482 



MUSHEOOM CULTURE. 



Fig. 285. 



and down through shafts like those of old -wells^ and the 

 men have to creep up and down a rough pole like mice. 

 Many men are employed in the culture^ the daily examina- 

 tion of sixteen miles of beds being a considerable item in 

 itself: Here and there a barrier in the form of straw nailed 

 between laths may be seen blocking up the great arch to a 

 height of six feet or so. This is to prevent currents of 



air wandering about 

 through the vast pas- 

 sages. 



The mode of pre- 

 paring the spawn here 

 is entirely difPerent to 

 ours. They prefer 

 virgin spawn — that is 

 to say;, spawn found 

 naturally in a heap 

 of manure. Bu.t as 

 this material cannot 

 be obtained in suffi- 

 cient quantity to meet 

 the wants of such ex- 

 tensive growers^ they 

 put a small portion of 

 it into a Mushroom 

 bed to spread, and 

 instead of allowing 

 this bed to produce 

 Mushrooms it is all 

 used as spawn, and 

 is valued more than 

 any other. Of course 

 abundance of spawn occurs in the old beds, but it is never 

 used directly. It is, however, frequently employed to 

 spawn a small bed when virgin spawn cannot be obtained. 

 In this case the small bed devoted to the x^ropagation of 

 spawn is placed in the open air, and covered with straw, 

 and as soon as it is permeated with the spawn it is carried 

 into the caves and used. As the making and spawning of 



Extractii 



tlie Stone in Subterranean 

 Quarries. 



