GROWING MUSHROOMS IN RIDGES. 
141 
pone gathering for another day this is done, as the litter 
can not be replaced satisfactorily in windy weather. In 
gathering the mushrooms one man carefully pulls the 
straw down from the top of the bed, rolling it toward 
him ; another gathers the mushrooms (pulling them out 
by the roots, newer cutting them) into baskets, and a 
third man covers up the bed. In this way the three 
men go up one side of the ridge and down the other, 
and the work is done expeditiously and well, without 
exposing any part of the bed more than a minute or two 
at a time. It is necessary that the uncovering be done 
by rolling the straw down from the top of the ridge; if 
it were rolled up the covering on the other side of the 
ridge would be sure to slip down a little, and break off 
many small mushrooms. The mushrooms as gathered 
are of three grades ; the large or wide-spread ones are 
called “broilers,” the full-sized ones whose neck frill is 
merely broken about half an inch wide are “cups,” and 
the small white ones whose frills are not broken at all are 
termed “buttons.” All of these are kept separate. 
They are marketed in different ways, but the growers 
who make mushrooms a specialty assort and pack them 
in chip baskets, boxes, or otherwise, as the metropolitan 
and provincial markets demand or suggest. Mr. John 
F. Barter, writing to me from London, says : “As to 
punnetts, we use the same as for strawberries or peaches” 
(the abundance of peaches we have in America is un¬ 
known over there), “ they hold just one pound.” But it is 
getting more general now to have little boxes made to 
hold say three to five pounds each ; these are better for 
packing in larger cases for long journeys.” 
The first cutting is a light one. After this the bed is 
cut twice a week for three weeks in mild weather, or 
once a week in inclement weather. The last two or 
three pickings are thin and only secured once a week. 
Altogether ten or eleven good pickings are gathered from 
each bed. 
