486 



MANUAL OF GARDENING 



and faced with 10-inch wide boards. This allows about 8 inches for 

 manure, and 1 inch rising to 2 inches of loam on top. In filling the 

 shelf beds the bottom half may be of fresh, moist or wettish, hot 

 manure, packed down sohd, and the top half of rather cool prepared 

 manure, or it may be made up of all prepared manure. As the shelf 

 beds cannot be trodden and cannot be beaten very firm with the back 

 of the fork, a brick is used in addition to the fork. 



The beds should be spawned after the heat in them has fallen below 

 100° F. The writer considers 90° F. about the best temperature for 

 spawning. If the beds have been covered with hay, straw, litter, or 

 mats, these should be removed. Break each brick into twelve or fif- 

 teen pieces. The rows should be, say, 1 foot apart, the first one being 

 6 inches from the edge, and the pieces should be 9 inches apart in the 

 row. Commencing with the first row, lift up each piece, raise 2 to 3 

 inches of the manure with the hand, and into this hole place the piece, 

 covering over tightly with the manure. When the entire bed is 

 spawned, pack the surface all over. It is well to cover the beds again 

 with straw, hay, or mats, to keep the surface equally moist. The flake 

 spawn is planted in the same way as the brick spawn, only not quite 

 so deep. 



At the end of eight or nine days the mulching should be removed 

 and the beds covered with a layer of good loam 2 inches thick, so that 

 the mushrooms can come up in and through it. This gives them a firm 

 hold, and to a large extent improves their quality and texture. Any 

 fair loam will do. That from an ordinary field, wayside, or garden is 

 generally used, and it answers admirably. There exists an idea that 

 garden soil surfeited with old manure is unfit for mushrooin beds 

 because it is apt to produce spurious fungi. This, however, is not the 

 case. In fact, it is the earth most commonly used. For molding the 

 beds the loam should be rather fine, free, and mellow, so that it can be 

 easily and evenly spread and compacted firmly into the manure. 



If an even atmospheric temperature of from 55° to 60° F. can be 

 maintained, and the house or cellar containing the mushroom beds is 

 kept close and free from drafts, the beds may be left uncovered, and 

 should be watered if they become dry. But no matter where the beds 

 are situated, it is well to lay some loose hay or straw or some old mat- 

 ting or carpet over them to keep them moist. The covering, however, 



