222 THE PRACTICAL GARDENER. [Scj^f. 



Other dungs. The food of horses, consisting mostly of corn 

 and hay, may, no doubt, be more replete with the seeds of 

 mushrooms than that of cows and other stock, whose food con- 

 sists chiefly of green vegetables ; but even the droppings ol 

 horses while at grass, or feeding on tares, produce few or no 

 mushrooms. This fact would seem to prove, either that the 

 seeds are collected in gi-eater quantities, and are better pre- 

 served by hay, or the straw and chaff of oats, than by green 

 food; or, that green food may have the effect of destroying 

 them by its moistness in the stomach, or after having passed 

 through it." 



Having thus entered into some detail on the seed of mush- 

 rooms, the next and most important consideration to the gar- 

 dener is, the manner in which to make or procure the spawn. 

 Spawn is defined by Abercrombie, Neill, and others, to be a 

 white fibrous substance, resembling broken threads, and is 

 found running in dry reduced dung, or any other nidus favor- 

 able to its existence. These threads, when put in action in a 

 favorable situation, produce small tubercles, attached to them 

 by lateral threads, in the manner of potatoes. Spawn of the 

 true Agaricus campestris, or eatable mushroom, smells 

 exactly like that of the mushroom, and this is the test gener- 

 ally applied by gardeners to ascertain its genuineness. 



Spa\vii is often purchased by gardeners from nursery-men, 

 who, to supply their demands, make annually a great quan- 

 tity of it. It is sold in the shape of bricks, and varies in 

 price, according to the demand, and other circumstances. 



Indigenous spawn may be collected in September in old 

 pasture lands. It is often also found in the path of a bark- 

 mill worked by horses, or in any other horse-mill track under 

 shelter ; in temporary sheds, in which horses are fed and take 

 occasional shelter in winter, and in diy dung-heaps, and in 

 old hot-beds. Having found the pieces of dung which contain 

 the desired spawn, take them up as entire as possible, and lay 

 them carefully in a basket, or any other conveyance; these 

 are to be stored till used in any dry convenient place, and 

 if they be found in a damp state, they should be dried before 

 they are laid together in a mass. The dry spawn may be pre- 

 served for years ; but to preserve it from running or perishing 



