68 
MUSHROOMS, HOW TO GROW THEM. 
chestnut, maple, or linden, are not so good, and those 
of coniferous trees are of no use whatever. As the leaves 
must be in a condition to heat readily they should be 
fresh ; such are easily secured before winter sets in, but 
in spring, after lying out under the winter’s snow and 
rain, their “vitality” is mostly gone. But we can se¬ 
cure a large lot of dry leaves in the fall and pile them 
where they will keep dry until required for use. As 
needed we can prepare a part of this pile by wetting the 
leaves, taking them under cover to a warm south-facing 
shed, and Qtherwise assisting fermentation just as if we 
were preparing for a hotbed. While moistening the 
leaves with clean water will induce a good fermentation, 
wetting them with liquid from the horse-stable urine 
tanks will cause a brisk heat, and for mushrooms pro¬ 
duce more genial conditions. 
Mushroom beds composed in whole or part of ferment¬ 
ing tree leaves should be much deeper than would be 
necessary were horse manure alone used ; for half leaves 
and half manure, say fifteen inches deep ; for all leaves, 
say twenty to thirty inches deep. 
While mushroom spawn will run freely in leaf beds 
and we can get good mushrooms from them, my experi¬ 
ence has satisfied me that we do not get as fine crops 
from these beds or any modification of them as from 
the ordinary stable manure beds. And we can not won¬ 
der much at this, considering that the wild mushroom 
is scarcely ever found in the neighborhood of trees or 
where leaf mold deposits occur. 
Spent Hops.—We can make good use of this in one 
way. If we are short of good materials for a mushroom 
bed, we can first make up the beds eight or ten inches 
deep with fermenting spent hops, and above this lay a 
four or five inch layer of horse manure, or this and loam 
mixed. The hops will keep up the warmth, and the 
manure affords a congenial home for the mushroom 
