CHAPTER XVI. 



WATERING MUSHROOM BEDS. 



If the beds get dry they should be watered, for mush- 

 rooms will not grow well in dry beds or in a dry atmos- 

 phere. Watering is an operation requiring much care. 

 In properly-made beds the manure should remain moist 

 enough from first to last, and whateyer dryness is evident 

 should be in the loam casing of the beds and the atmos- 

 phere. In all artificially heated mushroom houses the 

 beds and atmosphere are apt to get too "dry at one time or 

 another ; in underground houses or cellars this is less 

 apparent than in above-ground structures ; in shaded 

 north-facing houses dryness is less troublesome than in 

 houses more openly placed. 



Endeavor by all fair means to lessen the necessity for 

 watering the beds, but when water is needed never hesi- 

 tate to give it freely. Mulching the beds and maintain- 

 ing a moist atmosphere are the best preventives. After 

 the beds are spawned and molded it is a good plan to 

 cover them with a light coating of strawy litter or hay 

 to prevent drying, but this mulching should be removed 

 when it is near time for the young mushrooms to appear. 

 A light sprinkling of water over this mulching every 

 few days, but never enough to reach the soil, assists in 

 preserving enough moisture in the bed under the mulch 

 and also in the atmosphere of the house. 



Clean, soft water at a temperature of 80° or 90° ; a 

 little warmer or a little colder will not hurt, but do not 

 use water higher than 110°, as it might injure the little 

 pinheads, nor lower tluan the average temperature of tlie 



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