GEOWING MCSHKOOMS IN CELLARS. 25 



tinct varieties from the same kind of spawn. Sometimes 

 a few mushrooms will appear that are somewhat differ- 

 ently formed from ttiose of the general crop, but this he 

 regards as the result of cultural conditions rather than 

 of true varietal differences. 



His last year's bed began bearing early in November, 

 and continued to bear a good crop until the first of May. 

 After that time, no matter what the crop may be, the 

 mushrooms become so infested with maggots as to be 

 perfectly worthless, and they are cleared out. It is on 

 account of the large body of manure in the bed, and 

 the low, genial, and equable temperature of the cellar 

 that the beds in this house always continue so long in 

 good cropping condition. 



Some j'ears ago the mushrooms were not gathered till 

 their heads had opened out flat, but nowadays the 

 marketmen like to get them when they are quite young 

 and before the skin of the frill between the cup and the 

 stem has broken apart. A good market is found in 

 New York, Philadelphia and Boston. 



Mr. Denton's Method. — Mr. W. H. Denton, of 

 Woodhaven, L. I., is an extensive market gardener about 

 ten miles from New York. During the summer months 

 he grows outdoor vegetables for the New York and Brook- 

 lyn markets, and in winter mushrooms in cellars. He 

 has no greenhouses. Under his barns he has two large 

 cellars which he devotes entirely to mushroom-growing 

 in winter. The cellars are seven and one-half feet high 

 inside ; the beds five feet wide, nine inches deep, two 

 feet apart, and run parallel to one another the whole 

 length of the cellar. The beds are three deep, that is, 

 one bed is made upon the floor, and the other two, rack 

 or shelf fashion, are made above the floor bed, and two 

 and one-half feet apart from the bottom of the one bed 

 to the bottom of the one above it. The shelves alto- 

 gether are temporary structures built of ordinary rough 



