July 27. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
313 
devoid of mere individual conceit — why, all petty 
jealousies speedily vanish, or rather obtain not an 
existence. “ See that yo fall not out by the way,” said 
the patriarchal Abraham, in olden time ; and although 
but plain language, it is so emphatic, so true, so 
applicable to the human race in general, that it will 
remain a so^.nd maxim to the end of time. 
This may seem a strange exordium to the mere 
fungoid matter which is about to follow; but we have 
heard of “ Mushroom patriots,” &c., and why not Mush¬ 
room scribblers'? However, begging pardon for joking 
on so serious a subject as the study of a Cryptogam, 
I will proceed to show a little simplicity in their culture, 
which will, I trust, open the minds of many who are 
but on the threshold of gardening, and in so doing, I 
acknowledge myself poaching on the manor of our 
clever coadjutor, Mr. Hobson, and 1 therefore fancied 
that I needed my prefatorial remarks. 
I well remember the time when a man who could 
grow Mushrooms with certainty was considered little 
less than a conjuror. For my part, being, as I have 
before stated, brought up originally to the nursery and 
seed trade, and the firm wherewith I was connected in 
my early days choosing rather to purchase Mushroom 
spawu than to make it—for it was supposed, some forty 
years ago, that there was some mystery in the act of 
spawn making,— I was early brought in contact with 
the worthies of those days, the spawn-makers. My 
father used to transact business of this kind with 
a Mr. Robinson, who field land just by the “ Hero 
of Maida” public house, in the F,dgware-road, then 
all splash and mud; no fino buildings, no gin 
palaces, but the margins thereof colonised, in the 
main, by cow-keepers and such like craft. Robinson 
was a John Bull fellow, stolid, sturdy, protuberant, 
partial to bread and cheeso and onions, in alternate 
stratifications with porter. But he was the marvel of 
the neighbourhood as to Mushroom-culture, and truly 
he could conjure them out of a stone-wall. He used, 
indeed, to brag that he could make them come out of 
any wall—and he could. Seizing that period of the 
year when the average of the air heat was about 05°, 
old Robinson would make a paste, composed of three- 
parts nice, fresh, mellow, and sweetened horse-droppings, 
three-parts dry, with a little cow-dung, and a smattering 
of soil. This paste, old Robinson would dab into a big 
crevice in a broken old wall, bore a hole in the centre, 
introduce a lump of pure, healthy, unexhausted spawn, 
as big as a walnut, and go to sleep, more assured of 
triumph, than, I fear, our brave Charley can be over 
Cronstadt. 
Robinson’s yards used to contain, in those days, 
several rows of Mushroom-beds, in parallel lines, each 
bed about three feet w'ide at the base, and about the 
same in height, aud from these he obtained splendid 
crops, and made excellent markets. 
Besides all this, he made spawn extensively for the 
nurserymen, and, doubtless, this trade, connected with 
cow-kceping, and a consequent sale of such manures, 
brought him abundant profits. 
My chief business now, however, is to point to a plan 
by which every person who can obtain annually some 
good fresh horse-dung, and who possesses a small garden, 
may obtain Mushrooms with ease and certainty every 
year, from the beginning of July until the end of 
October, and that with so little trouble or skill, as that 
a youth of ten years of age, or an old dowager of 
seventy, may accomplish it, and that without any ex¬ 
pense beyond the horse-dung, and a very small amount 
of labour, if labour it must be called. 
By way of illustrating the matter, I will detail what I 
have done this way this season, as a prelude to a 
simpler plan still. I have a wall facing the west, 
covered from one end to the other with trained choico 
Pears. This wall, about 150 feet long, has a coping i 
projecting about eight inches, and, of course, what with 
the Poar-leaves aud the coping, the drip is thrown nearly 
a foot from the wall, at its base. At the foot of this 
wall, in May, a labourer dug out one single spit of soil, 
in a continuous line, and close to its ba^e, and having 
some droppings in a shed, half dry, intended for Mush¬ 
room-culture, he filled this trench with them, raising 
the surface above the ground-level, and sloping it away 
from the wall. It was now well trodden, and the ex¬ 
cavated soil eased over it two inches in thickness. 
Lumps of spawn were immediately planted with a 
dibble, at half-a-yard apart, and the work was thus com¬ 
pleted. We never took any further notice of it until 
about a week since, when the Mushrooms began pushing 
through in all directions. The surface was covered with 
weeds left purposely, and the shade of which they 
seemed to enjoy; as, however, they became robbers, I 
thought it expedient to remove them, and the surface is 
and has been exposed. They are as fine as it is possible 
for Mushrooms to be, but I dare say would bo none the 
worse for a thin covering of straw or litter. 
Now, I was not at all astonished at the success of the 
simple affair, although several knowing persons in the 
gardening way have appeared so. This shows how im¬ 
perfectly, still, Mushroom-culture is understood. The fact 
is this: their culture depends on such simple principles 
that their requirements have ever been overrated. The 
following are the essentials: — Manure in a half-dry 
state—dried rather by exposure and turning in a shed 
than by fermentation ; a steady temperature in the bed, 
or dung, when fixed for them, of from 65° to 70°; and 
security from wet by accident. These are the three 
essentials, and to these may be added a partial or total 
darkness. 
We will now look over these abstract principles in 
detail. As to manure, it is well known that Mushrooms 
may be produced from almost any organic matter, if the 
other conditions be right; I have known very good crops 
from the thatch of an old building, but they do not con¬ 
tinue long in bearing; they aro gluttons at rich manures, 
and the richer the dung, and the greater its body and 
solidity, the longer will they continue in bearing. There 
is nothing superior to the dung from well fed horses, 
and this should be obtained as fresh as possible from 
the stable-door, and before any rain has fallen on it. It 
is best to remove this to a shed and throw it on a heap 
to ferment once; in four or five days it will be so warm 
that it will be unpleasant to thrust the hand in, and 
now it may be at once thrown abroad to dry ; if con¬ 
tinued longer it becomes white, and this not only 
betokens the loss of much strength, but points to the J 
probability of having to apply water to sweeten it, &c., 
a thing to bo avoided, as its own native moisture should 
be sufficient. Whilst in the shed it will require turning | 
two or three times, and knocking about; and when 
nearly half dry, it may be made into a bed. When 
collected, the longest of the litter may be shaken out, 
but not too much. The time required thus to prepare 
it varies considerably, according to the time of the year; 
at this period it will be ready in a fortnight; in November, 
December, or January, it would require doublo the time; 
aud the other periods of course intermediate in character, 
In all “bed-making,” where a body of dung is used, 
overheating is the thing to be avoided; more beds are 
thus ruined than by any other cause; they will endure 
about 80°, but no inoxperienced grower should aim at 
so much. 
1 may now offer suggestions for an extension of their 
out-door culture, based on the following principles here 
laid down; and showing, if possible, how the out-door 
wall plan may be farther simplified, so as to be available 
to every member of society who possesses a small garden. 
I have said before, that an immunity from much wpt, j 
