358 MY GARDEN. 



mycelium of the mushroom, about the size of an egg, are inserted into 

 various parts of the bed. The mushroom bed must then be kept 

 perfectly dry for about six weeks, when, if all things have gone on 

 well, the mycelium, or long threads of the spawn, will have run 

 throughout the bed. During this period drought is absolutely 

 necessary for success, and the house containing the bed should be 

 kept at a temperature of about 60° Fahr. If, after the interval ot six 

 or seven weeks, the mushroom spawn has filled the material, the bed 

 should be gently syringed with lukewarm water ; but if too much 

 water is given, the mycelium will rot. A few days after watering little 

 buttons are formed, which in a few hours expand into mushrooms. The 

 conditions above described must be strictly observed, for if one of them 

 is varied failure is certain. Some years ago I experimented upon the 

 growth of mushrooms, and soon attained to such perfection in their 

 cultivation that I was able to raise a crop of mushroom buttons in 

 a soup-plate placed in the wine-cellar. Some gardeners cover their 

 mushroom-beds with loam, but this is not necessary, and I have never 

 done so. 



In the fields there are many varieties of mushrooms of varying 

 excellence, and likewise some cultivated varieties far surpass others, 

 so that any spawn which does not prove to be of the highest quality 

 should be discarded. Any known good variety may be propagated 

 to an indefinite extent by the mycelium (fig. 123), as other varieties 

 may appear by sowing the spores (fig. 122). The material called 

 mushroom spawn is usually made of horse-droppings formed into 

 masses shaped like bricks, through which the mycelium is allowed to 

 penetrate. 



A mushroom-bed will last till the animal matter of which it is 

 composed is exhausted, therefore the duration of the bed must depend 

 upon the rate at which the mushrooms are developed. Warmth and 

 moisture cause the mushrooms to grow faster, and the bed to be 

 sooner exhausted. 



" Pratensibus optima fungis 

 Natura est : aliis mal^ creditur."— HORACE, Saiira iv. 



