486 



MUSHROOM CULTURE. 



a tub. Holes are made in the bottom of eaclij and a 

 thin layer of good soil is spread over them inside. They 

 are then filled with good well prepared stable manure^ just 

 like that used in the case of ordinary Mushroom beds, 

 the different layers of dung in each tub being well pressed 

 down. When the tub is half full^ six or seven good pieces of 

 spawn are placed on the surface^ and the remainder is piled 

 up with manure, which is well pressed down^ the operation 

 being completed by giving to the heap the form of a dome. 

 The tubs thus prepared are placed in a perfectly dark part 

 of a cellar, and eight or ten days afterwards the dung 

 is taken up until the spawn is visible, in order to see 



whether it has com- 

 menced to vegetate 

 and develope little fila- 

 ments. If the spawn 

 has struck, the surface 

 must be covered with 

 soil, care being taken 

 to use only that which 

 is fresh and properly 

 prepared. The ne- 



Mushrooms grown in bottom of old Cask. ^^ssity of procuring 



good Mushroom 

 spawn cannot be too strongly insisted upon, this being 

 the indispensable condition for arriving at a good re- 

 sult. An excellent kind is sometimes met with that has 

 been formed spontaneously in some old dungheap, which 

 is called virgin spawn. When this cannot be procured, 

 excellent spawn may be formed in the following manner : — 

 A little bed of stable manure is prepared, either in a 

 cellar or in the open air, and sown with good ordinary 

 Mushroom spawn, the proper amount of care already 

 described being bestowed upon it. As soon as the Mush- 

 rooms appear on the surface of the bed the spawn remaining 

 must be speedily removed and placed in a dry, airy situation. 

 The spawn thus prepared can be preserved for two or three or 

 even four years. Specimens have been kept as long as four- 

 teen years, from which excellent results have been obtained."" 



Fig. 290. 



