JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
May 4 1882. ] 
seen the more will the earnestness with which those who grow 
them be appreciated, and the less we shall hear of: adverse 
criticism, although we must not expect that anyone but a con¬ 
noisseur will feel for them that intense admiration which they 
have ever excited amongst florists. I notice a discrepancy in 
the reports with regard to the single specimen Grey-edges in 
the Journal. They are all ascribed to Mr. Penson, but in some 
other papers Mr. Pohlman and Mr. Horner are also mentioned 
as prizetakers.—D., Deal. 
[It would be a marvel if any of the reports were faultless. 
The plants were so crowded that there was not room for the 
prize cards, and some of these were no doubt displaced.] 
MUSHROOMS FOR THE MILLION. 
(Continued from page 3IS.) 
INFORMATION WANTED. 
“ Information wanted ” is tlae motto of the times ; 
it is wanted on everything by which materials of 
whatever kind can he converted into money. That 
instruction is wanted, or needed, on a simple and pro¬ 
fitable system of turning manure into money through 
the agency of Mushrooms, is apparent from the fact 
that even the great majority of gardeners are practically 
unacquainted with the method that will be described. 
This is no fault of theirs, for they cannot be expected to 
know what they have never been taught; and it were 
as unreasonable to expect them to become proficient at 
the first attempt as it would be to expect a carpenter 
to make a pianoforte, or a blacksmith to construct a 
locomotive, without some experience in the work. It is, 
however, fair to expect that those who have had no 
opportunities for practising the particular work under 
notice, nor seen it successfully carried out, will no 
longer assert that the system is impracticable in the 
face of results that have been adduced, and which it 
is not possible to explain away. Given the proper 
materials for growing Mushrooms in the open air, every 
intelligent cultivator who is under the impression that 
the work cannot be done, can, if he is earnestly desirous, 
do it, and by a little patient endeavour he may enjoy 
the singular pleasure of being surprised at his own 
success. 
THE CHIEF ESSENTIALS FOR GROWING 
MUSHROOMS. 
These are mainly five. 1, A supply of manure from 
horse stables; 2, good spawn; 8, equable and moderate 
temperature and moisture; 4, fertile soil; 5, intelligent 
supervision. The mere narration of the chief requisites 
is, however, not sufficient for the information of the 
inexperienced, and details founded on successful prac¬ 
tice are indispensable. In order that the information 
now sought to be imparted may be of substantial use, 
the following remarks will be plain, the chief aim and 
object being to induce those having the means at their 
disposal, but who have never given thought to the 
subject, to become Mushroom-growers in order that they 
may add usefully to their resources, and give the 
populations of cities and towns what they do not now 
possess—a good supply at a moderate cost of this most 
agreeable product of the farm and the garden. 
MANURE FOR MUSHROOM BEDS. 
As above observed this must consist mainly, and it 
may consist entirely, of the manure from horse stables. 
Other matter can be added without injury to the beds, 
and occasionally an admixture of Oak and Beech leaves, 
859 
a slight sprinkling of tan, and even of salt and guano, 
have been found advantageous by some cultivators ; 
but the three last-named ingredients must be used in 
a very homoeopathic manner. Such tree leaves as those 
mentioned may, if needed, form one-tliird of the bulk 
when manure is scarce ; indeed, excellent Mushrooms 
have been grown in beds half composed of Oak leaves, 
which, with manure, produce a steady and lasting heat, 
as the fibre they contain causes them to decay slowly. 
On the contrary, such large and soft leaves as Syca¬ 
more, Horse Chestnuts, and Planes are not suitable, 
nor are those of Elms and Poplars, as they speedily 
decay, and the heat which they generate quickly and 
violently is as suddenly dispersed, and extreme cold 
follows. Sudden transitions of temperature, especially 
of the soil, are more or less injurious to all plants, but 
by none is the injury perhaps so readily apparent as in 
Mushrooms ; this subject, however, will be subsequently 
referred to. Tan can only be added with benefit when 
the fermentation of the manure is too slow, and even 
Fig. 73.—Outdoor Mushroom Bed. 
then a pound or two to a barrowload will usually be 
sufficient. Guano and salt in mixture have the same 
effect, but in a greater degree, in advancing fermenta¬ 
tion, and an ounce to a barrowful of the material 
will be ample. When the manure is somewhat poor— 
that is, contains a greater bulk of straw than is de¬ 
sirable, this very slight sprinkling of salt and guano 
enriches the bed and benefits the Mushrooms, and it 
also adds greatly to the value of the old beds for 
manurial purposes. But the successful grower whose 
practice will be embodied in these notes uses none of 
these ingredients, except, perhaps, very occasionally a 
little tan. Leaves are not plentiful in London, and 
further, manure can be had by purchase from horses 
fed on hard food—that is, good corn and hay, as for 
obvious reasons it is not the custom to turn horses out 
to grass in the metropolis. 
UNSUITABLE MANURE. 
There is sufficient choice near large towns to refuse 
manure from those stables where the grooms are 
addicted to giving horses much medicine. Manure thus 
produced is fatal to Mushrooms, and is without doubt 
one cause of the failures which now and then occur in 
private gardens, and the origin of which cannot always 
be traced at the time. Neither is the manure, good for 
the purpose in question from those stables in which 
Carrots are largely consumed. . Thus it is conceivable, 
