JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
April 20, 1882. ] 
It should be stated that the average price of Mush¬ 
rooms sold by auction in Covent Garden Market during 
the past seven years is just Is. per lb.—that is to say, 
that this is the amount that lias been received by Mr. 
Barter, after deducting salesman’s commission, during 
that period. Occasionally, when very plentiful, only 
8 d. per lb. has been returned, but on other occa¬ 
sions the salesman’s returns to the grower have been 
Is. 9d. per lb.; the actual average is, however, as 
stated, Is. per lb., and this simplifies the matter of 
calculation. 
COST AND PROFITS OF MUSHROOM CULTURE. 
It will be well first to refer to their culture on a 
small scale, or as confined to one bed 2^ feet wide at 
the base and 80 yards long. “For making a bed of 
this extent,” writes Mr. Barter, “ twenty loads of fresh 
manure are needed. The cost of this at 3s. Gd. per 
load, the price at which it is delivered, is £3 10s. The 
cost of labour—aheavyitem—for preparing the manure, 
making the beds, gathering and marketing the Mush¬ 
rooms—indeed, everything, is £5 10s., or a total of £9 
for the 30 yards. The value of the produce at 15s. per 
yard is £22 10s., and the manure when decayed is sold 
for £1 10s.—that is, twelve loads at 2s. Gd. per load, or 
just Is. per yard run of bed. I therefore derive a 
profit of £15 from a length of bed of 30 yards.” This, 
it must be remembered, is the profit that is maintained 
throughout the season from a series of beds reaching 
in the aggregate to about half a mile in length, the 
price being averaged, because actually realised, at Is. 
per lb. The price obtained is often much higher, and 
a yard of bed frequently yields much greater weight 
than 15 lbs. of Mushrooms. For instance, a bed 
20 yards long yielded 160 lbs. at one gathering, and 
another 25 yards long gave at the first gathering 
76 lbs., the second 200 lbs., and the third 84 lbs., or 
360 lbs. in three weeks ; and the same bed continued 
productive for at the least five weeks longer. It is 
necessary to state these facts as showing that the value 
of a bed 30 yards long has not been exaggerated. It 
will not be inappropriate to submit a view of Mr. 
Barter’s Mushroom grounds, from a sketch made in 
January of the present year. A glance at the engrav¬ 
ing on page 325 will suffice to show that Mushroom¬ 
growing for market is no myth, and that ample scope 
is afforded for arriving at an accurate judgment rela¬ 
tive to the costs and profit of the culture of the popular 
esculent on a large scale ; there is no difficulty, there¬ 
fore, in determining the 
COST AND VALUE OF AN ACRE OF MUSHROOMS. 
Remembering that the entire cost of each lineal yard 
of bed is 5s., and the value of the produce therefrom 
15s., we have only to ascertain the length of beds that 
can be placed on an acre to arrive at their total cost 
and value. The beds, as has been stated, are 2^ feet in 
width ; but for accommodating the litter that is used 
for covering them, and for purposes of gathering, space 
has to be reserved between the beds. Allowing a width 
of 5 feet between each two beds, which is more than 
sufficient, it will be perceived that the beds will actu¬ 
ally occupy one-third of the ground, two-tliirds being 
reserved for working purposes, so that practically the 
width devoted to each bed is feet, or 2% yards. There 
being 4840 square yards in an acre, that space will 
hold a length of 1936 lineal yards of beds 2| feet wide, 
317 
with 5 feet spaces between the beds. The issue is now 
simple. 
£ s. d. 
193G lineal yards, at 15*. per yard . 1452 0 0 
Total cost of production, 5 s. per yard. 484 0 0 
Balance . 
968 
0 
0 
Deduct rent per acre.£12 ) 
Also half an acre for preparing manure ... GJ 
18 
0 
0 
Actual profit. 
950 
0 
0 
However remarkable, even apparently sensational, the 
above sum may appear, it is believed to be in no manner 
exaggerated. In order, however, to check the accuracy 
of the figures, Mr. Barter, in total ignorance of the 
amount per acre that had been thus ascertained, was 
requested to extract from his books the quantities of 
Mushrooms sold monthly during one entire season, 
with the extent of beds from which they were gathered. 
He obligingly complied, and the following is the return 
submitted, its accuracy being guaranteed by the culti¬ 
vator. It will be seen that the only two months in which 
there were no returns are August and September, the 
latter being the Mushroom month in the open air. 
The season of cultivated Mushrooms thus commences 
in October and ends in July. 
MUSHROOMS SOLD MONTHLY FROM 500 LINEAL 
YARDS OF BEDS. 
lbs. 
October . 362 
November . 460 
December . 1142 
January . 768 
February. 652 
March. 707 
April . 1283 
May. 1031 
.Tune. 686 
July. 265 
7356 
The above quantity was actually sent to market off 
a length of 500 yards of beds, and sold for £367 16s. : 
add to the total at least 50 lbs. disposed of at home 
for £2 10s., and further add 200 lbs. made into ketchup, 
for which the actual value is Gd. per lb., and we find 
the gross value of the produce £375 6s. from slightly 
over a quarter of an acre of land. Multiply the amount 
by 4, and we have £1501 4s. against the above estimate 
of £1452, which is, therefore, submitted as fair, and 
certainly not excessive. Here, then, is a great field for 
cultivators ; so great is it, and so tempting must it be 
to those who possess manure and land to enter on 
Mushroom culture on a large scale, that it is prudent 
to point out a possible source of danger to those who 
are inexperienced in the work. 
ANOTHER WORD OF CAUTION. 
Evidence having been adduced in support of the 
statement that no vegetable nor fruit crop will give 
equal returns to the cultivator of a given plot of ground 
that Mushrooms will when cultivated intelligently and 
well, it becomes necessary to point out the inadvis¬ 
ability of those who have had no experience whatever 
in the cultivation of this crop entering on the practice 
on a large scale at the first. This, as has been shown, 
would involve a considerable outlay, and there is 
always a risk of failure following the first essay in a 
new undertaking. Although the details of culture will 
be stated as plainly as possible, and without the 
