MDSHEOOM 



FUNGI 



MUSHEOOM 1169 



In ' stripping ' Mushroom beds the litter 

 is lightly forked down on each side, and if 

 canvas is also used, this is turned back 

 for a certain distance — ^one man being on 

 each side of the bed. All the fully 

 developed Mushrooms are then gently 

 pulled off with the fingers, leaving the 

 smaller ones until the next gathering — 

 which may take place every other day, or 

 twice a week, or even once a week only, 

 according to the season. At one time it 

 was thought that if the Mushrooms were 

 cut off at the base with a sharp knife 

 young ones would spring from the base of 

 the old stalks. Experience, however, has 

 proved that there is no gain in this 

 practice, but rather a loss, as the old 

 stump often became diseased and thus 

 affected the surrounding Mushrooms in- 

 juriously. It is therefore better to pull 

 the whole Mushroom than to cut it. 



The beds should be re-covered immedi- 

 ately after each gathering, as the longer 

 they remain uncovered the more heat is 

 being lost. Where the beds are very long 

 they may be ' stripped ' or uncovered in 

 sections, so that the bed is exposed for as 

 short a time as possible. 



Enemies. — The worst of these are 

 slugs and woodHce. At every gathering 

 a keen eye should be on the watch for 

 these, and instant death should follow 

 their detection. In Mushroom houses a 

 peculiar fungus disease attacks the crop 

 and causes the Mushrooms to become 

 more or less distorted in shape, and worth- 

 less for edible purposes. The only remedy 

 for this appears to be to clear out the 

 affected portion of the bed and burn it at 

 once. If a whole house is attacked, the 

 contents must be removed, and to prevent 

 future trouble it should be made into a 

 heap and burned. The building should 

 then be cleansed by burning brimstone in 

 it after carefully blocking up all air chinks, 

 and a plentiful supply of Ume and soot 

 may afterwards be sprinkled all over. 

 The new beds should consist of fresh and 

 clean material, and it may also be advis- 

 able to use spawn from a new source. 



Mushroom Season. — Although Mush- 

 rooms may be had practically the whole 

 year round, they are nevertheless much 

 more plentiful some months than others. 

 During the summer months — ^June, July, 

 and August— the yield, however, is very 

 slight, the great difficulty being to keep 



the outer temperature down to what has 

 been stated as the best for the production 

 of Mushrooms, namely 60°-65° Fahren- 

 heit. 



Making Mushroom, ' Spawn.' — Al- 

 though it is generally safer and better to 

 obtain cakes or bricks of Mushroom spawn 

 from or through nurserymen, the process 

 of making the cakes may be briefly de- 

 scribed here. It is dirty work and not very 

 likely to be undertaken by amateurs. 



A quantity of fresh horse and cow 

 manure in about equal proportions is 

 mixed with a little rich adhesive loam. 

 The whole is well watered and mixed 

 until it becomes like good soft mortar. It 

 is allowed to dry gradually until it reaches 

 the consistency of wet clay. A flat frame 

 made of wood about an inch thick, with 

 one, two, or more spaces, the size of the 

 bricks required, is then filled with the 

 compost, the work being more easily done 

 on a flat board. Each space is well filled 

 and packed and made smooth on each 

 surface, and a brick of the required size 

 and thickness is thus formed. The bricks 

 are then spread out on their edges to dry, 

 leaving a space between each. When a 

 little more than half dry a hole about 1 

 in. across is made on one side of each 

 brick in the centre. This hole is then 

 filled with a piece of an old brick contain- 

 ing good spawn, and any crevices are filled 

 up with the mixture used for making the 

 bricks. Perhaps a better method is to 

 place 5 small pieces of spawn on each new 

 brick — one at each corner and one in the 

 centre — and the mycelium will ' run ' 

 much quicker. Thebricksthus treated may 

 be placed face to face, the spawned sMe 

 inwards, and placed on a hotbed or in a 

 temperature of about 60° to 65° P. The 

 spawn will soon spread over the surface 

 of the new bricks. The latter must be 

 frequently examined, however, so as not 

 to allow the mycelium to advance beyond 

 a whitish clouded appearance. If it 

 reaches the netted or threadhke stage, it 

 has gone too far and is likely to be useless 

 if not used immediately. When properly 

 clouded, the cakes may be stacked in a 

 dry airy place with a temperature of 50° 

 to 55° F. so that growth of the mycelium 

 is held in suspense until the csukes are 

 broken and used for spawning the beds as 

 described above. 



4 F 



