466 
moved, and the hot-water pipe watered through 
the rose of a watering-pot. A dense steam can 
be still more readily produced by means of an 
inch pipe fitted into the top of a.small boiler, 
which may be placed in an adjoining shed or 
other convenient situation. 
The materials chiefly employed for beds in- 
doors, and in pots or boxes, or on shelves, is the 
droppings of horses fed on corn and hay. They 
should be collected fresh, and laid in thin layers 
or small ridges in a dry place. The long litter 
ought to be shaken out and dispensed with; but 
a portion of the short litter may be retained, 
provided it has been well moistened by the urine 
ot the horses. These materials should be fre- 
quently turned and maintained in an incipient 
state of fermentation until the rankness is got | 
rid of. In order that the ammonia may not be 
lost, the dung may be mixed with a little rather 
dry friable maiden loam. The manure should 
be distributed evenly in layers and the beds 
made firm; they should be about a toot deep at 
the back and an inch or two less in front. 
The late Mr. Forsyth recommended _horse- 
droppings to be collected and dried a little in 
an open shed, a stratum of loamy turf 2 or 3 
inches deep to be placed in the bottom of the 
bed, and then three layers of droppings, each 
layer being rendered as compact as_ possible. 
When the mass heats. holes are bored 9 inches 
apart and as deep as the loam, and when the 
heat declines to 80° the holes are partly filled 
up with loam and horse-droppings mixed; a 
piece of spawn about the size of a hen’s egg 
being inserted in each, they are then filled up 
level with the surface. If the beds are to be of 
considerable thickness, say 1 foot or more, then 
it is well to mix the materials with loam in order 
to prevent the fermentation becoming too vio- 
lent; but when they are chiefly composed of 
droppings they must be made thinner, in which 
case they will not continue so long in bearing. 
these are placed 6 or 8 inches apart a little below 
the surface when the heat is 75°, or on the de- | 
cline from 80°, a temperature which the materials 
ought never to exceed. In this and all other 
instances, trial sticks or plunging thermometers 
ought to be used. On the least signs of vapour 
being unduly confined, holes should be opened 
to let this out, otherwise injurious overheating 
will result. Pointed iron rods are sometimes 
needed for boring holes through the centre of 
ridge-shaped beds. When it is seen there is 
no likelihood of overheating taking place, soil 
over at once, the surface of the bed to be 
te 
THE GARDENER’S ASSISTANT, 
covered thinly with loam, and in a week or ten 
days this covering should be made up to 2 inches 
thick. When put on it ought to be as warm as 
the materials of the beds. The whole is then 
covered with hay or litter. 
The temperature of the house should be kept — 
at between 60° and 65° till the Mushrooms ap- 
pear; afterwards it may be from 50° to 55°. 
When in bearing, the productiveness of the beds 
is sometimes injuriously affected by excess of 
water. When moisture is needed it is best to 
well moisten the covering of hay and litter, but 
not the beds themselves. The water used for 
this purpose must be of the temperature of 80°. 
Always twist off the Mushrooms, and when 
possible remove the solid mass of roots at the 
base, filling up the holes thus caused with fresh 
loam. When cutting is resorted to, the old 
stumps decay rapidly, and quickly cause masses 
of mould or fungus to appear, which in their 
turn destroy all the Mushrooms, large and small, 
they come into contact with. 
Mustard (Sinapis alba).—A hardy annual, a 
native of Europe, including Britain, where it is 
found in fields and waste places. The white 
Mustard is only used, generally along with Cress, 
as a salad, for which purpose it is cut while in 
the seed-leaf stage. 
It is raised from seeds, which may be sown 
every week or ten days throughout the year, 
either in the open ground or in heat, according 
to the season. The sowings in the open ground 
may be commenced about the middle of March, 
and given up about the middle of October. The 
ground where it is to be sown should be light, 
rich, and raked very fine; for the early and late 
sowings a warm spot should be selected; for 
those made in the heat of summer, a shady situ- 
ation must be chosen; at other times any open 
compartment with good soil will do. It should 
_be sown thickly, in shallow drills 6 inches apart, 
The spawn should be in lumps 2 inches square; | 
and only slightly covered with earth, after which 
the surface should be pressed smooth with the 
back of the spade, so that there may be no 
roughness to interfere with the cutting. With 
the exception of watering the seed-bed and the 
young plants in dry weather, no further culture 
is necessary. In gathering, the plants are cut 
over by the ground; if allowed to remain they 
will put forth leaves a second time, but those first 
produced are greatly to be preferred. 
Forcing.—The seeds of Rape are largely sub- 
stituted for those of Mustard. The seeds to be 
forced ought to be sown very thickly in shallow 
boxes or square pans, on the surface of quite 
