38 MUSHROOMS, HOW TO GROW THEM. 



Henshaw has raised mi^shrooms several years at his place 

 on Staten Island. His mushroom house is nine feet 

 wide and sixty feet long. One side is a brick wall aud 

 the other is double boarded. The roof is of tin, in 



which there are three sash- 

 es each two by five feet, 

 supplying ample light. At 

 each end is a door giving 

 convenient access to the 

 interior, for carrying in 

 and removing material 

 without disturbing the 

 bearing beds. In winter 

 the roof is covered with a 



coating of salt hav, to pre- 

 FiG. 10. Interior View OP Mr. s. ii " 



HENSHAw's MUSHROOM HOUSE, servc an equable tempera- 

 ture and prevent the moisture from condensing on the 

 ceiling and falling in drops on the beds. The floor is 

 of earth, which, wlien well drained, he thinks preferable 

 to either brick or lumber. The floor is entirely covered 

 with beds, no shelves or walks being used. This makes 

 it necessary to step on the beds, but as no covering is 

 employed it is always easy to avoid stepping on the clus- 

 ters of young mushrooms, and so long as they are left 

 uninjured the bed is seldom, if ever, impaired by 

 the compacting effect of the treading. In order to main- 

 tain a necessary winter temperature of 60° a four-inch 

 hot-water pipe extends the whole length of the house 

 about two feet from tlie floor. On the other side of the 

 brick wall is a greenhouse which, by keeping the wall 

 warm, helps to keep the mushroom house warm. Mr. 

 Henshaw divides this house into three equal beds. The 

 part at the further end of the house is made up in the 

 fall and comes into bearing in December; the middle 

 part a month later to come in a month later, and the 

 near end still a month later, to follow as another sueces- 



