250 



CULINARY OR KITCHEN GARDEN. 



month or five weeks. If the spawn be intro- 

 duced in hot weather, air must be admitted as 

 freely as possible into the house, till the spawn 

 has spread itself through the beds; for if the 

 place be kept too close, the beds will become 

 soft and spongy, and then the crop will be 

 neither abundant nor of good quality." In 

 earthing over his beds, Mr Oldacre recommends 

 rich maiden earth, wherein its turf is well reduced, 

 laid on to the thickness of 2 inches, and beat as 

 solid and level as possible. Care is to be taken 

 that the soil be not too wet, as in that case it 

 might chill the bed and injure the spawn; nor 

 must it be too dry, because, if so, it could not 

 be beaten so solid as is to be desired. 



The subsequent management of the beds, 

 according to the German method, is maintain- 

 ing a temperature within the house of from 

 50° to 55°, and the exclusion of light. " In 

 watering the beds extreme caution is necessary, 

 as well in the mode of application, as in the 

 temperature of the water, which should be 

 nearly 80° or 90°," and very lightly sprinkled 

 with a syringe or a small watering-pot, other- 

 wise the mushrooms are sure to sustain damage. 

 If cold water be used, and given plentifully at 

 one time, it will not only destroy the existing 

 crop, but the spawn also, and render the beds 

 so treated of no further utility. If the beds 

 have been suffered to become very dry, it is 

 better to give them several light waterings than 

 one heavy supply. In gathering the mushrooms 

 great care should be taken not to disturb the 

 small ones that invariably, with good manage- 

 ment, surround the stems of those which are 

 more early matured. The best method is to 

 twist them up very gently in all instances where 

 it can be done ; but where it becomes necessary 

 to cut them, great care should be taken to divest 

 the beds of the stems of those that are cut, as 

 they would rot, to the great injury of those that 

 surround them." 



The absence of light in the cultivation of the 

 mushroom has been considered by many an al- 

 most necessary condition in securing success, 

 and hence beds are made in dark houses, caves, 

 &c. ; while those made in the open air are as 

 carefully deprived of light, by coverings of straw 

 or litter, &c, as if they were placed in the dark 

 catacombs of Paris, where abundance of mush- 

 rooms are grown for the Parisian markets. 

 These, however, are far inferior in flavour, and 

 we may also add in wholesomeness, to such as 

 are grown in the open air, in our old grassy pas- 

 tures, fully exposed to both light and air. " The 

 common mushroom," Dr Lindley observes, " un- 

 like many of its kindred, is by no means a 

 lover of shade ; so far from it, the best and 

 most beautiful mushrooms are found in exposed 

 fields, where they delight in a rich soil, reten- 

 tive of a certain portion of moisture, but well 

 drained. The points, then, to secure in their 

 cultivation are circumstances as nearly as pos- 

 sible similar to those which concur in the sea- 

 sons most favourable to their growth in the 

 natural ground — an even temperature, a well- 

 drained and generous, but not a rank soil, kept 

 moist, but by no means wet ; a free access to 

 light ; and such an exposure to air as is consis- 



tent with the retention of a proper degree of 

 humidity in the soil, and of temperature. The 

 seasons in which mushrooms are most abundant 

 are those in which a warm but showery autumn 

 succeeds a hot summer — a circumstance to- 

 wards which attention should be paid by those 

 who would experimentally follow out the sub- 

 ject." These remarks have reference to " A New 

 Method of Growing the Mushroom," by Mr John 

 Hawkin — for the construction of whose mush- 

 room-house, vide figs. 663, 664,vol. i. In acommu- 

 nication in the "Gardeners' Chronicle" for 1844 

 (p. 851), Mr Hawkin thus describes his method 

 of culture : " The principal requisites for the 

 successful culture of the mushroom are heat, 

 light, air, and a damp atmosphere. In the first 

 place, with me the dung is collected fresh from 

 the stables, particularly from horses that are fed 

 on dry food, such as corn and hay. It is thrown 

 into a shed to dry, a little before it is made into 

 beds. My boxes (beds) are trellised at the bot- 

 tom, which allows the heated air to penetrate 

 through the mass of dung easily; a little hay or 

 rough litter is spread over the bottom of the 

 box, in order to prevent the dung from passing 

 through the trellis- work ; and every 2 or 3 inches 

 of dung that is added is beaten hard with a 

 wooden mallet, until the layers reach within 1 4 

 inches of the top of the box. As soon as the 

 heat of the dung falls to a proper temperature, 

 I insert large pieces of spawn into the bed, at 

 the distance of about 8 inches apart. I rarely 

 make use of spawn less than twelve months old, 

 and the less that it is broken I find that it pro- 

 duces the better crops. About a week or ten 

 days afterwards, I finish off the beds with green 

 turf, 1 1 inches in thickness, making the beds in 

 my boxes in all about 9 inches in depth. I beat 

 down the turf very firmly with the back of a 

 spade in finishing; afterwards I have no fur- 

 ther trouble, except in paying attention to the 

 fire, and in admitting fresh air as it may be 

 required. The house is heated by open tanks 

 (vide fig. 664, vol. i.) which run through the 

 centre of it, and which return again into the 

 boiler, giving out a sufficient quantity of mois- 

 ture for the necessary development and growth 

 of the mushroom. During night the grassy turf 

 becomes copiously loaded with moisture; and 

 should the following day prove fine, I never 

 omit giving abundance of fresh air by the door- 

 way. The temperature of the house ranges 

 from 60° to 65° during the day, and at night it 

 is frequently allowed to fall as low as temperate. 

 The great advantage of growing mushrooms 

 upon fresh grassy turf is obvious to any one 

 accustomed to their cultivation." Mr Hawkin, in 

 another respect, deviates even still further from 

 ordinary practice. " I have been," he says, "in 

 the habit of growing mushrooms, and with great 

 success, upon coal refuse for the last two years; 

 and at present I have two boxes at work, one 

 covered with coal-dust, and the other with turf. 

 The produce of these shows the relative advan- 

 tages of the two methods, for although those 

 from the coal-dust are large and of good flavour, 

 they are decidedly inferior, in both respects, to 

 those produced by the grass-covered beds ; in- 

 deed, such is the superiority of the latter, that 



