6 5 8 
7 HE GARDENING WORL D. 
October 17, 1908. 
Culture of Mushrooms 
IN POTS. 
The artificial production of Mushrooms 
in the garden needs only reliable spawn, 
and some means of maintaining a steady 
temperature under varying atmospheric 
conditions. When the principles of 
Mushroom culture are thoroughly mas¬ 
tered they may be successfully applied in 
many different ways, and they render the 
practical work easy and tolerably certain. 
In order to raise Mushrooms in pots, fill 
8 or 9 inch pots with clean horse manure 
from a stable where the horses are corn- 
fed. Horse manure is a sine qua non for 
the successful culture of Mushrooms, and 
the higher fed the horses the better for the 
plants; manure from a racing stable is 
the very finest compost in which Mush¬ 
rooms can be grown. Ram these drop¬ 
pings firmly into the pots up to within 
inches from the top. The pots should 
be subjected to mild heat in a close frame 
or hot-house. When a temperature of 
about 60 or 70 degrees is attained in the 
pots, they may be spawned with three 
small pieces each, inserted in triangular 
Campanu la 
pyramidalis. 
These lovely plants are not grown so 
much as their merits deserve, the only 
reason being perhaps the small per¬ 
centage of flowers which one gets the first 
year, so that to grow it to perfection 
every year it is essential to make an 
annual sowing. A cold frame, providing 
frost is excluded, is all that is required 
for raising the seeds ; these should be 
sown in deep, well-drained pans early in 
the year and pricked on as required, 
using deep boxes, and eventually planted 
out before the roots get crippled. A few 
plants generally flower the first season, 
so a few should always be saved back 
when planting out to fill in. The soil 
should have been previously trenched and 
manured, and the plants planted out at 
least 1 ft. apart. Daffodils may be 
planted among them in autumn, so as 
to make a show in early spring before the 
flower stems appear. As these get long 
enough they should be supported, stak¬ 
ing out each one separately so as to cover 
out the ground and let light and air 
among them. In autumn or early 
spring a dressing of cow manure will 
help to keep the moisture in and be found 
beneficial. These plants' when potted 
make an effective summer grouping, 
though when grown in pots one hardly 
gets the quantity of bloom as when 
planted out. If grown for this purpose 
the best should be selected and potted on 
into 6 in. pots, and finally into 12 in. 
pots, plunging the pots in ashes in winter. 
A suitable compost consists of four parts 
good fibrous loam and half part of leaf- 
soil, half part of well-decayed manure, 
and a liberal quantity of sand or mortar 
rubbish sifted. Potting should be done 
firmly, and when the pots get full of 
roots liquid manure may be given with 
advantage. 
form round the inside of the pot. Cover 
with good maiden loam, close and ad¬ 
hesive, such as gardeners term a “bind¬ 
ing soil,” well sifted, about one inch deep. 
The soil must be damp, but on no ac¬ 
count wet. Continue the mild heat for a 
fortnight, when it may be allowed to drop 
unless the Mushrooms are required forth¬ 
with. It is better, perhaps, to secure a 
succession by removing some of the pots 
for future treatment, and bringing the 
rest forward by well watering in the frame 
with soft water and keeping up the tem¬ 
perature. The Mushrooms will be ready 
in about four to six weeks. The removed 
pots must be kept cool and dry until re¬ 
quired, and then brought into the frame 
and treated as directed, and if dealt with 
in relays, a succession of plants may be 
obtained. 
Miss D. Sparkes. 
“Really,” said the stylish lady, en¬ 
thusiastically to her friend, “it is quite 
worth while going to the Zoo, if only to 
see the wonderful display of Rhododen¬ 
drons.” 1 “Is it?” replied her friend, 
languidly; “I like to look at the great 
clumsy beasts, too, but it always smells 
so unpleasantly round the cages.” 
- Q. W. - 
Prize Competitions. 
GENERAL CONDITIONS. —Competitors most 
write on one side of the paper only. Regular 
paid contributors to THE GARDENING 
WORLD or other gardening journals are de¬ 
barred from entering, but occasional con¬ 
tributors may compete. The name and ad¬ 
dress of the competitor must appear on each 
article sent for competition. The Editor’s 
decision is final, and he reserves the right 
to reproduce, in any way,' any article or photo¬ 
graph sent for competition. The conditions 
applying to each competition should be care¬ 
fully read. 
WEEKLY 
PRIZES. 
A PRIZE OF TEN SHILLINGS will be given 
for the best paragraph or short article on any 
gardening subject, such as hints of practical 
interest to gardeners, notes on the propaga¬ 
tion or cultivation at towers, fruits or vege¬ 
tables, eradicate® of pests, etc. The para¬ 
graph or article must not exceed a column, but 
value rather than length will be considered in 
making the award. Mark envelopes “ Oom>- 
petition,” and post not later than the Monday 
following date of issue. Entries received later 
than Tuesday (first post) will be loft over until 
the following week. 
Two prizes of 2s. 6d. will be awarded each 
week for the two best letters, not exoeeding 
160 words, on any interesting gardening sub¬ 
ject. 
RESULTS OF 
LAST WEEK’S 
COMPETITIONS. 
Some of the best papers in this competition 
are too long, an 1 we desire readers to keep 
within a column. 
A prize in the Readers’ Competition was 
awarded to “ W. H. Whittaker," for the article 
on “ Best Kept Cottage Garden,” page 650. 
In the Prize Letter Competition a prize 
was awarded to “W. Glover,” for the article 
on “Prunella incisa ” ; and another to “New 
It ;ader ” for the article on “ Pancratium 
fragrans,” page 666. 
A PRETTY 
GARDEN 
A pretty, simple and cheap garden arc 
can be made by any handy man, prc 
vidmg the following instructions ai 
closely adhered to. First procure half 
dozen strong stakes, -]\ feet long, an 
firmly drive them down about i 
inches deep, and three feet apart; thre 
stakes on one side of the pathway an 
three on the opposite side. Next secu: 
three pieces of bended cane across tf 
pathway on top of both the opposi 
stakes. The next operation is to cov< 
the whole with wire netting, six fe 
broad and two-inch mesh. Our ne: 
thought is what plants to grow to cov 
it with. Really this is a matter of op: 
ion and taste. I covered mine wi 
Canary Creeper and Sweet Peas of va. 
ous colours, and it has proved beautif 
and attractive; the whole arch is nc 
completely covered and has been f. 
some time. The Sweet Peas and Cana: 
Creeper are planted alternately, first 
plant of the creeper, then two plant; 
Dorothy Eckford Sweet Pea, then anoth 
creeper, followed by a couple of Kii 
Edward VII. Peas, the creeper afterwar 
being alternately followed by Counte 
Spencer, Duke of Westminster, Blai 
Knight, Coccinea, Romolo Piazanni, ai 
Mrs. Walter Wright. Let these occu 
one side of the arch and finish the oth 
side with the creeper, alternately plant 
with two plants of the following beautif 
Sweet Peas : Dainty, Helen Lewis, La 
Grizel Hamilton, Earl Cromer, Blanc 
Burpee, Queen of Spain and John In 
man. 
A sunny situation is the best place f 
the arch, as in this position the creepe 
grow rapidly, and very soon complete 
cover all the structure. The Sweet Pe 
growing along with them, and th< 
flowers hanging gracefully, both insi 
and out, like so many variously colour 
butterflies, make a beautiful and c 
chanting garden scene, never to be f< 
gotten. The only attention needed 
to pick off dead flowers, and to trr 
straight, never allowing them to becoi 
straggling. A little tying of rambli 
branches is necessary here and jhe' 
The soil, too, in which they are gro 
should be fairly rich and should hr: 
a mulch of short manure in dry weatl 
to retain the moisture, with an occasioi 
watering with liquid manure. At ' 
base of the arch can be grown Stoc> 
Asters, Calceolarias, Violas, Scarlet G 
aniums, or any other of the attract 
bedding plants, so as to put a beautii 
finishing touch to this novel garn 
scenery. 
Joseph Floye 
-- 
Cactus Dahlia Mrs. Alfred Dyer. 
The London Dahlia Union gave thi 
first-class certificate on September ici 
The exhibitors were Messrs. J. Str 1 
wick and Son, St. Leonards-on-Sea. (.' 
p. 631.) 
Cactus Dahlia Rev. T. W. Jamieson. 
The London Dahlia Union gave thr 
first-class certificate on September iu 
The exhibitors were Messrs. J. Stredwl 
and Son,, St. Leonards-on-Sea. (|< 
p. 640.) 
J. M. Stevens. 
