68 MUSUllOOMS, HOW TO GROW THEM. 



chestnut, maple, or linden, are not so good, and those 

 of coniferous trees are of no use whatever. As the leaves 

 must be in a condition to heat readily they should be 

 fresh ; such are easily secured before winter sets in, but 

 in spring, after lying out under the winter's snow and 

 rain, their "vitality" is mostly gone. But we can se- 

 cure a large lot of dry leaves in the fall and pile them 

 where they will keep dry until required for use. As 

 needed we can prepare a part of this pile by wetting the 

 leaves, taking them under cover to a warm south-facing 

 shed, and otherwise assisting fermentation just as if we 

 were preparing for a hotbed. Wiiile moistening the 

 leaves with clean water will induce a good fermentation, 

 wetting them with liquid from the horse-stable urine 

 tanks will cause a hrisk heat, and for mushrooms pro- 

 duce more genial conditions. 



Mushroom beds composed in whole or part of ferment- 

 ing tree leaves should be much deeper than would be 

 necessary were horse manure alone used ; for half leaves 

 and half manure, -say fifteen inches deep ; for all leaves, 

 say twenty to thirty inches deep. 



While mushroom spawn will run freely in leaf beds 

 and we can get good mushrooms from them, my experi- 

 ence has satisfied me that we do not get as fine crops 

 from these beds or any modification of them as from 

 the ordinary stable manure beds. And we can not won- 

 der much at this, considering that the wild mushroom 

 is scarcely ever found in the neighborhood of trees or 

 where leaf mold deposits occur. 



Spent Hops. — We can make good use of this in one 

 way. If we are short of good materials for a mushroom 

 bed, we can first make up the beds eight or ten inches 

 deep with fermenting spent hops, and above this lay a 

 four or five inch layer of horse manure, or this and loam 

 mixed. The hops will keep up the warmth, and the 

 mamire affords a congenial home for the mushroom 



