 

 ly rare. I have 

 not yet secured sufficient material to place it in my dis- 

 tributions of Planlie jMexkano'. 



Fig. 77. — Bcibeiis Fremonti. — See page 496, 



Cultural Department. 



Mushrooms. 



A NUMBER of market gardeners 011 Long Island have for 

 some years been growing Mushrooms for market, and 

 many others are now building cellars for this purpose. Mr. 

 Abrani Van Sicklin is the pioneer in this business, and perliai)s 

 the largest grower on the Island. Not only has he large and 

 commodious cellars devoted to the cultivation of Mushrooms, 

 but he also grows them in his salad-houses in beds under the 

 benches on which the Lettuces are grown. In these houses 

 the beds are now made, and extend the whole length of the 

 houses, often a lumdred feet or more, and under the middle 

 and side benches. But as the night temperature of 40° to 45° 

 required for Lettuces now (last week of November) is too low 

 for Mushrooms (55° to 60°), the surface of the beds is cov- 

 ered over with salt hay. The heat of the manure in the beds 

 is sufficient to spread the spawn, and the hay saves the sui'face 

 of the beds from the chill of a low atmospheric temperature. 



Mushrooms grow as well under a hay or straw covering as 

 they do without it, but it is much more troublesome to gather 

 them when covered. In Mr. Van Sicklin's cellar the beds are 

 long and flat, arranged on the floor and on berth-like shelves 

 above the floor-beds. He uses English brick-spawn, but has 

 also used the French flake-spawn. He has made his own spawn, 

 but, all things considered, believes it is cheaper and safer to 

 use imported spawn, although the crop is uncertain at best. 



Mr. Denton, of 

 Aqueduct Sta- 

 tion, is a success- 

 ful grower of 

 Mushrooms who 

 has no green- 

 houses, but two 

 large cellars. The 

 one now being 

 filled is some 

 twenty-four feet 

 square and about 

 seven feet high, 

 with a dry earth- 

 en floor. The 

 beds are about 

 four to five feet 

 wide and arrang- 

 ed leugthwise on 

 the floor, with 

 narrow passages 

 between them, 

 and two shelf-like 

 beds are fixed 

 be rth-f ash ion 

 above each floor- 

 bed, and at equal 

 distances from 

 one another. The 

 bottom beds are 

 floored antl the 

 shelves for beds 

 are made and 

 faced with rough 

 hemlock boards. 

 An iron stove 

 and a line of 

 s h e e t - i r o n 

 smoke-pipe is 

 used for heating 

 the cellar. 



The manure 

 used is the ordin- 

 ary stable man- 

 ure from Brook- 

 lyn, which is bald- 

 ed home on the 

 retiu^n trips from 

 market. This 

 manure costs 

 twenty-live cents 

 a wapon-load in 

 Brooklvn. After 

 a pile of it has accumulated the most strawy portions are 

 shaken out and the rest thrown into a pile in a large shed 

 to ferment. Here it is turned as often as necessary to pre- 

 vent burning; after it is in active ferment it requires turn- 

 ing every day till the violent heat subsides, which may be 

 in' three week's after the manure was brought into the shed. 

 Mr. Denton has better success with his beds made up of loam 

 and manure than when manure alone is used. Therefore, 

 when the manure is in good condition he adds about one- 

 third of its bulk of commiDn field loam, mixing all well to- 

 gether before makinsr the beds. The beds, especially theshelf- 

 beds, can be made tirm more easily when this loam mixture 

 is used, the manure alone being too springy to pack well. 

 The facings, or sides of the beds, are one board, or ten inches 

 wide, and therefore the compost can hardly be more tlian 

 eight inches deep at first, if space is left for coating it over 

 with loam after spawning. Mr. Denton finds most danger in 

 allowing the manure to become too warm after the beds arc 

 put up ■ at the same time he likes good lively manure to be- 

 gin with. When the temperature falls to 90° he spawns the 

 beds. He uses both French and English sixawn, and buys the 

 imported arficle. While the English spawn may yield the 

 largest Mushrooms, he thinks tha't those produced trom the 

 French spawn are, in proportion to their size, heavier and 



