40 MUSHROOMS. 



Fig. 2 musbrooins may be seen growing undemeatli a kitchen 

 table, while the next sketch (Fig. 3) shows how an old bucket 

 can be utilised for the culture of these edible fungi. Having 

 procured what horse manure is needed for filing boxes or 

 other receptacles, it should be forked over, removing any 

 long straw litter in the process. It should then be thrown 

 int.) a heap and allowed to remain for about three days. If 

 well shaken out with a fork after this the material will 

 become purified and lose its objectionable smell. The filling 

 and spawning process connected with the culture of mush- 

 rooms in boxes is illustrated in Fig. 4. C is a mass of 

 manure which has been trodden down in the box. The pieces 

 of mushroom spawn inserted in the manure are marked B. 

 and the top coating of loamy soil is indicated by A. In pre- 

 paring the manure care must be taken that it does not get 

 saturated by rain. When the manure has been placed in a 

 box and become somewhat warm through fermentation, the 

 proper time for spawning has arrived. The bricks of spawn 

 should each be broken into eight large pieces, and these can 

 be firmly pressed about Gin. apart into tlie manure. After 

 tJiat the miniature mushroom bed must be surfaced to the 

 depth of half-an-inch with good turfy loam, chopped rather 

 small, and beaten down moderately firm with the back of a 

 spade. No watering or damping will be necessary unless 

 this surface soil shows signs of drying to the extent of crack- 

 ing, which must be avoided, as the threads of mycelium, or 

 roots of the mushrooms, are broken, when fissures are caused 

 in the soil by dryness. Mushrooms are often grown in entire 

 darkness, and the crop should be ready in from six to eight 

 weeks after the spawn has been inserted. When gathering 

 mushrooms they should be gently pulled, not cut, as the base 

 of the stems, if left, would rot, and cause other portions of 

 the crop, not yet fit for gathering, to damp off. 



Fig. 5 illustrates a method of growing mushrooms on a 

 lawn, the turves being carefully lifted and replaced after 

 pieces of spawn have been inserted two inches deep. 



