GROWING MUSHROOMS IN GREENHOUSES. 47 



glass was scarcely apparent ; but ventilation is easily 

 guided by the appearance of moisture on the glass, the 

 more of this the more ventilation should be given. To 

 begin with, there was no attempt at shading the frames ; 

 but as soon as the mushrooms began to appear the beds 

 were shaded, and mostly by the crops of other plants on 

 the stages above them. These frame beds were made np 

 last October, and began bearing in December, and on 

 March 14 Mr. Gardner wrote me : "The mushrooms in 

 my frames have done grandly. I cut large basketfnls 

 to-day of the finest mushrooms I have ever seen, some 

 of them measuring five inches in diameter before being 

 fully expanded." 



And further, in submitting the above notes to him 

 for verification, he adds : "There is one vital point we 

 should impress upon all who grow mushrooms in frames 

 or under greenhouse benches, namely, that sudden 

 changes of temperature must be avoided. While light. 

 in my opinion, is good -for mushrooms, it causes a rise of 

 temperature, and this we must guard against. In order 

 to maintain a uniform temperature all glass exposed to 

 light or heat in any other way should be covered with 

 some non-conducting material, liye straw is the best 

 thing for this purpose that I know of. Indeed, neglect 

 of this simple matter, in cases where sunlight and heat 

 from hotrwater pipes come in contact with the young 

 mushrooms or mycelium on the surface of the beds, is 

 the cause of many failures in growing in frames and 

 greenhouses." 



Under Greenhouse Benches — Open empty spaces 

 under the stages anywhere are good places for mushroom 

 beds. However, carefully observe a few points, to wit : A 

 dry floor under the beds is imperative, for a wet floor 

 soaks and chills the beds, and renders them unhealthy for 

 the spawn ; but the common earth floor is good enough, 

 provided water does not stand upon it at any time ; if 



