Growing Mushrooms for Home Use -By James Cumming, 



A CROP THAT CAN BE RAISED IN AN ORDINARY HOUSE CELLAR, AND 

 PRODUCE A DELICACY FOR THE TABLE DURING THE ENTIRE WINTER 



Colorado 



ANY time between now and early 

 November you can start a bed for 

 mushrooms. The one shown in the ac- 

 companying picture was made from rough 

 twelve inch boards; it is four feet wide and 

 twelve feet long, and cost $5.00, including 

 labor and brass pointed thermometer. 

 It was spawned on September 2, and from 

 October 18 to December 31 gave 86 pounds 

 of mushrooms. No account of the amount 

 picked was kept after that, but the bed 

 lasted until after the first of February. 

 I figure that at least 100 pounds were 

 gathered. 



WHERE TO GROW THEM 



Although mushrooms may be success- 

 fully grown under greenhouse benches, and 

 in caves and outbuildings that are free 

 from draughts and excessive moisture, 

 probably no better place can be found 

 for growing them than in a cellar that is 

 dry and where the temperature can be 

 kept at from 54 to 60 degrees. If there is a 

 heater in the cellar, so much the better, as 

 it is a hard matter in extremely cold weather 

 to maintain the proper temperature with- 

 out the aid of artificial heat. If the 

 temperature rises above 60 degrees the 

 cellar should be ventilated in such a way 

 that no draught can strike the mush- 

 rooms, which would cause the smaller ones 

 to shrivel, and the skin on the older ones 

 to crack and curl up. 



MAKING THE BEDS 



Where there is enough floor space the 

 bed already described is the most prac- 

 tical. It is easily cared for, and is the 

 simplest to make as it requires no bottom 

 other than the floor it is made on ; but where 

 there is little room the beds can be made 

 up on the order of Pull- 

 man berths, leaving a 

 space of about three 

 feet between the top of 

 the bottom bed and the 

 bottom of the upper. 

 The legs of the upper 

 bed should be made of 

 three by four lumber. 

 Two by four cross pieces 

 are nailed securely to 

 the legs, and on these 

 supports planks of the re- 

 quired width and length 

 are laid. The sides and 

 ends for this bed are 

 nailed together and laid 

 on the planks. When 

 beds are of considerable 

 length cross pieces should 

 be nailed in the centre 

 to keep the boards from 

 spreading when the man- 

 ure is being tamped in. 



PREPARING THE MATERIAL 



When the bed is ready, procure from a 

 livery stable the necessary amount of fresh 

 horse manure, entirely free from bedding. 

 For a bed four feet wide and twelve feet 

 long, one large wagon load is enough. The 

 manure is thrown out conveniently close 

 to where the bed is to be made, and if too 

 dry should be spread out and sprinkled 

 sufficiently to be just moist, but not wet. 

 If it can be handled not later than the 

 following day no turning is necessary, 

 but if it has to stand several days before 

 it can be placed in the beds, it should be 

 turned over once daily to prevent it from 

 burning. To every four wheelbarrow loads 

 of manure mix one wheelbarrow load of 

 good garden soil. After the soil and 

 manure have been thoroughly mixed — 

 composted — it is placed in the bed in 

 layers, and each layer firmly tamped with 

 a brick or wooden block. It is practically 

 impossible to pack the compost too tightly. 

 The last layer when tamped and leveled 

 nicely should be two inches from the top 

 of the sides. A mushroom thermometer 

 should now be plunged in the bed. In 

 the course of a few days the temperature 

 of the bed rises above 100 degrees, and when 

 it has come down to 86 degrees, which will 

 be in not sooner than ten days, the spawn 

 may be planted. 



SPAWNING THE BED 



Mushroom spawn is obtainable at most 

 seed stores, and it comes in brick form. For 

 good results it must be fresh, and should 

 be kept in a cool dry place until the bed 

 is ready for planting. The bed shown 

 required five bricks that cost $1.00. The 

 bricks are broken into pieces about an 





From tills bed. which contains forty-eight square feet of surface. 100 pounds of mushrooms 



were gathered in five months 



115 



inch and a half square, and the pieces 

 are planted about eight inches apart each 

 way and an inch below the surface. As 

 the bricks are not easily broken when dry, 

 they may be wrapped in a wet sack or 

 old piece of burlap for several hours before 

 planting. After planting, the rough sur- 

 face of the bed is firmly tamped, and if 

 dry, given a sprinkling. Use luke- 

 warm water and apply it only through a 

 sprinkling can. Ten days later, cover the 

 bed with one inch of fine soil; firm gently 

 and again sprinkle sufficiently to settle 

 the soil. No further attention is necessary 

 other than watering until the mushrooms 

 appear, which will be not earlier than six 

 weeks from the time of spawning. 



CRUCIAL POINTS 



Nothing is of more importance than 

 the watering. Too much water will cause 

 the spawn to rot, and the crop will be re- 

 tarded, though not necessarily injured, 

 if the bed becomes dry. When the mater- 

 ial is placed in the bed, it should be moist, 

 but not wet, and if possible, kept in that 

 condition. To obtain the soft, smooth- 

 skinned, thick-fleshed kind of mushrooms, 

 an even temperature and a moist atmos- 

 phere are necessary. If these conditions 

 do not exist, the bed should be covered 

 with a few inches of loose straw or hay, 

 which should be kept damp. An occas- 

 ional sprinkling of the floor is also bene- 

 ficial. Every other day most of the straw 

 should be removed, and any dry spots 

 showing on the bed carefully watered. 

 After the little mushrooms appear, give 

 the bed daily attention, and do not allow 

 the soil to become dry. Picking should be 

 done as soon as the veil under the cap is 

 broken. Where the mushrooms are grow- 

 ing singly they are best 

 removed by gently twist- 

 ing them from the bed. 

 Thirty and forty, how- 

 ever, sometimes grow 

 from one root, in which 

 case the mature ones may 

 be carefully cut off, leav- 

 ing the smaller ones to 

 develop. 



After a crop has been 

 gathered, allow the bed 

 to become slightly dry, 

 after wriich the holes 

 where the mushrooms 

 were growing are filled 

 with fine soil; the whole 

 is given a good watering 

 and covered with straw 

 again. The bed will last 

 from two to five months. 

 One pound of mush- 

 rooms to the square foot 

 is a very fair crop. 



