58,2 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
December 27, 1894. 
MUSHROOMS IN PEAT MOSS. 
In your issue of the 6th inst. “ R. C. W.” (page 518) aska if any 
readers of the Journal have been successful in grovs^ing Mushrooms in 
peat moss litter after coming from the stables. We have used peat 
moss litter ever since it first came out, and I am sorry to say we had 
many failures in Mushroom growing when we commenced to use it. 
The great difficulty was to keep any heat in it. At last we took to 
sifting all the fine out of it, at the same time throwing all the lumps of 
peat moss out, and thus we had half droppings and half peat moss, and 
since doing so the beds retain their heat better, and we have fairly 
good crops of Mushrooms, but not so good as we do when the horses are 
put on straw. 
Another difficulty with peat moss is—that should it by any chance 
become wet, it will hold the water like a sponge, and it sometimes gets 
too much for the spawn to live in. I have seen letters stating what 
extraordinary crops of Mushrooms have been grown in peat moss, and I 
have wondered what reason they had for writing them ; for although 
we do have fair crops now it is a great deal more trouble, and peat moss 
should not be recommended in preference to straw manure.—J. L. B. 
My recent experience in connection with growing Mushrooms in peat 
moss litter exactly coincides with that of “ R. C. W.” (page 618). 
Mushrooms, in this establishment, have always been grown very success¬ 
fully in former years when droppings only collected from straw have 
been used. This year only peat moss litter was available, and the beds 
were made in the usual way, spawned with the same kind of spawn, and 
at the exact temperature as heretofore ; ten weeks have elapsed, and with 
the exception of a few stragglers no Mushrooms have appeared. As in 
the case of “R. C. W.,” the beds at first heated well, and at the time 
of spawning were everything that could be desired ; the spawn appeared 
to run well, but afterwards died away, and the temperature of the bed 
sank rapidly until it became cold, and the crop will, 1 fear, prove a 
failure. 
As peat moss litter is now considerably used for horse bedding and 
appears to be on the increase, the question is one of interest. I know 
another case in point of a gardener, after several failures in attempting 
to grow Mushrooms with peat moss litter, being obliged to give up their 
cultivation. The bed seems to lose its heat at the time when the Mush¬ 
rooms are commencing to germinate ; this may probably be owing to the 
fact that the moss being of a somewhat succulent nature, like a sponge, 
absorbs all warm moisture caused by fermentation, together with the 
nitrogenous and ammoniacal matter given out by the manure ; thus the 
bed, instead of being a retainer of heated moisture, becomes a self¬ 
consumer by absorbing it. This seems proved by the fact that for a 
short time the bed retains its heating qualities after making up, and 
then rapidly goes cold. I only throw out the above as suggestions, and 
if any readers are successful in growing Mushrooms with peat moss 
litter, their experiences and method of procedure will prove very bene¬ 
ficial to their more unfortunate brethren.—G. H., Alton, lowers. 
DISEASED PEARS. 
Last year Apples kept very indifferently, especially the large, soft- 
fleshed, early varieties, which was attributed to the wet weather 
following the driest and hottest summer of the century. In November 
of 1893 Pears were submitted to the Scientific Committee of the Royal 
Horticultural Society, which body referred them to Kew for examination, 
with the result that Mr. Massee reported they were infested with a fungus 
(Glseosporium fructigenum, Berh.'), and this was duly recorded in the 
Journal of Horticulture,, November 2nd, 1893, page 399. The specific 
name is there given as G. fructigerum, but I find the Rev. M. J. Berkeley 
has it as before given in his “ Outlines of British Fungology,” page 325, 
This change of nomenclature is very bewildering ; in fact the one great 
mystery I find in the study of fungi, and inspires anything but con¬ 
fidence. In a subsequent communication to the Scientific Committee 
Mr. Massee stated that “the fungus attacking the Pears first appears 
upon the leaves, and from thence it passes on to the fruit ” {Journal of 
Horticulture, November 23rd, 1893, page 469). 
The foregoing is mentioned because it accords precisely with the 
statement of a correspondent, “ C. N. P.”—namely, “ I first noticed it 
in August, after a severe thunderstorm ; then I thought the tree had 
been struck by lightning. The Pears, in a space about 3 feet wide from 
the top of the wall to the ground, were all affected more or less. These 
I destroyed, and had not seen anything of it until ten days ago 
(October 11th, 1894), since when it appeared again, developed with 
great rapidity, more so on Doyenn6 du Cornice than the other varieties 
and to day I find it is spreading in the fruit room, although I have not 
knowingly taken any affected fruit there.” This diagnosis of the disease 
from external appearance is singularly accurate, and the specimen 
forwarded with the communication bears out the statement in every 
particular. The Pears are fine even fruit, ranging from 8 to 12 ozs. in 
weight, which are a better size for general purposes—market and table 
use—than large and coarse, the varieties most affected being Doyenne 
du Cornice, Huyshe’s Prince of Wales, Beurr6 Diel, and Marie Louise, 
These represent both the gritty (Huyshe’s Prince of Wales and Beurr4 
Diel) and the buttery (Marie Louise and Doyenn6 du Comice) Pears, 
therefore the idea of susceptibility is practically ousted. A tough skin 
and a hard flesh may have some influence in immunity or otherwise 
from disease, but there are other matters that count in the resistance 
of the plants to parasitic invasion, and fungi have not the battle all 
their own way after they have invaded the tissues of a plant. The 
most casual of observers must have noticed certain patches in Pears 
very hard and gritty, while the rest of the fruit is tender, melting, juicy, 
and richly flavoured. What is the cause of these gritty patches. It is 
a question of nutrition—tumours in the fruit. The grit is so much 
sand, lime, and other rock substances ; but why do they become aggre¬ 
gated in certain parts of the fruit ? Sometimes the grit surrounds the 
core, at others it is a speck only here and there. The object is the 
same, however, in both cases—that of the protection of the seed, the 
perpetuation of the species or variety, and the way it is effected has a 
direct bearing on our subject. 
When the spore of a fungus finds its host it commences to grow and 
enter the tissues, if a species living therein, and something happens—to 
wit, a battle. The fungal germ—that of Gl^osporium fructigenum— 
pushes its way between the epidermal cells and enters the intercellular 
spaces of the cells containing nuclei and nucleoli-growing cells, and 
abstracts their contents, resulting in a slightly depressed patch on the 
leaf or fruit of a Pear tree. Sometimes it is the first, at others the 
latter, and not infrequently both. If the season be dry the leaves may 
not suffer, and the fruit have a few depressed spots only near its stalk 
end. These are common in Beurrb d’Amanlis, General Todleben, Glou 
Mor^eau, and Nec Plus Meuris. There is an abundant secretion on the 
part of the fruit to such parts, and the fungus absorbs the nutrient— 
this is the organised or organisable matter, and rejects the silica, lime, 
and other inassimilable inorganic substances, consequently there is an 
accumulation (says the fungologist) of gritty matter. That is one view, 
and bad on the face of it, for the secretion is not due to the fungus but 
to the action of the plant. Wound a Cherry tree and it will secrete 
gum, a Fig and it produces milk, strives to cover it, and prevents the 
ingress of parasites. The leucocytes of the plant rush to the injured 
part, and they bear or draw the silica and the lime, and they knead it 
on the cell walls around the invaded part; yea, and so thicken them 
that the fungus cannot draw the matter through them, or very indif¬ 
ferently, and the fungus is precluded from the remainder of the fruit. 
Thus the gritty parts of fruits are formed, and the fundamental prin¬ 
ciples of avoiding and of counteracting fungoid ailments laid upon a 
solid foundation. But we are told silica is worthless, soda not needed, 
and as for lime a very moderate amount suffices. Where is the silica, 
lime, iron, or manganese or copper (if any) placed by the plant ? Is it 
not in the epidermis, bark, and wood I There—barrier to repellant of 
parasitical invasion. Silicates are the most important of all substances 
in the treatment of plant diseases from a cultural point of view. 
Glseosporium fructigenum attacks many other fruits besides Pears, 
