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, HOW TO GROW MUSHROOMS. 



put into the key-hole." Another quaint early writer, 

 Sir T. Browne (1646), says, it "hath a vertue attrac- 

 tive of Iron, a power to break lockes, and draw off the 

 shooes of a horse that passeth over it. * * * Which 

 strange and magicall conceit seemes unto me to have 

 no deeper root in reason then the figure of its seed, for 

 .therein indeed it somewhat resembles an horseshooe." 



In the days when the mumbling witches rode and the 

 .gnomes and fairies danced by moonlight, the name 

 " moonwort " was also given to various other plants 

 having real or imaginary superstitious associations. 



Many poets have noticed this magical plant ; among 



them Du Bartas has gracefully immortalized the prevail- 

 ing sentiment in the following lines : 



" Horses that, feeding on the grassy hills, 



Tread upon moonwort with their hollow heels, 



Though lately shod, at night goe bare-foot home. 



Their master musing where their shoes be gone. 



O moonwort, tell us where thou hid'st the smith. 



Hammer and pincers, thoo shod'st them with? 



Alas ! What lock or iron engine is't 



That can thy subtile secret strength resist, 



Sith the best farrier cannot set a shoe 



So sure, but thoo it shortly can'st undoe! " 



Vermont. G. A. Woolson. 



HOW TO GROW MUSHROOMS. 



SUCCESS WITHIN REACH OF THE AMATEUR. 



' HE purpose of this ar- 

 ticle is not to teach 

 practical gardeners or 

 the successful grow- 

 ers of mushrooms, but 

 to aid beginners in a 

 delightful as well as 

 profitable pastime 

 that any one can en- 

 gage in. So much talk 

 about manure and 

 loam, and the like, 

 may give one the idea 

 that mushroom growing is dirty work ; but it is not. 

 'Getsome of the ' ' men-folks" to turn and prepare the ma- 

 nure, and make up the bed, and there isn't a lady in the 

 country who wouldn't gladly do the rest — pick the 

 mushrooms ! 



For growing mushrooms we want a suitable place for 

 .•the beds, good horse manure to make the beds of, spawn 

 with which to plant, and loam with which to cover them. 

 A suitable place is almost anywhere under cover in a 

 temperature below 65°, dry at the bottom and overhead, 

 and sheltered from draughts. A house or barn cellar 

 is an excellent place ; so, too, is a corner or empty stall 

 in a stable, a nook in the carriage-house, woodshed, or 

 .any other outbuilding where water does not lie on the 

 ■floor or rain leak through the roof. 



I have tried a good many kinds of manures, alone and 

 mixed, and have never found anything better than fresh 

 horse manure. But this manure should be from horses 

 fed on hay and grain, and not from animals fed with 

 green grass, ensilage or roots. For although the 

 manure from horses fed partly with green feed and 

 'roots is not useless for mushrooms, the manure from 

 animals fed with dry hard food is by far the best. A 

 little dry sheep manure is an excellent addition to the 

 horse manure, for mushroom spawn runs beautifully in 

 sheep manure. 



The mushroom spawn looks like a whitish mold, and 

 yinay he bought at the seed stores, contained in bits of 



dry manure. It is, in fact, mushroom in a dormant state, 

 only waiting to be planted in a genial manure bed to 

 burst into new life, and spread and bear. Our seeds- 

 men have two kinds of spawn, one which is contained 

 in hard, dry bricks of rotted earthy manure, each 

 weighing about a pound, and which is called English 

 spawn ; and the other which comes in pressed tufts of 

 short strawy manure, and which is usually sold in boxes 

 weighing two or three lbs. This is called French spawn. 



Loam is needed for covering the beds after they are 

 spawned, and many very successful growers mix some 

 loam in the manure, say in the proportion of one- 

 fourth loam and three-fourths manure ; but I have 

 never had any better success with beds made of loam 

 and manure mixed, than with manure alone. One of 

 the chief motives for mixing loam with the manure is 

 to prevent the overheating of the manure. Any kind 

 of good common loam is good enough, but the fresher 

 it is, the better ; and all dirt, in the way of sticks, stones, 

 iron scraps, and the like, should be removed. Besides, 

 although this is not necessary, in order to get the spawn 

 to work smoothly the earth should be fine and free from 

 bits of sod, lumps and the like. 



Now, having considered the place, the manure, the 

 spawn and the loam, let us give attention to preparing 

 the manure, making up and spawning the beds, and 

 other practical details. Get some fresh horse ma- 

 nure, quantity in proportion to the size of bed you 

 intend to make, and throw it into a heap to heat, after 

 removing all the dry strawy part, but not the wetted 

 rotting straw. Let this heap lie under cover to preserve 

 it from being soaked with rain or snow. When it be- 

 gins to heat it will heat violently and get white-burned, 

 or fire-fanged, as we say, unless you turn it over with a 

 fork, shaking it up loosely and mixing it well together. 

 This done, tidy it around a little and stamp it down 

 with the feet to make it firm ; for firm manure will not 

 burn as quickly as that in a loose heap. Repeat this 

 turning once a day or once in two or three days, just as 

 the condition of the pile may suggest. If it is hot it 



