August 20, 1885. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
151 
20 
Th 
Salisbury Show 
21 
E 
Exeter. 
22 
S 
23 
SUN 
Twelfth Sunday after Trinity. 
24 
M 
[Cottagers’ Show. 
25 
TU 
Royal Horticultural Society. Fruit and Floral Committees at 11 a.m. 
26 
W 
ROMAN HYACINTHS. 
OR early flowering there are no Hyacinths to 
equal these. They are the only ones which can 
really be depended on to flower freely through¬ 
out the very dull months of November and Decem¬ 
ber, and their culture is so easy that all who 
possess a greenhouse, no matter how small, 
should grow them. Their price this year is less 
than usual, and the bulbs are equally good. 
This should be an additional inducement for 
amateurs and every garden owner to grow them extensively, 
and the absolute certainty of their giving satisfaction may 
be relied on. The strongest bulbs generally produce from 
two to four spikes, and the poorest never fail to flower. The 
blossoms are as white as snow, and they are deliciously 
fragrant. We would as soon think of being without 
Camellias or Chrysanthemums in autumn as Roman 
Hyacinths. They are invaluable for conservatory decora¬ 
tion, and they are charming in a cut state. Altogether they 
are the most useful Hyacinths anyone can possess. 
To insure their flowering early in November they ought 
to be potted now, and to have them in constant succes¬ 
sion during the winter a few dozens, or a few hundreds, 
should be potted every three or four weeks. We generally 
put them in in lots of from fifty to 100 from the middle of 
August until January, and have them in bloom from Novem¬ 
ber until March. The best soil to employ is a mixture of 
good loam two parts, sand one part, and half-decayed 
manure one part. The pots should be efficiently drained. 
From 3-inch to 6-inch pots are good sizes to use. Three 
bulbs may be put into a 3-inch pot, and from five to six 
bulb3 into a 6 inch pot. When potted the crowns should 
just bs seen above the surface of the soil. The soil should 
be made firm and smooth, and it must be moderately moist 
before potting, as we find the bulbs succeed best when not 
watered immediately after potting. 
As soon as potting has been finished the whole of them 
Bhould be plunged under 6 inches of ashes or cocoa-nut 
fibre, and it does not matter much whether this is done in a 
shed, frame, cellar, or in the open against the wall in a 
sheltered place. As we have plenty of empty frames in the 
autumn, we generally place them in one of these as closely 
as they will stand to each other, and cover them when the 
batch has been completed. In rainy weather the lights are 
placed over them. About four weeks after plunging the 
covering should be removed carefully, and it will then be 
seen that the bulbs have formed strong growths from 1 inch 
to 2 inches high. The pots, too, will be well filled with 
roots, and they are then ready for taking into a frame or 
house to grow on for flowering, which they will quickly do in 
a temperature of 65°. 
It is by repeating this practice that a succession of them 
can easily be maintained, and those unacquainted with their 
culture will be astonished at their own success the first 
season they take them in hand. At times we have put large 
batches under cover and brought them all out together, and 
No. 260. —Yol. XI., Third Series. 
a number were put in a cold frame to keep them behind those 
which were put into heat. Where the supply of cut flowers 
is the only object in growing them, pots may be dispensed 
with, and large numbers may be put into shallow boxes, but 
they must all be buried until they form roots, and have 
plenty of light and a little heat to bring them into flower.—M. 
MUSHROOMS. 
Success in the cultivation of these much-esteemed edibles 
depends in the first place upon the spawn, it being absolutely 
indispensable to have it of the very best description in an 
active state, and such being the case it is well to test its 
quality when it comes to hand by making up a small bed or 
a box so that it may with safety be used for spawning a 
large bed, from which the supplies are to be drawn for a 
considerable time. If this were done much disappointment 
would be avoided, as there is nothing so aggravating as to 
make up a bed and after waiting weeks or months find that 
it is merely a waste of material, time, and labour. When the 
spawn is received it should be stored where it will keep well. 
To insure this you must select a moderately dry place, 
with a temperature of about 50°, packing it close together 
until it is wanted for use, when it will have to be broken into 
pieces about 2 inches in diameter, and' only those pieces 
which contain spawn in a proper state should be used in the 
beds. If the spawn were given this scrutiny and treatment 
failures would be avoided to a very great extent; indeed I 
am persuaded that more failures in Mushroom growing are 
attributable to using spawn in an inert or spent condition 
than to any other cause. The spawn may have been too 
highly developed in the bricks and is simply spent; instead of 
being a mass of small threads, the threads are as large as 
fine cotton, and the white mouldine3S almost absent. It is 
of no use at all in that state, as it contains no active germs 
to develope as mycelium. Spawn also spoiled after being 
received through being kept too moist and too warm so as to 
cause the development of the mycelium, consequently it is 
spent in the bricks before it is inserted in the beds; therefore 
it should be kept dry and cool, yet safe from frost, though 
frost is not injurious when the spawn is dry. It is also a 
bad plan to have spawn for a long time in stock. I find it is 
best fresh, therefore a supply ought only to be purchased 
sufficient for the season, and it ought to be of the current 
year’s make—securing it early in August. 
Mushrooms are a natural crop in August and September, 
varied by being earlier and later in pastures or places where 
cattle have been kept; and as the supply at the usual 
Mushroom season is generally adequate for ordinary require¬ 
ments we may pass over that period, and face the fact that 
for the remainder of the year the supply i3 produced by 
cultivation. The cultivation of Mushrooms has of late years 
been considerably simplified, which is in a great measure due 
to the impetus given by the timely appearance of “ Mush¬ 
rooms for the Million.” The alteration more particularly 
applies to the means and preparation of the materials. 
Formerly much time and trouble were expended on the 
material in order to get it into a proper condition—to prolong 
the heat in a subdued form, which as a matter of course 
from the frequent turnings and consequent fermentations 
caused its exhaustion by the time it was considered fit to 
make up into the beds. This practice has been dispensed 
with in a great measure by many growers; they use the 
manure in a fresher state than formerly, indeed I like it 
direct from the dung-yard or midden, which has been allowed 
to accumulate from the stables for a fortnight or three 
weeks. This is cleared of all the long straw; a fork will 
remove all that is necessary, and it leaves the droppings with 
quite as much short straw, and being somewhat light or 
springy a little fresh turfy loam broken up roughly added 
gives it solidity, and insures it being formed into a firm 
mass, besides preventing overheating and drying. Thrown 
in a heap for two or three days it will heat, and should be 
No. 1925.— Yol. LXXIII., Old Series. 
