244 Mushroom Culture. 



man pressing it down well with the fork, so as to give the whole 

 mass a firm close-fitting texture, so to speak, and gradually narrow- 

 ing as he builds till his little ridges are finished. Of course the 

 length of those ridges will be determined by the wants of the 

 grower ; in a market garden they may extend over and cover a 

 considerable extent. The beds once made, the manure soon begins 

 to warm again, but does not become unwholesomely hot for the 

 spread of the blanc or spawn. When the beds have been made 

 some days, the cultivator spawns them, having of course ascertained 

 beforehand that the heat is genial and suitable. Generally the 

 spawn is inserted, the holes being made in one line around the bed, 

 within a few inches of the base, and at about thirteen inches apart 

 in the line. Some cultivators insert two lines, the second about 

 seven inches above the first. In doing so, it would of course be 

 well to make the holes for the spawn in an alternate manner. The 

 spawn is inserted in bits about the size of three fingers, and then 

 the manure is closed in over, and pressed firmly around it. This 

 done, the beds are covered with about six inches of clean litter. 

 Ten or twelve days afterwards they visit the beds, to see if the spawn 

 has taken well. When they see the white filaments spreading in 

 the bed they know that the spawn has taken, and that it is good. 

 If they do not see that it has begun to spread, they do not leave 

 the bed alone, as too many do amongst ourselves, but take the 

 spawn they suppose to be bad and replace it witli better. But, 

 using good spawn, and being practised hands at the v/ork, they 

 rarely fail in this particular ; and when the spawn is seen spreading 

 well through the bed, then, and not before, they cover the beds 

 with fresh sweet soil to the depth of about an inch or so. When 



the beds are made in the open air — as, indeed, they generally are 



the little pathway between them is simply loosened up, and its soil 

 applied equally, firmly, and smootlily with a shovel. With these 

 open-air beds they succeed in getting mushrooms in winter. The 

 chemise, or covering of hay or litter, is put on immediately after the 

 beds are earthed, and kept there as a protection. They have not 

 long to wait till the beds are in full bearing, and when they are in 



