JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
May 25, 1882. ] 
419 
third of the latter, to he mixed and formed into a heap 
as if building a hotbed for a frame. It will seldom he 
necessary to water it, except perhaps when prepared in 
August, or early September, and hi very dry weather in 
spring; still, if water is needed to accelerate decom¬ 
position apply it. In the course of from four to six 
days, according to the nature of the manure and the 
weather, fermentation will he active and the mass hot. 
The work of turning and purifying must now com¬ 
mence, the former to be carefully done or the latter 
will not be effected. Every lock of straw and flake of 
manure which adheres together must be separated, the 
whole being thoroughly incorporated, the outside por¬ 
tions of the heap being placed in the centre. For the 
purpose of making the lower part of an ordinary hot¬ 
bed, one turning after this will often suffice ; but it will 
seldom indeed suffice for a Mushroom bed, first because 
the material would not be sweet enough, and secondly 
because decomposition would not be sufficiently ad¬ 
vanced. For insuring both these conditions, which are 
important, from four to six turnings on alternate days 
are necessary. By this practice the mass is sweetened 
and the straw broken and partially decayed with the 
least possible loss of ammonia. The object should be 
to retain as much of this as possible consistently with 
the dissipation of other gases that are obnoxious alike 
to man and to Mushrooms. It should be observed that 
when much straw is decomposed with the droppings 
that tree leaves are not needed, and are only of real 
service when straw is excluded. 
THE CONDITION OF THE MATERIALS. 
The right condition of the mass for making up in the 
beds can only be determined by its appearance and by 
the sense of smell. It is possible that a heap of manure 
may be sweet and yet not be quite sufficiently decom¬ 
posed for our purpose, and on the other hand it may 
be in a proper state of decay and yet not be sweet; but 
usually, if the work of turning and mixing is done with 
care and intelligence, purity and texture will be syn¬ 
chronous ; both conditions will be attained at once, 
and the mass will be ready for use. As the manure 
and its preparation constitute the very foundation for 
success in Mushroom culture it is necessary to bestow 
careful attention on this matter. Persons having ex¬ 
perience in heating with fermenting materials can 
without difficulty determine wTien the mass can be 
safely used; but it is certain that all who attempt to 
grow Mushrooms do not always employ the best medium 
for the purpose. They either reject too much straw, a 
frequent occurrence, or when they include it in the 
mass they make the beds too soon—that is, before the 
requisite degree of decomposition has been attained. 
It may be stated for the benefit of the inexperienced as 
nearly as possible the condition the material should be 
in for the purpose in question. In appearance there 
should be a homogeneous or insepai’able mass of straw 
and droppings, the former preponderating, and broken 
in particles, none of which should exceed 9 inches, and 
few 6 inches in length, the majority being shorter; the 
mass should have a slightly greasy appearance, be warm 
brown in colour, and more than “ warm ” as regards 
temperature—in fact it should be as hot as the hand 
can be borne in it. And now to the test for purity. 
This is simple. Draw a large handful fi*om the interior 
of the bulk and apply it to the nostrils ; if the result is 
in any degree offensive another turning is needful, but 
if no impurity is detected then the mass may be re¬ 
garded as sweet. That is a negative test. A positive 
test is this—a rather pungent and somewhat agreeable 
scent having a suspicion of the odour of Mushrooms. 
When this is the result we have the most tangible 
evidence of possessing a medium in the best manner 
suited for the production of Mushrooms. There is yet 
another element that must not be overlooked—namely, 
that of moisture. If the mass is too wet its decay will 
be too rapid; if it is too dry a steady and continuous 
heat will not be maintained. Generally speaking, 
however, when a heap of fermenting manure is well 
managed the four important requisites—texture, heat, 
purity, and moistixre, will be present in the proper 
relative proportions ; but still, with the object of making 
that matter plain to all, it may be said that the material 
must be sufficiently moist to be pressed into a firm 
adherent mass, yet not so wet that a drop of water can 
be squeezed from a handful of it by the greatest mus¬ 
cular pressure. As clearly as possible the various tests 
have been submitted, in order that the uninitiated may 
be able to start on a firm and sound basis, with good 
hope of deriving profitable returns sooner or later in 
Mushroom culture. But for achieving success every 
detail must be carried out thoughtfully. The brain 
must guide the hand in everything, for, as Lord Bacon 
has forcibly recorded, “ Neither the naked hand nor 
the understanding, left to itself, can do much ; the 
work is accomplished by instruments and helps, of 
which the need is not less for the understanding than 
the hand.” 
(To be continued.) 
VIOLETS. 
The time lias fully arrived when these most useful and sweet 
flowers should receive the attention necessary to ensure a good 
supply of blooms during the late autumn, winter, and spring 
months, for which they are so invaluable and so largely grown. 
These are flowers truly for the private gardener especially to 
make a mark of, as nothing is more likely to gratify an employer 
than a regular morning bunch of Violets when they are generally 
of uncommon occurrence. 
The methods of cultivation adopted to secure the best results 
are numerous, each grower having some pet idea as to the best 
plan. Many have before this layered four or five of the finest 
runners in the pots and removed all those remaining, and will 
plant the rooted runners out in good soil ; while some noted 
growers root the runners in boxes in a pit with a little warmth, 
and when the proper time arrives plant them out. In my 
opinion the former plan is much to be encouraged above the latter, 
as there is naturally a loss of energy as the result of severance 
from the parent plant of the runners. I have succeeded well 
with the following method of cultivation. When the plants 
were divided the finest crowns were selected with the strongest 
runners attached and planted out, and when the planting opera¬ 
tion was finished each crown was examined and five of the best 
runners selected and layered at regular intervals round the cen¬ 
tral crown, removing all the remaining runners as well as the 
growing ends of those layered. Under favourable circumstances 
the runners speedily root and grow very rapidly, and by the end 
of the season splendid masses are the result, which for flowering 
cannot be surpassed. They can be carefully transferred into 
32-sized pots, or the largest into 24’s, some of the clumps being 
quite large enough to fill the latter. 
The ground selected in which to plant them should have a 
western aspect. A border near a wall is very suitable, with a 
friable loamy soil, to which should be added a liberal supply of 
thoroughly decayed hotbed manure and leaf soil with some road 
sand if at hand. The manure should be well incorporated with the 
soil, after which they may be planted. A little trouble in the 
preparation of the soil will not be lost, as the result of the season’s 
growth will depend in no small degree upon the character < f the 
soil in which the plants are grown. The after treatment necessary 
is the constant removal of all runners as soon as they appear, 
