Special Needs 127 



den crop, strictly speaking, still it is one of the most 

 delicious of all vegetables for the home table, and 

 though space does not permit a long description of 

 the several details of its culture, I shall try to include 

 all the essential points as succinctly as possible. ( i ) 

 The place for the bed may be found in any sheltered, 

 dry spot — cellar, shed or greenhouse — where an 

 even temperature of 53 to 58 degrees can be main- 

 tained and direct sunlight excluded. (Complete 

 darkness is not necessary; it is frequently so con- 

 sidered, but only because in dark places the tempera- 

 ture and moisture are apt to remain more even.) 

 (2) The material is fresh horse-manure, from 

 which the roughest of the straw has been shaken out. 

 This is stacked in a compact pile and trampled — 

 wetting down if at all dry — to induce fermentation. 

 This process must be repeated four or five times, 

 care being required never to let the heap dry out and 

 burn; time for re-stacking being indicated by the 

 heap's steaming. At the second or third turning, 

 add about one-fifth, in bulk, of light loam. (3) 

 When the heat of the pile no longer rises above 100 

 to 125 degrees (as indicated by a thermometer) put 

 into the beds, tramping or beating very firmly, until 

 about ten inches deep. When the temperature re- 

 cedes to 90 degrees, put in the spawn. Each brick 

 will make a dozen or so pieces. Put these in three 

 inches deep, and twelve by nine inches apart, cover- 



