Sept. 
womens the Ground,» 
A ‘COMPLEAT. BODY, Se. 
many young ones in irregular Places; as upon | 
and: on the dungy Part of -the 
Sides, where they are ill rooted; but while there: 
is this flight Advantage of a few ill fupported: 
fingle Mufhrooms from this, the great Refource 
of Spawn, which had been encreafing “in the’ 
Earth a Year when it was taken up, are’ eat to’ 
Pieces by the Worms bred from the Eggs of | 
Flies in the old Stalks. 
This fhews the Neceffity. of gathering Miuth- 
rooms from the Bed before ‘they are too large; 
and there is yet another Caution to be obferved; | 
which is, that they be taken up entire. 
Some carelefs Gardeners break off ies ‘Stalk | 
and others I have known fo | 
at the Ground, 
over careful, that they have cutthem. Both are 
very wrong; for in either Cafe there is left the 
Stump of a Stem, which the Flies will blow as. 
readily as the entire Mufhroom ; and their young 
have thus lefs Way to eat down to the Spawn, 
sate where the Mufhroom 1is:left whole. 
a gentle Twitk.: 
‘Some pull them up firaits but chix breaks that 
Part of the Bed on its Surface, and there often 
comes away fome of the Spawn with the Stem. © 
‘The gathering one Mufhroom thus’ panpely, 
will be the deftroying of fifty. | 
. When they are gathered by twifting, they 
generally come up entire and clean: and if any 
of the Spawn happens to come out this Way 
with the Stalk, it muft ‘be carefully taken off, | 
and put into fome other Part of the Mould. 
‘Heat and Moifture are the two great Requi- 
fites for making the Spawn grow; for without 
thefe Affiftances it will lie unactive: but when 
it has once been brought to fhoot:in. one’ of 
thefe Beds, the great Care of the Gardener is 
over; for he will never. afterwards, unlefs. by 
very bad Management, want a Supply. 
Thefe Beds will afford more and more Spawn, 
provided they are preferved from Worms; and — 
when one of them has lafted feveral Months, 
and will yield no more Mufhrooms, it is carefully 
to be taken down, and the Mould fearched for 
Spawn. | 
It will be found that it is not Want of this 
which has occafioned the Barrennefs of the Bed, 
for there will be much more than was at firft 
put in; the Want of a due Heat and pagittate 
has been the Occafion. 
This therefore is to be taken for the oc 
in other Beds ; and what is not ufed at this 
Time may be preferved till it is wanted. 
The Spawn of Mufhrooms will keep, like the 
Roots of bulbous and tuberous Plants, a long 
Time out of the Ground, four or five Months 
if neceffary; and will always be ready to grow, 
_if thus planted with due Care. 
The French raife Mufhrooms without Spawn ; at 
Jeaft they are not very nice in fearching for it. 
They pile up a Heap of Dung, and lay fome 
frefh Mould taken from under the Turf upon it.. 
This they cover with freth Litter, and water 
oncé. in “three Days — ge feldorn fail of Sept. 
pering Mufhrooms. 
‘DT havé. feen the fanie Pragtice in lieabeal , 
| ac fometimes it has been ficcefsful, fometimes 
not: but it has never fucceeded fo well as in 
_ the regular: Plantation. 
~The French complain of thelr Beds fon 
fpoiling ; ; and their Defttuction is always Owing - 
to: Worms. 
This »proceeds coal one Caufe in all Places 4 
ends would — be gies; by obferving our 
. Ditections. one 
They always cut seis Muthrooms; inftead of 
pulling them up; and by that Means they invite 
the Flies and Beetles to blow the Stumps. 
A> Bed feldom lafts there more than shit 
Weeks ; and it is owing to this Caufe. 
We fhall clofe this Account of the Muthrooni 
| es with a Method by which they may be raifed 
in greater Abundance than any other Way; but 
Oey will be inferior in their Flavour. 
' The right Method is to draw them out with: | 
Mix together equal Parts of freth Dung, old 
rotted Thatch, and of chopped Boughs of white 
Poplar. Lay this in a Bed two. Foot thick ; 
lay. fome Earth upon it; put in fome Spawn of. 
- Mufhrooms, and cover it with a little more of 
the fame Mixture ; throw over all a good Quan- ° 
tity of Litter, and moiften the Bed carefully 
_ every Morning. | ? 
The Caution:i is to keep it damp, and yet not 
| drowe, itieci 
There is a. peculiar Fermentation. excited in 
this Mixture, which vaftly promotes the Growth 
of Mufhrooms; but they are not fo pure oF 
delicate as otherwife. | . | 
The fineft of all Muthrooms are thofe in the 
Fields ; the next to thofe are fuch as are raifed 
on regular Beds, as we have defcribed ; and the 
itis are thefe. 
~The laft Method is - alfo very precarious : if 
it be rightly managed, the Produce for two or 
three Weeks is furprifingly great, but if too 
much or too little wetted, it yields none. : 
The Practice we have directed of taking up the 
Mould for the Bed from the very: Places where 
the Spawn is gathered, is a Thing not known to 
Gardeners, but it is a vaft Improvement. 
There is by this Method a Certainty of hav- 
ing {uch Earth as the Mufhrooms like to grow 
in; and probably there are Millions of little Par- 
ticles of the Spawn taken up among it, which, 
though not perceptible to the Eye at..the 
Time, foon fwell, and grow. under the Advan- 
tage they have of Heat iad, Moifture. 
We attribute it partly to thisChoice of the Earth, | 
and partly to the allowing more of it than others, 
that the Mufhroom Beds made under our Direc- 
tion have fucceeded particularly well. 
This is certain, that their Produce has: been 
always much greater, and often double that 
of fuch neighbouring Gardeners as have been 
very able to underftand the common Inftruc- 
| tions given for this Purpofe, and very punctual 
_ in following them. | 
hae sae icy saan, Be 
