September, 1912 
HOUSE AND GARDEN 
163 
A Delicious Dish 
UCH safer to use, fully as appetiz¬ 
ing, and much more hearty, is the 
giant “puff-ball” of the autumn fields. It 
frequently attains several pounds in 
weight, being of the shape, and at a little 
•distance very much of the appearance of a 
small boulder, is as solid as beefsteak, and 
tastes something like mushrooms. 
Most people prefer it to the latter when 
they have once become familiar with it. 
Puff-balls must be used before the inside 
becomes discolored and soggy ; while in the 
proper condition the interior is pure white 
and spongy. It is cut into slices about half 
an inch thick, pressed under a weight over 
night if moist, and cooked with butter or 
in a batter. 
Mushrooms for Winter Use 
OU should not, however, if you are 
fond of mushrooms, depend upon 
the uncertain natural supply, or the high- 
priced market supply. Grow your own. The 
space required in which to grow enough 
for a family is very small; the beds can, 
in fact, where very limited, be placed one 
above the other like shelves. The place 
for the bed may be found in any dry shel¬ 
tered spot, such as cellar, tool-house, ga¬ 
rage or greenhouse, where an even tem¬ 
perature of 53 0 to 58° can be maintained 
and direct sunlight excluded. The manure, 
which forms the basis of the beds, should 
be gathered fresh in the horse stable. 
Shake out the roughest straw and stack in 
a square pile, tramping down to induce 
rapid fermentation. As soon as the heap 
begins to steam, it must be restacked, to 
prevent “fire-fang” or burning out, and if 
it becomes dry, should be wet with the 
hose. This process must be repeated four 
or five times, adding at the third turning 
one-fifth, in bulk, of light loam to the 
heap. When a thermometer indicates after 
the last turning that the heat of the pile has 
fallen to about 115 0 , put the preparation 
into the beds about ten inches thick, beat¬ 
ing down each layer firmly as it is put in. 
After several days, when the thermometer 
has receded to 90°, the spawn is put in. 
It comes in bricks, usually 12 x 9 inches, 
each brick making about a dozen pieces. 
They are covered lightly, and the whole 
surface beaten down evenly. After eight 
days, add two inches of garden loam and 
compact it firmly. Water only when the 
soil becomes dry, using water that is not 
colder than 6o°, if possible. Beds made 
this month should begin to bear in October, 
and they can be had all through the win¬ 
ter if the required heat can be supplied, by 
“succession” beds. But a single one will 
continue to bear a long time. 
A Practical Hotbed 
HIS is the time of year when you 
should be considering the building 
of a good solid, permanent hotbed. It takes 
up no more room than a cold frame, the 
“roof” costs no more, and you can get al¬ 
most double the use out of it. Select a 
To obtain the incomparably rich bloom of 
the peonies, fall planting yields the best 
results 
sheltered and well-drained place and bank 
the earth well up around it. Make it of 
concrete if you want something involving 
no repair bills. For the greatest efficiency, 
safeness and ease in operating it, get 
“double-glass” sash. They cost more and 
are heavier to lift around, but they grow 
the stuff, for they regulate the ventilation, 
to quite a degree, automatically. 
If you have a really permanent home, 
however, a place where you expect, with 
good luck, to spend the rest of your natural 
days, you do not want to be content with a 
coldframe. With prices where they are 
to-day, a practical, small greenhouse is a 
well paying business investment, to say 
nothing of the fun and health it will fur¬ 
nish. Do not fail to look into the building 
of one now. If you can not afford to have 
one of the construction companies put one 
up for you, you can buy the material, and 
with a few days’ help from a carpenter 
put it up yourself. It is a practical propo¬ 
sition. 
Thanksgiving Lettuce 
T HE first crop of lettuce for frames or 
hotbeds, which should be ready for 
use from the middle of November to the 
middle of December, should be set out be¬ 
fore the first of October. Wet the soil 
well before planting, keep the temperature 
as near 45 0 at night as you can, and shade 
during the heat of day until they become 
established. 
In the Garden 
HIS is the crucial time for celery. That 
required for early use — up till 
Thanksgiving — should be “banked” where 
it is. That to be stored indoors will need 
“handling” only — that is, have the earth 
drawn up to it and then worked in around 
the stalks with the fingers. “Banking” 
consists in still further burying the stalks 
by banking up the earth with a spade. 
Boards, if available, may be used to take 
the place of both operations. 
All tender vegetables, such as melons 
and tomatoes, should be gathered before 
danger of frost and stored in a vacant 
frame, or other suitable place to ripen. 
This mushroom bed was made late in the summer in the most sheltered corner of an unheated 
greenhouse, and though small, it yielded very satisfactory crops 
