‘MUS 
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be formed once a month, but for those i 
desired in summer and autumn it is 1 
not necessary to have a regular house; ] 
the bed may then be made in the open 
air, or an old shed, and should be formed 
of the same materials as before men¬ 
tioned, throwing it up in the form of a 
steep ridge, as the mushrooms are im¬ 
patient of stagnant moisture; it should 
be covered and spawned in the usual 
way, and covered with a thick layer of 
soft hay or straw, receiving a gentle 
sprinkling of water whenever dry, and a 
close watch for insects, especially wood- 
lice : these are very likely to congre¬ 
gate, and are capable of destroying all 
the produce of the bed. The insertion 
of a few pieces of spawn about the sides 
of half-spent cucumber or melon beds 
is an easy method of obtaining mush¬ 
rooms early in autumn, for it seldom 
fails to run freely, and without further 
trouble produces a good supply rather 
earlier than the natural season, and 
plenty of spawn, which then only needs 
cutting into portable pieces to be well 
dried and preserved till wanted for the 
next season. Mushrooms should always 
be pulled up, not cut off, as the remain¬ 
ing stump speedily becomes full of 
insects, which may spread to the other 
young ones. 
Mushroom spawn is occasionally 
manufactured in a peculiar manner to 
facilitate its stowage, preservation, or 
carriage to distant places. For this 
purpose bricks are formed of short stable 
dung and loam wetted into a stiff puddle 
and thoroughly wrought together, and 
by means of a wooden mould- the ma¬ 
terial is formed into pieces about the 
size of an ordinary brick; these are set 
in the sun to harden, and when they 
can be handled, two or three holes are 
cut in each, and a piece of spawn placed 
therern, plastering it over, with the same 
kind of stuff the bricks are made of; the 
whole number thus spawned require to 
be placed in a moderate moist heat, to 
induce the spawn to run through them; 
the floor of the mushroom house is a 
good position for them, or they may be 
stacked loosely together, and covered 
with litter or long dung that has a gentle 
steady heat; some care is necessary 
when the latter mode is adopted, lest the 
mass become over-heated. When pro¬ 
perly spawned, which is known by the 
threads having run through every part 
of each brick, they require only to be 
well dried and kept in a cool airy place, 
in order to have a supply of spawn 
whenever it may be wanted. 
MUSTARD. Sinapis nigra (Lin.) 
Nat. Ord. Crucifer re. This species is 
commonly cultivated in gardens as an 
ingredient in salads; and for manage¬ 
ment under such circumstances may be 
referred to the article Cress, with which 
it is usually sown. The seed is also 
used in pickles, and for grinding; when 
required for either of these purposes, it 
should be sown very thinly in April, on 
good ground, and kept clear of weeds; 
by September the seed will be ripe, and 
it may then be thrashed, or kept till a 
more favorable opportunity. The seed 
of this plant has been known to lie in 
the ground uninjured for the greater 
part of a century, so that where it has 
once been allowed to ripen and shed its 
seed, it becomes almost impossible to 
eradicate it. 
NASTUPtTIUM. Tropaolum rnajus 
(Willdenow.) Nat. Ord. Tropaolea?. 
This plant is grown for its seeds* which 
are pickled, and used in the manner of 
capers, to which they are preferred by 
some. It is a hardy annual, and there¬ 
fore only requires to be sown, where 
they are to remain, any time in the 
spring; the berries should be gathered 
just before they are full grown, or they 
separate and fall to the ground, when 
they soon become tough and unfit ^ for 
the purpose they are required for. The 
plants having trailing stems, which 
spread considerably, should be thinned 
to at least two feet from each other. 
NECTARINE. Amygdolus Persica , 
1 (3 Nectarina (Lin.) Nat. Ord. Rosacea. 
i It is pretty generally conceded that the 
Nectarine is but a variety of the Peach, 
. differing chiefly in having smooth-skinned 
: fruit, and in its flavour. So far as cuL- 
- tivation is concerned, they are identical, 
! and therefore the following remarks on 
n 
