86 MUSHROOMS, HOW TO GEOW THEM. 



Black colored spawn is to be avoided, as a rule, and 

 when the black appearance is very prevalent in a cargo 

 of bricks it is a strong indication that the spawn has 

 not run its course ; and as it is not expected to do so 

 after it has reached the hands of the retailer it is econ- 

 omy to cast it aside. Some persons break a brick into 

 several pieces to see how it looks inside. To the experi- 

 enced eye this is not necessary, or even to lay hands 

 upon it, as the outward moldy appearance is the best of 

 all evidence of its healthy vitality, and this never exists 

 if the bricks have lost their germinating power, except- 

 ing, of course, where they have been kept damp, and the 

 spawn has spent its power, which is detected by the 

 white threads appearing in great quantity." 



American-made Spawn — So far as I have been 

 able to find out by diligent inquiry, mushroom spawn is 

 not made for sale in this country. But I am informed 

 that a few growers do save and use their own flake spawn. 

 Some of our principal growers, Van Siclen, Gardner, 

 and Henshaw, for instance, in time past attempted to 

 make their own spawn, but with only partial success, 

 and now they confine themselves to the imported article. 

 But this state of affairs can not long continue. The 

 demand here for fresh mushrooms is so great, the indus- 

 try of mushroom-growing so important, the price of 

 imported spawn so high, and the quantity of foreign 

 spawn imported annually into this country is so large, 

 that, before long, we hope some one will find it to his 

 advantage to make a specialty of growing mushroom 

 spawn in this country to supply the American market. 

 There is no practical operation in connection with the 

 cultivation of mushrooms so little known or understood 

 by the general grower as the growing (or "making," as 

 it is commonly called) and preserving of mushroom 

 spawn. General cultivators in England and Prance 

 (outside of the Paris caves) do not make their own 



