EDIBLE FUNGI.— THE MUSHROOM. 



249 



one way as the other. Of one thing there can 

 be little doubt, that in properly constructed 

 houses, and under good management, the crop 

 may be calculated upon with much greater cer- 

 tainty than when exposed to the vicissitudes of 

 open-air culture, unless it may be during the 

 months of July, August, and September, their 

 natural season of growth. Beds formed in the 

 open air should always be constructed of open 

 littering material, as recommended above as 

 being the London practice; for if otherwise, 

 the spawn would be extremely liable to be de- 

 stroyed by excess of moisture. To guard against 

 this in properly constructed mushroom-houses 

 (as figs. 660 to 670, vol. i.), the shelving should 

 (as recommended, p. 467, vol. i.) be perforated 

 with abundance of holes, if formed of iron plates, 

 slate, or pavement ; and if of wood, the board- 

 ing should be in narrow slips, at least 1 inch 

 apart. These perforations and openings not 

 only secure the beds against the bad effects of 

 damp — to which they would be exposed, if laid 

 in either material without such precaution — 

 but they afford an opportunity for the mush- 

 rooms to protrude through them, and often 

 yield nearly as good a crop from the bottom of 

 the bed as from the top. 



The German method of forming mushroom-beds 

 on shelves, in houses constructed for the pur- 

 pose (vide fig. 660, vol. i.), was introduced into 

 this country, about 1814, by the late Mr Oldacre, 

 and may be considered the basis on which 

 most subsequent forms have been founded. 

 Prior to that period they were in general formed 

 in shape of ridges set on the floor of a covered 

 shed, and in no way differing from those built 

 in the open air, or in form of sloping banks 

 resting against a wall — in both ways occupying a 

 great space, in proportion to the surface they 

 presented, for the production of the crop. The 

 material used by that excellent cultivator was 

 the droppings of horses shaken out of the litter 

 before it had been exposed to fermentation or 

 wet, retaining with the droppings about one- 

 fourth in quantity of the shortest portion of the 

 litter; to which he added about one-fourth dry 

 turfy loam, to consolidate the mass, when beaten 

 together, into a more solid and compact body 

 than if only droppings and litter alone were 

 used. On the solidity of such beds much of 

 their success depends, as will be sufficiently 

 apparent when we consider that they seldom 

 exceed 7 or 8 inches in thickness. When a suf- 

 ficient quantity is collected and mixed, as above, 

 to form the bed, it is spread over the bottom 

 of the shelf, or on the surface of the floor of the 

 house (the lowest bed being placed under the 

 first tier of shelves, and rendered perfectly dry 

 below), to the thickness of 3 inches of the 

 prepared compost. This is beaten with a wooden 

 mallet into a close compact body, and over it 

 another layer of the same thickness, which is in 

 like manner beaten closely down ; and so on, 

 until the required height of bed is attained, 

 which is in general 7 inches, leaving the surface 

 as smooth and even as possible. " Reducing 

 the beds into a very solid body," Mr Oldacre re- 

 marks (in " Horticultural Transactions," vol. ii.), 

 " is a most essential point, for without it you 



cannot expect success; and the thickness of 

 these must be particularly attended to, for 

 where there is a much greater body, the beds 

 will be subjected to a strong fermentation, and 

 will be prevented by evaporation from retaining 

 that consistency in the dung which is absolutely 

 necessary for the production of a good and 

 plentiful crop. On the contrary, if a much less 

 quantity be laid together, the heat and fermen- 

 tation will be insufficient to prepare the beds 

 for the nourishment of the spawn ; but the as- 

 sistance of both, to the extent prescribed, cements 

 the materials together, which, in addition to 

 beating, increases greatly their solidity. The 

 proper vegetation of the spawn, and the conse- 

 quent crop of mushrooms, depend entirely upon 

 a moderate genial heat and fermentation, neither 

 too strong nor too slight." As soon as the 

 temperature in the beds reaches from 80° to 90° 

 Fahr., " the beds are beaten a second time, to 

 render them more solid, if possible. Then 

 make holes with a dibber 3 inches in diameter, 

 and 9 inches asunder, through the compost in 

 every part of the beds. These holes will be a 

 means of cooling them, and preventing that 

 excess of heat from taking place which would 

 produce rottenness, and render them unpro- 

 ductive. If the beds do not attain the heat re- 

 quired in four or five days after they are put 

 together, add another layer of compost, 2 inches 

 thick, which will probably increase the heat 

 sufficiently ; if not, a part of the bed should be 

 taken away, and the remainder mixed with 

 fresh horse-droppings, and wrought together in 

 the same way as before, in order to produce the 

 proper degree of heat. Beds made after this 

 manner readily generate natural spawn in sum- 

 mer, and frequently in the winter months." 

 The materials for beds made upon this principle 

 ought to be tolerably dry before being put to- 

 gether, as dryness and solidity form its leading 

 feature, and is in reality the chief difference be- 

 tween this method and that of Nicol, already 

 alluded to, whose plan, otherwise excellent, is 

 to some extent defective in this respect. In 

 planting the spawn, Oldacre examines the beds 

 three or four days after the holes have been 

 made ; and when their sides are found to be dry, 

 and the heat on the decline, it is introduced by 

 being crammed into the holes, either in whole 

 pieces, or into smaller fragments, and the whole 

 bed beaten down, which finishes the operation. 

 Care must, however, be taken that the heat has 

 not declined too much, and also that it be not 

 too strong at the time, as in either case the spawn 

 would suffer alike, although from opposite 

 causes. " About a fortnight after the spawn 

 has been introduced," he remarks, "examine 

 the holes, and if the spawn has suffered any 

 damage from over-heat or too much moisture in 

 the beds, introduce fresh spawn as before. On 

 the contrary, if the spawn be found good, and 

 vegetating freely in the compost, such beds, if 

 required for immediate production, may be 

 covered with mould, agreeable to the rules 

 hereafter laid down ; and the beds intended for 

 succession should remain unearthed, in the 

 summer, till three weeks or a month before you 

 wish them to produce — and in the winter, a 



