326 THE PRACTICAL GARDENER. [Sept. 



j 



very deiicate point in their culture. If it were possible to 

 keep them sufficiently damp, by covering them from the sun 

 and winds, and exposing them to very slight showers, or rather 

 heavy dews, it would be desirable, as watering, however care- 

 fully done, is apt to run upon the surface, and render some 

 parts of the beds too damp, while others are too dry. 



The principal objection to beds made in the open air is, that 

 they are troublesome to cover, and to protect from frost and 

 wet ; but beds made in sheds also require often to be covered 

 in the same manner. 



The advantages they possess, on the other hand, is import- 

 ant, as the mushrooms produced on ridges are considered, in 

 Covent-Garden market, as decidedly superior to those grown 

 on shelves or boxes in houses, being both more heavy and 

 juicy, and always bring the highest price. 



About a fortnight or three weeks before the beds are to be 

 put up, provide a quantity of fresh horse-dung ; let it be well 

 shaken and mixed, and put up in a heap to purge it of its 

 firy heat ; let it be turned over once a week, or oftener, and 

 at each turning, well mixed, so that every part of the dung 

 may be equally fermented, and deprived of its noxious quality. 

 When the dung is in a fit state to be made into a bed, let the 

 bottom be marked out, about seven feet wide, and as long as 

 it is judged necessary, for the quantity of mushrooms required; 

 let the foundation on which it is made be dry, or rendered so ; 

 let the dung be worked up in a sloping manner, so as to ter- 

 minate with a narrow roof-shaped ridge along the centre, 

 about four or five feet high, beat it well down, as the process 

 of building goes on. Beds made in the open sheds are con- 

 structed exactly in the same way. 



When the bed has been made some time, and the heat 

 sufficiently declined, the spawn may be put into it : but, for 

 fear of the heat being too great in the upper part of it, the 

 better plan is to spawn it at first only half-way up all round. 

 Break the spawn in small pieces, and stick them into the sides 

 of the bed, in rows about six inclies, piece from piece. When 

 the bed is spawned as high up, as it is thought the heat of 

 the bed will not injure it, take some good strong rich earth, 

 the stronger the better, but of a loamy quality, and cover the 



