122 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



October, 1907 



Where the author of this article grows his mush= 

 rooms — under the greenhouse benches — a space 

 that would otherwise be wasted 



bed where it will quickly dry out the 

 droppings. A good layer of sod on a tight 

 bottomed bench will accomplish this. A 

 better but costlier way is to place pans on 

 top of the pipes and keep these filled with 

 water, so that the moisture from the pan will 

 enter the beds instead of the dry air. 



The beds in which mushrooms are grown 

 are composed of horse manure, which can 

 be used alone or mixed either with an equal 

 bulk of good fibrous loam, or spent manure 

 from an old bed. The latter method is 

 preferred by some because it is quicker. 



Before making the bed be sure the drop- 

 pings are sufficiently moist. A good test 

 is to squeeze a handful of the material. If no 

 water can be squeezed out and it holds 

 together well when the pressure is released, 

 the material is in good condition. 



Tread the bed thoroughly and then go 

 over it carefully with a brick and pound it 

 until it requires quite an effort to run a stick 

 down into the bed. Put a thermometer in the 

 bed and read it often. The temperature 

 will rise. If it goes over 120 loosen up the 

 bed either by punching holes in it or by turn- 

 ing it several times. Tread it down again 

 a day or two later. 



There is a great difference among growers 

 as to the proper temperature at which to 

 spawn. Opinions vary from 6o° to 90 ; but 

 I find that if the droppings are well moistened 

 and have plenty of life in them, the bed can 

 be spawned at any temperature between 

 these extremes. Last year I spawned one- 

 half of a bed at oo° and the other half at 6o° 

 and there was no perceptible difference in 

 the crop. 



Mushrooms are grown from "spawn" 

 which may be bought from the seedsman. 

 It comes in bricks, each one being 5J x 8J x 

 i|in.,and weighing roughly one pound each. 

 This spawn is simply very greatly enriched 

 soil, such indeed as is used for the mushroom 

 bed itself, which is thoroughly impregnated 

 with the mycelium of the mushroom in a 

 dormant state. It needs only moisture and 



heat to start the fungus "running." Soawn 

 is made by taking the soil of a bed and dry- 

 ing it off while threads of the fungus are still 

 growing. On breaking a brick, the white 

 threads of the spawn will be seen all through 

 it. If the material of the mushroom bed is 

 taken up loosely, without being compressed 

 into bricks, it is equally good but is less con- 

 venient to handle. 



The bricks are known as "English" spawn 

 (or "mill track" spawn, because the enriched 

 and well-tramped earth from the horse-track 

 of the old-fashioned mill provided a first- 

 class natural spawn). 



The edible mushroom is the fruit, or spore 

 bearing 'growth of the plant, but it is not 

 practicable to propagate the mushroom from 

 spores. The pure culture spawn is produced 

 directly from a part of the tissue of the edi- 

 ble mushroom itself, whereas the old-style 

 spawn is merely a continuation of the my- 

 celium. 



The French or Virgin spawn which comes 

 loose and is rather difficult to handle is very 

 little used nowadays. The English mill- 

 track and pure culture spawns come in 

 hard pressed biick form and are better. I 



Why not have a mushroom bed that looks like this 

 on Thanksgiving morning? 



prefer pure culture spawn. It is produced 

 from the best and largest mushrooms only, 

 so all danger of getting an inferior quality of 

 mushroom is eliminated. The spawn keeps 

 just as well as the milltrack spawn, and is 

 practically the same price. I have found 

 this spawn from a week to ten days earlier 

 than the English spawn, and the individual 

 mushrooms will average twice the size. As 

 the supply at the present time can hardly 

 keep pace with the demand you are sure of 

 getting fresh spawn. 



To spawn a bed break up the bricks into 

 pieces the size of an egg and lay them on the 

 bed one foot apart. When the bed is covered 

 commence putting them in. Make the holes 

 with the hand, and place the spawn three or 

 four inches deep. The deeper the spawn is 

 placed the later the mushrooms will appear, 

 but the better the size. Cover the spawn and 

 pound the loose droppings back into place. 

 If the spawn is old soak it in warm water 

 before placing it in the bed. After the bed 

 is spawned the temperature must be watched 

 and if it rises above ioo° punch holes in the 

 bed with a stick or loosen it with a fork. 

 This will allow some of the heat to escape, 



but in some cases the spawn must be removed 

 and the droppings again turned. If the 

 temperature remain about the same as at 

 spawning time for a week, it is safe then to 

 apply a top dressing two inches thick of good 

 sifted loam, firmed down, but before applying 

 the soil examine the bed and if it is dry, 

 water sparingly with water 5 warmer than 

 the bed. 



If the bed is in a light place, cover it with 

 boards to keep out the light, and to prevent 

 draughts and rapid drying of the bed. Litter 

 can be used for this purpose, but it is trouble- 

 some when the mushrooms appear. If all 

 conditions are favourable the young mush- 

 rooms will begin to appear in from five to 

 six weeks after spawning. 



The proper way to pick mushrooms is to 

 take the top of the mushroom between the 

 thumb and forefinger and give it a gentle 

 twist. This will loosen it from all surround- 

 ing growth and it then can be raised without 

 interfering with those adjacent. Never use 

 a knife nor jerk the mushroom, as there 

 usually are a number of small mushrooms 

 around the base of the larger ones, and if 

 these are loosened they will never mature. 

 A good way to keep mushrooms clean is to 

 have a frame about three feet long by one and 

 one-half feet wide with strings run across 

 and lengthwise about one-half inch apart. 

 This makes a number of small squares, into 

 which the stems can be set, thus keeping the 

 top of the mushroom up and preventing dust 

 from filling the gills. 



Some prefer round topped beds, others 

 make them with sloping sides, but I find that 

 a flat-topped bed is less trouble and will give 

 just as good results. The bed should be 

 from twelve to fifteen inches deep. 



As soon as the mushrooms are lifted from 

 the soil the part that has been in contact with 

 the ground should be removed with a knife. 

 This will keep the mushrooms free from dirt. 

 After the bed has been bearing some three 

 or four weeks a number of small mushrooms 

 will be noticed on top of the bed. Cover 

 them with one inch of good loam. 



The American or pure-cullure spawn makes it 

 possible to get definite varieties. 



