408 
HORTH 
ietas grape, thus treated, ripens in July, if the branches 
of the vine be introduced in the end of April; and a moft 
abundant crop may be thus obtained; but the neceffity of 
pruning very clofely renders the branches, which have 
been forced, unproductive of fruit in the.fucceeding fea r 
fon ; and others, from the wall, mult confequently be 
iubftituted. 
“ If an inclined plane of earth be formed for the hot¬ 
bed, and vines be trained in a frame adapted to it, the 
grapes ripen perfectly in Auguft; and if fmall holes be 
/ made through the-fides of the frame, through which the 
young (hoots of the vines can extend themlelves in the 
open air, a (ingle plant, and a frame of moderate fize, will 
be found to yield annually a very confiderable weight of 
grapes. For this purpofe the frames (liould not be more 
than ten feet long, nor more than fix in breadth, or the 
young (hoots will not be fo advantageoully conducted out 
of them into the open air; and the depth of the frame, 
either for the hot-bed or inclined plane of earth, (ltould 
not be lefs than eighteen inches. The holes in the fide 
of the frame, through which the young (hoots are to pafs, 
(hould of courfe be clofed during the fpring, and till 
wanted ; and, if the weather be cold, it will be neceffary 
to cover the frames at night. When the grapes are nearly 
full-grown and begin to ripen, it will alio be highly ad¬ 
vantageous to draw off the glafi'es during the day in fine 
weather, by which means the fruit will be expofed to the 
full influence of the fun, without the intervention of the 
glafs, and will attain a degree of perfection that it rarely 
acquires even in the vinery, or hot-houfe.” 
Of MUSHROOM-BEDS. 
•In addition to the late Mr. Miller’s directions for 
the culture and growth of garden-mu(hrooms, which we 
have recited under the article Agaricus, in our firlt vo¬ 
lume, it will be proper here to add the following im¬ 
proved methods lately adopted by the moll intelligent 
gardeners. 
Prepare the beds at the end of Auguft, in order.to fur- 
nifti the table with muflirooms all the winter, except in 
cafe of extreme and intenfe frofts. Make the beds in 
the following manner: Dig a trench three feet wide, one 
foot deep, and what length you pleafe ; from ten to fifteen 
feet is fufficient for a moderate family. If your foil be 
„wetti(h, let the bed be quite above ground. Take horfe- 
dung, three or four good cart-loads for twenty feet, lay 
it in a heap to ferment for ten or twelve days, or lay it 
abroad till little heat remains in it; for great heat de- 
(troys the fpawn of muflirooms. The dung (hould be 
warm and moiit, not dry and fuch as has already been 
exhaufted by fermentation. So Coon as you perceive the 
heat to be gone off, fill the trench with the dung, near 
one foot above the furface of the adjacent ground ; above 
that, lay ten inches of frelh, light, rich earth ; and ob- 
I'ervs to cover the iides of the dung-bed with the fame 
earth, and as much of the earth gathered from the fields, 
with the mulhroom-fpawn upon the lides, as can be; and 
then take fome of the fpawn, and plant the l'mall knobs 
of it, fix inches afundex, half an inch deep into the earth; 
then take another layer of dung, lay it ten inches thick, 
and, above that, another layer of the rich light earth, and 
the field-earth on the fides eight inches thick; obferving, as 
you lay the ftratums of earth and dung, to draw in the lides 
narrower, fo as to make the bed alcend gradually in form 
of a ridge, and Kill drawing it narrower, till you arrive 
at the. top, and in fuch a manner, as the knobs of fpawn 
may not be buried deeper than half an inch, planting the 
knobs all the way up; by which means you may have 
four layers of dung, and as many of earth. 
When your becT is thus made and planted, lay good 
wheat-ftraw, or loofe litter, half a foot or more thick ; and, 
as the cold increafes, cover to twelve inches in thicknels. 
After ten days, take off the litter with your hands, to fee 
if the mulhrooms begin to appear 5 if they come blaci or 
ULTURE, 
brown and long-fhanked, cut them over, and riddle on a 
little of the fine earth upon them ; and, when they appear 
again, they will come up white, round, and fit for ufe; this 
is called purging of them ; their firlt bad appearance being 
owing to too much' heat in the dung. It will be neceffary 
to look them over every day in September, which isthe chief 
feafon of their growth. If allowed to grow large, they 
will foon become too big for ufe, rot, breed worms, and 
infedt all the young fpawn hear them. To prevent this, 
gather them once every day; in doing which, pull them 
gently out, fo as not to leave their Items behind, which 
would canker and breed worms, and rot the fpawn. If 
any of this Ihould come up with the muflirooms, take it 
off gently, and plant it in again without bruiting it, and 
it will foon root. Make another bed in the lame manner 
at the end of September, and no later. 
Some make the mulhroom-beds entirely of dung, with¬ 
out ftratums of earth, only covering the lides of the dung 
with earth three or four inches thick. When this me¬ 
thod is followed, always put good dry litter or It raw four 
inches thick between the earth laid on the fides of the 
beds and the dung, which prevents the earth from caking 
or cracking into rents, which it is apt to do, from the 
heat of the dung; and on the top of the Itraw, which im¬ 
mediately covers the mulhrooni-bed, put fome warm lit¬ 
ter from the ftable, or from a dung-heap, in the cold fea¬ 
fon, and this will much promote the’growth of the mulh¬ 
rooms. If the fro It Ihould continue, and the warm litter 
cool, add fome frelh warm litter upon the Itraw-cover- 
ing. Such beds, if duly attended to, will laft feveral 
months, and produce great crops ; and, as the muflirooms 
for ufe grow, fo will the fpawn, which ought to be laid 
up in a dry warm place until the feafon for tiling it. The 
fpawn will keep four months ; fo that, if you give up the 
mulhroom-beds in May, the fpawn will keep until Sep¬ 
tember following, among their own earth, and even until 
October or November in a warm and dry place. In very 
fevere frofts or great rains, obferve to increafe the llraw- 
coverings, and in great ftorms fometimes lay boards above 
the Itraw, fo as to reft gently againlt the fides of the beds, 
but not to reft lo much 011 the mulhrooms as to bruile 
them. 
By continuing the forcing of muflirooms, they may be> 
continued good until the months of April or May. If 
when muflirooms are fet down in Auguit, September, or 
Oftober, or even later, they do not produce immediately, 
they fiiould not be deftroyed, but let them remain ail the 
winter covered with Itraw, and in March probably, but 
molt certainly in April, May, and June, a moft plentiful 
crop of mulhrooms may be expected. 
Another method of railing mulhrooms is this : About 
the end of February, lay old rotten dung in a trench nine 
inches deep, and fix in breadth, fill it up and tread it 
well down, and above the dung put fome earth, taken in 
October preceding from a palture where muflirooms grow 
in plenty; cover the dung with it five inches thick, tread 
it as hard as you can, and make the bed level; keep it 
clear from weeds, and in May the mulhrooms will begin 
to appear; if they come up black, take fome turf of the 
mulhroom-palture, half an inch thick only, and tread it 
down on the bed ; this will purge them, and make them 
come up of a good colour. Such a bed will continue 
good for two years. 
Of the FLOWER-GARDEN. 
Although the flower-garden, It richly fo called, is rather 
out ol fafnion, the flowers being now plunged in borders, 
and in front of Ihrubberies, yet, as many perfons refilling 
in the country are fond of amufing themlelves in the 
cultivation of thel’e innocent and beautiful productions 
of file vegetable world, we Ihould riot have deemed our 
article complete without giving the following inlfcruc- 
tions for their cultivation.—For the firlt introduction of 
flowers into gardens, and the method of drying and pre¬ 
fer ving. 
