December 13, 1883. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
Mushrooms in the Open Air (L. L. B .).—January is a very pood time for 
collecting manure for Mushroom beds, but for the north of England and 
cold districts generally the end of the month would be preferable, as then by 
the time the material was prepared, made into beds, and spawn inserted, 
milder weather might be expected, and it would be easier to maintain the 
requisite temperature for the growth of the crop. According to the price 
you quote, the manure must be considerably more decayed than that 
collected from the London stables, and some of it may indeed be fully too 
short and wet for the purpose in question. The price would appear to indicate 
that the manure was about in the right condition for digging into the land. 
Assuming, however, that it is only partially decomposed and suitable for the 
work, about half a ton would probably suffice for a yard of bed, this being 
as nearly as can be estimated what Mr. Barter uses after his material is 
prepared. It is quite possible with suitable manure and good management 
to grow Mushrooms profitably under the conditions you quote, but labour 
must be well applied, not wasted. In our report of the Liverpool Show, a 
fortnight ago, on page 473, it is stated, “ Mr. Smith, Maiden Lane, Clubmore, 
Xiiverpool, had baskets of Mushrooms grown on the principle recommended 
in ‘ Mushrooms for the Million.’ They were very fine and excited much 
attention.” Perhaps Mr. Smith if applied to might grant you permission to 
see his beds, and if so you would obtain practical local information on the sub¬ 
ject that might be of service. 
Temperature of Mushroom Beds (Amateur). —It is rarely indeed safe to 
insert spawn in a Mushroom bed as soon as the bed is made. The heat of 
the bed often rises afterwards to a degree that is fatal to the spawn, which 
should never be inserted until the temperature is “decreasing.” See page 
44 of “ Mushrooms for the Million.” Still, if you can keep the temperature 
of the bed under the covering at (15°, by reducing or increasing the straw or 
hay, all will be well. This is before the soil is applied. The temperature on 
the soil should not exceed 60° for a month, and then when the Mushrooms 
are appearing 55° will be ample. Read the chapter on “Temperature” on 
page 49 of the work mentioned. The covering of the beds should not be 
packed firmly, and its thickness must be solely determined by the heat of the 
beds. By attention to this point it will not be necessary to add fresh 
manure to increase the heat. You have gone quite contrary to instructions 
in spawning and casing your bed with soil so soon, and if you fail the fault 
will rest entirely with yourself. A work on the culture of Watercress by 
Mr. Shirley Hibberd is published by Messrs. E. W. Allen, Ave Maria Lane, 
Paternoster Row, but we do not know whether it gives the particulars you 
irequire. 
Digging Frozen Soil (Blacksmith). —Of all the mistakes that are made 
in gardening operations this certainly ranks as one of the greatest. We 
have seen such unsatisfactory results follow the trenching and burying of 
■frozen soil that we would not have it done on any account, not even free 
of cost, if suck an unlikely offer were made by generous workmen. We 
have seen considerable outlay incurred in trenching, and the ground when 
■done worse than before, both by turning in frozen soil and bringing to the 
•surface a large quantity of sour inert subsoil. Even when the Soil has been 
in the most fertile state we have seen crops struggling for existence that 
ought to have been luxuriating, solely because frozen lumps of soil had 
been buried in the winter; and in demonstrating the cause of the failure 
of the crops we have dug out those lumps hard and icy as ever after mid¬ 
summer. Trenching need not be stopped by a slight frost which forms a 
surface crust of an inch or so deep, and which can be readily broken ; but 
this crust must never be cast into the bottom of the trench, but taken off 
and thrown on the top of the land ; and if a little subsoil be brought up it 
will be greatly improved by being mixed with the original surface soil by 
forking the land over when it is dry and friable in the spring. When 
frozen ice is buried the sun cannot raise the temperature of the soil until 
the ice has been melted and the excess of water evaporated; consequently, 
instead of the temperature of the earth a foot below the surface at mid¬ 
summer being about 58°, it mi.'ht not, under the circumstances indicated, 
exceed 40°, and therefore nothing could grow freely. It was undoubtedly 
•wise to stop the work when the ground was made hard by frost. 
Forcing Potatoes (Alex). —A bed of fermenting materials formed prin¬ 
cipally of leaves about 3J feet high will be sufficient for affording gentle : 
warmth. This should be covered with 8 inches Of soil made tolerably firm. 
The soil should be rich loam, light rather than heavy, and when it is a little 
warmed you may plant the Potatoes in rows 15 inches apart, and the sets a 
foot apart in the rows, placing them 4 inches deep. Radishes may be sown 
over the surface, and the seed be either raked in or covered with half an 
inch of soil. All the treatment required is to expose fully when the weather 
is mild, and protect from frost by mats and straw coverings in frosty 
weather, not removing them in continued severe weather until a general 
•thaw. If you can command an abundance of protecting material commence 
:at once, but if not we should defer planting until early in February, jn the 
meantime having the sets in a suitable place to sprout. When they have 
[pushed shoots from one-half to three-quarters of an inch long you may plant. 
Names of Fruits (W. IF.).— Formosa Pipp'n. (J. C.). —1, a poor speci¬ 
men of Bes3 Pool; 2, unknown ; 3, Flanders Pippin; 4, Beauty of Kent. 
•(IF. Nield). —1, Golden Noble; 2, Cellini ; 3. Greenup’s Pippin; 4, Flanders 
Pippin. (J. A. IF). —Sorry we are unab’e to identify the Apple. (D. B.). — 
We have received your letter, but no App’es beyond those above attended to 
Name of Plants (G. S .).—Raphiolepis japonica integerrima, a greenhouse 
shrub. (Beta ).—We cannot recognise the Chrysanthemum blooms, and do 
not undertake to name such varieties. (H. IF.).—The flower sent resembles 
Trichopilia albida as far as we can tell from the small and withered sample 
(received. 
*** Several letters which arrived on Wednesday morning cannot be 
answered this week. 
COVENT GARDEN MARKET.— Decembeb 12th. 
TRADE remains the same. No alteration of moment. 
521 
FRUIT. 
s. 
a. 
s. 
d. 
8. 
d. 
8. 
d. 
Apples .. .. 
1 
6 
to 4 
0 
Melons. 
0 
0 
to 0 
0 
per barrel 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Nectarines .. 
dozen 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Apricots 
. box 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Oranges. 
.. 100 
6 
0 
10 
0 
Chestnuts 
. bushel 
10 
0 
0 
0 
Peaches. 
dozen 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Figs .. .. 
0 
9 
1 
0 
Pears, kitchen .. 
dozen 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Filberts .. 
0 
0 
0 
0 
„ dessert 
dozen 
1 
0 
5 
0 
Cobs .. 
1 
6 
0 
0 
Pine Apples English., lb. 
2 
0 
3 
0 
Grapes .. 
. .. lb. 
1 
0 
3 
0 
Plums and Damsons .. 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Lemon .. .. 
15 
0 
21 
0 
Strawberries.. 
0 
0 
0 
0 
VEGETABLES. 
8. 
d. 
s. 
d. 
8. 
d. 
S. 
d. 
Artichokes 
.. dozen 
2 
0 
to 4 
0 
Mushrooms .. 
punnet 
i 
0 
to 1 
6 
Beans, Kidney 
100 
1 
0 
0 
0 
Mustard and Cress 
punnet 
0 
2 
0 
0 
Beet, Red 
.. dozen 
1 
0 
2 
0 
Onions . 
bushel 
2 
6 
3 
3 
Broccoli .. 
0 
9 
1 
0 
Parsley .. dozen bunches 
3 
0 
4 
0 
Brussels Sprouts 
.. 4 sieve 
1 
6 
2 
6 
Parsnips. 
dozen 
1 
0 
2 
0 
Cabbage .. 
0 
6 
1 
0 
Potatoes. 
cwt. 
4 
0 
5 
0 
Capsicums 
100 
1 
6 
2 
0 
,, Kidney .. 
cwt. 
4 
0 
5 
0 
Carrots .. 
0 
4 
0 
0 
Rhubarb. 
bundle 
0 
4 
0 
0 
Cauliflowers .. 
.. dozen 
2 
0 
3 
0 
Salsafy. 
bundle 
1 
0 
0 
0 
Celery 
1 
6 
2 
0 
Scorzonera .. .. 
bundle 
1 
6 
0 
0 
Coleworts doz. bunches 
2 
0 
4 
0 
Seakale. 
basket 
2 
8 
2 
9 
Cucumbers 
.. each 
0 
4 
0 
0 
Shallots. 
.. lb. 
0 
3 
0 
0 
Endive ,. 
1 
0 
2 
0 
Spinach. 
bushel 
2 
6 
3 
8 
Herbs 
0 
2 
0 
0 
Tomatoes 
.. ft. 
0 
3 
0 
4 
Leeks .. .. 
0 
3 
0 
4 
Turnips. 
bunch 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Lettuce .. .. 
1 
0 
1 
6 
THE BREEDING AND TRAINING OF MULES 
FOR FARM WORK. 
Very few farmers have given their attention to breeding and 
training mules for agricultural purposes ; in fact, in this country 
generally, except in parts of Ireland amongst the smaller class of 
farmers, mules or donkeys have been looked upon with contempt or 
ignored entirely as animals adapted for farming purposes. It may 
also be imagined by some of our readers that there is little to learn 
respecting the agricultural value of these animals. But when we 
consider that their use is adapted for various purposes in almost every 
country and climate, it is only a reasonable question to ask how it is 
that so little attention has been bestowed upon them in the United 
Kingdom, except in portions of Ireland. Still, although mule¬ 
breeding has not yet obtained the notice it really deserves, we are 
informed by the best authority upon the subject that it certainly is 
on the increase in Ireland, and particularly in the counties of Cork 
and Kerry, for a great number of jennets are raised annually, prefer¬ 
ence being given to the latter hybrid, because the high prices of Irish 
horses render mares too valuable to be used for the production of 
mules. Even this reason, we believe, would not exist if the same 
knowledge of the subject prevailed in Ireland which influences the 
most intelligent and practical breeders on the Continent. 
The social history of the donkey is somewhat singular, for while 
in some countries he is the favourite steed of the higher classes and 
valued accordingly, yet in others he is the beast of burden and the 
drudge of the very lowest. Yet in order to judge of his capabilities 
we must first see him in his native home, and to do this we cannot do 
better than quote from an excellent essay by Mr. J. Chesney, the 
subject being “ The Donkey as he is, and as he ought to be." “ The 
wild ass (Asinus onager) is met with in large herds under their 
respective leaders in the plains of Mesopotamia, in Persia, Cutch, on 
the Indus, and in the Punjaub, migrating from north to south, and 
vice versa , according as the seasons change. In Abyssinia, too, 
there were wild a^ses, probably the ancestors of the present Egyptian, 
and some contend of our European breeds. However this may be, 
these animals a-e extremely difficult of capture, as they are excessively 
shy ; and Layard tells us that their fleetness is so great that only the 
most celebrated Arabian mares have ever been able to match them. 
The koulan or onagra is finer than the domesticated animal; the head 
is more erect, the ear shcr^ rad more mobile, the limbs longer at d 
more slender, and the coat and tail handsomer. It is quite possible 
that the European donkey may be descended from that of Abyssinia, 
as M. Hanson, in h’s ■ Traite de Zootechnie,' asserts very positively, 
and probably on good authority, that it came to us from the adjoining 
country of Upper Egyi t. There were donkeys in England in the 
time of Ethelred, but they do not seem to have become common heie 
before the reign of Elizabeth.” 
These statements will give people an idea of their power of 
endurance and great strengih according to size. Again, it. is very 
clear that whatever weie the capacities of these animals in their 
native countries in the will state, it gives good grounds for our 
