Jan. 24tli, 1885. 
THE GARDENING WORLD, 
333 
amount of the first and second prizes that has previously 
prevailed. The Cut Flower Classes are also extended 
in a few important particulars. Among them there is 
a class for Anemone-flowered Japanese Chrysanthe¬ 
mums, at present a limited class, but likely to grow in 
importance. Special prizes are offered for single 
Chrysanthemums and for English raised varieties, 
sports excluded, sent out in 1884-85. Several sugges¬ 
tions were made with a view of adding other features, 
and several of these were referred to the General 
Committee, so much depending upon the Special Prize 
Fund, to which subscriptions are invited. 
A very important offer was made by Mr. Cullingford, 
namely, that of ten guineas, to be expended in 
providing prizes for late-flowering Chrysanthemums, 
to be shown, say, about the middle of January. This 
will, of course, require a special exhibition, but it was 
announced that this could be arranged at the Royal 
Aquarium with but very little difficulty. Mr. W. 
Holmes stated that he was so alive to the importance 
of the work being done by the Floral Committee of 
the Society that he hoped to arrange for their 
meetings at the Royal Aquarium as a much more 
convenient centre, and for the meetings to take place 
in the afternoon, instead of the evening, as hereto¬ 
fore. 
HORTICULTURAL SOCIETIES. 
Manchester Horticultural Improvement.— 
At a well-attended meeting of this Society, held at 
the Old Town Hall, King Street, Manchester, on the 
evening of the 15th inst., Mr. Bruce Findlay, Presi¬ 
dent, in the chair, a paper was read by Mr. Plant, 
gardener, Woodheys Hall, Ashton-on-Mersey, on 
Indoor Mushroom Culture. 
Mr. Plant said he should endeavour to treat the 
subject from a practical standpoint, believing that 
to them as a society of gardeners, an interchange of 
opinions accompanied by the results of practical 
experience would best effect the object for which 
the Society was formed. Up to within a few years ago, 
when that powerful rival, the Tomato, found so 
much favour, the Mushroom stood unchallenged as 
a choice nutritious vegetable, and it might still be 
justly termed the beefsteak of the vegetarian. At 
the same time he did not think there was any 
other crop which a gardener grows that was more 
fickle, and gave him more uneasiness and annoyance 
in the absence of proper material and convenience. 
Where, however, proper conditions exist there need 
be no fear about getting good crops of Mushrooms. 
What, they might ask, are those conditions? The 
first thing necessary is a proper place in which to 
make up the beds. This is essential, although he 
knew that writers on the subject have treated the 
situation of the beds in a light manner. Mr. W. 
Robinson, for instance, in his otherwise very admir¬ 
able book on Mushroom culture, says :—“ Any species 
of outhouse will do for autumn and early winter 
crops,” but experience had taught him (Mr. Plant) 
the contrary, and, with all respect to Mr. Robinson, 
he wished to say that Mushrooms will not grow in 
any outhouse in which gardeners may choose to 
make up a bed, unless they so alter its conditions 
as to make it into a Mushroom-house proper. They 
might get a chance crop sometimes from a bed 
made up in a slipshod manner, but if they wanted 
a proper and constant supply they must have a 
system, as chance crops are so very misleading. He 
would now describe what he considered 
The Best Sort of House 
in which to grow Mushrooms. This does not need 
to be an elaborate or costly building, with extensive 
fittings, such as they sometimes saw. Say, for 
instance, they had a range of lean-to glass-houses 
facing south; the opposite or north side of the wall is 
just the place for a Mushroom-house. The walls can 
be built of either bricks or turf sods, the latter being 
preferable for all purposes except durability. It 
should be about 8 ft. wide inside ; this will allow space 
along the back wall of the shelves or benches on which 
the beds are to be made. He said shelves advisedly, 
because he believed there are frequent failures from 
making beds on the ground floor, as the ground tends 
to cool the bed too soon, and in damp places, such as 
Mushrooms delight to grow in, the material of which 
the bed is made sucks up the moisture and becomes 
cold, wet, and sodden. The lowest or ground bed 
should on this account have slates or boards forming 
the bench, resting on bricks running across, which will 
leave a cavity of 4J ins. under the bed, and thus allow 
the temperature of the house to circulate under as well 
as over the bed. This arrangement he had found to 
be a great deal better than making the beds on the 
ground floor. The other benches can be placed one 
over the other according to the height of the house. 
The width of the beds in a house 8 ft. wide should be 
about 4 ft. G ins., which will leave 3 ft. 6 ins. for a 
path. A flow and return pipe should run between the 
path and the outside wall, and be fitted with a valve 
so as to enable them to turn on or shut off the heat as 
required. There should be a ceiling of boards under¬ 
neath the spars which carry the roof ; this will form a 
cavity the thickness of the spars, and this cavity can 
be filled with dried moss or any non-conducting 
material which will prevent those sudden changes of 
temperature arising from climatic influences. 
Materials for the Bed. 
Turning now from the house to the material required 
for the making of Mushroom beds, he said the first 
and foremost is manure from hard-worked and hard- 
fed horses, for when a horse is hard worked he does 
not need so much physic. Soft mashes and other 
condiments spoil manure for the purpose of Mush¬ 
room growing, and it is useless to try to grow good 
Mushrooms when horses are eating green food, or 
when they are supplied with a liberal quantity of 
Carrots, Mangold Wurzel, or other succulent roots. 
He had from time to time made trial beds in order 
to satisfy himself on this point. About twelve months 
ago, not being satisfied with the manure he had at 
his command, he got the permission of his employer 
to send for a load from the Hulme Barracks. This 
was treated exactly as the other, made up in the same 
house, and occupied a part of the same bench, yet 
the result was six to one in favour of the manure 
from the barracks. He was convinced that there were 
more failures through using unsuitable manure than 
from all other causes put together. He would next 
describe his own way of making up Mushroom beds. 
The manure is wheeled from the stable, the straw 
and droppings all together being left undisturbed 
until there is enough for a bed. The droppings and 
short litter are then taken out and placed in a heap 
on the floor of a shed. If it appears at all dry give 
it a sprinkle of water, turn it over and leave it until 
it has become heated. If on the other hand, it is 
very wet, some dry loam or leaves can be mixed with 
it to absorb the extra moisture. As regards the time 
of turning, some judgment is required. For instance, 
if the manure is from a number of horses and is 
produced in one or two days, it will require turning 
for a longer period than if produced by only one or 
two horses. The object of turning is to prevent the 
material becoming too hot, which destroys the 
ammonia and thus deprives the bed of the very 
element of which Mushrooms are chiefly composed. 
His own plan is to turn it over every morning until 
the heat is on the wane. 
Spawning, and After Treatment. 
In making up, the manure should be spread in 
layers all over the space intended for the bed, and in 
no case be allowed to remain in heaps just as it is 
tipped out of the basket or barrow, as in that case the 
heat will not be steady all over the bed, but will come 
up in what are called pipes, and probably destroy the 
spawn. Neither will it retain its heat near so long as 
when shaken out in layers and beaten moderately 
down until the bed is about 15 ins. thick. After being 
made up, it must be left for a few days, and if the heat 
rises to above 80 degs., which it probably will do, no 
attempt should be made to spawn until it has fallen to 
75 degs. or 80 degs. In spawning break an ordinary 
brick of spawn into eight pieces and insert them into 
the bed with the hand, just under the surface, about 10 
ins. or 1 ft. apart, care being taken to press the manure 
firmly round each lump of spawn. The whole is then 
covered with a layer of good rich loam, about an inch 
thick and beaten moderately firm. Considerable 
differences of opinion exist as to whether Mushrooms 
derive any benefit from rich soil, but he had no hesita¬ 
tion in saying that they do derive considerable benefit 
from it. Road sweepings are often recommended for 
covering and mixing with Mushroom beds, but he 
objected to them on account of the quantity of other 
obnoxious fungi which is thereby bred to the detriment 
of the true Agaricus. After spawning and soiling, a 
steady temperature of 50 degs. to 55 degs. should be 
kept up, with as little fluctuation as possible, and in no 
case should it be allowed to rise above GO degs., other¬ 
wise the spawn will not penetrate through but only 
on the surface of the bed, and the result will be 
light, dry, and “flappy” Mushrooms. Great discretion 
is required in watering, for although they should 
never be allowed to become dry, neither should much 
water be given directly to the bed, but rather a humid 
atmosphere be kept up by syringing the walls and 
ceiling and throwing water on the floor of the house. 
Gathering the Mushrooms. 
Gathering Mushrooms also requires a certain amount 
of care, so as to do the least harm to the bed for future 
produce. Cutting them and leaving the stools in, does 
very grave injury to the bed for a considerable space 
round, literally poisoning it, therefore they should 
always be pulled, not cut in any way until just before 
they are to be cooked. He would not advise anybody 
to make their own spawn, unless they require it in 
very large quantities, as any respectable seedsman 
will supply it quite as reasonable in price as it can be 
made in small quantities. Finally, he would advise 
those who have not a Mushroom-house proper, or a 
shed which can be converted into one, to go in boldly 
for outdoor culture, as practised so successfully for 
the London markets by Mr. Barter, a system set forth 
so clearly by Mr. J. Wright, in his Mushrooms for the 
Million, which book he would advise all to read who 
attempt to grow Mushrooms. 
Discussion. 
The Chairman said that just before coming to the 
meeting he was looking over an old volume of The 
Cottage Gardener, in which he found the following 
paragraph relating to this subject:—“ It is not 
improbable that if in April or May you were to insert 
fragments of spawn in the soil beneath the turf, that 
during the summer the spawn would spread and 
increase the crop in the autumn.” As some of those 
present might have tried that experiment, he 
mentioned it with the object of eliciting information 
as to the result. 
Mr. Upjohn, gardener to the Earl of Ellesmere, 
said that no doubt the method of Mushroom culture, 
described by Mr. Plant, was as good a one as could 
be advocated, and he agreed with almost every state¬ 
ment made by the reader of the paper. He differed 
with him in this, that he did not think it necessary to 
turn the manure over so often. He always tried to 
secure as good a turfy soil as possible for the topping 
of the bed. He did not approve of growing Mush¬ 
rooms in dark places, for he believed that they 
naturally require light, and that if they could have it, 
the Mushrooms so grown would be better in every 
respect. 
Mr. Williamson, gardener to G. B. Blair, Esq., 
Whalley Range, said that he differed from Mr. Plant 
in many respects on this question, and yet he had 
produced as good Mushrooms as most people. He 
had also grown them equally well in dark places as 
in light ones. 
Mr. William Swan (Secretary) said he considered 
the specimens exhibited by Mr. Williamson were as 
good as need be grown anywhere, although his 
practice of culture seemed to differ from that usually 
recommended. His system appeared to consist in 
keeping down the temperature to a certain point, 
and he did this by spreading the manure over a large 
surface. 
Mr. Plant said he objected to be judged by the 
samples he had brought with him, as those were only 
shown as specimens of what could be produced by 
good soil in contrast with the product of poor soil. 
Mr. Williamson said he never allowed the heat of 
his manure to rise as high as 75 degs. 
Mr. Robert Tait said there was no doubt that some 
of the failures in Mushroom culture were due to the 
manure having been deteriorated by the horses from 
which it was produced having taken medicine. 
