146 
Ife RURAL NEW-YORKER 
92 
90 
Not only the most dependable guide for 
the flower lover and the vegetable 
grower, but the most complete cata¬ 
logue in America. 
Everything worth growing is listed—the really 
meritorious novelties as well as the tried and true 
varieties that have stood the test of years. 
Selected strains are offered in practically every vege¬ 
table and flower. Special departments devoted to 
Gladioli, Car.nas, Dahlias, Roses; and many pages to 
Perennials, of which we are the larg.st growers in 
America, 224 pages, 6 color plates and hundreds of 
photographic reproductions of Vegetables, Flowers, 
Aquatics, Small Fruits and Garden Requisites, 
A copy will be mailed free if you f 
mention this publication. 
HENRY A.DREER 
714-716 Chestnut St. 
Philadelphi a. Pa. 
Thrifty, Sturdy Trees 
You can be sure when you buy 
Woodlawn grown fruit trees, 
vines and berry bushes that they 
are thrifty, vigorous growers and 
heavy bea: ers. Our 44 years of suc¬ 
cessful growing: experience has 
been directed towards producing a 
wide variety of that kind of stock. 
We have the exclusive sale of the 
new Ohio Beauty Apple. . AVtp Ohio 
Our extensive lino of ornamental Seuutj Apple 
•dirubs, bushes, and p< rennials are of the same de¬ 
pendable quality as our trees. 
We sell seeds for the vegetable and flower garden. 
Illustrated lf20 Nursery List contains valuable plant¬ 
ing and growing information. Mailed on request. 
WOODLAWN NURSERIES 
879 Garson Ave. Rochester, N. Y. 
Get Out Big Catalog 
IPS FREE 
And Save 25% On Your Order 
E. W. TOWNSEND & SON 
25 Vine St. Salisbury, Md. 
Michigan New Ground 
Berry Plants — The kind Bald¬ 
win grows on his Big Berry Plant 
Farms have deep, heavy roots — are\ 
hardy and healthy. They start their\ 
' growth quickly .produce largest fruit crop. 
IT’S READY FOR YOU. 
Baldwin’s BigBerry Plant Bookwilll 
1 be sent on request. It’s a down to- 
date Fruit Grower’s Guido, I 
beautifully illustrated, chock I 
.full of useful information onf 
best ways of growing Straw- f 
\berries and other small fruits./ 
lOur plants ail freshly dug to j 
lfill your orders. Scientific-, 
• ally packed for 6afe ship- 
f merit. Write tonight— 1 
get our book and start right. 
O.A.D. BALDWIN 
n. P. 15 
Rrldsman, Mich. 
I- ,’.T |\ 
• 1:1 
C elected Oold Xujarget Sued Corn. Write for sample 
O and prices. L . F. NICHOLAS , Mt. Bethel , Venna . 
Have a Full Silo 
Silos with ordinary roofs can only be filled with 
blower cutters within 3 or 4 feet of the top. When 
silage settles it means a loss of 5 or 6 feet of silo 
capacity. 
Globe Silos (the first to he offered with the fa¬ 
mous Globe extension roof) assure a silo full to ca¬ 
pacity. The straight side walls of this extension 
roof permit a full silo level at the top avoiding 
unnecessary spoilage. Globe silage is kept prime 
from top to bottom. 
Other exclusive features of Globe Silos fully 
illustrated and explained in the Globe catalog. 
Liberal cash discount on orders placed for 
early shipment. 
Send for your copy today. 
GLOBE SILO CO. 
2-12 Willow St.. Sidney. N.Y. 
m 
it±J 
Latest Points on Mushroom Culture 
Making a Start. —During recent 
years many magazines have carried adver¬ 
tisements of manufacturers of mushroom 
spawn, containing statements that there 
is an opportunity to make a fortune very 
rapidly in this business, the only requis¬ 
ites being their dw r eIling-house cellar, some 
horse manure and a quantity of the ad¬ 
vertised spawn. Possibly 15 years ago we 
first tried mushroom growing, u§ing the 
■imported English spawn. ’Our’ first crop 
produced 114 lbs. to the, square foot, 
j which was a phenomenal yield then, and 
would be also today. That crop set us 
mushroom crazy, as well as many of our 
neighbors who were watching the experi¬ 
ment. A year or two later Prof. B. M. 
Duggar of the Department of Apricul- 
ture at Washington perfected his direct 
culture method of spawn manufacture. 
By the use of this spawn we could grow 
either white or dark, small, or large 
stage. When I tried to get some of it 
last Fall I was told they could not ship it, 
so the day the manure was the right tem¬ 
perature I drove after it and planted it 
the following day; even the short elapsed 
time of about 24 hours showed a marked 
development in the sqawn, which is eas¬ 
ily noticeable through the glass. When 
this spawn has reached the proper devel¬ 
opment it is taken from the racks and 
placed in . cold storage till wanted. As 
soon as it would be removed from storage 
it would have to be used at once, and 
shipment ’by rail, with the delays too 
often encountered, may prove disastrous. 
Brick and Bottle Spawn. —If any¬ 
one who wishes to try mushroom growing 
is so situated that he could drive to where 
this spawn is made, or could arrange to 
have direct delivery made without too 
much delay, it would probably pay to try 
to get it in preference to the brick spawn, 
though the brick “pure culture” spawn is 
A Fine Cluster of Mushrooms, Variety Columlia. Fig. 3% 
mushrooms, as we chose, propagation be¬ 
ing made direct from the spores of the 
mushroom, -which will reproduc'd its own 
type the same as any other vegetable or 
flower will. 
Disappointments. — The first few 
years with this new spawn we grew some 
fine crops of mushrooms, until the spawn 
manufacturers were swamped with orders, 
when the process of manufacture was 
cheapened, at the expense of the fellow 
who was doing the hal'd work and bear¬ 
ing the expense as well. The results were 
that our rewards were just what the 
farmer’s rewards are when he plants seed 
corn that 'null germinate about 10 to 20 
per cent, and we did not get enough mush¬ 
rooms to pay the cost of the spawn. We 
stuck to it for a few years, hoping that 
each crop would give us a profit, but final¬ 
ly had to quit, with the former profits lost 
and more too. As far as 1 know, every 
other grower who tried in Lancaster 
County quit also, and to this day I think 
no one has gone into the venture again, 
except ourselves, and we put in a trial 
lot last Fall with pretty good results. 
Commercial Growers. —In Chester 
County at the time we were trying to 
grow mushrooms there .were a number of 
growers who had constructed large and 
expensive houses especially for this pur¬ 
pose. Some of these men kept right on 
at-the game, while others who were grow¬ 
ing them in addition to other crops, as we 
were, abandoned their houses and al¬ 
lowed them to rot down. In driving 
through certain sections of the county it 
is possible to see a number of such ex¬ 
amples of the former smiles of this espe¬ 
cially fickle jade. There were several 
men who had quite large plants at that 
time, who kept right on experimenting, 
not only with the growing of mushrooms, 
but with the manufacture of the spawn 
as well, till they have it down to a nearly 
exact; science. The greatest progress was 
made by these men in the manufacture qf 
spawn, and the past few seasons' they 
hive been securing pretty good crops with 
the spawn they are making. This spawn 
had not been sold to the public until’last 
Fall, and even now is in very limited sup¬ 
ply and difficult to procure. 
Improved Spawn. —Instead of being 
mqde in ; brick form, and dried out, as all 
spawn has formerly been made, it is put 
up in quart milk bottles, and is in a 
moist, active state when. inserted in the 
beds. After breaking the bottle the con¬ 
tents are easily broken into pieces with 
the fingers. This spawn cannot be pur¬ 
chased a few weeks before one is ready to 
use it, but must be used as soon as the 
development has proceeded to the proper 
made at present is dependable if all the 
conditions are right. In fact, under cer- 
" tain conditions, it is more dependable 
than the bottle spawn. This season of the 
year it is very difficult to control properly 
the moisture content of the manure on 
account of too much rain, and slow ^evap- 
oration. TVe have a small house now 
ready to spawn that has too much mois¬ 
ture in the manure, and the spawn peo¬ 
ple said it would be safer to use brick 
than bottle spawn, as the moist bottle 
spawn is easily rotted if too much mois¬ 
ture is present. At present this bottle 
spawn is made in Kennett Square, Pa., 
West Chester, Pa., and St. Paul, Minn. 
There may be other points of manufac¬ 
ture, but I do not know of them. 
Construction of Houses.— Several of 
those Chester County growers who spe¬ 
cialize in mushroom growing have quite 
large plants and use a number of carloads 
of manure each season. Their houses are 
constructed of hollow tile, plastered in¬ 
side and out, which makes a warm con¬ 
struction. These houses are wide enough 
to accommodate four beds 6 ft. wide with 
2 -ft. walks between, and high ehough to 
construct six benches, one above the other, 
allowing about 2 ft. space between. Uu 
der the roof there is an inner ceiling with 
4 to 6 in. of planer shavings as an in¬ 
sulation. This form of construction is nec¬ 
essary to mature the crop'with very little 
artificial heat in order to conserve as far 
as possible the moisture in the manure 
and at the same time hold the temperature 
about 55 degrees. The question may arise 
if too dry, why not apply water? This is 
a contingency to be avoided till the first 
mushrooms are the size of cherries, and a 
house that is not warmly constructed will 
require so much heat that by the time 
the first mushrooms appear the beds will 
be entirely too dry if no water is applied. 
Cellar Culture.—To try mushroom 
growing on an experimental scale, and 
that is the only way an amateur should 
try it, an expensive house is not neces¬ 
sary. A good warm cellar either under 
the dwelling or some outbuilding will 
■ answer : very • well, provided the tempera¬ 
ture will remain pretty constant at 55 
degrees, or some arrangement can be made 
to heat it to this temperature. Years ago 
we tried it in the cellar of our dwelling, 
aud had one good crop, though I do not 
think anything would induce 4 to con¬ 
sider the cellar of our house uw as a 
place in which to grow mushrooms. The 
odor for the first 10 days permeates every 
portion of the dwelling, and during the 
warm months there are more flies of va¬ 
rious sizes and degrees of activity consid¬ 
ering the mushroom bed their happy liunt- 
January 24, 1920 
iug ground than the average entomologist 
is acquainted with. We tried hydrocyanic 
acid gas for the flies, strong enough al¬ 
most to remove the varnish from the fur¬ 
niture on the second floor, but it ap¬ 
peared only to make them more happy 
and contented with their home. It is 
possible to grow a limited quantity in the 
cellar without these unpleasant features, 
by packing the manure in boxes about 10 
in. deep and allowing the boxes to stand 
in some protected building for about 10 
days, or till the temperature has fallen 
to the spawning point, then remove to 
the cellar. If this is done during the Au¬ 
tumn, when the weather is warm, cover 
about a foot of straw over the boxes to 
keep them from drying out too fast. After 
the heat subsides there is no more odor. 
Preparing Manure. —We purchase 
manure by the carload, either in New 
York or Philadelphia, and find it is be¬ 
coming daily more difficult to obtain. Just 
now the price is $4.25 per ton f. o. b. 
point of shipment. After delivery to our 
place it is allowed to lie on a pile about 
4 ft. deep for one week, when it is forked 
around onto a similar pile, and 3 to fi in. 
of soil placed evenly over the top. This 
turning is done four times at intervals of 
one week, when it is ready to be taken 
into the cellar or house. If in the Sum¬ 
mer or Autumn, considerable water must 
be added during turning, especially if 
there.is a noticeable quantity of straw in 
the pile. This strawy portion appears to 
firefang more readily than the fine por¬ 
tion. All parts that appear white should 
he well shaken out and thrown into the 
center of the pile. One of the most im¬ 
portant features of the business is to have 
the moisture just right, and it is the most 
difficult to determine and control unless 
the work is done under a shed, so that all 
needed water comes from a hose instead 
of from the clouds. The farmer who 
wishes to grow a small lot, using manure 
produced oii the place, would treat it in 
the same manner, being at all times care¬ 
ful to have it sufficiently moist that 
there is a minimum of firefang. It should 
be wet enough so that hard pressure will 
show moisture collecting on the outer por- 
tiou, but not wot enough to permit of 
water being pressed out. 
Making tiie Beds —The beds should 
be made up by packing the manure evenly 
and firmly to the depth of about 8 in. 
Insert a thermometer and watch it 
closely. If the temperature does not be- 
gm to rise a few days after the beds are 
made up increase the heat in the house 
till the manure .is warmed sufficiently to 
start reheating, allowing it to go to about 
100 degrees, then lower the heat in the 
house to 55 degrees and try to maintain 
that temperature. If it gets lower the 
crop will not be. materially injured, only 
retarded, and will come on again when 
the temperature becomes normal. A high 
temperature is much more injurious than 
one that is too low. 
Spawning. —TV hen the thermometer 
recedes to 05. degrees in the manure the 
spawn should be planted one foot apart 
each way if the bottle spawn is used, and 
about 10- inl : . each way ’ for the brick 
spawn. The bricks should be broken into 
12 to Id pieces, , and: the. bottles into 45 
pieces. In planting the spawn raise a 
small portion of the manure, slide the 
spawn under and press down firmly and 
at once. Insert the brick spawn about an 
inch and a half deep and the bottle 
variety barely ail inch deep. Immedi¬ 
ately afterward firm the beds with a 
board, and be careful to have the surface 
as near level as possible. In a week you 
can see if the spawn is starting* to 
spread through the lied, and in four weeks 
from the time of spawning the beds should 
be cased with 1 in. of good soil, spread 
evenly .over . tlie,,surface, and packed 
firmly. The soil should be quite moist, 
but not too wet.^o handle perfectly, and 
all stones and clods should be sifted out. 
Try to keep the surface moist if possible 
without the direct application of water 
till the first mushrooms are partly grown. 
At this period of their development they 
are easily injured by water percolating 
into the‘manure through the soil. In 
watering, try to moisten the soil without 
applying sufficient water to penetrate the 
manure. After the bod is in bearing for 
a few weeks the water applications can 
be somewhat lmavier. The proper time 
to apply the water is after a crop has 
been pulled) .Remove the stubs carefully, 
and fill the holes ‘ on ■ the surface with 
fresh soil, then water the bed. 
Harvesting the Crop. —Twist the 
mushrooms off with a circular motion, 
just before the veil breaks, and the gills 
become exposed. After cutting the stems 
off to remove adhering soil at the base 
mushrooms are packed iu baskets con¬ 
taining 3 lbs. each. These baskets can 
be obtained, through yeur seedsman, who 
can also supply the spawn. Iu planning 
to try growing mushrooms it is well to 
remember.that, ofi all crops that one may 
attempt, this is the most fickle. At no 
time do you have any evidence as to what 
results yoq have till tl)e , jjeld is well 
under way. Even then one cannot tell 
how long a bed will continue to bear, nor 
how many ounces the yield will be to the 
square foot; while a number of appar¬ 
ently insignificant causes may bring en¬ 
tirely barren results. If you are success¬ 
ful at the first attempt it is not well to 
become too enthusiastic, as it is almost 
always the first crop that is heavier than 
any succeeding one. This may appear 
strange, though it is quite true. It is 
possible that on the first attempt greater 
(Continued on page 150) 
