62 
MUSHROOMS* HOW TO GROW THEM. 
While the manure of carrot-fed animals is not the best* 
at the same time it is good, and any one having plenty 
of it can also have plenty of mushrooms. The complete 
denunciation of the manure of carrot-fed horses so em¬ 
phatically stereotyped upon the minds and pens of horti¬ 
cultural writers is not always founded on fact. 
Manure of Mules.—This is regarded as being next 
in value to that of entire horses* and some French 
growers go so far as to say that it is quite as good. Mr. 
John G. Gardner tells me of an extraordinary crop of 
mushrooms he once had which astonished that veteran, 
Samuel Henshaw, and that it was from beds made of 
manure from mule stables. Certainly the heaviest crop 
of mushrooms I ever did see was at Mr. Wilbur’s place 
at South Bethlehem, Pa., four years ago, and the beds 
were of clean mule droppings from the coal mines. 
Mule manure can be had in quantity at our mule stock 
yards, which are in nearly every large city in the Middle 
and Southern States. Getting it from the mines costs 
more than it is worth, except as a fancy article; the 
men will noti collect and save it for any reasonable price. 
Cellar Manure.—Many stables have cellars under 
them into which the manure and urine are dropped at 
every day’s cleaning. These cellars are not generally 
cleaned out before a good deal of manure has accumu¬ 
lated in them, say a few weeks’, or a few months’, or a 
winter’s "gathering, and it is commonly pretty well moist¬ 
ened by the urine. If this manure has not become too 
dry and “fire-fanged” in the cellar it is splendid for 
mushrooms. We buy a good deal of it, but are partic¬ 
ular to reject the very dry and white-burned parts. 
Sometimes the manure from the cow-stables, as well as 
from the horse-stables, is dropped together into the cel¬ 
lar ; then I would give less for the manure, especially if 
the cow manure predominated, because in the working 
it keeps too cold and wet and pasty; but if there is not 
