158 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ August W, 1887. 
bad in flavour. Those varieties which have the most foliage seem to 
have stood the dry weather best this summer; no doubt the leaves 
sheltered the fruit from the fierce rays of the sun. Last August we 
planted Loxford Hall for the first time, the plants grew well, and they 
gave us a better crop of fruit than any other variety the first year of 
planting; the flavour was good, but not quite equal to Dr. Hogg, or 
Vicomtesse Hericart de Thury. With us Pauline is the best early out 
doors, and an excellent forcer. The next best are La Grosse Sucrde, 
Vicomtesse Hericart de Thury, President, Sir J. Paxton, Dr. Hogg, and 
Loxford Hall. We grow several other sorts, but these we consider our 
best for quality, quantity, and size combined.—J. L. B. 
GOOD MUSHROOM CULTURE. 
Of all the dainty vegetables with which a good gardener furnishes 
the kitchen high up stands the Mushroom. Such is the constant 
demand for this dainty from November to May, that it generally 
causes no little anxiety beforehand with many gardeners for fear there 
should be any mistake in proceedings, for it is possible for the very 
best cultivators to fail, although such is seldom the case. Where 
there is much winter cooking carried out of course the head cook is a 
somewhat important personage, and if a failure in Mushrooms should 
by chance occur in early winter these people aro fearful to meet— 
better, as Solomon says, “ meet a bear robbed of its whelps. 1 ' And 
no marvel either, when we take into consideration the various forms 
it may be made to assume in cookery, even in its full character, to 
say nothing of the spice of flavouring it is capable of imparting when 
in judicious hands. Let but a gardener have constantly plenty of 
Mushrooms, Seakale, and forced Asparagus—all good—through the 
winter and spring, and he will pass muster, although, perhaps, no 
genius. Now much has been written about Mushrooms. Still I 
believe that a paper or two annually will do good to some, although it 
simply warms up and freshens the first principles of culture. 
Instead, however, of following the beaten track of detail I will 
endeavour to discuss a few main Drinciples on which their culture 
depends. I think that we may just raise questions as follows :— 
Character of dung, should it be f< rmented ? What about moisture ? 
Does it need admixture? Should the bed be loose? What about 
spawning, and also soiling ? These are the points I will attempt to 
ventilate. I do really think that there is one class of minds—and I 
am not sure they are in a great majority—that would sooner fall in 
with good practice by such analysis than by complication of mere 
dry rules, which are frequently conventional, and can never carry that 
powerful conviction to the mind that real principles truthfully handled 
can do. However, all this depends on the previous cultivation the 
mind has received, and, by consequence its real weight and position. 
I will take the points consecutively. 
Character of Dung —Nothing can exceed good horse dung for 
Mushroom beds, although they may be produced from other manures, 
and even from simple vegetable matters. The dung should be from 
horses well fed, and obtained, if possible, before a drop of rain has 
fallen upon it. The longest of the litter may be rejected, and the 
material when shaken out should contain a deal of droppings. 
Should it be Fermented? —There has been, and still continues, 
much misconception on this point. I will not go so far as to assert 
that fermentation is never requisite; but this I know, that if the dung 
is quite fresh, as it ought to be, and never receives rain, that a week 
or two of drying under some shed are all that is needed. Now the 
dung must not be wet when made into a bed, neither may it be dry— 
it should be slightly moist. I believe that the only moisture that 
requires to be evaporated is the urine. This in the main dissipated, 
the spawn will at once revel in the manure. I should much like to 
know what some of our practical men have to say on this matter. The 
fact is the urine is either a foe to the Mushroom, or it is not. I 
presume the former, but dare not insist on it. A few facfs with 
which most of us have been familiar since our laddish days seem to 
favour the impression. I have seen Mushrooms springing freely 
from the floor of a deserted stable where the droppings had fallen, 
but not until the lapse of many weeks, during which period I appre¬ 
hend that as the urine of the horses evaporated, the rest in proportion 
generated spawn, and finally produced Mushrooms. I have also 
repeatedly seen in the stable of a neglectful carter, who, instead of 
removing the droppings daily, economised them by sweeping them 
into a tly corner of the stable—I have seen excellent Mushrooms 
springing from such a heap, but let it be remembered it was always 
about July or August. Now we all know that there is something 
almost mysterious about the production of Mushrooms, albeit we 
gardeners can make sure of a crop in general, and indeed there is 
as much room for inquiry and a free interchange of opinion in this 
matter as in any one thing in the world of gardening. The ordinary 
impression is and has been that the air during summer is charged with 
the spores of this singular vegetable, and that when it alights on any 
body congenial to the production of spawn, it succeeds, all other 
conditions beiDg equal. 
Moisture of Dung.— The remarks requisite on this head having 
been involved in the preceding, little remains to be said. Dry dung 
will not succeed, and very moist is unfavourable to the working of 
the spawn ; so, then, it must be in a medium state. We all know 
that to have a Mushroom summer out of doors we must have much 
dry and warm weather in May and June—the period when the spawn 
is spreading, which, indeed, constitutes a period altogether distinct 
from the production of Mushrooms. But when the spawn has estab¬ 
lished itself, mainly in dryish conditions, then the country people long 
for a warm shower or two at the end of August to bring out the- 
Mushrooms : the spawn-breeding period therefore requires rather dry 
conditions; the Mushroom-producing period slightly the reverse. Fogs 
at night and heavy dews are noted in the early part of September 
for bringing the Mushrooms out in the fields. In all these cases and 
conditions we must never cease to imitate such, and this has led me¬ 
in the present cise to talk of principles rather than r ules. 
Mixtures. —In former days the old Mushroom growers about 
London who produced for the market used nothing but dung—no soil,, 
but then their beds were those outdoor ridges which were in the 
main an autumn and early winter affair. No sooner, however, did 
Oldaker show forth a Mushroom house than Mushroom growing 
underwent a kind of revolution. People began to see that it was 
neither a matter of position nor shape nor make in the beds, and that- 
they might be grown readily in a garden pot or box, or, indeed, any 
vessel. But it was also discovered that the shelf affair, only permit¬ 
ting dung about 7 inches in depth, was but a matter as to durability. 
This led people to mix loam or soil with their manure. Indeed, this 
is the way in which spawn is made; and I have always found that 
the more fibrous loam could be mixed with the dung the longer such 
spiwn would preserve its vitality. Now it is evident that the nearer 
a Mushroom bed approaches a good spawn brick in consistence and 
solidity the better. And here I may observe that there is a trickery- 
in spawn as in other things. It is the fashion now-a-days to use 
nearly all flaky dung ; and why ? Because it dries quicker, is sooner 
in the market, and gives less trouble. But there is no comparison 
between this chaffy spawn and that made by a due admixture of loam 
or other soily material. The quickly made spawn of dung will not 
endure the least steam in the dung of the bed ; it will sometimes rot 
in three days, and this I think because dung is so rapidly absorbent 
as compared with sturdy loams. I have already pointed to the- 
necessity for firmness in the beds; they cannot, indeed, be too firmly- 
beaten. 
Spawning. —This, too, is half discussed in the foregoing, but a 
few words are necessary. The greatest danger to be apprehended,, 
admitting that the beds are right as to dung, &c., is from overheating. 
In all cases, when beds are made of fermenting materials, the heat 
will rise gradually to what we may call a culminating point ; and 
that, once attained, as gradual a descent takes place. The highest 
point should never exceed 80° if possible ; and when it has descended 
fairly to 65° or 70°, then may the spawn be introduced with safety. 
Under such circumstances good spawn in good dung will begin to 
spread in a week or so. If it does not spread quickly it is not quite 
in earnest ; and the best way is, with a slight amount of jealousy, to 
open new holes and spawn the bed again. As for soiling, it is not so 
very material a point, 2 inches of good loam slightly adhesive is the 
best. If, however, any amateur cannot obtain the gardener’s fancy 
loam, let him not despair, but use some good garden soil ; never mind 1 
what peculiar tint it is, only let the soil be pressed or beaten firmly. 
I may now indulge in a few remarks of a miscellaneous character 
bearing on the Mushroom in some shape. First, as to watering beds 
if very dry. It is no uncommon practice to sprinkle dung slightly 
before it is made into beds ; but in this case the dung should lay in a 
body for a day or two previous to building the bed. I would never 
sprinkle it while building if possible. I have generally found it good 
practice to sprinkle the beds slightly with lukewarm water after they 
have been made about a month or five weeks ; in fact, just befoie- 
the Mushrooms are expected through. The soil generally becomes 
slightly husky, and a little water greatly facilitates the production 
of the Mushroom. But this is meant simply to moisten the soil; 
for bed or dung moisture we must ever depend on the character 
of the dung at the time of making the bed. Sometimes it has 
happened that the dung has got too wet with rains—this is 
awkward. I have tried in this case a strong fomentation, but it 
seldom succeeds well as a drier of the dung ; for by the time the 
water is dissipated by heat, the manure is so decomposed as to be 
more fit to dig in for Celery than for Mushrooms. I have tried 
wrapping the lumps of spawn in dry strawy material in such cases 
in order to protect it against excessive moisture, but here I have been 
astonished, years since, at finding the spawn as entire after a couple 
of months as when introduced, but yet unable to break through the: 
strawy prison which becomes encrusted. 
Atmospheric Conditions in Mushroom Sheds or Houses.— 
These are deserving particular notice. It is a well-known fact that 
