HOUSE AND GARDEN 
N 
OVEMBER, 
IpIO 
A brown form of Agaricus arvensis, the “horse mushroom” of autumn pastures 
The beds are 
made by hand. The 
manure must be mel¬ 
low and well, divided, 
with all hard lumps 
crushed. It should 
be placed in layers a 
few inches high, each 
layer well trodden 
down, so that the 
whole will be of 
equal texture. All 
projecting straw is 
removed and the sur¬ 
face made level and 
firm. This is of great 
importance for satis¬ 
factory results. 
After the beds are made it is well to wait a few days and 
watch the fermentation of the compost. This can be best accom¬ 
plished by thrusting a thermometer 
deep into the manure. As long as 
the bed is over eighty-five degrees 
it is too hot and must be allowed to 
cool down. To do this, make a few 
holes at intervals with a stick and 
allow the heat to escape. When the 
bed remains steadily at about sev¬ 
enty-eight to eighty degrees it is time 
to put the spawn in. 
Mushrooms are propagated by 
planting spawn. There are three 
different kinds in the market— 
French, English and, of late, Amer¬ 
ican “Pure Culture.” They cost 
about fifteen cents per pound for 
the French and English varieties, 
and twenty cents for the American. 
Mushroom spawn is commercially 
sold in blocks or bricks, weighing 
a little over a pound, and can be 
procured at any reliable seed store or from the spawn specialists. 
One pound will suffice to spawn eight square feet of bed. 
Before using these blocks 
of spawn they are moist¬ 
ened with tepid water on 
both sides, and kept in a 
moderately warm place 
for a few days ; this will 
insure rapid growth when 
planted. They are broken 
up in pieces about two 
inches square, and open¬ 
ings in the surface of the 
bed are made by hand, 
about nine inches apart 
each way, to insert these 
pieces of spawn. Care 
must be taken to have the 
pieces placed at an even 
depth below the surface 
of the bed; and when this 
is accomplished, the com¬ 
post is pressed down 
around them carefully 
and snug. This will fin¬ 
ish the work of planting, 
Pure cultures of many edible mushrooms have been 
made by the “tissue culture” method. Some of these 
develop mushrooms in small glass vessels. Pleurotus 
ostreatus, the oyster mushroom 
One convenient shape of mushroom bed resembles a curved-glass showcase, 
the compost being piled on a board in the cellar with its vertical edge against 
a wall. By sloping the ends, as well as the front, more space is available 
Another convenient form of mushroom bed is the truncated pyramid, which 
may be piled on a board outdoors and carried into the cellar 
or spawning, as it is 
called. 
In about eight 
days the spawn 
should commence to 
grow. The beds are 
examined, and any 
piece which has failed 
to germinate is re¬ 
placed with fresh 
spawn. The proper 
germination can be 
easily judged by the 
presence of white 
threads in the ma¬ 
nure surround- 
\) ■ 
ing each piece of 
spawn. 
In about three weeks the spawn should have spread through¬ 
out the entire surface of the bed. Now the pieces of spawn are 
withdrawn, as they are apt to be¬ 
come mouldy and infect the mush¬ 
rooms, the empty openings are filled 
with soil from the bed, and the sur¬ 
face made smooth. 
All-decaying matter must be re¬ 
moved and the nearby surroundings 
kept clean and sweet, and free from 
rubbish. 
The entire bed is now covered 
with a thin layer—not more than one- 
half inch deep — of good virgin soil, 
preferably mixed with a little lime 
or land plaster. Moisten this before 
applying, but do not get it too wet, 
and press down so that it covers and 
adheres firmly to the surface of the 
bed. When the surface becomes 
dry, sprinkle lightly with tepid 
water. 
- This sprinkling should be done 
cautiously, otherwise the mushrooms will become mouldy. In 
a few weeks you will reap the harvest from your efforts, ac¬ 
cording to the tempera¬ 
ture, and the mushrooms 
will begin to appear. 
In gathering them, the 
cavities left by their re¬ 
moval should be filled 
with soil from the bed. 
The beds will continue to 
yield for two or three 
months — longer if wa¬ 
tered sparingly with liq¬ 
uid chicken manure, 
heated to seventy - five 
degrees before the appli¬ 
cation is made. If this is 
decided upon, be careful 
to avoid splashing the 
mushrooms with the ma¬ 
im rial water. 
The one difficulty is 
to get the right kind of 
spawn. It often degen¬ 
erates and is infected 
with bacterial organisms 
