FORCING DEPARTMENT. 417 



assists in keeping up a moist heat in this depart- 

 ment, and renders less fuel necessary. 



The materials most generally used for the forma- 

 tion of the beds, for producing the best crop of 

 Mushrooms, are horse droppings, and short litter 

 recent from the stables; to these may be added a 

 small portion of sandy loam, which will the better 

 cement the other materials together. The Mush- 

 rooms will, however, succeed very well without any 

 mixture of mould through the beds, if they have a 

 sufficient body put over the surface for them to vege- 

 tate and run amongst. The droppings that are 

 intended for forming the receptacle for the spawn, 

 should be collected fresh from the stables, together 

 with about one-fourth of the shortest litter; these 

 ingredients must be spread on the floor of the house 

 for a few days to dry, before they are made up into 

 a bed ; if the house is of too limited dimensions to 

 admit of the droppings being spread on it, a shed or 

 any other airy and convenient place will do as well, 

 so that the moisture may evaporate before the ma- 

 terials are formed into a bed. When the ingredients 

 appear to be in a moderately dry state they may be 

 formed into a bed, observing to beat them as com- 

 pactly together as possible, to the thickness of eight 

 inches; a mallet should be used for this purpose, in 

 order that every part of the beds may be rendered 

 into a compact solid substance. These beds should 

 not be made of a greater thickness than that specified, 

 otherwise they will be subject to a strong fermenta- 

 tion, which will partly rot the materials, and render 

 them less congenial to the vegetation of the spawn. 

 3 H 



