THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
7 
their adaptability for the commercial production of mush¬ 
rooms. A thorough study should also be made of open air 
conditions. 
In the construction of special mushroom houses any one 
of a variety of plans may be followed, and the selection of 
the style will depend, of course, upon its cheapness and 
efficiency in the particular locality. 
Preparing the Beds. 
' Mushroom beds are of two general tyj es, (i) the flat bed, 
fiequently referred to as the English, and (2) the ridge bed, 
known as the French type. In making the former the entire 
floor space may be utilized as a bed, and the beds may be 
arranged in the form of tiers or shelves. In low cellars 01- 
caves, and, indeed, wherever the amount of floor space is 
not the most important consideration, it would be well to 
avoid the use of shelves; but where the amount of floor 
space is an important factor they may be adopted to ad¬ 
vantage, although the 
additional labor invol¬ 
ved in the growing of 
a crop under such con¬ 
ditions is an item to 
be considered. When 
shelves are used one 
should be careful to 
whitewash these after 
each crop in order to 
avoid the increased 
danger from insect 
depredations. In any 
case, flat beds should 
be made from 8 to 10 
inches deep. 
Ridge beds enable 
one to get a somewhat 
greater surface space 
in a given area, but they 
are also more expensive 
so ’far as the labor of construction is concerned. Nevertheless, 
under many circumstances they are obviously desirable. 
They should be about 2 feet wide at the base, tapering 
gradually to the apex, and not more than about 18 to 20 
inches high when compressed and cased. The custom is to 
make two such beds in contact, and then to leave a walk 
way of 8 or 10 inches between the next two, and so on till the 
space is occupied. Next to the walls slanting beds may be 
prepared. 
In any case the manure is made up in the form of the bed 
desired, and should be firmed or compressed to some extent 
immediately in order to prevent drying out and burning 
when the secondary fermentation takes place. At this 
time, the manure should be neither wet nor dry, but merely 
moist. The only practical test of the proper moisture con¬ 
tent of the manure which can be relied upon is when upon 
compression, water can not readily be squeezed out 
of it. 
Spawning. 
After the beds are prepared the temperature should be, 
and it usually will be, too high for spawning. After a 
sudden rise the temperature should gradually fall during 
the course of a week or more to about 70° or 75 0 F. At this 
temperature spawning may take place, but under absolutely 
no circumstances should a bed be spawned at a temperature 
greater than 8o° F. If brick spawn is used, the bricks are 
broken into pieces about 2 inches square, or into from 10 
to 12 pieces per brick. These pieces are inserted from 1 to 2 
inches below the surface, about 10 inches to 1 foot apart, 
and the bed is then compressed into final shape. Under 
the most favorable circumstances it is unnecessary and un¬ 
desirable to water the beds for several weeks after spawning, 
or until they are loamed or cased. If they dry too rapidly 
and some water is necessary, it should be given as a surface 
spraying, for water in quantity applied to the young spawn 
will almost invariably cause the latter to damp off. 
Casing the Beds. 
An examination of 
the bed about two 
weeks after spawning 
is desirable, and if it is 
found that the spawn is 
“running” the beds 
may be cased with 
loam. Casing consists 
in applying a layer of 
loam from 1 to ij/f 
inches deep to the sur¬ 
face of the bed. This 
loam should have been 
secured some time in 
advance and carefully 
worked over or screen¬ 
ed to get rid of the 
largest pebbles, lumps 
and trash. When ap¬ 
plied it should be barely moist. Subsequently, if watered 
at all, it should be merely sprinkled in order to prevent any 
drying out of the bed. Neither a heavy clay nor a sandy 
loam should be used for casing purposes, but almost any 
other soil is good. 
Watering. 
As previously indicated, the spreading spawn should 
receive no water, or, at least, as little as possible. When 
however, the mushrooms begin to appear, more water will 
be required and a light sprinkling may be given once or 
twice each week or as often as the conditions demand. 
Beds which come into bearing in proper condition should 
never be drenched. It has been found by experience that 
under the most favorable conditions a bed will require 
occasional sprinkling, since, owing to continual evapora¬ 
tion, there will be a gradual loss of water, at least after 
the mushrooms begin to appear. Sprinklings should be 
Fig. 4. —Shelf beds in.warm cellar. 
From Farmers’ Bulletin No. 204. 
