CHAPTER XVIII. 
RE-INYIGORATIKG OLD BEDS. 
There is a wide-spread impression among horticultur¬ 
ists that worn out beds which have ceased to bear may, 
by means of watering and certain stimulants and warm¬ 
ing up again, be so re-inyigorated as to start into full 
bearing, and yield a second and a good crop. I have 
given this question much painstaking and practical con¬ 
sideration, and have absolutely failed to revive a “dead” 
bed. I have not been able to do it myself, and any 
instance of its having been done has never come under 
mv observation. This may appear heresy anent the 
multitudinous writings to the contrary. 
A mushroom bed may keep on bearing in a desultory 
way for many months, and now and again show spurts 
of increased fertility; but this is no second crop; it is 
merely a prolonged dribbling of the first crop. A bed, 
by reason of cold or dryness, may, as it were, stand 
still or partially stop bearing, and soon after it is re¬ 
moistened, warmed, and otherwise submitted to congen¬ 
ial conditions, will display renewed energy; but this is 
no second crop; it is merely a spurt of the first crop 
caused by extra favorable cultural conditions. But to 
show how vaguely this question which is so much writ¬ 
ten about is regarded, let me quote from a letter to me 
by Mr. J. Barter, who grows 21,000 lbs of mushrooms a 
year for the London market: “You ask me, 6 Do you 
ever get a second crop? 5 My beds last in bearing, on 
an average, each three months, and that I reckon to be 
three crops. But whether it be three or six months, the 
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