201 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION, June 30, 1857. 
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material from the linings above referred to. This 
heated rather violently at first, but when it declined it 
felt very clammy and wet; in fact, when squeezed 
firmly, a drop of liquid would soon trickle through the 
fingers. I considered that pieces of spawn would soon 
perish if put into such material. Every piece was, there- 
lore, firmly wrapped in a ball of dryish material similar to 
that which I had made the first bed of, each of these 
balls being larger than my two fists. A hole was made 
for them, and they were firmly inserted in the bed, and 
covered by an inch or two of the moist dung. This bed 
yielded Mushrooms so large and so thick that the 
difficulty was in the cooking of them. The spawn ran 
freely in the loose, dry litter, and when it got to the 
richer, moister material of the bed it gave succulence 
and size to the Mushrooms. 
3. Having a lot of tree leaves in November heating 
nicely and sweetly, I made a bed of them in a shed 
about eighteen inches deep. On this I put six inches 
of horse droppings, and, when the heat was all right, 
spawned and treated in the usual way. This bed 
retained its heat for a very long period, and the Mush¬ 
rooms, though good, were inclined to spread and be 
rather thin. On a similar bed, after spawning, I put an j 
inch of rich, moist cowdung, plastering it all over, and 
when a little dry soiling up in the usual way. Here the 
Mushrooms were round and thick, and ever since, when 
I want fleshy, thick Mushrooms in shallow beds in 
Mushroom houses, I use the cowdung as a surfacing. It 
should not be too fresh, or worms and maggots will 
trouble you and spoil the firm surface of the bed. If 
cowdung is not at hand I use a surfacing of fresh, damp 
horse droppings; but I do not think them quite equal 
to the cowdung for producing this result. 
4. Though approving, for shallow beds in houses, of the 
drying and turning of horse droppings, yet I was so 
convinced that this might be done to an injurious 
extent, so as to deprive the manure of much of its 
nutritive qualities, that I tried a bed without giving the 
dnrppings any preparation at all. These droppings were 
brought direct from the stable, rejecting those that were 
extra wet, and having as much bulk of litter as drop¬ 
pings. These were spread into a bed in an open shed about | 
three inches thick, well trodden and beaten, and a sprink¬ 
ling of fibry soil thrown over that was dry, rather than 
moist. In three or four days two inches more of the 
droppings, &c., were added, and another sprinkling 
and beating, and so the process went on until in about 
three weeks I had a bed nearly fifteen inches deep. 
The using the manure rather dry, the addition of the 
dry earth, and the thorough beating each time prevented 
the bed heating very violently, though it was so hot as 
to require to stand the best part of a fortnight before it 
could be trusted with the spawn. This bed was earthed 
in the usual manner with fresh soil from the bottom 
of a deep trench in the kitchen garden, and yielded 
continuously for a long period a fine crop of Mush¬ 
rooms. A piece at one end was surfaced with two inches 
of cowdung that had lain in a heap three or four 
months, and had lost its rankness, and from this part 
the Mushrooms were thick and round, and the cook com¬ 
plained that it was impossible to cook them thoroughly. 
With suitable protection of litter and mats these beds 
produced liberally all the winter. 
5. Fearing that these beds referred to might be injured 
by some sudden extreme frost, and knowing that un¬ 
covering such beds out of doors was no very pleasant 
affair on a rainy or a snowy day in winter, I also made 
beds on raised platforms in stock-holes, so that the fire 
used for keeping out frost in the houses in winter would 
keep the beds all right. I found that these beds were 
the better for a moist surfacing after spawning, and that 
they did very well, with a little covering of litter to keep 
an equal temperature, until the stock-hole became too 
hot, when forcing the houses commenced. I also made 
beds on the floors of vineries and below the stages of 
greenhouses, and found they gave much less trouble 
than in any other circumstances, as little covering 
was necessary, and could all be done in the dry and 
comfortably. Of course, when the heat of the vinery 
was raised to 70° or so, there was an end to fine fleshy 
Mushrooms. 
6. Among other methods I tried them in portable 
wooden boxes three feet in length, fifteen inches wide, 
and the same in depth; and also in large pots, using 
chiefly horse droppings and dried cowdung, and found 
them useful when placed in a forcing house not too 
hot, or in a greenhouse at the warmest end, &c. An 
amateur who would be beaten by nothing had an almost 
constant supply from large pots all the year round, and 
had neither a close shed nor glass house to keep them 
in, and the droppings of only one pony to depend upon; 
but he had a good deep cellar, cool in summer, and warm 
in winter, and there his pots were placed when prepared 
and finished. From him 1 learnt the importance of 
such a cellar, or a cool, airy place beneath the thick 
shade of trees, for growing Mushrooms in summer. 
7. 1 need not mention spawning Cucumber and Melon 
beds, or inserting spawn in beds intended for early 
Carrots, Vegetable Marrows, &c., as these are just so 
many make-shifts. It will be seen that I do not attach 
so much importance to what the material used is, pro¬ 
vided it heats moderately and retains its heat. However, 
I have my likings when I can realise them. For all 
shallow beds in houses, then, I prefer horse droppings 
moderately dried, obtained from stables where the horses 
live chiefly on good grain. To this I would add a little 
dry, fibry, fresh soil, and about a third, if I could get it, 
of dried cakes of cowdung, sheep-dung, or deer-dung. 
These will make a first-rate mixture for producing rich 
Mushrooms. The bed should be spawned of course, 
though with such a combination, and care taken to 
prevent extra heat, I have seen the whole bed without 
spawning like a huge cake of the finest spawn. It is 
seldom 1 can get materials or spare time for such a bed; 
but 1 have no hesitation in saying that such a one, a 
foot in thickness, will beat an ordinary one of droppings 
of eighteen inches. If extra fatness is desired, cover 
with from one to two inches of moist, but not too fresh 
cowdung before soiling; but do not blame me or the 
gardener if you find the centres hard when cooked. 
Two words more. If Mushrooms are grown in a 
house, some cover the beds and some do not. When I 
want them early, and also to prevent the beds cracking, 
I use a little clean litter or dry hay, removing it when 
the spawn works through. 1 have already mentioned 
temperature. When fire heat is used let the atmosphere 
have plenty of moisture. I am rather in favour of the 
Mushrooms having a little light and a circulation of air; 
but on the whole, unless for particular people, light or 
darkness is of little moment. They will be white when 
grown in the dark 
Secondly, two enemies are apt to be troublesome in 
houses, or rather, three— mice, that burrow in the beds, 
and which must be trapped, poisoned, or catted; slugs 
and snails, that will riddle the best spawns, and which 
must be enticed with brewers’ grains, buttered cabbage 
leaves, and hunted for with a lantern at night; and wood- 
lice, which are very troublesome. I have caught great 
numbers of them in small bellglasses sunk below the 
level of the bed, and baited with boiled carrot or 
potatoes. They will be seen in the greatest number when 
you have a slight covering of litter on the bed. Have 
some boiling water ready, and a fine-spouted small 
pot. As soon as you uncover they will scamper to the 
side, and get into the cranny formed between the bed 
and the wall. Pour the water close to the wall, and 
those touched will trouble you no more. R. Fish. 
