The Essentials of Mushroom Culture 
and if the weather is cold heat is turned on. In a 
few days the temperature in the beds will begin 
rising, which should be watched carefully. When 
it reaches 100 or 105 degrees turn off the heat and 
open all the ventilators to allow it to drop to 80 
degrees, which is about right for spawning. If the 
surface of the manure has become very dry sprinkle 
lightly with water about 24 hours before the spawn 
is planted. Each bottle of spawn is broken into 40 
pieces and a piece planted each 11 in. or 12 in. 
square. The planting is done by lifting up a small 
portion of manure, inserting the spawn in its place 
about 1 y 2 in. below the surface, and firming the 
manure back into place. Immediately after planting 
the beds are tamped solid with a board. 
CASING.—Four weeks later the beds should be 
cased with about 1 in. of good sifted loam. The soil 
Some Two-story Corn. Fig. 559. (See Next Page) 
should be firmed the same as the manure. The tem¬ 
perature during this period until the mushrooms 
show above the soil should be kept between G5 and 
70 degrees. About six weeks elapse from planting 
the spawn until the first mushrooms appear. As 
soon asi the mushrooms come into sight the temper¬ 
ature should be lowered to GO degrees, and when the 
crop is coming on heavy drop to 56 degrees. 
WATERING.—This is possibly the most difficult 
operation connected with the business Most growers 
will not apply a drop of water from the time the 
spawn is planted until the first mushrooms are the 
size of a large pea. We have tried watering very 
lightly several times before the crop showed above 
the soil and did not see any injury, though a heavy 
watering before a large lot of mushrooms are in 
sight will invariably cause heavy loss. Water must 
never be applied during the first two breaks so 
heavily that it soaks the top covering of soil and 
penetrates the manure, though the soil must be wet 
through. After the first two or three breaks a little 
more water can be used, as the active spawn near 
the surface of the manure becomes exhausted and 
the moisture must penetrate deeper to reach the live 
spawn. The word “break,” as used above, means a 
crop. A crop will cut off so clean that there may 
not be a mushroom in sight, and after watering 
another heavy break or crop will come through the 
soil. The water should be applied when the mush¬ 
rooms are very small. If watered when they are 
half grown many of them will become black spotted, 
which will greatly impair their value. After a crop 
is picked off all decayed stubs and small decayed 
mushroom should be removed, the holes filled with 
sifted soil and the beds watered. 
HARVESTING.—'Mushrooms should be pulled out 
of the soil with a twisting motion. If a few mature 
in a large cluster of small size buttons they can be 
cut out, and some of the small ones 
may mature. They should be picked 
before the veil breaks when in the but¬ 
ton form. After the veil breaks in 
shipping they are usually marked as 
broilers, and sell at a reduced price. 
It is easy to learn when they are at the 
right stage for pulling by placing the 
fingers underneath the head. If they 
are firm around the stem they are not 
through growing. If soft they are 
ready to come off. Some of the present 
bottle spawn will mature very large 
mushrooms. We have had some to 
weigh as high as 12 ounces each. 
FUNGUS TROUBLES. — The new 
spawn appears to be superior to the old 
brick spawn as eliminating some of the 
uncertainty, but has evidently intro¬ 
duced a disease that we did not know 
of to any great extent before, a rough, 
irregular fungus growth, white in color, 
and of every conceivable shape and 
size grown in the beds. The growth is 
very rapid, and if not checked as soon 
as it appears the entire crop will be 
ruined in a few weeks. I know of 
some houses that were put entirely out 
of bearing by this fungus. That it is 
in the spawn is pretty clearly proven 
by the fact that it shows up with the 
first mushrooms on an entirely new 
place. Experienced growers tell me 
they pour a small quantity of gasoline 
on the fungus and ignite it, then take 
a clean piece of paper and lift it out 
with a little of the adjoining soil and 
burn them. This is done in order to 
keep the disease from spreading. If 
this is attended to as soon as the first 
growth is seen they can be kept partly 
under control. The spores of this fun¬ 
gus germinate very readily and rapidly, 
and a house in which they appear must 
be thoroughly fumigated before another 
crop is planted. Some use the fumes of 
sulphur, sprinkling with lysol and 
vaporizing formaldehyde, and tell me 
that after all this trouble and expense 
the disease showed up in the new crop 
as bad as in the former one. This 
Summer we filled our houses with live 
steam at a pressure of 20 to 50 lbs. for 
four to six hours. We had it so hot that resin ran 
out of the bench boards. We then used formalde¬ 
hyde so strong that we could not get in the house for 
several days. The mushroom crop is coming on now, 
but the disease came first, and is coming again and 
again very consistently. 
EXPERIMENT NEEDED.—While it is jxossible by 
close attention to details to grow some mushrooms 
with bottle spawn, it is not by any means a short 
cut to riches, and the beginner should rather go slow 
and experiment than plunge heavily upon a crop as 
fickle as this one. The spawn is not manufactured 
in large quantities at the present, and can be had 
only on order. Without a doubt your seedsman can 
procure some of it for you, but before going ahead it 
may be well to make sure of your supply when you 
want it. It must be used several days after it leaves 
the grower, and arrangements must be made to get 
it when the temperature of your beds is right. We 
order ours ahead as nearly as we can figure the date, 
then go for it when the temperature is right. We 
A N UNCERTAIN CROP.—A number of years ago 
we tried mushroom growing with sufficient suc¬ 
cess to embark rather extensively and expensively 
upon this erratic crop. Eventually the income 
dwindled so decidedly and consistently, while the 
expenses remained stationary, that lack of funds 
compelled us to quit some thousands of dollars on 
the debit side. Now, after a lapse of years, we are 
at it again; rather on a more extensive basis than 
formerly. This is our second season, and the loss 
of several crops last year has shown us where we 
have made mistakes, and taught us*that inattention 
to necessary details will prove more destructive to 
profits with this crop than any other crop with which 
I am familiar. 
NEW-STYLE SPAWN.—This new venture differs 
from our former attempts only in the superior 
method of manufacture of the spawn, 
which eliminates some of the uncer¬ 
tainty, provided growing conditions are 
just right. This new spawn reaches us 
in a semi-plastic condition in quart 
milk bottles. The old-style spawn was 
in a flat brick form, and so hard that 
a sharp hatchet was necessary to cut 
it up. We have found the new crop 
will produce a crop only where there is 
no relaxation of attention to all the 
details that were necessary to success 
with the old-style brick spawn. 
THE MUSHROOM HOUSE.—There 
are many different kinds of structures 
used for mushroom growing—disused 
cellars, cellars of dwelling-houses, un¬ 
used portions of barns, abandoned 
mines, etc., though the larger portion 
of the crop is produced in especially 
constructed houses. The cellar, cave 
or mine is an ideal growing location 
during late Summer, Fall and Spring, 
but will not be of much value during 
cold weather unless heated to maintain 
at least 50 degrees, though 56 to 60 
degrees give better results. Another 
method of using an unheated cellar 
■would be to permit the beds to freeze 
during the Winter, simply pay no at¬ 
tention to them, and when warm 
weather comes along the beds will come 
into bearing the same as though pro¬ 
duction had not been interfered with. 
Any number of benches may be erected, 
one above the other, leaving a space of 
from 14 to 16 in. between. The beds 
should be 5 ft. or 6 ft. wide, the side 
boards for retaining manure and soil S 
in. deep, and walks 20 to 24 in. wide. 
The houses especially constructed for 
growing mushrooms are erected with 
either hollow tile walls or double board 
walls filled with planer shavings. The 
latter construction is not very durable. 
The roof is double, and is packed with 
5 in. to 6 in. of shavings. The special 
house is usually 12 ft. to 16 ft. high, 
and contains five to six beds, one above 
the other. Sufficient radiation is in¬ 
stalled to maintain 70 degrees or even 
higher. 
PREPARING THE BEDS. — Horse 
manure is the only medium, and it must be fresh 
and reasonably free from firefang. It can be col¬ 
lected on the farm or shipped from the nearest large 
city. On the farm it can be collected for several 
weeks, adding the fresh to the former collection each 
week, and using all together, adding soil and water. 
The manure should be placed on a square or oblong 
pile 3 ft. or 4 ft. high, and turned over four or five 
times at intervals of a week, requiring four weeks 
to compost. A large amount of water will have to 
be added the first few turnings to eliminate fire- 
fang, and about 4 in. of loam placed over the top 
each time the pile is turned. When ready to be made 
into beds in the house there should be sufficient 
moisture incorporated to show on the outer edge if 
a portion is pressed hard, but not enough to drop off. 
The color of the manure when satisfactorily treated 
will be black and the straw fibers rather short. The 
beds are made up by tramping 6 in. to 7 in. of 
manure solidly into place and leveling off the top 
evenly. When the house is filled all doors are closed, 
