Sept.] THE CULINARY GARDEN. 220 



rooms arc grown in this way are chiefly employed for prolong- 

 ing the bloom of forced shrubs and flowers, such as roses, 

 lilacs, bulbs, &c. The pots are set in saucers, to prevent any 

 water di-opping on the mushrooms, and six inches of hay are 

 spread over the latter to keep them clean, and prevent the 

 , escape of heat. The glass is covered by shutters every night, 

 and the floor of the house is from three to four feet under the 

 external surface, which with the covering of hay is a great 

 protection to the bed in which the mushrooms are grown. 



The bed is made of fresh horse-droppings, strongly pressed, 

 and after it has lain eight days, it is covered with an inch of 

 good earth beaten to a firm state, and the spawn planted in it 

 in little bits about nine inches apart every way. 



For growing mushrooms in flued houses, see Forcing- 

 Garden. 



Mushrooms may also be successfully cultivated in boxes, 

 pots, or hampers, or indeed in any thing capable of keeping 

 the materials together, and placed in any dry warm cellar, 

 stable, or shed, where they can be defended from damp and 

 frost. The practice of Mr. W. Wales, as given in the Me- 

 moirs of the Caledonian Horticultural Society, and referred to 

 before, is as follows : " The boxes or vessels are placed in the 

 back sheds of the hot-houses, or in any other house where no 

 damp nor frost can enter. There should be several boxes, 

 a part only being filled at a time, so as to keep a rotation of 

 crop, and to have mushrooms at all times ready for the table. 

 Suppose three boxes to be filled at a time, each of which is 

 three feet long, one and a half broad, and seven inches in 

 depth ; then let each box be half filled with horse-dung ^ drop- 

 pings' from the stables, the fresher the better, and if wet, to 

 be dried for three or four days before it be put in the boxes, 

 the dung to be well beaten down in the boxes. After the 

 second or third day, if any heat has arisen in the dung, it is 

 then a fit time to spawn ; break each spawn-brick into three 

 parts, as equal in size as possible, then lay the pieces about 

 four inches apart upon the surface of the dung in the box, on 

 which they are to lie for six days, when it will probably be 

 found that the side of the spawn next to the dung has begun 

 to run in the dung below ; then add an inch and a half more 



