248 



CASSELL'S POPULAR GAEDENING. 



stood. Its underground thread-like fibres, the 

 mycelium, have an immense capacity for propa- 

 gation and extension, so much so, that in congenial 

 surroundings every particle of it is capable of exten- 

 siqn and extended growth. The spawn must how- 

 ever, to do this, be maiden spawn, or such as has not 

 " fruited," or actually produced Mushrooms. It re- 

 quires a dry place wherein to gTow,"and so particular 

 is it in regard to this, that the spawn of Mush- 

 rooms and of many other fungi has a peculiar 

 power of keeping off rain and moisture. There 

 is no more certain method of destroying some 

 troublesome growths of the kind than by immers- 

 ing them in water. To this characteristic may be 

 added another, that it matters not how long pur- 

 chased cakes of spawn be kept, providing they are 

 stored in a warm and dry place, even if over an oven 

 or flue, though not too close to it. 



To obtain an increase of spawn, stable sweepings 

 with other manures mixed with loam are moistened 

 so that they can be made into "bricks" or cakes. 

 They are then placed to dry. When moderately drj' 

 a small place is cut or scooped out of the centre of 

 each. A small portion of an old cake is inserted into 

 the cavity formed. The cavities of two cakes are 

 then placed opposite each other, the sides of each two 

 meeting. The many cakes when, done are placed in 

 one heap, closely packed and fitting together, and 

 either by aid of well-seasoned fermenting material, 

 a flue, or otherwise, a nice dry warmth is maintained 

 throughout this mass, the result being that the 

 spawn permeates the whole. Immediately this is 

 seen the cakes are separated and dried. Thus is 

 maiden spawn held in suspension, as it were, until 

 such time as it is again set to work growing, and 

 given the natural power to produce vegetation in 

 kind. In a word, one leaven, an old spawn brick or 

 cake, leavens the whole ; the leaven being still held 

 in bondage until, like German yeast, it is needed 

 for the main purpose. 



As showing how amenable to the proper stimulus 

 it is, let a box be filled with straw to the depth of 

 an inch, firmly (A the bottom, then break a cake of 

 spawn into pieces and lay evenly and firmly upon 

 the straw, and cover -with three or four inches 

 of loamy soil, ramming all down quite hard. 

 Keep in a warm place for five or six weeks, sprink- 

 ling the surface as frequently as it becomes dry, 

 and the spawn will grow, and Mushrooms be pro- 

 duced. 



It is imagined that a darkened place, and more or 

 less airless, is needed in connection with the arti- 

 ficial culture of Mushrooms. An idea so opposed to 

 nature's plan is an error. A covering of hay, as 

 advised, is useful in preserving an uniformly moist 

 surface ; but, so far as can be- fobserved, the Mush- 



room is one of those few vegetable products to which, 

 the darkness and the light are both alike. 



POMTABLE CULTURE OF THE MUSBROOM. 

 Bt D. T. Fish. 

 The Mushroom, though as a rule cultivated in 

 beds, out of doors and in, as already described, can 

 also readily be grown in pots, pans, baskets, as 

 well as in stables, cow-houses, common garden 

 frames, green-houses, cellars, garrets, kitchens or 

 other living-rooms, and outhouses. The details of 

 culture in these cases vary, but the general prin- 

 ciples that underlie it are the same as those already 

 laid down. There is, however, this important dif- 

 ference at starting, that as the area occupied in 

 portable and what may be called makeshift Mush- 

 room culture is mostly very limited, only the very best 

 materials should be used. These are, in brief, horse- 

 droppings, not only from corn-fed horses, but, as far as 

 possible, from the purest and highest-bred animals ; 

 for it has almost passed into an axiom in Mushroom 

 culture, that the higher the breed, as well as the 

 harder the food of the horse, the better the spawn 

 runs in it, and the finer and more plentiful the 

 Mushrooms produced. Hence the droppings of 

 carriage and riding horses are far preferable to 

 those of cart or team horses ; those of hunters better 

 than of carriage horses, and those of race-horses 

 best of all. Therefore, if the latter are procurable, 

 provide such for the pot-culture of the Mushroom, ■ 

 and see to it that they have neither been injured 

 by wet, nor weakened by any admixture of stable 

 sweepings whatever. As the droppings can hardly 

 overheat within the narrow limits of a six or eight- 

 inch pot, if they are sufficiently dry they need no 

 sweetening or preparation whate^'er, but may be 

 rammed firmly into the pots so soon as received. 

 Pots for Mushrooms should be drained with a few 

 potsherds, as already described for pots in general; 

 or if that is not available, a little rough and very drj- 

 cow-dung may be used in lieu of crocks. A piece of 

 spawn the size of a bantam's egg may be placed 

 in the centre of the pot, within two inches or an inch 

 and a half of the rim. This wiU be sufficient for a 

 six-inch pot. Should eight-inch or larger pots or 

 pans be used, four pieces may be placed in each pot, 

 one in the middle, and the three to form a triangle 

 round it. Cover over with the droppings, ramming 

 them in as firmly as possible, and surface with a 

 mass of good loam, leaving the surface as hard 

 and smooth as may be, thus beginning and com- 

 pleting the miniature Mushroom-bed at one opera- 

 tion. But lest any reader should be discouraged 

 from trying the pot-culture of Mushrooms because 

 he cannot procure the droppings of thoroughbred 



