Gbe IRatfonal nurseryman 
FOR GROWERS AND DEALERS IN NURSERY STOCK 
Copyrighted 1908 by the National Nurseryman Publishing Co., Incorporated. 
Vol. XVri. ROCHESTER, N. Y., JANUARY, 1909 No. 1 
MUSHROOMS: A SECONDARY CROP FOR NURSERYMEN 
How to Utilize Storage Cellars the Whole Year Round 
PURE CULTURE SPAWN COMPANY, PACIFIC, MISSOURI 
I T often happens that nurserymen have cellars or other 
storehouses standing idle and unused for a consider¬ 
able portion of the year. Why not utilize this space 
for the cultivation of a crop that is in demand the year 
round and which may be grown with a minimum of time 
and personal attention. 
The culture of mushrooms has received a new impetus 
since the introduction of pure culture strains. Instead of 
growing a mixture of varieties as formerly the grower can 
now secure definite varieties distinguished by color, form or 
consistency; and having pure culture spawn, may start his 
bed with much greater assur¬ 
ance of success than formerly. 
Pure culture methods of 
making spawn have been 
largely developed by Pro¬ 
fessor B. M. Duggar now' of 
Cornell University, when 
working in cooperation with 
the United States Department 
of Agriculture. The advant¬ 
age of this method became so 
apparent that several wfide 
awake firms promptly went 
into the business. One of the 
foremost and most successful 
is the Pure Culture Spawm 
Company, managed by Mr. 
Charles H. Winkler of Pacific, 
Missouri. This firm' holds the place of a pioneer in the field 
and stands ready to supply the trade with pure culture 
spawm of the best varieties in cultivation. The frontispiece 
illustrates two of the leading species from which cultivated 
forms have been derived and are now furnished by this 
company. 
In order to give nurserymen an opportunity of consider¬ 
ing the feasibility of an enterprise of this nature the follow¬ 
ing article by Professor Duggar excerpted from Farmer’s 
Bulletin 204 is presented. Further information may be 
obtained by writing to the Pure Culture Spawn company 
for their pamphlet of directions. The subject is well worth 
investigating. 
Commercial Mushroom Growing. 
“The successful cultivation of mushrooms in America 
has not been so general as in most of the European countries. 
It is in France and in England that the mushroom industry 
has been best developed. France is, properly speaking, the 
home of the present mushroom industry. Unusual interest 
has been shown in the United States in the growth of mush¬ 
rooms within the past few years, and it is to be hoped and 
expected that within the next 
ten years the industry will 
develop to the fullest limit of 
the market demands. The 
latter, will of course, be stimu¬ 
lated and developed by the 
increasing popular apprecia¬ 
tion of this product. In some 
cities and towns there is al¬ 
ready a good market demand 
for mushrooms, wdfile in others 
they may be sold only directly 
to special customers. This 
should be borne in mind by 
prospective growers. 
A glance at the figures in 
dicating the quantity of mush¬ 
rooms passing through the 
Central Market of Paris will afford a fair idea of the extent 
of this industry in France. The following tables give 
approximately the total quantity sold during several suc¬ 
cessive years and the production by months: 
Quantity of mushrooms passing through the Central Market 
of Paris, 1898-1901. 
Immediate Mean 
Year. Total pro- consump- Amount price per 
duction. tion. preserved. pound. 
Pounds. Pounds. Pounds. Cents. 
1898 . 3,960,000 2,200,000 1,760,000 26 
1899 . 6,820,000 4,092,000 2,728,000 26 
1900 . 8,580,000 4,180,000 4,400,000 25 
1901 . 9,680,000 3,740,000 6,160,000 24 
Illustrating the ridge method of growing pure culture mushrooms in cellars. 
