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1047 



in the country, or the persons that an- in th..- Iinlnt •>? 

 gathering them? There are othi.r rir<-uiiisraur.s, u><>, 

 which render them noxious; i£ they '^vtjw near thu hole 

 ot' a serpent, for instance, or if they shuuld happen to 

 liave been breathed upon l)y one when just l)ey;inuiu,L; to 

 open; being all the more disposed to imbilio the veninu 

 from their natural afhnity to poisonous substances. It 

 will therefore be as well to be on our guard during tlie 

 season at which the serpents have not as yet retired to 

 their holes for the winter. The best sign to know tliis 

 by is a multitude of herbs, of trees, and of shrubs, which 

 remain green from the time that these reptiles leave their 

 holes till their return; indeed, the ash alone will be quite 

 sufficient for the purpose, the leaves ot it never coming 

 out after the serpents have made their appearance, or 

 l>eginning to fall before they have retii-ed to their bok^s. 

 Tlie entire existence of the MushrooTu. from its birth tu 

 its death, is never more than seven days." 



Two hundred years and mure ai,'o Mushrooms wi-re 

 cultivated. The foUowini^ dirertions, given by Philip 

 ^[iller in 1754, are very likr meiliods wliicdi are somi-- 

 times ailvised to-day, with th<- i-xreption of rhe method 

 of securing the spawn: 



■'In order to cultivate them, if you have no Beds in 

 your own, or neighboring Uardeus, wliirh prodm-n 

 tliem. you should look abroad in rich Pastures, during 

 tlie Months of Auijust and ^'■ptemher, until you find 

 them (that being the Season wlien tliey are produeed) ; 

 then you should open the (xround about the Roots of tlie 

 Mushrooms, where you will tiutl the Earth, very often, 

 full of small white Knobs, which are the Otf-sets, or 

 voung Mushrooms: these should be earefuUy gathered. 

 preserving them iu Lumps with the Earth aliout them: 

 but as this Spawn cannot be found in the Pasture, ex- 

 <.:ept at the Season when the JIushro{}ms are naturally 

 produced, you may probably find some in old Dunghils, 

 especially where there has been mueh Litter amongst 

 it, and the Wet hath not penetrated it to rot it; as like- 

 wise, by searching old Hot-beds, it may be often found: 

 for this Spawn hath the Appearance of a white Mould, 

 shooting out in long Strings, by which it may be ea.sily 

 known, where-ever it is met with; or this may be pro- 

 I'ured by mixing some long Dung from the Stable, which 

 lias not been thrown on an Heap to ferment; which 

 being mixed with strong Earth, and put under Cover to 

 prevent Wet getting to it, the more the Air is excluded 

 from it, the sooner the Spawn will appear: but this nuist 

 not be laid so close together, as to heat; for that will 

 destroy the Spawn: in al)out two Months after, the 

 Spawn will appear, especially if the Heap is closely 

 I'overed with old Thatch, or sueh Litter as hath lain 

 long abroad, so as not to ferment: then the Beds may 

 be prepared to receive the Spawn: these Beds should be- 

 made of Dung, in which there is good Store of Litter; 

 but this should not be thrown on an Heap to fermi-nt: 

 that Dung which hath lain spread abroad for a Month or 

 longer is best : these Beds should be made on dry 

 Uround, and the Dung laid upon the Surface: the Width 

 of these Beds at Bottom should be about two Feet and 

 an half, the Length iu proportion to the Quantity of 

 Mushrooms desired: then lay the Dung about a Foot 

 thick, covering it about four Inches with strong Earth: 

 upon this lay more Dung, about ten Inches thick; then 

 another Layer of Earth; still drawing in the Sides <d' 

 the Bed, so as to form It like the Ridge of an House; 

 which mav be done by three Layers of Dung. an<l as 

 many of Earth. When the Bed is tinlshed, it should be 

 covered with Litter, or old Thatch, to keep out Wet, as 

 also to prevent its drying: in t.liis situatiou it may re- 

 nuun eight or ten Days; by whi<'b time the Bed will be 

 in a proper Temperature of Warmth to rereive the 

 Spawn; for there should be only a moderate Warmth in 

 it. great Heat destroying the Spawn, as will aNo ^\ et ; 

 therefore when the Spawn is found, it should always be 

 kept <lrv until it is used: for the <lrier it is. the lietter 

 it will take in the Bed: for I had a Parcel of this Spawn, 

 which had lain near the Oven of a Stove upward of four 

 Months, and was become so dry. as that I desj.airrd of 

 its Success: but 1 never have yet seen any whndi pro- 

 <luced so soon, nor in so great Quantity, as this. 



"The bed being in a proper Temi.rrature fMi- rhe 

 Spawn the Ooverinir of Litter shouhl be tak^^n .>tt. and 

 thr Sides of the B.-d smoothed; tlien a Covrrim; -t 



li-lit rirh Earth, ahout an Inrh thh-k, sln.uld he laid all 

 over the Bed; bnt this should not he w^t; upon this 

 the Spawn should be thrust, laying the Lumps two ..r 

 three inches asunder: then gently cover this with the 

 same tight Earth, above half an inch thick; and put the 

 Covering of Litter over the Bed, laying it so thick as to 

 kee|i out Wei, and prevent the Bed from drying: when 

 these Beds are matle in the Spring or Autumn, as the 

 Weather is in those Seasons temperate, so the Spawn 

 will then take much sooner, and the Mushrooms will 

 appear perhaps in a Month after making: but those 

 Beds wliich are made in Summer, when the Season is 

 hot, or in Winter, when the Weather is cold, are much 

 longer before they produce. 



''The great Skill in nnmaging of these Bnls is, that 

 of keeping them in a yu'oper Temperature ot Moisture, 

 never suffering them to receive too much Wet: during 

 the Summer-season, the Beds may be uncovered to re- 

 ceive gentle Showers of Rain at proper times; and in 

 lonir dry Seasons the Beds should I)e now-and-theu 

 gently watered; but by no means suffer much Wet to 

 conn- to them: during the Winter-season they must l)e 

 kei't as dry as possible; and so closely covered, as to 

 keep out Cold: in frosty or very cold Weather, if some 

 warm Litter, shaken out of a Dunij:-heap, is laid on, it 

 will promote the (irowtli of the IMnshrooms: but this 

 must n<.)t be laid next the Bed; bxit a Covering of dry 

 Litter between tlie Bed and this warm Litter: aTul as 

 often as the Litter is found to decay, it should be re- 

 newed with fresh: and as the Ci.'ld increases, the Cov- 

 ering should be laid so much thicker. If these Things 

 are observed, there may be plenty of Mushrooms ob- 

 tained all the Year; and these produced in Beds are 

 much better for the Tahle than any of those which are 

 gatliered in the Fields." 



Probal)ly the tirst hook in English to be devot.-d ex- 

 clusively to the Mushroom was written in 1T7U by John 

 Ahercronibie, Loudon, ami published under the title of 

 "The (Tarden Mushroom: Its Nature and Cultivation. 

 A Treatise, exhibiting Full and plain Directions, for 

 proilucing this desirable Plant in Perfection and Plenty, 

 according to the true successful Practice of the London 

 (jrardeners." Aside from the manner of securing the 

 spawn, the advice given by Abercromhie would ajiply 

 very well at the present day. He says that the spawn 

 m.ay be obtained from the dung of horse stables, from 

 hotlteds, corafiosts, cucumlier and melon beds, old .Mush- 

 room beds, livery stable yards, horse mill-tra(d;s, old 

 dung-heaps where "some straggling Mushrooms are seen 

 to rise naturally in the autumn," in kitchen-gardens in 

 which Mushrooms have been seen, and in old pastures 

 and meadows. The best season to lind the spawn is in 

 the autumn and the early part of winter. The friMjuent 

 occurrence of Mushrooms in the covered mill-tracks, 

 where horses worked on tram-<'ars and on power ma- 

 chinery, led to the use of the thoroughly tramped manure 

 as spawn. This spawn gave very excellent results, proli- 

 ably because it was partially -needed from the spon-s of 

 the Mushrooms which ripened there and were trampf-tl 

 into it. It is probable that this mill-track spawn gave 

 rise to the idea of the Mushroom brick, which is now the 

 chief means — at least, in Englauil aiid America — of 

 growing Musliroonis. Tlie name ■'mill-track" is still 

 used as a trade name fi-r .Alushroom spawn. althouy:h 

 very little, if any. of it really comes from mill-tracks. 



In America there is only one Iioi.k devoted wholly to 

 the growing of Mushrooms. This is hy William Fal- 

 coner and known as " Mushrooms : flow to t-Jrow Them " 

 1 181:111. The Department of Agriculture ami one or two 

 experiment stations have issued bulletins <in tiie sub- 

 ject. L. H. B. 



For .}[iisl/ron))i.<, ri snpi'y of fresh horse manure 

 should Ite procured, if possible each moruinir, that fnun 

 •rrain-fed carriat,'e horses being the most desirable. 

 The strawv portion we discard. The manure is thrown 

 in a heap on the floor of an open shed, and is turne.l 

 over each morning forafewdays. Before the heat of the 

 manure has subsided sufficiently to permit the bed being 

 made, mix about one-third as much loam screened 

 throuirh a ^4-inch sieve as there is of manure. W<i 

 have hail better success with loam mixed with the 

 manure than when it was not used. The rank heat 

 havini,' escaped from the heap, it can at once be mailo 



