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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/24944-8.txt b/24944-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..78173b0 --- /dev/null +++ b/24944-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6301 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Mushrooms: how to grow them, by William Falconer + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Mushrooms: how to grow them + a practical treatise on mushroom culture for profit and pleasure + +Author: William Falconer + +Release Date: March 29, 2008 [EBook #24944] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MUSHROOMS: HOW TO GROW THEM *** + + + + +Produced by Steven Giacomelli, Leonard Johnson and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net +(This file was produced from images produced by Core +Historical Literature in Agriculture (CHLA), Cornell +University) + + + + + + +MUSHROOMS: +How to Grow Them. + +A PRACTICAL TREATISE +ON +Mushroom Culture for Profit and Pleasure. + + +BY +WILLIAM FALCONER. + +ILLUSTRATED. + + + +NEW YORK, +ORANGE JUDD CO. +1892. + + +Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1891, by the +ORANGE JUDD COMPANY, +In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. + + + + +PREFACE + + +Mushrooms and their extensive and profitable culture should concern +every one. For home consumption they are a healthful and grateful food, +and for market, when successfully grown, they become a most profitable +crop. We can have in America the best market in the world for fresh +mushrooms; the demand for them is increasing, and the supply has always +been inadequate. The price for them here is more than double that paid +in any other country, and we have no fear of foreign competition, for +all attempts, so far, to import fresh mushrooms from Europe have been +unsuccessful. + +In the most prosperous and progressive of all countries, with a +population of nearly seventy millions of people alert to every +profitable, legitimate business, mushroom-growing, one of the simplest +and most remunerative of industries, is almost unknown. The market +grower already engaged in growing mushrooms appreciates his situation +and zealously guards his methods of cultivation from the public. This +only incites interest and inquisitiveness, and the people are becoming +alive to the fact that there is money in mushrooms and an earnest demand +has been created for information about growing them. + +The raising of mushrooms is within the reach of nearly every one. Good +materials to work with and careful attention to all practical details +should give good returns. The industry is one in which women and +children can take part as well as men. It furnishes indoor employment in +winter, and there is very little hard labor attached to it, while it can +be made subsidiary to almost any other business, and even a recreation +as well as a source of profit. + +In this book the endeavor has been, even at the risk of repetition, to +make the best methods as plain as possible. The facts herein presented +are the results of my own practical experience and observation, together +with those obtained by extensive reading, travel and correspondence. + +To Mr. Charles A. Dana, the proprietor of the Dosoris mushroom cellars +and estate, I am greatly indebted for opportunities to prepare this +book. For the past eight years everything has been unstintedly placed at +my disposal by him to grow mushrooms in every way I wished, and to +experiment to my heart's content. + +To Mr. William Robinson, editor of _The Garden_, London, I am especially +indebted for many courtesies--permission to quote from _The Garden_, +"Parks and Gardens of Paris," and his other works, and to illustrate the +chapters in this book on Mushroom-growing in the London market gardens +and the Paris caves, with the original beautiful plates from his own +books. + +The recipes given in the chapter on Cooking Mushrooms, except those +prepared for this work by Mrs. Ammersley, although based on the ones +given by Mr. Robinson, have been considerably modified by me and +repeatedly used in my own family. + +My thanks are also due to Mr. John F. Barter, of London, the largest +grower of mushrooms in England, for information given me regarding his +system of cultivation; to Mr. John G. Gardner, of Jobstown, N. J., one +of the most noted growers for market in this country, for facilities +allowed me to examine his method of raising mushrooms; and to Messrs. A. +H. Withington, Samuel Henshaw, George Grant, John Cullen, and other +successful growers for assistance kindly rendered. + + WILLIAM FALCONER. + + DOSORIS, L. I., 1891. + + + + +TABLE OF CONTENTS + +CHAPTER I.--THOSE WHO SHOULD GROW MUSHROOMS 9 + + Market Gardeners-- Florists-- Private Gardeners-- Village + People and Suburban Residents-- Farmers. + +CHAPTER II.--GROWING MUSHROOMS IN CELLARS 15 + + Underground Cellars-- In Dwelling House-- Mr. Gardner's + Method-- Mr. Denton's Method-- Mr. Van Siclen's Method-- The + Dosoris Mushroom Cellar. + +CHAPTER III.--GROWING MUSHROOMS IN MUSHROOM HOUSES 34 + + Building the House-- Mrs. Osborne's Mushroom House-- Interior + Arrangement of Mushroom Houses-- Mr. Samuel Henshaw's Mushroom + House. + +CHAPTER IV.--GROWING MUSHROOMS IN SHEDS 39 + + The Temperature of Interior of the Bed-- Shelf Beds-- The Use + of the Term Shed. + +CHAPTER V.--GROWING MUSHROOMS IN GREENHOUSES 41 + + Cool Greenhouses-- On Greenhouse Benches-- In Frames in the + Greenhouses-- Orchard Houses-- Under Greenhouse Benches-- + Among Other Plants on Greenhouse Benches-- Growing Mushrooms + in Rose Houses-- Drip from the Benches-- Ammonia Arising. + +CHAPTER VI.--GROWING MUSHROOMS IN THE FIELDS 54 + + Mushrooms often appear Spontaneously-- Wild Mushrooms-- Mr. + Henshaw's Plan-- Brick Spawn in Pastures. + +CHAPTER VII.--MANURE FOR MUSHROOM BEDS 57 + + Horse Manure-- Fresher the Better-- Manure of Mules-- Cellar + Manure-- City Stable Manure-- Baled Manure-- Cow Manure-- + German Peat Moss Stable Manure for Mushroom Beds-- Sawdust + Stable Manure for Mushroom Beds-- Tree Leaves-- Spent Hops. + +CHAPTER VIII.--PREPARATION OF THE MANURE 69 + + Preparing out of Doors-- Warm Sunshine-- Fire-fang-- Guard + Against Over Moistening-- The Proper Condition of the Manure-- + Loam and Manure Mixed. + +CHAPTER IX.--MAKING UP THE MUSHROOM BEDS 74 + + The Thickness of the Beds-- Shape of the Beds-- Bottom-heat + Thermometers-- The Proper Temperature-- Too High + Temperature-- Keep the House at 55°. + +CHAPTER X.--MUSHROOM SPAWN 78 + + What is Mushroom Spawn?-- The Mushroom Plant-- Spawn Obtained + at any Seed Store-- Imported from Europe-- The Great + Mushroom-growing Center of the Country-- English Spawn-- + Mill-track Mushroom Spawn-- Flake or French Spawn-- Virgin + Spawn-- How to Keep Spawn-- New Versus Old Spawn-- How to + Distinguish Good from Poor Spawn-- American-made Spawn-- How to + make Brick Spawn-- How to make French (flake) Spawn-- Making + French Virgin Spawn-- A Second Method-- Third Method-- Relative + Merits of Flake and Brick Spawn. + +CHAPTER XI.--SPAWNING THE BEDS 96 + + Preparing the Spawn-- Steeped Spawn-- Flake Spawn-- + Transplanting Working Spawn. + +CHAPTER XII.--LOAM FOR THE BEDS 100 + + Cavities in the Surface of Beds-- The Best Kind of Loam-- + Common Loam-- Ordinary Garden Soil-- Roadside Dirt-- Sandy + Soil-- Peat Soil or Swamp Muck-- Heavy, Clayey Loam-- Loam + Containing Old Manure. + +CHAPTER XIII.--EARTHING OVER THE BEDS 103 + + Loam is Indispensable-- The Best Soil-- Proper Time to Case + Beds-- Inserting the Spawn-- Sifting the Soil-- Firming the + Soil-- Green Sods. + +CHAPTER XIV.--TOPDRESSING WITH LOAM 107 + + Beds that are in Full Bearing-- Filling up the Holes-- Firming + the Dressing to the Bed-- Beds in which Black Spot has + Appeared. + +CHAPTER XV.--THE PROPER TEMPERATURE 109 + + Covering the Beds with Hay-- A High Temperature-- In a + Temperature of 50°-- In a Temperature of 55°-- Boxing Over the + Bed. + +CHAPTER XVI.--WATERING MUSHROOM BEDS 111 + + Artificially Heated Mushroom Houses-- Sprinkling Water over + Mulching-- Watering Pots-- Manure Water-- Preparing Manure + Water-- Common Salt-- Sprinkling the Floors-- Houses Heated by + Smoke Flues-- Manure Steam for Moistening the Atmosphere. + +CHAPTER XVII.--GATHERING AND MARKETING MUSHROOMS 115 + + When Mushrooms are Fit to Pick-- Picking-- The Advantages of + Pulling over Cutting-- Pulled Mushrooms-- Gathering Field or + Wild Mushrooms-- Marketing Mushrooms. + +CHAPTER XVIII.--RE-INVIGORATING OLD BEDS 120 + + Worn Out Beds-- Spurts of Increased Fertility-- A Spent + Mushroom Bed-- Living Spawn. + +CHAPTER XIX.--INSECT AND OTHER ENEMIES 122 + + Maggots-- Black Spot-- Manure Flies-- Slugs-- "Bullet" or + "Shot" Holes-- Wood Lice-- Mites-- Mice and Rats-- Toads-- + Fogging Off-- Flock-- Cleaning the Mushroom Houses. + +CHAPTER XX.--GROWING MUSHROOMS IN RIDGES OUT OF DOORS + AROUND LONDON 136 + + Ridges in the Open Field-- Bed Making-- Manure Obtained from + City Stables-- The Site for Beds-- Planting the Spawn-- + Drenching Rains-- Russia Mats-- The First Beds-- The First + Cutting-- Watering. + +CHAPTER XXI.--MUSHROOM GROWING IN THE PARIS CAVES 143 + + Caves and Subterranean Passages-- The Manure Used-- + Preparation of the Manure-- Making the Beds-- The Spawn-- + Stratifying the Spawn-- Chips and Powder of Stone-- Earthing + Over the Beds-- Temperature in High-roofed Caves-- When the + Mushrooms are Gathered-- Proper Ventilation. + +CHAPTER XXII.--COOKING MUSHROOMS 150 + + Baked Mushrooms-- Stewed Mushrooms-- Soyer's Breakfast + Mushrooms-- Mushrooms à la Crême-- Curried Mushrooms-- Broiled + Mushrooms-- Mushroom Soup-- Mushroom Stews-- Potted Mushrooms-- + Gilbert's Breakfast Mushrooms-- Baked Mushrooms-- Mushrooms à + la Casse, Tout-- Broiled Beefsteak and Mushrooms-- To Preserve + Mushrooms-- Mushroom Powder-- To Dry Mushrooms-- Dried + Mushrooms-- Mushroom Ketchup-- Pickled Mushrooms. + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + + +Mushroom Cellar under a Barn, 16 +Boxed-up Frame with Straw Covering, 19 +Cross Section of the Dosoris Mushroom Cellar, 27 +Ground Plan of the Dosoris Cellar, 28 +Base-burning Water Heater, 32 +Vertical Section of Base-burning Water Heater, 32 +Mushroom House Built Against a North-facing Wall, 34 +Section of Mrs. Osborne's Mushroom House, 35 +Ground Plan of Mrs. Osborne's Mushroom House, 36 +Interior View of Mr. S. Henshaw's Mushroom House, 38 +Boxed Mushroom Bed under Greenhouse Bench, 41 +Mushrooms Grown on Greenhouse Benches, 43 +Wide Bed with Pathway Above, 44 +Mushrooms on Greenhouse Benches under Tomatoes, 45 +Mr. Wm. Wilson's Mushroom Beds, 51 +Mushroom Bed Built Flat upon the Ground, 52 +Ridged Mushroom Bed, 53 +Banked Bed against a Wall, 53 +Perspective View of the Dosoris Mushroom Cellar, 58 +Bale of German Peat Moss, 66 +Brick Spawn, 80 +Flake, or French Spawn, 82 +Brick Spawn Cut in Pieces for Planting, 97 +A Perfect Mushroom, 116 +Mushrooms Affected with Black Spot, 125 +A Flock-Diseased Mushroom, 133 +The Covered Ridges, 140 +In the Mushroom Caves of Paris, 147 +Gathering Mushrooms in the Paris Caves for Market, 149 + + + + +MUSHROOMS, HOW TO GROW THEM. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +THOSE WHO SHOULD GROW MUSHROOMS. + + +=Market Gardeners.=--The mushroom is a highly prized article of food +which can be as easily grown as many other vegetable products of the +soil--and with as much pleasure and profit. Below it is shown, in +particular, that this peculiar plant is singularly well adapted to the +conditions that surround many classes of persons, and by whom the +mushroom might become a standard crop for home use, the city market, or +both. It is directly in their line of business; is a winter crop, +requiring their care when outdoor operations are at a standstill, and +they can most conveniently attend to growing mushrooms. They have the +manure needed for their other crops, and they may well use it first for +a mushroom crop. After having borne a crop of mushrooms it is thoroughly +rotted and in good condition for early spring crops; and for seed beds +of tomatoes, lettuces, cabbages, cauliflowers, and other vegetables, it +is the best kind of manure. + +Years ago market gardening near New York in winter was carried on in +rather a desultory way, and the supply of salads and other forced +vegetables was limited and mostly raised in hotbeds and other frames, +and prices ran high. But of recent years our markets in winter have +been so liberally supplied from the Southern States, that, in order to +save themselves, our market gardeners have been compelled to take up a +fresh line in their business, and renounce the winter frames in favor of +greenhouses, and grow crops which many of them did not handle before. +These greenhouses are mostly long, wide (eighteen to twenty feet), low, +hip-roofed (30°) structures. In most of them the salad beds are made +upon the floor, and the pathways are sunken a little so as to give +headroom in walking and working. Others of these greenhouses are built a +little higher, and middle and side benches are erected within them, as +in the case of florists' greenhouses, and with the view of growing salad +plants on these benches as florists do carnations, and mushrooms under +the benches. The mushrooms are protected from sunlight by a covering of +light boards, or hay, or the space under the benches is entirely shut +in, cupboard fashion, with wooden shutters. The temperature is very +favorable for mushrooms,--steady and moderately cool, and easily +corrected by the covering-in of the beds; and the moisture of the +atmosphere of a lettuce house is about right for mushrooms. In such a +house the day temperature may run up, with sunshine, to 65° or 70° in +winter, but an artificial night temperature of only 45° to 50° is +maintained. Under these conditions, with the beds about fifteen inches +thick, they should continue to yield a good crop of short-stemmed, stout +mushrooms for two or three months, possibly longer. + +Besides growing the mushrooms in greenhouses our market gardeners are +very much in earnest in cultivating them in cellars. Some of these +cellars are ordinary barn cellars, others--large and commodious--have +been built under barns and greenhouses, purposely for the cultivation of +mushrooms. Several of these mushroom cellars may be found on Long +Island between Jamaica and Woodhaven. + +=Florists.=--In midwinter the cut flower season is at its height and the +florist endeavors to make all the money out of his greenhouses that he +possibly can; every available inch of space exposed to the light is +occupied by growing plants, and under the benches alongside of the +pathways dahlias, cannas, caladiums, and other tubers and bulbs are +stored, also ivies, palms, succulents and the like. In order that the +plants may be more fully exposed to the sunlight, they are grown on +benches raised above the ground so as to bring them near to the glass; +and the greenhouse seems to be full to overflowing. But right here we +have the best kind of a mushroom house. The space under the benches, +which is nearly useless for other purposes, is admirably adapted for +mushroom beds, and the warmth and moisture of the greenhouse are +exceptionally congenial conditions for the cultivation of mushrooms. +Florists need the loam and manure anyway, and these are just as good for +potting purposes--better for young stock--after having been used in the +mushroom beds than they were before, so that the additional expense in +connection with the crop is the labor in making the beds and the price +of the spawn. Mushrooms are not a bulky crop; they require no space or +care in summer, are easily grown, handled, and marketed, and there is +always a demand for them at a good price. If the crop turns out well it +is nearly all profit; if it is a complete failure very little is lost, +and it must be a bad failure that will not yield enough to pay for its +cost. Why should the florist confine himself to one crop at a time in +the greenhouse when he may equally well have two crops in it at the same +time, and both of them profitable? He can have his roses on the benches +and mushrooms under the benches, and neither interferes with the other. +Let us take a very low estimate: In a greenhouse a hundred feet long +make a five foot wide mushroom bed under the main bench; this will give +500 square feet of bed, and half a pound to the foot will give 250 +pounds of mushrooms, which, sold at fifty cents a pound net, brings +$125. This amount the florist would not have realized without growing +the mushrooms. + +=Private Gardeners.=--It is a part of their routine duty, and success in +mushroom growing is as satisfactory to themselves as it is gratifying to +their employers. Fresh mushrooms, like good fruit and handsome flowers, +are a product of the garden that is always acceptable. One of the +principal pleasures in having a large garden and keeping a gardener +consists in being able to give to others a part of the choicest garden +products. + +In most pretentious gardens there is a regular mushroom house, and the +growing of mushrooms is an easy matter; in others there is no such +convenience, and the gardener has to trust to his own ingenuity where +and how he is to grow the mushrooms. But so long as he has an abundance +of fresh manure he can usually find a place in which to make the beds. +In the tool-shed, the potting-shed, the wood-shed, the stoke-hole, the +fruit-room, the vegetable-cellar, or in some other out-building he can +surely find a corner; or, handier still, convenient room under the +greenhouse benches, where he can make some beds. Failing all of these he +can start in August or September and make beds outside, as the London +market gardeners do. + +In fruit-forcing houses, especially early graperies, gardeners have a +prejudice against growing any other plants than the grapevines lest red +spiders, thrips, or mealy bugs are introduced with the plants, but in +the case of mushrooms no such grounds are tenable. As the vines have +yielded their fruit by midsummer and ripened their wood early so as to +be ready for starting into growth again in December or January, the +grapery is kept cool and ventilated in the fall and early winter, but +this need not interfere with the mushroom crop. Box up the beds or make +them in frames inside the grapery; the warm manure will afford the +mushrooms heat enough until it is time to start the vines, when the +increased temperature and moisture of the house will be in favor of the +mushrooms because of the declining heat in the manure beds. The +mushrooms have no deleterious effect whatever upon the vines, nor have +the vines upon the mushrooms. + +=Village People and Suburban Residents.=--Those who keep horses should, +at least, grow mushrooms for their own family use and, if need be, for +market as well. They are so easily raised, and they take up so little +space that they commend themselves particularly to those who have only a +village or suburban lot, and, in fact, only a barn. And they are not a +crop for which we have to make a great preparation and need a large +quantity of manure. No matter how small the bed may be, it will bear +mushrooms; and if we desire we can add to the bed week after week, as +our store of manure increases, and in this way keep up a continuous +succession of mushrooms. A bed may be made in the cow-house or +horse-stable, the carriage-house, barn-cellar, woodshed, or +house-cellar; or if we can not spare much room anywhere, make a bed in a +big box and move it to where it will be least in the way. But the best +place is, perhaps, the cellar. An empty stall in a horse-stable is a +capital place, and not only affords room for a full bed on the floor, +but for rack-beds as well. + +=Farmers.=--No one can grow mushrooms better or more economically than +the farmer. He has already the cellar-room, the fresh manure and the +loam at home, and all he needs is some spawn with which to plant the +beds. Nothing is lost. The manure, after having been used in mushroom +beds, is not exhausted of its fertility, but, instead, is well rotted +and in a better condition to apply to the land than it was before being +prepared for the mushroom crop. The farmer will not feel the little +labor that it takes. There is no secret whatever connected with it, and +skilled labor is unnecessary to make it successful. The commonest farm +hand can do the work, which consists of turning the manure once every +day or two for about three weeks, then building it into a bed and +spawning and molding it. Nearly all the labor for the next ten or twelve +weeks consists in maintaining an even temperature and gathering and +marketing the crop. + +Many women are searching for remunerative and pleasant employment upon +the farm, and what can be more interesting, pleasant and profitable work +for them than mushroom-growing? After the farmer makes up the mushroom +bed his wife or daughter can attend to its management, with scarcely any +tax upon her time, and without interfering with her other domestic +duties. And it is clean work; there is nothing menial about it. No lady +in the land would hesitate to pick the mushrooms in the open fields, how +much less, then, should she hesitate to gather the fresh mushrooms from +the clean beds in her own clean cellar? Mushrooms are a winter crop; +they come when we need them most. The supply of eggs in the winter +season is limited enough, and pin-money often proportionately short; but +with an insatiable market demand for mushrooms all winter long, at good +prices, no farmer's wife need care whether the hens lay eggs at +Christmas or not. When mushroom-growing is intelligently conducted there +is more money in it than in hens, and with less trouble. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +GROWING MUSHROOMS IN CELLARS. + + +=Underground Cellars.=--Mushrooms require a uniform moderately low +temperature and moist atmosphere, and will not thrive where draughts, or +sudden fluctuations of temperature or moisture prevail. Therefore an +underground cellar is the best of all structures in which to grow +mushrooms. The cellar is everybody's mushroom house. + +Cellars are under dwellings, barns, and often under other out-buildings. +These cellars are imperative for domestic purposes, for storing apples, +potatoes and other root crops and perishable produce; and for these uses +we need to make them frost proof and dry. These cellars are ideal +mushroom houses, and any one who has a good cellar can grow mushrooms in +it. In fact, our market gardeners who are making money out of mushrooms +find it pays them to excavate and build cellars expressly for growing +mushrooms. Indeed, some of our market gardeners who have never grown a +mushroom or seen one grown, but who know well that some of their +neighbors are making money out of this business, instinctively feel that +the first step in mushroom-growing is a cellar. It is almost incredible +how secretly the market growers guard everything in connection with +mushroom-growing from the outside world, and even from one another; in +fact, in some cases their next-door neighbors and life-long intimate +friends have never been inside their mushroom cellars. + +If a cellar is to be wholly devoted to mushroom-growing it should be +made as warm as possible with double windows, and double doors, where +the entrance is from the outside, but if from another building single +doors will suffice. A chimney-like shaft or shafts rising from the +ceiling should be used as ventilators in winter, when we can not +ventilate from doors or windows; indeed, side ventilation at anytime +when the beds are in bearing condition is rather precarious. There +should be some indoor way of getting into the cellar, as by a stairway +from the building above it. Also an easy way of getting in fresh +materials for the beds, and removing the exhausted material. This is, +perhaps, best obtained by having a door that opens to the outside, or a +moderately large one from the building above. + +[Illustration: FIG. 1. MUSHROOM CELLAR UNDER A BARN.] + +The interior arrangement of the cellar is a matter of choice with the +grower, but the simplest way is to have beds three or four feet wide +around the inside of the walls, and beds six feet wide, with pathways +two, or two and one-half feet wide between them running parallel along +the middle of the cellar. Above these floor-beds, shelf-beds in tiers of +one, two, or three, according to the height of the cellar, may be +formed, always leaving a space of two and one-half or three feet between +the bottom of one bed and the bottom of the next. This is very +necessary, in order to admit of making and tending the beds and +gathering the crop, and emptying the beds when they are exhausted. + +Provision should also be made for the artificial heating of these +cellars, and room given for the heating pipes wherever they are to run. +But wherever fire heat is used in heating these cellars, if practicable, +the furnace itself should be boxed off, by a thin brick wall, from the +main cellar, and the pipes only introduced. This does away with the dust +and noxious gas, and modifies the parching heat. + +But in a snug, warm cellar, artificial heat is not absolutely necessary. +We can grow capital crops of mushrooms in such a cellar without any +furnace heat, simply by using a larger body of material in making the +beds,--enough to maintain a steady warmth for a long time. But this, +observe, is a waste of material, for no more mushrooms can be grown in a +bed two feet thick than in one a foot thick. In an unheated cellar the +mushrooms grow large and solid, but they do not come so quickly nor in +such large numbers as in a heated one. And a little artificial warmth +has the effect of dispelling that cold, raw, damp air peculiar to a +pent-up cellar in winter, and purifies the atmosphere by assisting +ventilation. + +Instead of using box beds, some growers spread the bed all over the +floor of the cellar, and leave no pathway whatever, stepping-boards or +raised pathways being used instead. Of course, in these instances, no +shelf beds are used. Others make ridge beds all over the cellar floor, +as the Parisians do in the caves. The ridges are two feet wide at +bottom, two feet high, and six or eight inches wide at top, and there +is a foot alley between them. Here, again, no shelf beds are used. + +One of the chief troubles with flat-roofed mushroom cellars is the drip +from the condensed moisture rising from the beds, and this is more +apparent in unheated than in heated cellars,--the wet gathers upon the +ceiling and, having no slope to run off, drips down again. Oiled paper +or calico strung along [Symbol: Inverted V] wise above the upper beds +protects them perfectly; whatever falls upon the passage-ways upon the +floor does no harm. + +In any other outhouse cellar, as well as in one completely given over to +this use, we can make up beds and grow good mushrooms. Mr. James Vick +told me that at his seed farm near Rochester he raises many mushrooms in +winter in his potato cellars; and so can any one in similar places. Mr. +John Cullen, of South Bethlehem, Pa., a very successful cultivator, +tells me that his present mushroom cellar used to be a large underground +cistern, but with a little fixing, and opening a passage-way to it from +a neighboring cellar, he has converted it into an excellent cellar for +mushrooms, and surely the immense crops that I have seen in that cave of +total darkness justify his good opinion of it. + +=In Dwelling House.=--The cellar of a dwelling house is a capital place +for mushroom beds, and can be used in whole or part for this purpose. In +the case of private families who wish to grow a few mushrooms only for +their own use it is not necessary to devote a whole cellar to it; but +partition off a part of it with boards and make the beds in this. Or +make a bed alongside of the wall anywhere and box it in to protect it +from cold and draughts, and mice and rats. You can have shelves above it +for domestic purposes, just as you would in any other part of the +cellar. Bear in mind that mushrooms thrive best in an atmospheric +temperature of from 50° to 60°, and if you can give them this in your +house-cellar you ought to get plenty of good mushrooms. But if such a +high temperature can not be maintained without impairing the usefulness +of the cellar for other purposes, box up the beds tightly, and from the +heat of the bed itself, when thus confined, there usually will be warmth +enough for the mushrooms, but if not spread a piece of old carpet or +matting over the boxing. + +The beds may be made upon the floor, and flat, or ridged, or banked +against the wall, ten or twelve inches deep in a warm cellar, and +fifteen to twenty inches or more deep in a cool cellar, and about three +feet wide and any length to suit. + +[Illustration: FIG. 2. BOXED-UP FRAME WITH STRAW COVERING.] + +The boxing may consist of any kind of boards for sides and ends, and be +built about six or ten inches higher than the top of the beds, so as to +give the mushrooms plenty headroom; the top of the boxing may be a lid +hung on hinges or straps, or otherwise arranged, to admit of being +easily raised or removed at will, and made of light lumber, say one-half +inch thick boards. In this way, by opening the lid, the mushrooms are +under observation and can be gathered without any trouble. When the lid +is shut they are secure from cold and vermin. Thus protected the cellars +can be ventilated without interfering with the welfare of the +mushrooms. A light wooden frame covered with calico or oiled paper +would also make a good top for the boxing, only it would not be proof +against much cold, or rats or mice. If desirable, in warm cellars, shelf +beds could be built above the floor beds, but in cool, airy cellars this +would not be advisable. + +Manure beds in the dwelling-house cellar may seem highly improper to +many people, but in truth, when rightly handled, these beds emit no bad +odor. The manure should be prepared away from the house, and when ready +for making into beds it can be spread out thin, so as to become +perfectly cool and free from steam. When it has lain for two days in +this condition it may be brought into the cellar and made into beds. +Having been well sweetened by previous preparation, it is now cool and +free from steam, and almost odorless; after a few days it will warm up a +little, and may then be spawned and earthed over at once. Do not bury +the spawn in the manure, merely set it in the surface of the manure; +this saves the spawn from being destroyed by too great a heat, should +the bed become unduly warm. This, if the manure has been well prepared, +is not likely to occur. The coating of loam prevents the escape of any +further steam or odor from the manure. + +On the 14th of January last, Mr. W. Robinson, editor of the London +_Garden_, in writing to me, mentioned the following very interesting +case of growing mushrooms in the cellar of a dwelling house: "I went out +the other day to see Mr. Horace Cox, the manager of the _Field_ +newspaper, who lives at Harrow, near the famous school. His house is +heated by a hot-water system called Keith's, and the boiler is in a +chamber in the house in the basement. The system interested me and I +went down to see the boiler, which is a very simple one worked with coke +refuse. However, I was pleased to see all the floor of the room not +occupied by the boiler covered with little flat mushroom beds and +bearing a very good crop. Truth to tell, I used to fear growing +mushrooms in dwelling houses might be objectionable in various ways; but +this instance is very interesting, as there is not even the slightest +unpleasant smell in the chamber itself. The beds are small, scarcely a +foot high, and perfectly odorless; so that it is quite clear that one +may cultivate mushrooms in one's house, in such a case as this, without +the slightest offence." + +=Mr. Gardner's Method.=--Mr. J. G. Gardner, of Jobstown, N. J., uses an +ordinary cellar, such as any farmer in the country has, and the little +that has been done to it to darken the windows and make them tight, so +as to render them better for mushrooms, any farmer with a hand-saw, an +ax, a hammer and a few nails and some boards can do. Mr. Gardner is a +market gardener, and has not the amount of fresh manure upon his own +place that he needs for mushroom-growing, but he buys it, common horse +manure, in New York, and it is shipped to him, over seventy miles, by +rail. And this pays; and if it will pay a man to get manure at such a +cost for mushroom-growing, how much more will mushroom-growing pay the +farmer who has the cellar and the manure as well? Mr. Gardner raises +mushrooms, and lots of them. When I visited him last November, instead +of trying to hide anything in their cultivation from me, he took +particular pains to show and explain to me everything about his way of +growing them. And he assures me that by adopting simple means of +preparing the manure and "fixing" for the crop, and avoiding all +complicated methods, one can get good crops and make fair profits. + +His cellar is sixty feet long, twenty-four feet wide, and nine feet high +from floor to ceiling. The floor is an earthen one, but perfectly dry. +It is well supplied with window ventilators and doors, and in the +ceiling in the middle of the cellar opens a tall shaft or chimney-like +ventilator that passes straight up through the roof above. While the +beds are being made full ventilation by doors, windows and shaft is +given, but as soon as there is any sign of the mushrooms appearing all +ventilators except the shaft in the middle are shut and kept closed. + +The bed occupies the whole surface of the cellar floor and was all made +up in one day. As a pathway, a single row of boards is laid on the top +of the bed, running lengthwise along the middle of the cellar from the +door to the farther end, and here and there between this narrow path and +the walls on either side a few pieces of slate are laid down on the bed +to step upon when gathering the mushrooms. Here is the oddest thing +about Mr. Gardner's mushroom-growing. He does not give the manure any +preparatory treatment for the beds. He hauls it from the cars to the +cellar, at once spreads it upon the floor and packs it solid into a bed. +For example, on one occasion the manure arrived at Jobstown, July 8th; +it was hauled home and the bed made up the same day, and the first +mushrooms were gathered from this bed the second week in +September,--just two months from the time the manure left the New York +or Jersey City stables. The bed was fifteen inches thick. In making it +the manure was first shaken up loosely to admit of its being more evenly +spread than if pitched out in heavy forkfuls, and it was then tramped +down firmly with the feet. The bed was then marked off into halves. On +one half (No. 1) a layer of a little over three inches of loam was at +once placed over the manure; on the other half (No. 2) no loam was used +at this time, but the manure on the surface of the bed--about three +inches deep--was forked over loosely. Twelve days after having been put +in the temperature of the bed No. 2, three inches deep, was 90°, and +then it was spawned. On the next day the soil from bed No. 1, spawned +four days earlier, was thrown upon bed No. 2, and then part of the soil +that was thrown on No. 1 was thrown back again on No. 2, so that now a +coating of loam an inch and a half deep covered the whole surface of the +bed. When finished the surface was tamped gently with a tamper with a +face of pine plank sixteen inches long by twelve inches wide. Mr. +Gardner does not believe in the alleged advantages of a hard-packed +surface on the mushroom bed, but is inclined to favor a moderately firm +one. + +He uses the English brick spawn, which is sold by our seedsmen. He has +tried making his own spawn, but owing to not having proper means for +drying it, he has had rather indifferent success. + +Almost all growers insert the pieces of spawn about two to three inches +under the surface of the manure, one piece at a time, and at regular +intervals of nine inches or thereabouts apart each way--lengthwise and +crosswise. But here, again, Mr. Gardner displays his individuality. He +breaks up the spawn in the usual way, in pieces one or two inches +square. Of course, in breaking it up there is a good deal of fine +particles besides the lumps. With an angular-pointed hoe he draws drills +eighteen inches apart and two and one-half to three inches deep +lengthwise along the bed, and in the rows he sows the spawn, as if he +were sowing peach stones, or walnuts, or snap beans, and covers it in as +if it were seeds. + +Mr. Gardner regards 57° as the most suitable temperature for a mushroom +house or cellar, and, if possible, maintains that without the aid of +fire-heat. He has hot-water pipes connected with the contiguous +greenhouse heating arrangement in his cellar, but he never uses them for +heating the mushroom cellar except when obliged to. By mulching his bed +with straw he gets along without any fire-heat, but this is very +awkward when gathering the mushrooms. + +After the bed has borne a little while it is top-dressed all over with a +half-inch layer of fine soil. Before using, this soil has been kept in a +close place--pit, frame, shed, or large box--in which there was, at the +same time, a lot of steaming-hot manure, so that it might become +thoroughly charged with mushroom food absorbed from the steam from the +fermenting material. + +Should any portion of the bed get very dry, water of a temperature of +90° is given gently and somewhat sparingly through a fine-spraying +water-pot rose, or syringe. Enough water is never given at any one time +to penetrate through the casing into the manure below or the spawn in +the manure. But rather than make a practice of watering the beds, Mr. +Gardner finds it is better to maintain a moist atmosphere, and thus +lessen the necessity for watering. + +Mr. Gardner firmly believes that the mushrooms derive much nourishment +from the "steam" of fermenting fresh horse manure, and by using this +"steam" in our mushroom houses we can maintain an atmosphere almost +moist enough to be able to dispense with the use of the syringe, and the +mushrooms are fatter and heavier for it. And he practices what he +preaches. In one end of his mushroom cellar he has a very large, deep, +open box, half filled with steaming fresh horse-droppings, and once or +twice a day he tosses these over with a dung-fork, in order to raise a +"steam," which it certainly does. It is also for this purpose that he +introduces the loam so soon when making the beds, so that it may become +charged with food that otherwise would be dissipated in the atmosphere. + +There is a marked difference between the mushrooms raised from the +French flake spawn and those from the English brick spawn, but he has +never observed any distinct varieties from the same kind of spawn. +Sometimes a few mushrooms will appear that are somewhat differently +formed from those of the general crop, but this he regards as the result +of cultural conditions rather than of true varietal differences. + +His last year's bed began bearing early in November, and continued to +bear a good crop until the first of May. After that time, no matter what +the crop may be, the mushrooms become so infested with maggots as to be +perfectly worthless, and they are cleared out. It is on account of the +large body of manure in the bed, and the low, genial, and equable +temperature of the cellar that the beds in this house always continue so +long in good cropping condition. + +Some years ago the mushrooms were not gathered till their heads had +opened out flat, but nowadays the marketmen like to get them when they +are quite young and before the skin of the frill between the cup and the +stem has broken apart. A good market is found in New York, Philadelphia +and Boston. + +=Mr. Denton's Method.=--Mr. W. H. Denton, of Woodhaven, L. I., is an +extensive market gardener about ten miles from New York. During the +summer months he grows outdoor vegetables for the New York and Brooklyn +markets, and in winter mushrooms in cellars. He has no greenhouses. +Under his barns he has two large cellars which he devotes entirely to +mushroom-growing in winter. The cellars are seven and one-half feet high +inside; the beds five feet wide, nine inches deep, two feet apart, and +run parallel to one another the whole length of the cellar. The beds are +three deep, that is, one bed is made upon the floor, and the other two, +rack or shelf fashion, are made above the floor bed, and two and +one-half feet apart from the bottom of the one bed to the bottom of the +one above it. The shelves altogether are temporary structures built of +ordinary rough scantling and hemlock boards, and the beds are all one +board deep. + +A common iron stove and string of sheet iron smoke pipes are used for +heating the cellars. But he tells me the parching effect is very visible +on the beds, it dries them up on the surface very much, and he has to +sprinkle them frequently with water to keep them moist enough. During +the late summer and fall months, on his return trips from the Brooklyn +markets, Mr. Denton hauls home fresh horse manure from the City stables. +All that he can put on a wagon costs him about twenty-five cents; and +this is what he uses for mushrooms. He prepares it in a large open shed +just above the cellar, and when it is fit for use he adds about +one-third of its bulk of loam. The loam is the ordinary field soil from +his market garden. He tells me he has better success with beds made up +in this way than when manure alone is used. We all know how very heavily +market gardeners manure their land, also how vigorously most writers on +mushroom culture denounce the use of manure-fatted loam in mushroom +beds, but here is Mr. Denton, the most successful grower of mushrooms +for market in the neighborhood of New York, practicing the very thing +that is denounced! While he likes good lively manure to begin with he is +very careful not to use it soon enough to run any risk of overheating in +the beds. The loam in the manure counteracts this strong heating +tendency, also with the loam mixture the shelf-beds can be built much +more firmly than with plain manure on the springy boards. When the +temperature falls to 90° he spawns the beds. + +He uses both French and brick spawn, but leans with most favor to the +latter, of which in the fall 1889 he used 400 lbs. He markets from 1700 +to 2500 lbs. of mushrooms a year from these two cellars. Mr. Denton +believes emphatically in cleanliness in the mushroom cellar, and +ascribes his best successes to his most thorough cleaning. Every summer +he cleans out his cellars and limewashes all over. + +=Mr. Van Siclen's Method.=--Mr. Abram Van Siclen, of Jamaica, L. I., +also grows mushrooms very extensively in underground cellars, whose +arrangements do not differ materially from those of Mr. Denton's, except +in his manner of heating. He runs an immense greenhouse +vegetable-growing establishment, as well as a summer truck farm, and +uses hot water heating apparatus, also smoke flues as employed +ordinarily in greenhouses, especially lettuce houses. The sheet iron +pipes, except in squash houses, he does not hold in much favor. + +[Illustration: FIG. 3. CROSS-SECTION OF THE DOSORIS MUSHROOM CELLAR.] + +=The Dosoris Mushroom Cellar.=--This is a subterranean tunnel or cellar +that was excavated and arched some ten years ago, expressly for the +cultivation of mushrooms. It is situated in an open, sunny part of the +garden, and its extreme length from outside of end walls is eighty-three +feet; but of this space nine feet at either end are given up to +entrance pits and a heating apparatus; and the full length of the +mushroom cellar proper inside the inner walls is sixty-three feet. The +walls and arch are of brick, and the top of the arch is two and one-half +feet below the surface of the soil. This tunnel or arch is seven feet +high in the middle and eight feet wide within, but a raised +two-feet-wide pathway along the middle lessens the height to six and +one-half feet. Between this pathway and the sides of the building there +is only an earthen floor, but it is quite dry, as the cellar is +perfectly drained. Three ventilators sixteen feet apart had been built +in the top of the arch, but this was a mistake, as the condensation in +the cellar in winter from these ventilators always keeps the place under +them cold and wet and rather unproductive. One tall wooden chimney-like +shaft would have been a better ventilator than the three ventilating +holes now there, which are covered over with an iron and glass grating. + +[Illustration: FIG. 4. GROUND PLAN OF THE DOSORIS CELLAR.] + +At one end of the house and behind the stairs descending into the pit is +the heating apparatus, from which a four-inch hot-water pipe passes +around inside the house near the wall and only four inches above ground. +A three-feet wide hemlock flooring for the bed to rest on is laid along +each side and about four inches above the pipe, leaving the aperture +between the earth floor and the bottom of the bed along the pathway open +for the escape of the artificial heat. One might think that the hot +water pipe under, and so near the bed, would dry it up and destroy it, +but such is not the case. In a cellar of this kind very little fire heat +is needed to maintain the required temperature, and I do not know where +else the pipes could be put where they would do the work any better and +be more out of the way. + +These beds, for convenience in building them, spawning them, molding +them over, gathering the crop and watering the beds, and removing the +manure after the beds are exhausted, are built against the wall and with +a rounded face, thus giving a three and one-half feet wide surface of +bed in place of one three feet wide, were it built flat. This gain in +superficial area is not so important as it might seem, for the part +immediately next to the edge of the pathway seldom yields very much. +Above these beds a string of shelf beds is arranged which runs the full +length of both sides of the cellar. From the floor of the under bed to +the floor of the top bed is three feet, and the upper beds are just as +wide as the lower ones. The shelves for the beds are temporary affairs, +put up and taken down every year. The cross-bars rest in sockets in the +wall made by cutting out half a brick every four feet along the wall, +and on upright strips or feet one and one-fourth by four inches wide, or +two by three inches, set under the inside ends of the cross-bars and +resting on the cement floor close up against the lower bed. By having +this foot end a quarter of an inch higher than the wall end the heavy +weight of the bed is thrown toward the wall. Loose hemlock boards set +close together form the flooring, for there is no need of nailing any of +them except the one next to the upright face board, which is ten inches +wide, and nailed along the front, by the pathway, to the posts and shelf +board. By tilting the weight to the wall the upright board is firm +enough to hold its place against any pressing out in building the beds. +The supporting legs of the shelves are also nailed to the face board of +the lower bed, and this holds them perfectly solid in place. The shelf +beds are eight inches deep at front, but can be made of any depth +desired against the walls at the back. The cold wall has no injurious +effect upon the bearing of the bed, and many fine mushrooms grow close +against the walls. + +The entrance pits are nine and one-half feet deep from ground level, +three feet eight inches wide, nine feet long, and are covered over with +folding doors on strong hinges, and descended into by means of wooden +movable stairs. These dimensions are needed at the end where the heating +apparatus is placed, but at the other end, although it is convenient in +handling the manure, a space two or three feet less would have answered +just as well. A close door at either end of the mushroom cellar proper +separates it from the end pits. The cellar is divided in the middle by a +partition. This gives, when it is in full working order, eight beds, +each thirty-one and one-half feet long, or a continuous run of 252 feet +or 756 square feet of surface, and as the beds are renewed twice a year +this gives 504 running feet of bed, or 1512 square feet of surface. A +common average crop is three-fifths of a pound of mushrooms to the +square foot of bed, and a good fair average is four-fifths of a pound. +This would give over a thousand pounds of mushrooms a season from this +cellar when it is in full running capacity. But as the aim is to have a +steady supply of mushrooms from October until May, and not a flush at +any one time and a scarcity at another, only two beds are made at a +time, allowing a month to intervene between every two. + +For the two beds, No. 1, preparing the manure begins in July, the beds +are made up in August, and gathering of the crop commences in October; +work on the two beds, No. 2, begins in August, the beds are made up in +September, and the mushrooms gathered in November; preparing for the two +beds, No. 3, begins in September, the beds are made up in October, +gathering commences in December; for the two beds, No. 4, work begins in +October, the beds are made up in November, and the crop is gathered in +January; for the two beds, No. 5 (No. 1 renewed), work begins in +November, the beds are made up in December, and the crop is gathered in +February; for the two beds, No. 6 (No. 2 renewed), work begins in +December, the beds are made up in January, and the crop is gathered in +March; for the two beds, No. 7 (No. 3 renewed), work begins in January, +the beds are made up in February, and the crop is gathered in April; for +the two beds, No. 8 (No. 4 renewed), work begins in February, the beds +are made up in March, and the mushrooms gathered in May. After this time +of year the summer heat renders mushroom-growing uncertain, and the +maggots destroy the mushrooms. This system allows each bed a bearing +period of two months. After yielding a crop for some seven to nine weeks +the beds are pretty well exhausted and hardly worth retaining longer. +They might drag along in a desultory way for weeks, but as soon as they +stop yielding a paying crop we clear them out and start afresh. + +And when the mushroom season is closed we lift out and remove the +manure, clean the boards used in shelving, and give the cellar a +thorough cleaning,--whitewash its walls and paint its woodwork with +kerosene to destroy noxious insects and fungi. + +[Illustration: FIG. 5. BASE-BURNING WATER HEATER.] + +[Illustration: FIG. 6. VERTICAL SECTION.] + +The heating apparatus consists of one of Hitchings' base-burner boilers +with a four-inch hot-water pipe that passes around inside the cellar, +and it deserves special mention because of its economy, efficiency, and +the satisfaction it gives generally. This boiler needs no deep or +spacious stoke-hole. Here it is set under the stairway in a pit four +and one-half feet long, by three feet wide, by eighteen inches deep; it +is not in the way, and there is plenty of room to attend to it. The +heater, like a common parlor stove, has a magazine for the supply of +coal. It has a double casing with the water space between and down to +the bottom of it, so that when set in a shallow pit there is no +difficulty whatever about the circulation of the water in the pipes. The +hot water passes from the boiler to an open iron tank placed two feet +above it, as shown in the engraving, and thence down through a +perpendicular pipe till it reaches and enters the horizontal pipes that +pass around the cellar and, returning, enters the boiler again near its +base. The boiler and pipes are filled from this tank, which should +always be kept at least half full of water, and looked into every day +when in use, so that when the water gets lower than half full it may be +filled up again. About 134 running feet of four-inch pipe are included +inside the cellar (sixty-four feet on each side and six feet across at +further end); this gives 134 square feet of heating surface, or a +proportion of about a square foot of heating surface for every fifteen +cubic feet of air space in the cellar. This proportion is more than +ample in the coldest weather, but beneficial in so far that there is no +need to fire hard to maintain the proper temperature. A three-inch pipe +would have given heat enough, but the heat would not have been so +steady. Both nut and stove coal is used in this heater, and in the +severest winter weather it burns not more than a common hodful in +twenty-four hours. It is so easily regulated that the temperature of the +cellar day or night, or in mild or severe weather, never varies more +than three degrees, namely from 57° to 60°. + +In a close underground cellar where the temperature in midwinter without +any artificial heat does not fall below 40° or 45° it is an easy matter, +with such a heater as this is, to maintain any desired temperature. If +the grates are renewed now and then, the heater should last in good +condition for twenty years. With the ordinary stove there is danger of +fire, of escaping gas and of sudden changes of temperature, and the evil +influence of a dry, parching heat--just what mushrooms most dislike--is +ever present. The first cost of a hot water apparatus may be more than +that of an old stove and sheet iron pipes, but where mushrooms are grown +extensively, as a matter of economy, efficiency, and convenience, the +advantages are altogether on the side of the hot water apparatus. +Furthermore, hot water pipes can be run where it would be unsafe to put +smoke pipes. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +GROWING MUSHROOMS IN MUSHROOM HOUSES. + + +[Illustration: FIG. 7. MUSHROOM HOUSE BUILT AGAINST A NORTH-FACING +WALL.] + +A mushroom house is a building erected purposely for mushroom culture. +It may be wholly or partly above ground, and built of wood, brick, or +stone, and extend to any desired dimensions. But a few general +principles should be borne in mind. Mushrooms in houses are a winter and +not a summer crop, and they are impatient of sudden changes of +temperature and of a hot or arid atmosphere. Therefore, build the houses +where they will be warm and well-sheltered in winter, so as to get the +advantage of the natural warmth, and spare the artificial heat. They +should be entered from an adjoining building, or through a porch on the +south side, so as to guard against cold draughts or blasts in winter +when the door would be opened in going into or coming out of the house. +At the same time, do not lose sight of convenience in handling the +manure, either in bringing it into the house or taking it out, and with +this in view it may be necessary to have a door opening to the outside. +All outside doors should be double and securely packed around in winter. +Side window ventilators are not necessary, at the same time they are +useful in the early part of the season and in summer time; they should +be double and tightly packed in winter. The walls, if made of brick, +should be hollow, if of wood, double; indeed, walls built as if for an +ice house are the very best for a mushroom house, and should be banked +with earth, tree leaves, or strawy manure in winter, to help keep the +interior of the house a little warmer. + +[Illustration: FIG. 8. SECTION OF MRS. C. J. OSBORNE'S MUSHROOM HOUSE.] + +The floor should be perfectly dry; that is, so well drained that water +will not stand upon it, but it is immaterial whether the floor is an +ordinary earthen one or of wood or cement. + +[Illustration: FIG. 9. GROUND PLAN OF MRS. OSBORNE'S MUSHROOM HOUSE.] + +The roof should be double and always sloping,--never flat. The hoar +frost that appears in severe weather inside a single roof is likely to +melt as the heat of the day increases, and this cold drip falling upon +the beds below is very prejudicial to the mushroom crop. A double roof +saves the beds from this drip, and it also renders the house warmer, and +less fire is needed to maintain the requisite temperature. One might +think that a single roof like that of a dwelling house, and then a flat +ceiling under it, would be equivalent to a double sloping roof, but it +is not. The moisture arising from the interior of the house condenses +upon the flat ceiling, and the water, having no way of running off, +drips down upon the beds. With a sloping ceiling or inside roof the +water runs down the ceiling to the walls. A very pointed example of this +may be seen in Mrs. C. J. Osborne's excellent mushroom house at +Mamaroneck, N. Y. It had been built in the most substantial manner, with +a sloping roof and a flat ceiling under the roof, but so much annoyance +was caused by the drip falling from it upon the beds below that her +gardener had the flat ceiling removed and a sloping one built instead, +and now it works splendidly, and a few months ago I saw as fine a crop +of mushrooms in that house as one could wish to look at. + +The interior arrangement of the mushroom house may resemble that of the +mushroom cellar. Beds may be made alongside of the walls and, if there +is room, also along the middle of the house, and shelves erected in the +same way as in the cellar. But in the case of cold, thin outside walls, +the shelf-beds should not be built close against them, but instead boxed +off about two inches from the walls, so as to remove the beds from the +chilling touch of the wall in winter. Economy may suggest the +advisability of high mushroom houses, so that one may be able to build +one shelf above another, until the shelves are two, three, or four deep. +But this is a mistake. The artificial heat required to maintain a +temperature of 55° in midwinter in a house built high above ground would +be too parching and unsteady for the good of the mushrooms; besides, a +second shelf is inconvenient enough, and when it comes to a third or a +fourth the inconvenience would be too great, and overreach any advantage +hoped for in economy of space. An unheated mushroom house must be +regarded as a shed, and treated similarly, as described in the following +chapter. + +In large, well appointed, private gardens, a mushroom house is +considered an almost indispensable adjunct to the glasshouse +establishment, and is generally built against the north-facing wall of a +greenhouse. In this way it gets the benefit of the warm wall, and may be +easily heated by introducing one or two hot-water pipes from the +greenhouse system; besides, in winter the house may be entered from the +glass house or adjacent shed, and in this way be exempted from the +inclement breath of the frosty air that would be admitted in opening the +outside door. + +[Illustration: FIG. 10. INTERIOR VIEW OF MR. S. HENSHAW'S MUSHROOM +HOUSE.] + +=Mr. Samuel Henshaw's Mushroom House.=--Mr. Henshaw has raised +mushrooms several years at his place on Staten Island. His mushroom +house is nine feet wide and sixty feet long. One side is a brick wall +and the other is double boarded. The roof is of tin, in which there are +three sashes each two by five feet, supplying ample light. At each end +is a door giving convenient access to the interior, for carrying in and +removing material without disturbing the bearing beds. In winter the +roof is covered with a coating of salt hay, to preserve an equable +temperature and prevent the moisture from condensing on the ceiling and +falling in drops on the beds. The floor is of earth, which, when well +drained, he thinks preferable to either brick or lumber. The floor is +entirely covered with beds, no shelves or walks being used. This makes +it necessary to step on the beds, but as no covering is employed it is +always easy to avoid stepping on the clusters of young mushrooms, and so +long as they are left uninjured the bed is seldom, if ever, impaired by +the compacting effect of the treading. In order to maintain a necessary +winter temperature of 60° a four-inch hot-water pipe extends the whole +length of the house about two feet from the floor. On the other side of +the brick wall is a greenhouse which, by keeping the wall warm, helps to +keep the mushroom house warm. Mr. Henshaw divides this house into three +equal beds. The part at the further end of the house is made up in the +fall and comes into bearing in December; the middle part a month later +to come in a month later, and the near end still a month later, to +follow as another succession. Then, if need be, and he wishes to renew +the bed at the further end of the house, he clears it out and supplies +fresh material for the new bed. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +GROWING MUSHROOMS IN SHEDS. + + +Any one who has a snug, warm shed, may have a good mushroom house, but +it is imperative that the floor should be dry, and the roof water-tight. +Of course a close shed, as a tool-house or a carriage-house, is better +than an open shed, but even a shed that is open on the south side, if +closely walled on the other sides, can also be made of good use for +mushroom beds. While open sheds are good enough for beds that yield +their crop before Christmas, they are ill-adapted for midwinter beds. +The temperature of the interior of a mushroom bed should be about 60° +during the bearing period, and the temperature of the surface of the bed +45° to 50° at least; if lower than that the mycelium has a tendency to +rest, and the crop stagnates. Now this temperature can not be maintained +in an open shed, in hard frosty weather, without more trouble than the +crop is worth. The beds would have to be boxed up and mulched very +heavily. And even in a close, warm shed, protection in this way would +have to be given, but the bed should not be under the penetrating +influence of piercing winds and draughts. The mushroom beds should +therefore be made in the warmest parts of the warmest sheds. + +The beds should be made upon the floor and as much to one side as +possible, so as to be out of the way, and in form flat on the ground, or +rounded up against the sides of the shed; in the latter case the house +should be well banked around on the outside with litter or tree leaves +or earth, so as to exclude frost from the lower part of the walls, and +thereby prevent the manure in the beds from getting badly chilled. The +beds should be made deeper in a cool shed than in a cellar or warm +mushroom house, so that they may retain their heat for a long time. + +Shelf beds should not be used in unheated sheds, because of the +difficulty in keeping them warm in winter. As a rule, shelf beds are not +made as deep as are those upon the floor; hence they do not hold their +heat so long. When cold weather sets in it is easy to box up and cover +over the lower beds to keep them warm, but in the case of shelf beds, +that are exposed above and below, it is more trouble to protect them +sufficiently against cold than they are worth. + +Generally speaking, the term shed is applied to unheated, simple wooden +structures; for instance, the wood-shed, the tool-shed, a +carriage-house, or a hay-barn. But we often use the name shed to +designate heated buildings, as the potting and packing sheds of +florists. Were it not that these heated sheds are simply workrooms, and +where there is a great deal of going out and in, and, consequently, +draughts and sudden and frequent fluctuations of temperature, the +treatment of mushroom beds made in them would be the same as that +advised for regular mushroom houses; but as the circumstances are +somewhat different the treatment, too, should not be the same. A warm +potting shed is an excellent place for mushroom beds. Here they should +be made under the benches and covered up in front with thick calico, +plant-protecting cloth, or light wooden shutters, to exclude cold +currents and sudden atmospheric changes, and guard against the beds +drying too quickly. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +GROWING MUSHROOMS IN GREENHOUSES. + + +Any one who has a greenhouse can grow mushrooms in it. And it does not +matter what kind of greenhouse it is, whether a fruit house, a flower +house, or a vegetable house, it is available for mushrooms. One of the +advantages of raising mushrooms in a greenhouse is that they grow to +perfection in parts of the greenhouse that are nearly worthless for +other purposes; for instance, under the stages, where nothing else grows +well, although rhubarb and asparagus might be forced there, and a little +chicory and dandelion blanched. + +[Illustration: FIG. 11. BOXED MUSHROOM BED UNDER GREENHOUSE BENCH.] + +Cool greenhouses, in all cases, are better for mushrooms than hothouses. +Cool houses are seldom kept at a lower temperature than 45° or 50° in +winter, while hothouses run from 60° to 70° at night, with a rise of ten +to twenty degrees by day, and this is too hot for mushrooms. It is a +very easy matter, by means of covering with hay or boxing over and +covering the boxing with hay or matting, to keep a mushroom bed in a +cool house warm and free from marked changes in temperature; but it is a +difficult matter to keep a mushroom bed in a hothouse cool enough and +prevent sudden rises in temperature. + +=On Greenhouse Benches.=--It sometimes happens that the beds are formed +on the greenhouse benches, and the mushrooms occupy the same place that +might be assigned to roses or any other planted-out crop. The beds on +the benches are made one board deep, that is, eight to ten inches of +short, fresh manure, and otherwise as in the case of beds anywhere else. +After the beds are spawned and cased with soil, by covering them over +with a layer of straw litter or hay, sudden drying out of the surface is +prevented, and in order to further prevent this drying it is a good plan +to sprinkle some water over the mulching every day or two, but not +enough to soak through into the bed. About the time the young mushrooms +commence to show themselves, remove the mulching and replace it with a +covering of shutters raised another board's height above the bed, or +with strong calico or plant-protecting cloth hung curtain-fashion over +the beds. The accompanying illustration, Fig. 12, for which I am +indebted to Henry A. Dreer, of Philadelphia, gives an excellent idea of +how mushrooms may be grown and cared for on greenhouse benches. This +illustration, Mr. Dreer writes: "is made from a photograph of a crop +grown on the greenhouse benches at the Model Farm, by Mr. McCaffrey, +gardener to J. E. Kingsley, Esq., of the Continental Hotel.... No +covering of litter is used, but the requisite shading on sunny days is +secured by the use of cotton cloth stretched over the top of the bed, as +shown in the engraving." + +[Illustration: FIG. 12. MUSHROOMS GROWN ON GREENHOUSE BENCHES AT MR. J. +E. KINGSLEY'S MODEL FARM.] + +My principal objection to mushroom beds on greenhouse benches is their +liability to frequent and marked changes of atmospheric temperature and +moisture, and to drying out. In midwinter they may be all right, but as +spring advances and the sun's brightness and heat increase, the +susceptibility of the beds to become dry also increases. + +[Illustration: FIG. 13. WIDE BED WITH PATHWAY ABOVE.] + +=In Frames in the Greenhouses.=--Mr. J. G. Gardner has a range of +greenhouses some 900 feet long--the longest unbroken string of +glasshouses that I know of--for the forcing of fruit and vegetables in +winter; grapes, peaches, nectarines, figs, tomatoes, cucumbers, snap +beans, peas, lettuce. This range is divided into several compartments, +to accommodate the different varieties of crops, also so that some can +be run as succession houses. In order to make the most of everything, +market-gardener-like, he doubles up his crops wherever possible, and for +this end he finds no crop more amenable and profitable than mushrooms. +It matters nothing to him whether the house is cold or warm, he can grow +mushrooms in it anyway, and in order to be master of the situation he +makes his mushroom beds in hotbed frames inside the greenhouses. By +attending to ventilating or keeping close, or covering up or leaving +bare, he can properly regulate the temperature of the mushroom bed, no +matter how hot or cold the atmosphere of the greenhouse may be. In the +same way--by shading the panes or unshading them--he governs the light +admitted to the mushrooms. + +The greenhouses in which the mushrooms are grown are orchard houses, +that is, glasshouses in which peach and nectarine trees are grown and +forced. As these trees fruit and finish their growth early, it is +necessary that they be kept as cool and inactive as possible in the fall +and early winter, and started again into growth in late winter. In the +fall, therefore, the fermenting material being confined in frames +retains warmth enough for the proper development of the mushrooms, and +as the winter advances and the heat in the frames begins to wane it +becomes necessary to begin heating the greenhouses in order to start the +trees into bloom and growth, and thus are provided very favorable +conditions for the continued production of the mushroom crop. + +[Illustration: FIG. 14. MUSHROOMS ON GREENHOUSE BENCHES UNDER TOMATOES.] + +The frames used are common hotbed box frames seven feet wide and +carrying three and one-half feet wide sashes. A string of them is run +along the middle of the greenhouses, for greenhouse after greenhouse is +occupied by them. They are flat upon the floor, and in the early part of +the season alone in the greenhouses. But as the winter advances a +temporary staging is erected over these frames, on which spiræas, peas, +beans, or other flowers or vegetables are to be grown. These love the +light and a position near the glass, whereas the mushrooms grow +perfectly well in the dark quarters of the frames under the stages. If +he did not grow mushrooms under these stages the room would be +unoccupied, hence unproductive; but by occupying it with mushrooms he +not only gets peaches and snap beans at once out of the same greenhouse, +but also a crop of mushrooms, often worth as much as the other two. + +In preparing the beds in the frames they were made up a foot deep, very +firm, and with New York stable manure brought direct from the cars. +There was no preliminary preparation of the manure. A layer of loam one +and one-half inches deep was then spread over the surface and forked +into the bed of manure one and one-half inches deep, so as to form an +earthy mat three inches deep. This was then packed solid with the feet, +and a two-inch layer of loose manure added all over. In about ten days +the temperature three inches below the surface was about 95°, and the +beds were then spawned. In spawning, drills were drawn across the beds +about a foot apart and just deep enough to touch but not penetrate the +earthy mat before referred to. The broken spawn was then sown in the +drills and covered with a layer of loam one and one-half to two inches +deep, which was tamped slightly. The sashes were then put on and tilted +up a little to let the moisture escape. By the time the mushrooms +appeared there was very little need of ventilating, as the condensation +of moisture on the glass was scarcely apparent; but ventilation is +easily guided by the appearance of moisture on the glass, the more of +this the more ventilation should be given. To begin with, there was no +attempt at shading the frames; but as soon as the mushrooms began to +appear the beds were shaded, and mostly by the crops of other plants on +the stages above them. These frame beds were made up last October, and +began bearing in December, and on March 14 Mr. Gardner wrote me: "The +mushrooms in my frames have done grandly. I cut large basketfuls to-day +of the finest mushrooms I have ever seen, some of them measuring five +inches in diameter before being fully expanded." + +And further, in submitting the above notes to him for verification, he +adds: "There is one vital point we should impress upon all who grow +mushrooms in frames or under greenhouse benches, namely, that sudden +changes of temperature must be avoided. While light, in my opinion, is +good for mushrooms, it causes a rise of temperature, and this we must +guard against. In order to maintain a uniform temperature all glass +exposed to light or heat in any other way should be covered with some +non-conducting material. Rye straw is the best thing for this purpose +that I know of. Indeed, neglect of this simple matter, in cases where +sunlight and heat from hot-water pipes come in contact with the young +mushrooms or mycelium on the surface of the beds, is the cause of many +failures in growing in frames and greenhouses." + +=Under Greenhouse Benches.=--Open empty spaces under the stages anywhere +are good places for mushroom beds. However, carefully observe a few +points, to wit: A dry floor under the beds is imperative, for a wet +floor soaks and chills the beds, and renders them unhealthy for the +spawn; but the common earth floor is good enough, provided water does +not stand upon it at any time; if it does, the floor to be under the +beds can be rendered dry by raising it a little higher than the general +level, or using a flooring of old boards. Beds should not be built close +up against hot-water pipes, steam pipes, or smoke flues, as the heat +from these when they are in working condition will bake the parts of the +beds next to them and render them unproductive, and also crack and spoil +the caps of the mushrooms that come up within a foot or two of the +pipes. But this injury from hot pipes and flues can be lessened greatly +by boxing the pipes, so as to shut off the heat from the mushroom beds +and allowing it full escape upward; then the beds can be made, with +safety, up to within a foot of the pipes. As a rule, hot-water pipes are +run around under the front benches of a greenhouse, then it would not be +advisable to make beds under those benches. The middle bench is the one +most commonly free from pipes, hence the one best adapted for beds. It +has more headroom, and therefore easier working facilities. Steam-heated +greenhouses generally present the best accommodations for mushroom beds, +because the pipes occupy less room under the benches than do those for +hot water, and they are always kept higher from the ground. + +=Among Other Plants on Greenhouse Benches.=--It sometimes happens that +mushrooms spring up spontaneously among the roses, carnations, violets, +mignonette, and other crops that are grown "planted out" on the benches, +and this is particularly the case where fresh soil had just been used, +in whole or part, for filling the bench beds. These mushrooms come from +natural spawn contained in the loam or manure before they were brought +indoors, and which is apt to be true virgin spawn. The mushrooms are +generally of the common kind, grown from brick spawn, but occasionally a +much larger and heavier sort is produced, and this is the "horse" +mushroom. It is perfectly good to eat, only of coarser quality than the +other. + +A fair and certain crop can be obtained by planting pieces of spawn in +the beds here and there between the plants and where they will be least +likely to be soaked with water. In order to further insure the +development of the spawn, holes about the size of a pint cup should be +scooped out here and there over the bed, and filled up solidly with +quite fresh but dry horse droppings, with the piece of spawn in the +middle, and covered over on top with an inch of loam, so as to leave the +whole surface of the bed level. So small a quantity of dry manure +surrounded with cold earth will not heat perceptibly, and the moisture +of the loam about it will soon moisten it, no matter how dry it may be. +The dry, fresh droppings are the very best material for starting the +mycelium into growth. + +=Growing Mushrooms in Rose Houses.=--George Savage, the head gardener at +Mr. Kimball's greenhouses, Rochester, N. Y., grows mushrooms very +successfully under the benches of the rose houses. When he makes up his +earliest mushroom beds in the fall the rose house is kept cool, and this +is an advantage to the mushroom beds, which get all the warmth they need +from the fermenting manure; but as November advances, and the heat in +the beds begins to wane the rose houses are "started," and this +artificial warmth comes in good season to benefit the growing mushrooms. +The roses, in this case, are planted out on benches, hence there is +scarcely any dripping of water from above upon the mushroom beds below. + +Mr. George Grant, of Mamaroneck, N. Y., who grows mushrooms in the +greenhouse, I called to see last January, and was very much pleased with +his simple and successful method. The beds were then in fine bearing, +very full, and the crop was of the best quality. The beds were made upon +the earthen floor of his tomato-forcing house and under the back bench. +The bed was flat, seven to eight inches deep, with a casing of a +ten-inch-wide hemlock board set on edge at the back, and another of same +size against the front. The bed was made of horse droppings, six inches +deep, and molded over with fresh loam one and one-half inch deep. Over +the whole, and resting on the edges of the hemlock boards, was a light +covering of other boards, with a sprinkling of hay on top of them to +arrest and shed drip, and maintain an equable temperature in the bed. + +Mr. Abram Van Siclen, of Jamaica, Long Island, is one of the largest +mushroom growers for market in the country, as well as one of the most +extensive growers of market-garden truck under glass around New York. He +devotes an immense area under his lettuce-house benches to the +cultivation of mushrooms. The beds are made upon the floor in the usual +way, only for convenience' sake, to admit of plenty of room in making up +the beds and gathering the crop, besides avoiding the necessity for +building higher structures than the ordinary lettuce greenhouses, the +mushroom beds are sunken about eighteen to twenty-four inches under the +level of the pathways. As the lettuces are planted out upon the benches +there is very little drip from them, hence the sunken beds are well +enough. And the temperature of a lettuce house is about right for a +long-lasting mushroom bed. Light is excluded by a simple covering of +salt hay laid over the beds, and sometimes by light wooden shutters set +up against the aperture between the lettuce benches and the floor, in +this way boxing in the mushrooms in total darkness. + +Mr. William Wilson, of Astoria, has an immense greenhouse establishment +near New York. In his greenhouses, under both the side and middle +benches, he grows mushrooms, and when I saw them in January there were +about 300 square yards of beds. The beds were flat, about nine inches +thick, built upon the ground, and protected from strong light by having +muslin tacked over the openings between the benches and the beds +alongside the pathways. But his crop was suffering from drip. Mr. Wilson +told me he could not begin to supply the demand. He says whatever he +makes on mushrooms is mostly clear gain. They occupy space that +otherwise would remain unoccupied, and he needs the manure and the loam +in his florist business, and it is in better condition for potting after +it has been rotted in the mushroom beds than it was before it was used +for this purpose. + +[Illustration: FIG. 15. MR. WM. WILSON'S MUSHROOM BEDS.] + +=Drip from the Benches.=--This must be prevented from the beds above, +else it will soak or chill, and in a large measure kill the spawn. I +have seen many examples of this evil. The beds would be full of drip +holes all over their surface, and although a good many mushrooms here +and there about the bed might perfect themselves, multitudes only reach +the pin-head condition--or possibly the size of peas--and then fogg off +in patches. It is not one or two little mushrooms in a clump that fogg +off, but where one foggs off all of the little ones in that patch go, +for it is not a disease of the individual mushroom, but of the mycelium +or mushroom plant that runs in the bed, and when this is injured or +killed all the little mushrooms arising from this particular patch of +plant are robbed of sustenance and must perish. + +In greenhouses where the benches are occupied with roses, carnations, +bouvardias, violets, or lettuces, "planted out," as commercial florists +and gardeners generally grow them, there is very little drip, because +while the plants on these benches are freely watered, the soil is never +soaked enough for the water to drain from it in dripping streamlets, as +is continually the case in greenhouses where potted plants are grown on +the stages. Under these "planted out" benches, if care is exercised, +mushrooms can be grown in open beds; in fact, it is about the best place +and condition for them in a greenhouse. + +[Illustration: FIG. 16. MUSHROOM BED BUILT FLAT UPON THE GROUND.] + +With stages occupied by plants in pots provision needs to be made to +ward off the drip from the mushroom beds, by erecting over, and +conveniently high above them, a light wooden framework, on which rest +light wooden frames covered with oiled paper, oiled muslin, or +plant-protecting cloth. In fact, three light wooden strips run over the +bed, as shown in Fig. 12, or three strings of stout cord or wire run in +the same manner will answer for small beds, and act as a support for the +oiled muslin or plant-protecting cloth. Building paper is sometimes used +for the same purpose. Mr. J. G. Gardner uses ordinary hotbed frames and +sashes, as described in a previous chapter. Light wooden shutters--made +of one-half inch or five-eighths inch pine--may be used for the same +end, and will last for many years. + +[Illustration: FIG. 17. RIDGED MUSHROOM BED.] + +The beds under the greenhouse benches may be made up in the same way as +are beds anywhere else; that is, flat upon the floor and between two +boards set on edge, as seen in Fig. 16, or in ridges under the high or +middle benches, as in Fig. 17, or in banked beds against the back wall, +as shown in Fig. 18. Generally the flat bed is the most convenient to +make and take care of. + +[Illustration: FIG. 18. BANKED BED AGAINST A WALL.] + +In open, airy greenhouses it is always well to inclose the mushroom beds +in box casings and with sash or shutter coverings, to prevent draughts +and fluctuations of temperature and atmospheric moisture. This can +easily be done by making the sides a board and a half (fifteen inches), +or two boards (twenty inches) high, and covering over with light wooden +shutters, sashes, or muslin or paper-covered light frames. See Fig. 11. + +=Ammonia Arising.=--Ammonia arising from the manure of the mushroom beds +in the greenhouse may be injurious to the other inmates of the +greenhouse. If the manure has been well prepared before it was +introduced into the greenhouse, the ammonia arising from it will not, in +the least degree, injure any other plants or flowers that may be in the +house; but if the manure is fresh, hot, and rank, the opposite will be +the case. Beds in greenhouses should always be made up of manure that +has been well prepared beforehand out of doors or in a shed, and as it +is brought into the greenhouse it should at once be built solidly into +the beds. Then very little steam will arise from the beds; in fact, it +will be imperceptible to sight or smell. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +GROWING MUSHROOMS IN THE FIELDS. + + +Under suitable conditions we can grow mushrooms easily and abundantly in +the open fields, and the planting of the spawn is all the trouble they +will cause us. During the late summer and fall months mushrooms often +appear spontaneously and in great quantity in our open pastures, but in +their natural condition they are an uncertain crop, as in one year they +may occur in the greatest abundance, and in the next perhaps none can be +found in the fields in which they had been so numerous the previous +year. Why this should be so is not very clear. The popular opinion is +that after a dry summer mushrooms abound in the fields, but after a wet +summer they are a very scarce crop; and the inference is that the +moisture has killed the spawn in the ground. This may be true to a +certain extent, but how does it happen--as it certainly often does--that +good spawn planted by hand in the fields in early summer will produce +mushrooms toward fall no matter whether the summer has been wet or dry? +At the same time, it is true that a wet spell immediately succeeding the +planting of the spawn will kill a great deal of it. + +As a rule, wild mushrooms abound most in rich, old, well-drained, +rolling pasture lands, and avoid dry, sandy, or wet places, or the +neighborhood of trees and bushes. In attempting to cultivate them in the +open fields we should endeavor to provide similar conditions. Then the +chief requisite is good spawn, for without this we can not raise +mushrooms. + +About the middle of June take a sharp spade in the pasture, make =V= or +=T=-shaped cuts in the grass sod about four inches deep and raise one +side enough to allow the insertion of a bit of spawn two to three inches +square under it, so that it shall be about two inches below the surface, +then tamp the sod down. By cutting and raising the sod in this way, +without breaking it off, it is not as likely to die of drought in +summer. In this way plant as much or little as may be desired and at +distances of three, four, or more feet apart. During the following +August or September the mushrooms should show themselves, and continue +in bearing for several weeks. + +Mr. Henshaw, of Staten Island, who has been very successful in growing +mushrooms in the fields as well as indoors, writes to me as follows: +"You ask me to give you my plan of growing mushrooms in the fields +during the summer. It is very simple. About the end of June, or as soon +as dry weather sets in, we remove the old beds from our mushroom house, +and if there should be any live spawn in the bottom of our beds we put +it in a wheelbarrow and take it to the field, where we plant it in the +open places, but never under trees. In planting, we lift a sod and put a +shovelful of the manure containing the spawn in the hole, then replace +the sod and beat it down firm; this we do at distances of twelve feet +apart. If we have no live spawn from our indoor beds we take the common +brick spawn, and put about a quarter of a brick into each hole, +returning and beating down the sod as already stated. This is all that +is done. If there comes a dry time after the spawn is put in the pasture +we are sure to have a good supply of mushrooms in the fall." + +A few years ago Carter & Co., seedsmen, London, sent this to one of the +gardening periodicals: "The following mode of growing mushrooms in +meadows by one of our customers may be interesting to your readers: In +March (May would be soon enough here) he begins to collect droppings +from the stables. These, when enough have been gathered together, are +taken into the meadow, where holes dug here and there about one foot or +eighteen inches square are filled with them, the soil removed being +scattered over the surrounding grass. When all the holes have been +filled and made solid he then places two or three pieces of spawn about +one inch square in each hole, treads all down firmly, replaces the turf +and beats it tightly down. Under this system, in August and September +mushrooms appear without fail in abundance and without any further care. +The method is simple and the result certain. Therefore all who happen to +have a meadow, paddock, or grass field, and are fond of mushrooms, +should try the experiment.... In the case in question fresh holes were +spawned every year." + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +MANURE FOR MUSHROOM BEDS. + + +In order to grow mushrooms successfully and profitably a supply of fresh +horse manure is needed, and this should be the very best that is made, +either at home or bought from other stables. The questions of manure and +spawn are the most important that we have to deal with. Very few make +their own spawn, as it is bought and accepted upon its good +looks,--often rather deceptive,--but the manure business is entirely in +our own hands, and success with it depends absolutely upon ourselves. We +can not reasonably expect good results from poor manure nor from +ill-prepared manure. It is only from the very best of horse manure +prepared in the very best fashion that we can hope for the very best +crops of the best mushrooms. + +=Horse Manure.=--There are various kinds of horse manure, differing +materially in their worth for mushroom beds. The kind of manure depends +upon the condition of the horses, how they are housed, fed, and bedded, +and how the manure is taken care of. But while the manure of all healthy +animals is useful for our purpose, there still is a great choice in +horse manure. If we are dependent upon our home supply we may use and +make the best of what we have, but if we have to buy the manure we +should be very particular to select the best kind of manure and accept +of no other. + +The very best manure is that from strong, healthy, hard-worked, +well-kept animals that are liberally fed with hard food, as timothy hay +and grain, and bedded with straw. And if the bedding be pretty well +wetted with urine and trampled under the horses' feet, so much the +better; indeed, this is one reason why manure from farm and teamsters' +stables is better than that from stylish establishments, where +everything is kept so scrupulously dry and clean. + +[Illustration: FIG. 19. PERSPECTIVE VIEW OF THE DOSORIS MUSHROOM +CELLAR.] + +The fresher the manure is the better, still manure that is not perfectly +fresh may also be quite good. Stable manure may accumulate in a cellar +for a couple of months, and still be first rate. After our hotbed season +is over I stack our stable manure high in the yard, and from June until +August, as the manure is taken away from the stable each day, it is +piled on the top of this stack. My object is to keep it so dry that it +can neither heat nor rot. In August the stack is broken down and the +best manure shaken out to one side for mushrooms, and the long straw and +rotted parts thrown to the other side. This short manure, when moistened +with water and thrown into a heap, exposed to the sun for a day or two, +will heat up briskly. The beds illustrated in Fig. 19 were made from +manure prepared in this way in August. + +In the case of quite fresh manure, let it accumulate for a few days, or +a fortnight, even, until there is enough of it to make up a bed, and +then prepare it. Be very particular to prevent, from the first, its +heating violently or "burning" while accumulating in the pile. Beds made +from very fresh manure respond quickly and generously. The crop comes in +heavily to begin with, and continues bearing largely while it lasts, but +its duration is usually shorter than in the case of a bed made up of +less fresh manure. But altogether it yields a better and heavier crop +than a bed that comes in more gradually and lasts longer, and the +mushrooms are of the finest quality. + +Some growers use the droppings only, and reject all of the strawy part, +or as much of it as they can conveniently shake out. This gives them an +excellent manure and perhaps the very best for use on a small scale or +in small beds. When mushrooms are to be grown in boxes, narrow troughs, +half barrels, and other confined quarters, it is well to concentrate the +manure as much as possible--use all the droppings and as little straw as +you can. But droppings alone for large beds would take too much manure +and cost too much, and they would not be any better than with a rougher +manure. + +Always preserve the wet, strawy part of the manure, along with the +droppings, and mix and ferment them together, and in this way not only +add largely to the bulk of the pile, but secure the benefits afforded by +the urine without reducing, in any way, the strength or fermenting +properties of the manure. Shake out all the rank, dry, strawy part of +the manure and lay it aside for other purposes. This may be of further +use as bedding in the stables, covering the mushroom beds after they +have been made up, or for hotbeds; if well wetted with stable drainings, +or even plain water, it forms a ready heating material. + +Many a time when we have been short of home-made manure I have bought +some loads here and there from different stables in the village, and +mixed all together and made it into beds with excellent results. +Sometimes when the manure under preparation had been rather old and +cool, I have added a fifth or tenth part of fresh droppings to it, with +very quickening effect in heating and apparent benefit to the crop. + +It is generally believed that the manure of entire horses is better for +mushrooms than that of other horses, but positive evidence in this +direction has never come under my observation. Some practical men assert +that there is no difference. Mr. John G. Gardner, at the Rancocas Farm, +who has had abundant opportunity to test this matter, tells me that he +has given it a fair trial and been unable to find any difference in the +quality or quantity of mushrooms raised from beds made from the manure +of entire horses and those raised from beds made from the manure of +other equally as well fed animals. But the Parisian growers insist that +there is a difference in favor of entire horses, especially in the case +of hard-worked animals such as are engaged in heavy carting. + +Manure of horses that are largely fed with carrots is emphatically +condemned by most writers on the cultivation of mushrooms; indeed, it is +one of _the_ points in every book on mushrooms which I have read. Let us +look at a few practical facts: There are at Dosoris two shelf beds in +one cellar; each is thirty feet long, three feet wide, and nine inches +deep, and both are bearing a very thick crop of mushrooms. The material +in these beds consists of horse manure three parts and chopped sod loam +one part, which had been mixed and fermented together from the first +preparation. The manure was saved from the stables on the place in +November, '88, the materials prepared in December, the beds built Dec. +17, spawned Dec. 24, molded over Dec. 31, and first mushrooms gathered +Feb. 7, 1889. These beds bore well until the middle of April. The +mushrooms did not average as large as they did on the deeper beds upon +the floor of the cellar, but they ran about three-fourths to one ounce +apiece, and a good many were more than this. It is most always the case, +however, that the crop on thin shelf beds averages less than it does on +thick floor beds, and especially is this noticeable after the first +flush of the crop has been gathered, no matter what kind of fermenting +material had been used. At the time when the manure used for these beds +was being saved at the stable the horses were only very lightly worked, +and to each horse was fed, in addition to hay and some oats and bran, +about a third of a bushel of carrots a day. And this is the manure used +for the late mushroom beds, and yet good crops and good mushrooms are +produced. This is not only the experience of one year's practice but the +regular routine of many. + +Perhaps some one would like to ask: Do you consider the manure of +carrot-fed horses as good as the manure of animals to which no carrots +or other root crops had been fed? My answer is--decidedly not. While +the manure of carrot-fed animals is not the best, at the same time it is +good, and any one having plenty of it can also have plenty of mushrooms. +The complete denunciation of the manure of carrot-fed horses so +emphatically stereotyped upon the minds and pens of horticultural +writers is not always founded on fact. + +=Manure of Mules.=--This is regarded as being next in value to that of +entire horses, and some French growers go so far as to say that it is +quite as good. Mr. John G. Gardner tells me of an extraordinary crop of +mushrooms he once had which astonished that veteran, Samuel Henshaw, and +that it was from beds made of manure from mule stables. Certainly the +heaviest crop of mushrooms I ever did see was at Mr. Wilbur's place at +South Bethlehem, Pa., four years ago, and the beds were of clean mule +droppings from the coal mines. Mule manure can be had in quantity at our +mule stock yards, which are in nearly every large city in the Middle and +Southern States. Getting it from the mines costs more than it is worth, +except as a fancy article; the men will not collect and save it for any +reasonable price. + +=Cellar Manure.=--Many stables have cellars under them into which the +manure and urine are dropped at every day's cleaning. These cellars are +not generally cleaned out before a good deal of manure has accumulated +in them, say a few weeks', or a few months', or a winter's gathering, +and it is commonly pretty well moistened by the urine. If this manure +has not become too dry and "fire-fanged" in the cellar it is splendid +for mushrooms. We buy a good deal of it, but are particular to reject +the very dry and white-burned parts. Sometimes the manure from the +cow-stables, as well as from the horse-stables, is dropped together into +the cellar; then I would give less for the manure, especially if the cow +manure predominated, because in the working it keeps too cold and wet +and pasty; but if there is not cow manure enough to give the mass a +pasty character it will make capital mushroom beds. Pigs often have the +run of the manure-cellar, as is generally the case in farmyards. I would +not use any part of this mixed pig manure. Mycelium evades hog manure; +besides it is impure and malodorous, and a propagating bed for noxious +insect vermin. It matters very little what kind of bedding is used, in +the case of cellar manure, but I would not buy it if sawdust or salt hay +had been used as bedding. Neither of these materials, in limited +quantity, is deleterious to the mushrooms; at the same time, they are +far less desirable than straw, field hay, German peat moss, or corn +stalks, and there are risks enough in mushroom-growing without courting +any that we can as well avoid. + +=City Stable Manure.=--Around New York this can always be had in any +quantity at a reasonable rate, and it is first-rate manure for mushroom +beds. Market gardeners haul in a load of vegetables to market and bring +back a load of manure; others may buy and haul home manure in the same +way, or make arrangements with a teamster to do it for them. But the +whole matter of city manure is now so deftly handled by agents, who make +a special business of it, that we can get any quantity of manure, from a +500 lb bale to an unlimited number of loads, and of most any quality, +delivered near or far, inland or coastwise, at a fairly moderate price. +It is the city stable manure that nearly all our large market growers +use for their mushroom beds. When they get it at the stables and cart it +home themselves they know what they are handling, and should take only +fresh horse dung. In ordering it of an agent be particular to arrange +for the freshest and cleanest, pure horse manure. They will get it for +you. We get several hundreds of loads of this selected manure from them +every year for hotbeds, and find it excellent. We also get 1000 to 2000 +loads of the common New York stable manure a year for our general +outdoor crops, and it also is capital manure in its way, but not so good +as the selected manure for mushrooms. It is mixed a little and smells +very rank, and in mushroom beds usually produces a good deal of spurious +fungi. Most all of our largest mushroom growers, Van Siclen of Jamaica, +Denton of Woodhaven, Connard of Hoboken, and others, live within easy +hauling distance of the city, and are able to select and get the very +choicest manure at a very cheap rate. + +=Baled Manure.=--Within a year or two a good deal of our city horse +manure has been put up in bales and thus shipped and sold. Each bale +contains from 350 to nearly 500 lbs, and is made up, pressed and tied in +about the same way as baled hay. The principal advantages of the bales +are these: Only the cleanest horse manure is put up in this way; cow +manure, offal, spent hops, or other short or soft manures are not +included in the bales, nor, on account of shipping considerations, are +malodorous manures of any sort permitted in them. The railroads allow +baled manure to be put off on their platforms, and closer to their +stations than they would allow loose manure; and it often happens that +an agent will send a carload to a railroad station and dump it off there +so that the people around who have only small garden lots can have an +opportunity of buying one or more bales, just as they need it, and +without, as is generally the case, having to buy a whole load when they +need only half a load. These bales are quite a boon to people who would +like to have a small bed of mushrooms in their cellar and who have no +other manure. Bring home one or more bales, open them, spread out the +manure a little, and when it heats turn it a few times, and it will soon +be ready for use. Or if you do not wish to litter up the place, roll the +bales into the cellar, shed, or wherever else you wish to make use of +them, and mix about one-fourth of their bulk of loam with the manure +and make up the bed at once. + +The Board of Health of New York city is very emphatic in its endeavors +to rid the city of any accumulation of manure and, a year ago, had under +consideration a plan to compel the manure agents, for sanitary reasons, +to bale the stable manure. And perhaps this is the reason why it is so +easily procured, to wit: A New York gentleman, desirous of engaging in +the mushroom-growing business, writes me: "I get my manure from the city +in bales. All it costs me is the freight to my place at White Plains." +Lucky gentleman! With any amount of the best kind of stable manure +gratis, no wonder he wishes to embark in the mushroom ship. + +=Cow Manure.=--This is sometimes used with horse manure in forming the +materials for a mushroom bed, and several European writers are emphatic +in advocating its use. But I have tried it time and time again, and in +various ways, and am satisfied that it has no advantage whatever over +plain horse manure, if, indeed, it is as good. It is not used by the +market growers in this country. + +The best kind of cow manure is said to be the dry chips gathered from +the open pastures; these are brought home, chopped up fine and mixed +with horse manure. The time and expense incurred in collecting and +chopping these "chips" completely overreach any advantages that might be +derived from them, no matter how desirable they may be. The next best +kind of cow manure is that of stall-fed cattle, to which dry food only, +as hay and grain, is fed. This is seldom obtainable except in winter, +and is then available for spring beds only. This I have used freely. +One-third of it to two-thirds of dry horse manure works up very well, +heats moderately, retains its warmth a long time, also its moisture +without any tendency to pastiness; the mycelium travels through it +beautifully, and it bears fine mushrooms. Still, it is no better than +plain horse manure. The poorest kind of cow manure is the fresh manure +of cattle fed with green grass, ensilage, and root crops; indeed, such +manure can not be used alone; it needs to be freely mixed with some +absorbent, as dry loam, German moss, dry horse droppings, and the like, +and even then I have utterly failed to perceive its advantages; it is a +dirty mass to work, and quite cold. + +In the manufacture of spawn, however, cow manure is a requisite +ingredient, and here again the manure of dry fed animals is better than +that of those fed with green and other soft food. But my chief objection +to the use of cow manure in the mushroom beds is that it is a favorite +breeding and feeding place for hosts of pernicious bugs and grubs and +earth worms,--creatures that we had better repel from, rather than +encourage in, our mushroom beds. + +=German Peat Moss Stable Manure for Mushroom Beds.=--Although I have not +yet had an opportunity of trying this material for mushroom beds, Mr. +Gardner, of Jobstown, has great faith in it; so, too, has that prince of +English mushroom growers, Richard Gilbert, of Burghley, who relates his +success with it in growing mushrooms in the English garden papers. This +peat moss is a comparatively new thing in this country, and is used in +place of straw for bedding horses. It is a great absorbent and soaks up +much of the urine that, were straw used instead, would be likely to pass +off into the drains. To this is ascribed its great virtue in mushroom +culture. It should be mixed with loam when used for mushroom beds. + +[Illustration: FIG. 20. BALE OF GERMAN PEAT MOSS.] + +=Sawdust Stable Manure for Mushroom Beds.=--This is the manure obtained +from stables where sawdust has been used for bedding for the horses. It +is a good absorbent and retains considerable of the stable wettings. +Such manure ferments well, makes up nicely into beds, the mycelium runs +well in it, and good mushrooms are produced from it. But if I could get +any other fairly good manure I wouldn't use it. I remember seeing it at +Mr. Henshaw's place some years ago. He had bought a quantity of fresh +stable manure from the Brighton coal yards, where sawdust had been used +for bedding for the horses, and this he used for his mushroom beds. I +went back again in a few months to see the bed in bearing, but it was +not a success. At the same time, some European growers record great +success with sawdust stable manure. George Bolas, Hopton, Wirkeworth, +England, sent specimens of mushrooms that he grew on sawdust manure beds +to the editor of the _Garden_, who pronounced them "in every way +excellent." Mr. Bolas says: "In making up the bed I mixed about +one-third of burnt earth with the sawdust, sand, and droppings. The +mushrooms were longer in coming up than usual, the bed being in a close +shed, without any heat whatever. They have, however, far exceeded my +expectations." + +Richard Gilbert, of Burghley, also wrote to the _Garden_, April 25, +1885: "There is nothing new in growing mushrooms in sawdust. I have done +it here for years past; that is to say, after it had done service as a +bed for horses, and got intermixed with their droppings. I have never +been able to detect the least difference in size or quality between +mushrooms grown in sawdust and those produced in the ordinary way." + +=Tree Leaves.=--Forest tree leaves are often used for mushroom beds, +sometimes alone, instead of manure, but more frequently mixed with horse +manure to increase the bulk of the fermenting material. Oak tree leaves +are the best; quick-rotting leaves, like those of the chestnut, maple, +or linden, are not so good, and those of coniferous trees are of no use +whatever. As the leaves must be in a condition to heat readily they +should be fresh; such are easily secured before winter sets in, but in +spring, after lying out under the winter's snow and rain, their +"vitality" is mostly gone. But we can secure a large lot of dry leaves +in the fall and pile them where they will keep dry until required for +use. As needed we can prepare a part of this pile by wetting the leaves, +taking them under cover to a warm south-facing shed, and otherwise +assisting fermentation just as if we were preparing for a hotbed. While +moistening the leaves with clean water will induce a good fermentation, +wetting them with liquid from the horse-stable urine tanks will cause a +brisk heat, and for mushrooms produce more genial conditions. + +Mushroom beds composed in whole or part of fermenting tree leaves should +be much deeper than would be necessary were horse manure alone used; for +half leaves and half manure, say fifteen inches deep; for all leaves, +say twenty to thirty inches deep. + +While mushroom spawn will run freely in leaf beds and we can get good +mushrooms from them, my experience has satisfied me that we do not get +as fine crops from these beds or any modification of them as from the +ordinary stable manure beds. And we can not wonder much at this, +considering that the wild mushroom is scarcely ever found in the +neighborhood of trees or where leaf mold deposits occur. + +=Spent Hops.=--We can make good use of this in one way. If we are short +of good materials for a mushroom bed, we can first make up the beds +eight or ten inches deep with fermenting spent hops, and above this lay +a four or five inch layer of horse manure, or this and loam mixed. The +hops will keep up the warmth, and the manure affords a congenial home +for the mushroom spawn. But we should never use spent hops alone, nor +so near the surface of the beds that the spawn will have to travel +through it. + +Spent hops can be had for nothing, and our city brewers even pay a +premium to the manure agents to take the hops away. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +PREPARATION OF THE MANURE. + + +Get as good a quality of fresh horse manure as you can, and in +sufficient quantity for the amount of bed or beds you wish to make. Next +get it into suitable condition for making up into beds. This can be done +out of doors or under cover of a shed, but preferably in the shed. Out +of doors the manure is under the drying influence of sun and wind, and +it is also liable to become over-wetted by rain, but under cover we have +full control of its condition. All the manure for beds between July and +the end of October is prepared out of doors on a dry piece of ground, +but what is used after the first of November, all through the winter, is +handled in a shed open to the south. During the autumn months we get +along very well with it out of doors; after every turning cover the heap +with strawy litter to save it from the drying influences of sun and +wind. Remove this covering when next turned, and lay light wooden +shutters on top of it as a precaution against rain. In the shed in +winter the manure is protected against rain and snow and we can always +work it conveniently; when the shed is open to the south--as wagon and +wood-sheds often are--we get the benefit of the warm sunshine in the +daytime in starting fermentation in the manure, but in the event of +dull, cold weather, cover up the pile quite snugly with straw and +shutters to start the heat in it. Altogether, a warm, close shed would +be better. + +It seldom happens that one can get all the manure he wants at one time; +it accumulates by degrees. This is the case with the market grower who +uses many tons, and hauls it home from the city stables a little at a +time; also with the private grower, who uses only a few bushels or half +a cord, and has it accumulate for days or weeks from his own stable. As +the manure accumulates throw it into a pile, straw and all, but not into +such a big pile that it will heat violently; and particularly observe +that it shall not "fire-fang" or "burn" in the heap. If it shows any +tendency to do this, turn it over loosely, sprinkle it freely with +water, spread it out a little, and after a few hours, or when it has +cooled off nicely, throw it up into a pile again and tread it firmly to +keep it moist and from heating hastily. + +When enough manure has accumulated for a bed, prepare it in the +following way: Turn it over, shaking it up loosely and mixing it all +well together. Throw aside the dry, strawy part, also any white "burnt" +manure that may be in it, and all extraneous matter, as sticks, stones, +old tins, bones, leather straps, rags, scraps of iron, or such other +trash as we usually find in manure heaps, but do not throw out any of +the wet straw; indeed, we should aim to retain all the straw that has +been well wetted in the stable. If the manure is too dry do not hesitate +to sprinkle it freely with water, and it will take a good deal of water +to well moisten a heap of dry manure. Then throw it into a compact +oblong pile about three or four feet high, and tread it down a little. +This is to prevent hasty and violent heating and "burning," for firmly +packed manure does not heat up so readily or whiten so quickly as does a +pile loosely thrown together. Leave it undisturbed until fermentation +has started briskly, which in early fall may be in two or three days, +or in winter in six to ten days, then turn it over again, shaking it up +thoroughly and loosely and keeping what was outside before inside now, +and what was inside before toward the outside now; and if there are any +unduly dry parts moisten them as you go along. Trim up the heap into the +same shape as you had before, and again tread it down firmly. This +compacting of the pile at every turning reduces the number of required +turnings. When hot manure is turned and thrown loosely into a pile it +regains its great heat so rapidly that it will need turning again within +twenty-four hours, in order to save it from burning, and all practical +men know that at every turning ammonia is wasted,--the most potent food +of the mushroom. We should therefore endeavor to get along with as few +turnings as possible; at the same time, never allow any part of the +manure to burn, even if we have to turn the heap every day. These +turnings should be continued until the manure has lost its tendency to +heat violently, and its hot, rank smell is gone,--usually in about three +weeks' time. If the manure, or any part of it, is too dry at any +turning, the dry part should be sprinkled with water and kept in the +middle of the heap. Plain water is what is generally used for moistening +the manure, but I sometimes use liquid from the stable tanks, which not +only answers the purpose of wetting the dry materials, but it also is a +powerful stimulant and welcome addition to the manure. But the greatest +vigilance should be observed to guard against overmoistening the manure; +far better fail on the side of dryness than on that of wetness. + +If the manure is too wet to begin with it should be spread out thinly +and loosely and exposed to sun and wind, if practicable, to dry. Drying +by exposure in this way is not as enervating as "burning" in a hot +pile, and better have recourse to any method of drying the manure than +use it wet. If, on account of the weather or lack of convenience for +drying, the manure can not be dried enough, add dry loam, dry sand, dry +half-rotted leaves, dry peat moss, dry chaff, or dry finely cut hay or +straw, and mix together. + +The proper condition of the manure, as regards dryness or moistness, can +readily be known by handling it. Take a handful of the manure and +squeeze it tight; it should be unctuous enough to hold together in a +lump, and so dry that you can not squeeze a drop of water out of it. + +Some private gardeners in England lay particular stress upon collecting +the fresh droppings at the stables every day, and spreading them out +upon a shed or barn floor to dry, and in this way keeping them dry and +from heating until enough has accumulated for a bed, when the bed is +made up entirely of this material, or of part of this and part of loam. +But market gardeners, the ones whose bread and butter depend upon the +crops they raise, never practice this method, and that patriarch in the +business, Richard Gilbert, denounces the practice unstintedly. + +Different growers have different ideas of preparing manure for mushroom +beds, but the aim of all is to get it into the best possible condition +with the least labor and expense, and to guard against depriving it of +any more ammonia than can be helped. See Mr. Gardner's method of +preparing manure, p. 22. + +=Loam and Manure Mixed.=--Mushroom beds are often formed of loam and +manure mixed together, say one-third or one-fourth part of the whole +being loam, and the other two-thirds or three-fourths manure; if a +larger proportion of loam is used it will render the beds rather cold +unless they are made unusually deep. I am not prepared to affirm or deny +that this mixed material has any advantages over plain manure; I use it +considerably every year and with good results; at the same time, I get +as good crops from the plain manure beds. But it has many warm friends +who are excellent growers. + +In preparing this mixed material I use fresh sod loam well chopped up, +and add it to the manure in this way: First select the manure and throw +it into a heap to ferment, as before explained; then after the first +turning cover the heap with a layer of this loam about three or four +inches thick, enough to arrest the steam; at the next turning mix this +casing of loam with the manure, and when the heap is squared off add +another coating of loam of the same thickness in the same way as before, +and so on at each turning until the whole mass is fit for use, and the +full complement of loam, say one-fourth the full bulk, has been added. +In this way much of the ammonia that otherwise would be evaporated from +the manure is arrested and retained. + +Some growers, when they first shake out their fresh manure, add the full +complement of loam to it at once and mix them together. Others, again, +Mr. Denton, of Woodhaven, for instance, prepare the manure in the +ordinary way and when ready for use add the quota of loam. I use good +sod loam for two reasons, namely, because it is the very best that can +be used for the purpose, and, also, after being used in the mushroom +beds it is a capital material, and in fine condition for use in potting +soft-wooded plants. But the loam commonly used to mix with the manure is +ordinary field soil. If the loam is ordinarily moist to begin with, and +also the manure, there is very little likelihood of any of the material +getting too dry during the preparation. And much less preparation is +needed, for the presence of the loam lessens, considerably, the +probability of hasty, violent fermentation. + +Mr. Withington, of South Amboy, N. J., uses rather a stinted amount of +loam in his manure. He writes me: "We made up our beds this year with a +proportion of loam in the manure, say one part loam to eight parts +manure, but have always used clear manure heretofore, and I think the +beds hold out longer than when only manure is used." + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +MAKING UP THE MUSHROOM BEDS. + + +The place in the cellar, shed, house, or elsewhere, where we intend to +grow the mushrooms, should be in readiness as soon as the manure has +been well prepared and is in proper condition for use. The bed or beds +should be made up at once. The thickness of the beds depends a good deal +upon circumstances, such as the quality of the manure,--whether it is +plain horse manure, or manure and loam mixed together,--or whether the +beds are to be made in heated or unheated buildings, and on the floor or +on shelves. Floor beds are generally nine to fifteen inches deep; about +nine inches in the case of manure alone, in warm quarters, and ten to +fourteen inches when manure and loam are used. In cool houses the beds +are made a few inches deeper than this so as to keep up a steady, mild +warmth for a long time. The beds may be made flat, or ridged, or like a +rounded bank against the wall; but the flat form is the commonest, and +the most convenient where shelves are also used in the same building. +Shelf beds are generally nine inches deep; that is, the depth of one +board. + +In making up the beds, bring in the manure and shake it up loosely and +spread it evenly over the bed, beating it down firmly with the back of +the fork as you go along, and continue in this way until the desired +depth is attained. If it is a floor bed and there is no impediment, as +a shelf overhead, tread the manure down firmly and evenly; if the manure +is fairly dry and in good condition it will be pretty firm and still +springy, but if it is too moist and poorly prepared treading will pack +it together like wet rotten dung. + +Now pierce a hole in the bed and insert a thermometer. There are +"ground" or "bottom-heat" thermometers, as gardeners call them, for this +purpose, but any common thermometer will do well enough; and after two +or three days examine this thermometer daily to see what is the +temperature of the manure in the bed. In roomy or airy structures or +where only a small bed has been made it may, in the meantime, be left in +this condition. But in a tight cellar I find that the warm moisture +arising from the bed condenses in the atmosphere and settles on the top +of the manure, making it perfectly wet. In order to counteract this, as +soon as the bed is made up I spread some straw or hay over it loosely; +the moisture settles on the covering and does not reach through to the +manure. Beware of overcovering, as such induces overheating inside the +bed. At spawning time remove this covering. The bed will then have +become so cool (80° or 90°) that there is very little evaporation from +it, consequently little danger of surface-wetting. + +=The Proper Temperature.=--This, in mushroom beds, depends upon the +materials of which they are composed, their thickness, how they are +built, the situation they are in, and other circumstances. If the manure +was good and fresh to begin with, carefully prepared and used as soon as +ready, the bed in a few days will warm up to 125°, or a little more or +less, and this is very good. My best beds have always shown a maximum +heat of between 120° and 125°. Had the manure been used a few days too +soon the heat would rise higher, perhaps to 135°, but this is too warm; +in this case I would fork over the surface of the bed a few inches deep +to let the heat escape, and after a couple of days compact the bed +again. Boring holes all over the surface of the beds with a crowbar is +the common way of reducing a too high temperature, and when the heat has +subsided sufficiently fill up these holes with finely pulverized dry +loam. With loam we can fill them up perfectly, but we can not do this +with manure, and if left open they remain as wet sweat holes that are +very deleterious to the spreading spawn. + +A too high temperature in the beds should be sedulously guarded against, +for it wastes the substance of the manure, dries up the interior of the +bed, and the mushroom crop must necessarily be starved and short. + +Provided that the manure is fresh and good and has been well prepared, +if the beds, after being made up, do not indicate more than 100° or 110° +no alarm need be felt, for excellent crops will likely be produced by +these beds. The thicker the beds are the higher the heat will probably +rise in them. Firmly built beds warm up more slowly than do loosely +built ones, and they keep their heat longer. If the materials are quite +cool when built solidly into beds they are not apt to become very warm +afterward. But I always like to make up the beds with moderately warm +manure. + +It sometimes happens that circumstances may prevent the making up of the +beds just as soon as the manure is in prime condition, and even after +they are made up the heat does not rise above 75° or 80°. In such a case +if the manure is otherwise in good condition and fresh, it is well +enough and a good crop may be expected. But if the manure, to begin +with, had been a little stale, rotten and inert, I certainly would not +hesitate to at once break up the bed, add some fresh horse droppings to +it, mix thoroughly, then make it up again. Or a fair heat may be started +in such a stale bed by sprinkling it over rather freely with urine from +the barnyard, then forking the surface over two or three inches deep and +afterward compacting it slightly with the back of the fork. Spread a +layer of hay, straw, or strawy stable litter a few inches deep over the +bed till the heat rises. If the manure had been moist enough this +sprinkling should not be resorted to, but the fresh droppings added +instead. When it is applied, however, great care should be taken to +prevent overheating; a lessening or entire removal of the strawy +covering, and again firmly compacting the surface of the bed will reduce +the temperature. Some saltpeter, or nitrate of soda, an ounce to three +gallons of liquid, will encourage the spread of the mycelium after the +spawn is inserted; a much stronger solution of these salts can now be +used than would be safe to apply after the mycelium is running in the +bed. + +When loam and manure mixed together comprise the materials of which the +bed is made, the temperature is not likely to rise so high as when +manure alone is used, but this matters not so long as the materials of +which the bed is composed are sweet and fresh and not over-moist. But if +the materials are cold and stale treat as recommended for a manure bed, +always bearing in mind that it is better to have a cold bed that is +fairly dry than one that is wet, or, indeed, a warm one that is wet. + +Mr. Withington, of South Amboy, has a good word to say for beds of a low +temperature. He writes me: "Our beds kept in good bearing two months, +though they have borne in a desultory way a month longer. Our best bed +this season was one that was kept at an even temperature. The manure +never rose above 75° when made up, and decreased to about 60° soon after +spawning. Kept the house at 55°." + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +MUSHROOM SPAWN. + + +What is mushroom spawn? Is it a seed or a root? Do you plant it or sow +it, or how do you prepare it? are some of the questions asked me now and +again. To the general public there seems to be some great mystery +surrounding this spawn question; in fact, it appears to be the chief +enigma connected with mushroom-growing. Now, the truth is, there is no +mystery at all about the matter. What practical mushroom growers call +spawn, botanists term mycelium. + +The spawn is the true mushroom plant and permeates the ground, manure, +or other material in which it may be growing; and what we know as +mushrooms is the fruit of the mushroom plant. The spawn is represented +by a delicate white mold-like network of whitish threads which traverse +the soil or manure. Under favorable circumstances it grows and spreads +rapidly, and in due time produces fruit, or mushrooms as we call them. +The mushrooms bear myriads of spores which are analogous to seeds, and +these spores become diffused in the atmosphere and fall upon the ground. +It is reasonable to suppose that they are the origin of the spawn which +produces the natural mushrooms in the fields, also the spawn we find in +manure heaps. But we never have been able to produce spawn artificially +from spores, or in other words, mushrooms have never been grown by man, +so far as I can find any authentic record, from "seed." How, then, do we +get the spawn? By propagation by division. We take the mushroom plant or +spawn, as we call it, and break it up into pieces, and plant these +pieces separately in a prepared bed of manure or other material, under +conditions favorable for their growth, and we find that these pieces of +spawn develop into vigorous plants that bear fruit (mushrooms) in about +two months from planting time. When the spawn has borne its full crop of +fruit it dies. + +Well, then, if we can not produce spawn from spores, and the spawn in +the beds that have borne mushrooms has died out, how are we to get the +spawn for our future crops? is a question that may suggest itself to the +inexperienced. By securing it when it is in its most vigorous condition, +which is before it begins to show signs of forming mushrooms, and drying +it, and keeping it dry till required for use. But in order to secure the +spawn we need to take and keep with it the manure to which it adheres or +in which it is spreading. In this way it can be kept in good condition +for several years and without its vitality being perceptibly impaired. +Keeping it dry merely suspends its growth; as soon as it is again +submitted to favorable conditions of moisture and heat its pristine +activity returns. + +Mushroom spawn can be obtained at any seed store. Our seedsmen always +keep it in stock, both the brick (English), and the flake (French) +spawn. It is retailed in quantities of one pound or more, and as the +article is perfectly dry it can be easily sent by mail in small +quantities. + +The seedsmen import it from Europe every year along with their seeds. A +prominent Boston seedsman writes me: "We get our supply through the +London wholesale seedsmen, for the sake of convenience and cheaper ocean +freight, etc. Coming with a shipment of other goods and on same bill of +lading brings the freight charges down. The low price at which mushroom +spawn is sold in quantity can only be maintained with low freight +rates, as there is a duty here of 20% on the article." + +[Illustration: FIG. 21. BRICK SPAWN.] + +By direct inquiry of the leading importers in different cities I find +that we import about 4500 lbs of French or flake spawn, and 4000 +bushels, or 64,000 lbs of English or brick spawn, and that fully a half +of this whole importation is handled by the seedsmen of New York city. +In New York one firm alone, who make a specialty of supplying market +gardeners, has in one year imported 1500 bushels of brick spawn. But the +vicinity of New York is the great mushroom-growing center of the +country, also the best market for mushrooms in the country. One gardener +at Jamaica, L. I., bought 1000 lbs of brick spawn at one time, and a +neighbor of his bought 400 lbs; this shows what a large quantity of +spawn market gardeners require. And the demand this year is +unprecedented; some of our leading importers had sold out their supply +before the first of November. And it is not private growers so much as +market growers who are the cause of this; the market men find there is +money in growing mushrooms and they are going into it. + +Spawn comes in the form of dry, hard, solid manure bricks, and also in +the form of flakes of half rotted strawy manure. These bricks and flakes +are completely permeated with the mushroom mycelium. + +The brick spawn is commonly known as English spawn, and what is imported +into this country is made in England, mostly about London. The bricks +made by the different manufacturers vary a little in size and weight; in +some cases ten bricks go to the bushel, in others fourteen, and in +others sixteen. This last is the commonest sized brick, and weighs +exactly a pound, and measures about eight and one-half inches long, five +and one-fourth inches wide, and one and one-fourth inches thick; it is +what the London spawn makers call a 9x6x2 inch brick, but it shrinks in +drying. In retailing brick spawn in this country it is sold by weight +and not by measure. + +Mill-track mushroom spawn is advertised by some of our seedsmen, but +what they sell under this name is only the ordinary English brick spawn. +One of our prominent seed firms who advertise it write me: "Genuine +mill-track spawn used to be the best in England, but it has been +superseded, although European gardeners still call for English spawn +under the name of 'mill-track.'" The real mill-track spawn is the +natural spawn that has spread through the thoroughly amalgamated horse +droppings in mill-tracks or the cleanings from mill-tracks. It is +usually sold in large, irregular, somewhat soft lumps, and is much +esteemed by spawn makers for impregnating their bricks, but nowadays, +that horses have given place to steam as a motive power in mills, we +have no further supply of mill-track spawn for use in spawning our +mushroom beds. We do not feel this loss, however, as the spawn now +manufactured by our best makers will produce as good a crop of +mushrooms as the old mill-track natural spawn used to do. + +The flake spawn is what is generally known as French spawn, and is +imported into this country from France. But the manufacture of "French" +spawn for sale, however, is not strictly confined to France. It is put +up in two ways, namely, nicely packed in thin wooden boxes, each +containing two or three pounds of spawn, and also loose in bulk when it +is sold by weight or measure. + +[Illustration: FIG. 22. FLAKE OR FRENCH SPAWN.] + +Virgin spawn is what we call natural spawn or wild spawn; that is, the +spawn that occurs naturally in the fields, in manure piles, or +elsewhere, and without any artificial aid. It is supposed to be produced +directly from the mushroom spores, and is not a new growth of surviving +parts of old spawn that may have lived over in the ground. It is far +more vigorous than "made" spawn, and spawn makers always endeavor to get +it to use in spawning the artificial spawn. It is seldom used for +spawning mushroom beds because not easy to obtain. Now and again we come +upon a lot of it in a manure pile; it looks like a netted mass of white +strings traversing the manure. As soon as discovered secure all you can +find, bring it indoors to a loft, shed, or room, and spread it out to +dry; after drying it thoroughly keep it dry and preserve and use it as +you would French spawn, for it is the best kind of flake spawn. In using +virgin spawn for spawning beds I have obtained larger and heavier +mushrooms than from "made" spawn, and the beds lasted longer in good +bearing, but the weight of the whole crop has not been more than from +artificial spawn. + +=How to Keep Spawn.=--Spawn should be kept in a dry, airy place, +somewhat dark, if convenient, and in a temperature between 35° and 65°. +Wherever things will "must," as in a cellar, cupboard against a wall, or +in a close, damp building, is a very poor place for keeping spawn. If +the spawn is perfectly dry and kept in a dry, airy place, and not in +large bulk, and covered, it will bear a high temperature with apparent +impunity, but whenever dampness, even of the atmosphere, is coupled with +heat, the mycelium begins to grow, and this, in the storeroom, is +ruinous to the spawn. Judging from our natural mushroom crops, the spawn +for which must be alive in the ground in winter, one concludes that +frost should not be injurious to the artificial spawn, still my +experience is that hard frost destroys the vitality of both brick and +flake spawn. And this is one reason why I get our full supply of spawn +in the fall and keep it myself rather than submit it to the mercy of the +seed store. + +=New Versus Old Spawn.=--How long spawn may be kept without its vitality +becoming impaired is an unsettled question, but there is no doubt, if +properly kept, it will remain good for several years. But I can not +impress too strongly upon the reader the importance of using fresh +spawn. Do not use any old spawn at any price; do not accept it gratis +and ruin your prospect of success by using it. It takes three months +from the time when the manure is gathered for the beds until the +mushrooms are harvested. Can you, therefore, afford to spend this time, +and undergo the care and trouble and expense, and court a failure by +using old spawn? We have risks enough with new spawn, let alone old +spawn. I do not use any more old spawn, but I have used it often and +long enough to be convinced of its general worthlessness, unless +preserved with the greatest care. + +=How to Distinguish Good from Poor Spawn.=--This is a very difficult +matter, notwithstanding what people may say to the contrary. If we could +positively tell good from bad spawn, we would never use bad spawn, and, +therefore, with ordinary care, have very few failures in +mushroom-growing; for good spawn is the root of success in this +business. Spawn differs very much in its appearance; sometimes the +bricks show very little appearance of the presence of spawn, and still +are perfectly good; and again, we may get bricks that are pretty well +interlaced and clouded with bluish white mold or fine threads, and this, +too, is good. When the bricks are freely pervaded with pronounced white +threads this is no sign that the spawn is bad. Bricks dried as hard as a +board may be perfectly good; so, too, may be those that are +comparatively soft. Mushroom spawn should have a decided smell of +mushrooms, and whatever cobweb-like mold may be apparent should be of a +fresh bluish white color, and the fine threads clear white. Prominent +yellowish threads or veins are a sign that the mycelium had started to +grow and been killed. Distinct white mold patches on the surface of the +bricks indicate the presence of some other fungous parasite on the +mushroom mycelium; the absence of any mushroom smell in the spawn +indicates its worthlessness and that the mycelium is dead. One familiar +with mushroom spawn can tell with considerable certainty "very living" +spawn and "very dead" spawn, but I am far from convinced that any one +can decide unhesitatingly in the case of middling or weak spawn. + +Mr. S. Henshaw, in Henderson's Handbook of Plants, tells us: "The +quality of the spawn may be very easily detected by the mushroom-like +smell, ... and I should have no hesitation in picking out good spawn in +the dark." Sanguine, surely, but I have tried it and found the test +wanting. M. Lachaume says that good spawn shows "an abundance of +bluish-white filaments well fitted together, and giving off a strongly +marked odor of mushrooms. All those portions which show traces of white +or yellow mold or have a floury appearance, should be rejected and +destroyed." Mr. Wright says: "A brick may be a mass of moldiness, and +yet be quite worthless; and if the mold has a spotted appearance, as if +fine white sand had been dredged on and through the mass, it is certain +there is no mushroom-growing power there.... If thick threads pass +through the mass and there are signs of miniature tubercles on them, +then the spawn may be regarded as too far gone.... Clusters of white +specks on the spawn denote sterility." + +Mr. A. D. Cowan, of New York, who has the reputation of being an +excellent judge of mushroom spawn, writes me: "To correctly judge the +quality of brick spawn by its appearance requires experience in handling +it, and a trained eye which enables one quickly to detect good from bad, +fair to middling. As two lots seldom come exactly or nearly alike in +appearance, it is hardly possible to give precise rules to follow, +excepting the never-failing requisite which the spawn must possess to be +good, namely, the moldy appearance on the surface, the more the better, +without showing threads. Too many of these to a given space are a sure +indication of exhausted vitality, arising generally from the bricks +being heaped together when in process of manufacture, before they are +sufficiently dried. Healthy bricks are usually of a dusty brown color, +and of light weight. Black colored spawn is to be avoided, as a rule, +and when the black appearance is very prevalent in a cargo of bricks it +is a strong indication that the spawn has not run its course; and as it +is not expected to do so after it has reached the hands of the retailer +it is economy to cast it aside. Some persons break a brick into several +pieces to see how it looks inside. To the experienced eye this is not +necessary, or even to lay hands upon it, as the outward moldy appearance +is the best of all evidence of its healthy vitality, and this never +exists if the bricks have lost their germinating power, excepting, of +course, where they have been kept damp, and the spawn has spent its +power, which is detected by the white threads appearing in great +quantity." + +=American-made Spawn.=--So far as I have been able to find out by +diligent inquiry, mushroom spawn is not made for sale in this country. +But I am informed that a few growers do save and use their own flake +spawn. Some of our principal growers, Van Siclen, Gardner, and Henshaw, +for instance, in time past attempted to make their own spawn, but with +only partial success, and now they confine themselves to the imported +article. But this state of affairs can not long continue. The demand +here for fresh mushrooms is so great, the industry of mushroom-growing +so important, the price of imported spawn so high, and the quantity of +foreign spawn imported annually into this country is so large, that, +before long, we hope some one will find it to his advantage to make a +specialty of growing mushroom spawn in this country to supply the +American market. There is no practical operation in connection with the +cultivation of mushrooms so little known or understood by the general +grower as the growing (or "making," as it is commonly called) and +preserving of mushroom spawn. General cultivators in England and France +(outside of the Paris caves) do not make their own spawn; it is a +distinct branch of the business, and carried on by specialists who grow +mushrooms for sale in winter, and spawn in summer. + +The time and attention required to produce a small quantity of +first-class spawn are worth more than the cost of the spawn at the seed +store. In order to make spawn profitably we must make it in large +quantity, and we need not attempt to make it unless we have good +materials and conditions for its proper preparation, and will give it +every attention possible for its best development. + +Because spawn may be made in America is no reason whatever why the +American people will buy it. We must produce, at least, as good an +article as the best in Europe before we can find countenance in our home +market. It is not the shape of the manure brick, its size, fine finish, +hardness, softness, or freshness, that counts in this case; it is the +fullness and vitality of the mass of mycelium or mushroom plant that is +contained within it. + + +HOW TO MAKE BRICK SPAWN. + +As the making of brick spawn for sale is not yet an American industry, +but almost entirely confined to England, I think it best to restrict +myself to describing how it is made in England. Mr. John F. Barter, of +Lancefield street, London, is one of the most successful mushroom +growers and spawn makers in Great Britain. He writes me that he confines +himself entirely to the mushroom business; he makes his living by it. He +grows mushrooms in the winter months and makes spawn in the summer +months; he employs men for mushroom bed making from August until March, +then, to keep on the same hands during summer, he makes spawn for sale. +He grows for and sells in the London market about 21,000 pounds of +mushrooms a year, and in summer makes some 10,000 bushels, equal to +160,000 pounds, of brick spawn for sale. The amount of spawn made in a +year by this one manufacturer is about three times as much as the total +annual importation of mushroom spawn of all kinds into this country. And +he is only one maker among several. This fact alone must convince us +that mushroom-growing is carried on to a vastly greater extent in +European countries than it is here, where we have as good facilities as +they have, and an immensely better market. + +The manner of making the spawn differs a little with the different +manufacturers, and no one can become proficient in it without practical +knowledge. I asked Mr. Barter if he thought spawn could be made +profitably in this country, paying, as we do, $1.50 a day for laborers, +and without any certainty of the same men staying with us permanently. +He writes me: "Uncertain labor would be of no use. Of course the wages +you pay would not affect it much, as I pay nearly as much as that for my +leading men. But to begin with, you must have a man that has had some +experience." + +About the simplest and best way of making brick spawn that I find +described is the following from _The Gardeners' Assistant_. I may here +state that Robert Thompson, the author of this work, was for many years +the superintendent of the Royal Horticultural Society's gardens at +Chiswick, near London, and, in his day, was regarded as without a peer +in practical horticulture, and lived in the midst of the market gardens +of London and the principal mushroom-growing district. + +"Fresh horse droppings, cow dung, and a little loam mixed and beaten up +with as much stable drainings as may be necessary to reduce the whole to +the consistence of mortar. It may then be spread on the floor of an open +shed, and when somewhat firm it may be cut into cakes of six inches +square. These should be placed on edge in a dry, airy place, and must +be frequently turned and protected from rain. When half dry make a hole +in the broadside of each, large enough to admit of about an inch square +of good old spawn being inserted so deep as to be a little below the +surface; close it with some moist material the same as used in making +the bricks. When the bricks are nearly dry make, on a dry bottom, a +layer nine inches thick of horse dung prepared as for a hotbed, and on +this pile the bricks rather openly. Cover with litter so that the steam +and heat of the layer of dung may circulate among the bricks. The +temperature, however, should not rise above 60°; therefore, if it is +likely to do so, the covering must be reduced accordingly. The spawn +will soon begin to run through the bricks, which should be frequently +examined whilst the process of spawning is going on, and when, on +breaking, the spawn appears throughout pretty abundantly, like a white +mold, the process has gone far enough. If allowed to proceed the spawn +would form threads and small tubercles, which is a stage too far +advanced for the retention of its vegetative powers. Therefore, when the +spawn is observed to pervade the bricks throughout like a white mold, +and before it assumes the thread-like form, it should be removed and +allowed to dry in order to arrest the further progress of vegetation +till required for use. It ought to be kept in a dark and perfectly dry +place." I would add, do not keep it where it is apt to become musty or +moldy in summer; also keep it in as cool a dry place as possible in +summer, and always above 35° in winter. + +These other recipes are also given: + +"1. Horse droppings one part, cow dung one-fourth, loam one twentieth. + +"2. Fresh horse droppings mixed with short litter one part, cow dung +one-third, and a small portion of loam. + +"3. Equal parts of horse dung, cow dung, and sheep's dung, with the +addition of some rotten leaves or old hotbed dung. + +"4. Horse dung one part, cow dung two parts, sheep's dung one part. + +"5. Horse droppings from the roads one part, cow dung two parts, mixed +with a little loam. + +"6. Horse dung, cow dung, and loam, in equal parts." + +From the above it appears that horse dung and cow dung are the +principals in spawn bricks; the loam is added for the purpose of making +the other materials hold together; it also absorbs the ammonia, which +otherwise would pass off. + +=J. Burton's Method.= From _The Kitchen and Market Garden_.--Make the +spawn in early spring. As cow manure is the principal ingredient used in +making the bricks this should be secured before the animals get any +green food. Store it on the floor of an open, dry, airy shed, and turn +it every few days for a week or two. Then add an equal part of the +following: Fresh horse droppings, a little loam, and chopped straw, +mixed together. "The whole should then be worked well together and then +trodden down, after which it may be allowed to remain for a few days, +when it will be required to be turned two or three times a week. If the +weather be fine and dry the mass will soon be in a fit condition for +molding into bricks, which process can be performed by using a mold in +the same way as the brick makers, or, ... the manure may be spread +evenly on the floor to a thickness of six inches, and then be firmly +trodden and beaten down evenly with the back of the spade. It should +then be lined out to the required size of the bricks, and be cut with a +sharp spade or turfing iron. In a few days the bricks will be +sufficiently dry to handle, when they should be set up edgeways to dry +thoroughly, and if exposed to the sun for two or three days they will +be ready to receive the spawn. In introducing the spawn two holes large +enough to admit a piece of spawn as big as a pigeon's egg should be cut +in each brick at equal distances. This should be well beaten in and the +surface made even with a little manure. The bricks should then be +collected together in a heap and covered with enough short manure to +cause a gentle heat, being careful that there is no rank heat or steam +to kill the spawn. This must be carefully attended to until the spawn is +found to have penetrated through the whole of the bricks, after which +they should be stacked away in any convenient dry place." + + +HOW TO MAKE FRENCH (flake) SPAWN. + +I can not do better than to let a practical Frenchman engaged in the +business tell this story. In Vol. XIII of the London _Garden_ I find an +English translation of M. Lachaume's book, "The Cave Mushroom," and this +comment by the editor: "The most complete account of the cave culture of +mushrooms which has been published by any cultivator on the spot well +acquainted with the subject is that recently published by M. Lachaume." + +Lachaume says: "The best spawn to use is what is called 'virgin spawn'; +that is to say, which has not yet produced mushrooms. In this country +this kind of spawn may be procured of any respectable nurseryman, under +the name of 'French spawn.' It differs from English spawn by being in +the form of small tufty cakes, instead of in compact blocks. Large +mushroom growers, however, always provide themselves with their own +spawn by taking it from a bed which is just about to produce its crop, +or which has already produced a few small mushrooms.... It is true that +by thus 'breeding in and in,' as it were, the mushrooms show a tendency +to deteriorate after a time; new spawn must therefore be obtained as +soon as any signs of deterioration begin to manifest themselves." + +=Making French Virgin Spawn.=--Condensed from Lachaume's book on +mushrooms. Take five or six barrow loads of horse droppings that have +lain in a heap for some time, and lost their heat, and mix them with +one-fourth of their bulk of short stable litter. Then, in April, open a +trench two feet wide, twenty inches deep, and length to suit, at the +foot of, but eight inches distant from, a wall facing north. In the +bottom of the trench spread a layer three to four inches deep of chopped +straw, then an equally thick layer of the prepared manure, all pressed +firmly by treading it down. The two layers must now be gently watered, +and then another double layer of chopped straw and droppings must be +laid, trodden down and watered, and so on until the top of the trench is +reached. The bed ought to rise above the level of the ground and be +rounded off like the top of a trunk. To prevent excessive dampness from +heavy rain cover the mound with a thick layer of stable litter. Three +months after filling the trench it should be opened at the side or end. +If the pieces of manure are well covered with masses of bluish-white +filaments, giving off the odor of mushrooms, the operation has +succeeded, and the spawn is fit for use or for drying to preserve for +future use. But if the threads are only sparingly scattered through the +mass, the trench should be covered up again and left for another month. +In saving the spawn the flakes of manure containing the largest amount +of spawn filaments should be retained, and those showing a brown +appearance rejected. In order to facilitate the drying of the spawn the +flakes should be broken into pieces, weighing from one to two pounds; +they are then placed in a well ventilated shed, but they must not be +piled upon each other. Properly prepared and dried this spawn keeps good +for ten years. + +=A Second Method= (by Lachaume). "This is generally adopted by mushroom +growers. The formation of the spawn is accelerated by adding pieces of +old spawn here and there.... At the beginning of April we must choose a +piece of ground situated at the foot of a wall facing north.... The soil +ought to be very open and light rather than heavy, so as to avoid +dampness. Taking advantage of a fine day, we open a trench sixteen +inches wide and at about eight inches from the foot of the wall, and of +a length adapted to the quantity of spawn we desire to produce. The +earth is thrown out on the side opposite the wall. Manure which has been +prepared for a mushroom bed, and has just come into condition is then +filled into the trench, leaving, however, a space at one end of it about +two feet and six inches in length for the formation of a mushroom bed, +which is made by tossing the manure about and shaking it up with the +hands, after which it is pressed down with the hands and knees. As soon +as the layer of manure reaches six inches in thickness we place along +the edge a number of lumps of spawn at about one foot apart. These lumps +are placed level with the manure on the edge facing the wall. This +portion of the surface of the manure ought to be raised vertically, and +should lean against the earthen wall of the trench. The other half of +the surface ought to slope gently toward the wall, leaving a space of +three or four inches between it and the side of the trench, so that it +may be trimmed. The lumps of spawn on this surface should be placed a +little backward, so that they may not be broken when the bed is trimmed. +The bed is then covered with more manure, until the first lumps of spawn +are buried three or four inches deep. A second row of lumps of spawn is +then inserted, as described in the directions for making the first row, +and the bed is filled up level with the surface of the soil. It is +finished by covering it up with a layer of fine, dry soil three or four +inches thick. The spawn ought to be very dry, otherwise we shall get a +premature crop of mushrooms instead of fresh spawn. At the end of six +weeks or a couple of months the new spawn ought to make its appearance, +a fact which we may learn by opening the bed. One sign, which will save +us the trouble of opening up the beds, is the appearance of young +mushrooms on the surface. The layer of earth is first removed, and then +the cakes of spawn are treated as described in the directions given for +the first method of making spawn." + +=Third Method= (by Lachaume). "By filling in a trench like that +described in the first method, by a series of layers of one-third of +pigeon or fowl guano, and two-thirds of short manure, containing a large +proportion of spent horse droppings, treading it down firmly, watering +it if it is too dry, and finishing up with a layer of soil, as described +already, we may, at the end of a couple of months, or even a little +longer, procure a supply of well-formed cakes of spawn of excellent +quality, which may be used in the ordinary manner." + +From Mr. Robinson's "Mushroom Culture." "This (French) spawn is obtained +by preparing a little bed, as if for mushrooms, in the ordinary way, and +spawning it with morsels of virgin spawn, if that is obtainable; and +then when the spawn has spread through it, the bed is broken up and used +for spawning beds in the caves, or dried and preserved for sale." + +From Mr. Wright's book on mushrooms. "French spawn ... is contained in +flakes of manure. Neither is it virgin spawn, nor derived immediately +from it, ... but is spawn taken from one bed for impregnating another." + +=Relative Merits of Flake and Brick Spawn.=--The flake or French spawn +costs about three times as much as the brick or English spawn, and, as +it is so much whiter with mycelium than is the brick spawn, many +believe that it is more potent and well worth the additional cost. In +spawning the beds I use two pounds of flake spawn to plant the same +space for which I would use five pounds of brick spawn, and this gives a +capital crop, with number of mushrooms a little in favor of the flake +spawn, but on account of the larger size of the mushrooms the weight of +crop is considerably in favor of the brick spawn. And I find more +certainty of a crop in the case of the brick spawn than in the other. + +Regarding the respective merits of brick and flake spawn, Mr. Barter, in +response to my inquiry, writes me: "I have tried them both, and know +brick spawn to be far the best. You see, I do nothing but this mushroom +business for a living, so, of course, would use the best kind of spawn +for my crop. Generally the French spawn produces one-third less +mushrooms than does the brick spawn from the same length of bed, +besides, those from the brick spawn are by far the heaviest and +fleshiest." + +I would here observe that Mr. Barter's remarks apply more to ridge beds +out of doors than beds in the cellar or mushroom house. And it is odd, +but true, that the flake spawn does not produce as good results in +outdoor beds as it does in those under cover. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +SPAWNING THE BEDS. + + +After the mushroom bed is made up it should, within a few days, warm to +a temperature of 110° to 120°. Carefully observe this, and never spawn a +bed when the heat is rising, or when it is warmer than 100°, but always +when it is on the decline and under 90°. In this there is perfect +safety. Have a ground thermometer and keep it plunged in the bed; by +pulling it out and looking at it one can know exactly the temperature of +the bed. Have a few straight, smooth stakes, like short walking canes, +and stick the end of these into the bed, twelve to twenty feet apart; by +pulling them out and feeling them with the hand one can tell pretty +closely what the temperature of the bed is. + +All practical mushroom growers know that if the temperature of a twelve +inch thick bed at seven inches from the surface is 100°, that within an +inch of the surface of the bed will only be about 95° indoors, and 85° +to 90° out of doors. Also, that when the heat of the manure is on the +decline it falls quite rapidly, five, often ten degrees, a day, till it +reaches about 75°, and between that and 65° it may rest for weeks. + +Some years ago I gave considerable attention to this matter of spawning +beds at different temperatures. Spawn planted as soon as the bed was +made (five days after spawning the heat in interior of bed ran up to +123°) yielded no mushrooms, the mycelium being killed. The same was the +case in all beds where the spawn had been planted before the heat in the +beds had attained its maximum (120° or over). Where the heat in the +middle of the bed never reached 115°, the spawn put in when the bed was +made, and molded over the same day, yielded a small crop of mushrooms. A +bed in which the heat was declining was spawned at 110°; this bore a +very good crop, and at 100° and under to 65° good crops in every case +were secured, with several days' delay in bearing in the case of the +lowest temperatures. But notwithstanding these facts, my advice to all +beginners in mushroom growing is, wait until the heat of the bed is on +the decline and fallen to at least 90°, before inserting the spawn. + +Writing to me about spawning his beds, Mr. Withington, of New Jersey, +says: "I believe a bed spawned at 60° to 70°, and kept at 55° after the +mushrooms appear, will give better results than one spawned at a higher +temperature, say 90°." + +[Illustration: FIG. 23. BRICK SPAWN CUT IN PIECES FOR PLANTING.] + +=Preparing the Spawn.=--If brick spawn is used cut up the bricks +(standard size) into ten or twelve pieces with a sharp hatchet, and +avoid, as much as possible, making many crumbs, as is the case generally +when a hammer or mallet is used in breaking the bricks. Extra large +pieces of spawn are apt to produce large clumps of mushrooms, but this +is not always an advantage, as when many mushrooms grow together in a +clump they are apt to be somewhat undersized, and in gathering we can +not pluck them all out clean enough so as not to leave a part of the +"root" in the ground to poison the balance of the clump, in cases where +several or many of them spring from one common base. + +=Inserting the Spawn.=--When brick spawn is used plant the lumps about +an inch deep under the surface of the manure, and about ten inches apart +each way. If the spawn looks very good, and the lumps are large do not +plant them quite so close as when the spawn shows less mycelium in it, +and the lumps are small. Never use a dibber in planting spawn; simply +make a hole in the manure with the fingers, insert the lump and cover it +over at once, and as soon as the bed has been planted firm it well all +over. Although the lumps are buried only an inch deep under the manure, +we have to make a hole three or four inches deep to push the lump into +to get it buried. + +French or flake spawn is inserted in much the same way and at about the +same distance, only, instead of cutting it up into lumps, we merely +break it into flaky pieces about three inches long by an inch thick, and +in planting it in the beds, in place of pushing it into the hole, lay in +the flake on its flat side and at once cover it. + +Many growers plant spawn a good deal deeper than I do, but I have never +found any advantage in deep planting. In moderately warm beds, or beds +that are likely to retain their heat for a considerable time, I am +satisfied that shallow planting is better than deep planting. When we +want to mold over our beds soon after spawning them, shallow planting is +to be recommended. But if the beds are only 75° to 78°, before being +spawned; then I think deep planting is better than shallow planting, +because the genial temperature gives the mycelium a better start in life +than would the cooler manure nearer the surface. + +If there is any likelihood of the surface manure getting wet from the +condensed moisture of the atmosphere, I would again cover over the beds +with some hay or straw, and let it remain on until molding time. And if +the bed is a little sluggish,--that is, cool,--this covering will help +in keeping it warm. Outside beds should be molded over in three or four +days after spawning; inside beds in eight to ten days. + +=Steeped Spawn.=--As brick spawn is so hard and dry I have tried the +effect of steeping it in tepid water before planting; some pieces were +merely dipped in the water, and others allowed to soak in the pails +one-half, one, five, and ten hours. The effect was prejudicial in every +instance and ruinous in the case of the long-soaked pieces. + +=Flake Spawn.=--"This is produced by breaking up the brick spawn into +pieces about two inches square and mixing them in a heap of manure that +is fermenting gently. After lying in this heap about three weeks it will +be found one mass of spawn, and just in the right condition for running +vigorously all through the bed in a very short time.... When flake spawn +is used the appearance of the crop is from two to three weeks earlier +than when brick spawn is used."--Mr. Henshaw, in first edition of +"Henderson's Handbook of Plants." I have tried this method and given it +careful attention, but the results were inferior to those obtained where +plain, common brick spawn had been used at once. + +In all my practice I have found that any disturbance of the spawn when +in active growth which would cause a breaking, exposing, or arresting of +the threads of the mycelium has always had a weakening influence upon +it. I have transplanted pieces of working spawn from one bed to another, +as the French growers do, but am satisfied that I get better crops and +larger mushrooms from beds spawned with dry spawn than from beds planted +with working spawn from any other beds. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +LOAM FOR THE BEDS. + + +In growing mushrooms we need loam for casing the beds after they are +spawned, topdressing the bearing beds when they first show signs of +exhaustion, filling up the cavities in the surface of the beds caused by +the removal of the mushroom stumps, and for mixing with manure to form +the beds. The selection of soil depends a good deal on what kind of soil +we have at hand, or can readily obtain. + +The best kind of loam for every purpose in connection with +mushroom-growing is rich, fresh, mellow soil, such as florists eagerly +seek for potting and other greenhouse purposes. In early fall I get +together a pile of fresh sod loam, that is, the top spit from a pasture +field, but do not add any manure to it. Of course, while this contains a +good deal of grassy sod there is much fine soil among it, and this is +what I use for mushrooms. Before using it I break up the sods with a +spade or fork, throw aside the very toughest parts of them, and use the +finer earthy portion, but always in its rough state, and never sifted. +The green, soddy parts that are not too rough are allowed to remain in +the soil, for they do no harm whatever, either in arresting the mycelium +or checking the mushrooms, and there is no danger that the grass would +grow up and smother the mushrooms. + +Common loam from an open, well-drained fallow field is good, and, if the +soil is naturally rich, excellent for any purpose. But do not take it +from the wet parts of the fields. Reject all stones, rough clods, +tussocks, and the like. Such loam may be used at once. + +Ordinary garden soil is used more frequently than any other sort, and +altogether with highly satisfactory results. The greatest objection I +have to it is the amount of insects it is apt to contain on account of +its often repeated heavy manurings. + +Roadside dirt, whether loamy or gritty, may also be used with good +results. If free from weeds, sticks, stones and rough drift, it may be +used at once, but it is much better to stack it in a pile to rot for a +few months before using. + +Sandy soil, such as occurs in the water-shed drifts along the roads and +where it has been washed into the fields, is much inferior to stiffer +and more fibrous earth. + +I have used the rich dark colored soil from slopes and dry hollows in +woods, and, odd though it may appear, as mushrooms do not naturally grow +in woods, with success. But it is not as good as loam from the open +field. + +Peat soil or swamp muck that has been composted for two or three years +has failed to give me good returns. The mushrooms will come up through +it all right, but they do not take kindly to it. + +Heavy, clayey loam is, in one way, excellent, in another, not so good. +So long as we can keep it equably moist without making it muddy it is +all right, but if we let it get a little too dry it cracks, and in this +way breaks the threads of the spawn and ruins the mushrooms that were +fed through them. + +=Loam Containing Old Manure.=--Loam in which there is a good deal of +old, undecomposed manure, such as the rich soil of our vegetable +gardens, is unqualifiedly condemned by some writers because of the +quantity of spurious and noxious fungi it is supposed to produce when +used in mushroom beds. But I can not join in this denunciation because +my experience does not justify it. This earth is the only kind used by +many market gardeners, as they have no other, and certainly without +apparent injurious effect. When I was connected with the London market +gardens, some twenty years ago, Steele, Bagley, Broadbent, and the other +large mushroom growers in the Fulham Fields cased all of their beds with +the common garden soil--perhaps the most manure-filled soil on the face +of the earth--and spurious fungi never troubled them. Indeed, I can not +understand why it should produce baneful crops of toadstools when used +in mushroom beds, and no toadstools when used for other horticultural +purposes, as on our carnation benches in greenhouses, in our lettuce or +cucumber beds, or in the case of potted plants. True, spurious fungi may +appear in the earth on our greenhouse benches or frame beds or mushroom +beds at any time and in more or less quantity, but I am convinced that +the rich earth of the vegetable garden has no more to do with producing +toadstools than has any other good soil, and old manure has far less to +do with it than has fresh manure. + +All practical gardeners know how apt hotbeds, in spring when their heat +is on the decline, are to produce a number of toadstools; and, also, +that when the bed is "spent," that is, when the heat is altogether gone, +the tendency to bear toadstools has gone too. This peculiarity is more +apparent in spring than in fall. All mushroom growers know that spurious +fungi, when they appear at all, are most numerous three to two weeks +before it is time for the mushrooms to come in sight. The same growth +appears in the manure piles out in the yard; a few weeks after the +strong heat of the manure has gone lots of toadstools may be observed on +and about the heaps, but on the piles of well-rotted cold manure we +seldom find toadstools at all. + +The fresh, clean stable manure used in mushroom-growing is not apt to be +charged with the spores of pernicious toadstools; their presence is +always most marked in the case of mixed manures. + +And there is a current idea that mushrooms will not thrive in beds in +which old manure abounds, either in the loam or fermenting material; +that it kills the mycelium. This, too, I must refute. I have seen heavy +crops of spontaneous mushrooms come up in violet and carnation beds in +winter, and where the soil consisted of at least one-fourth of rotted +manure well mixed with the earth. In cucumber and lettuce beds the same +thing has taken place. And in similar beds that have been planted +artificially with spawn, good crops of mushrooms have also been raised, +and the mycelium, instead of evading the lumps of old manure in the soil +often forms a white web right through them. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +EARTHING OVER THE BEDS. + + +This is an important operation in mushroom-growing, and the one for +which loam is indispensable. It consists in covering the manure beds, +after they have been spawned, with a coating, or casing as it is more +commonly called, of loam. The spawn spreads in the manure and rises up +into the casing, where most of the young mushrooms develop, and all find +a firm foothold. The loam also contributes to their sustenance. And it +protects the manure, hence the spawn, from sudden fluctuations of +temperature, and preserves it from undue wetting or drying. + +The best soil to use for this purpose is rich, fibrous, mellow loam, +such as is described, page 100. + +If the manure is fresh and in good condition and the beds are in a snug +cellar or closed mushroom house, I would not case them until the second +week after spawning, say about the eighth or tenth day; but were these +same beds in an open, airy shed or other building I would case them over +some days earlier, say the fourth or fifth day. A fear is often +expressed that when beds are cased within three or four days after being +spawned the close exclusion of the manure from the air is apt to raise +the heat of the manure in the bed, and thereby destroy the spawn; but I +have never known of any truth in this theory, and with well-prepared +manure I am satisfied no brisk reheating takes place, at least the +thermometer does not indicate it. The great danger of early casing is in +killing the spawn by burying it too deep in damp material and before it +has begun to run through the manure. + +I have conducted several experiments in order to satisfy myself +regarding when is the proper time to case the beds, and have found no +difference in results between beds that were cased over as soon as they +were spawned and others that were not cased over until the fourth, +seventh, tenth, or fourteenth day after spawning. The good or bad +results in the time of casing depend on the condition of the manure in +the beds, the depth at which the spawn has been inserted, the openness +or closeness of the place in which the beds are situated, and other +cultural conditions. But to delay casing as late as the fifteenth or +sixteenth day after spawning is injurious to the crop, because in +applying the covering of soil we are sure to break many of the mycelium +threads that have by this time so freely permeated the surface of the +manure. After the fourth week little white knots may be observed here +and there on the spawn threads; these are forming mushrooms, and to +delay casing the bed until this time would smother these little +pinheads, and greatly mar our prospects of a good crop. + +Peter Henderson, in his invaluable work, "Gardening for Profit," has +given rise to a deep seated prejudice against molding over mushroom +beds as soon as they are spawned by telling us that in his first attempt +at mushroom-growing he had labored for two years without being able to +produce a single mushroom, and all because he molded over his beds with +a two-inch casing of loam just as soon as he had spawned them. Then he +changed his tactics, and did not mold over the beds until the tenth or +twelfth day after spawning, and was rewarded with good crops of +mushrooms. Now, notwithstanding Mr. Henderson's experience, it is a fact +that many excellent growers spawn and mold their beds the same day, and +with success. But Mr. H. has done much good in displaying a rock against +which many might be wrecked, so much depends upon other cultural +conditions. The old practice of inserting the spawn three or more inches +deep into the manure bed and then molding it at once with two inches +deep of loam was enough to destroy the most potent spawn; nowadays we +barely cover the spawn with the manure, and this is how molding over at +once is so successful. + +All the preparation necessary is to have the loam in medium dry, mellow +condition, well broken up with the spade or digging fork, and freed from +sticks, stones, big roots, clods, chunks of old manure, and the like. + +Sifting the soil for casing the beds is labor lost. Sifted soil has no +advantage over unsifted earth, except when it is to be used for +topdressing the bearing beds or filling up the holes in their surface. + +The condition of the soil should be mellow but inclined to moist. If wet +it can only be used clumsily and spread with difficulty; if dry it can +be spread easily but not made firm, and on ridge beds can not be put on +evenly. But when moderately moist it can be spread easily and evenly on +flat or rounded surfaces, and made firm and smooth. + +How deep the mold shall be put upon the bed is also an unsettled +question. Some growers recommend three-fourths of an inch, others one, +one and one-half, two, or two and one-half inches, and some of our best +growers of fifty or seventy-five years ago were emphatic in asserting +three inches as the proper depth, but among recent writers I do not find +any who go beyond two and one-half inches. My own experience is in favor +of a heavy covering, say one and one-half to two inches. In the case of +a thin covering the mushrooms come up all right but their texture is not +as solid as it is in the case of a heavy covering, nor do the beds +continue as long in bearing; besides, "fogging off" is much more +prevalent under thinly covered than under heavily covered beds; also, +when the coating of loam is heavy a great many more of the "pinheads" +develop into full sized mushrooms than in the case of thinly molded +beds. + +Opinions differ as to firming the soil. I am in favor of packing the +soil quite firm, and have never seen good mushrooms that could not come +through a well firmed casing of loam, and I never knew of an instance +where firm casing stopped or checked the spreading of the mycelium or +the development of the mushrooms. In the case of flat beds,--for +instance, those made on shelves and floors,--a slightly compacted +coating (and this is all Mr. J. G. Gardner uses) may be all right, but +in the case of alongside-of-walls, ridge, and other rounded beds I much +prefer and always use solidly compacted casings. + +Mr. Henshaw has for several years used green sods about two inches +thick, put all over the bed, grass side down, and beaten firmly. The +advantage of using sods instead of soil, he thinks, is that the young +clusters of mushrooms never damp or "fogg off" as they are apt to do +when soil is used. + +I have given this green sods method repeated and careful trials, and am +satisfied that it has no advantages, in any way, over common fibrous +loam; indeed, it is not as good. No matter how firmly a sod, having its +green side down, may be beaten on to a bed of manure, there is barely +any union between the two; the sod merely rests upon the dung, but so +closely that the mycelium enters it freely. A slight movement or +displacement of the sod after the spawn enters it will break the threads +of mycelium between the manure and the sod, and this will destroy the +immature mushrooms forming in the sod. This gave me a good deal of +trouble. Stepping on the sod would disturb it. A clump of strong +mushrooms formed under it sometimes displaces it in forcing their way to +the surface. + +Sods are only fit for use on flat beds where they can lie solid; on +rounded or ridge beds they are too liable to be disturbed. And the +trouble and expense of procuring sods are too great to warrant their +use, even if they had any advantages. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +TOPDRESSING WITH LOAM. + + +In beds that are in full bearing or a little past their best we often +find multitudes of very small or what we call "pinhead" mushrooms, that +seem to be sitting right on the top of the loam, or clumps that have +been raised a little above the surface by growing in bunches, or what we +term "rocks"; now a topdressing of finely sifted fresh loam, about +one-fourth to one-half inch thick, spread all over the bed, will help +these mushrooms materially without doing any of them harm. But while +this topdressing assists all mushrooms that are visible above ground, no +matter how small they may be when the dressing is applied, I am not +convinced that it induces greater fertility in the spawn, or, in other +words, induces the spawn to spread further and produce more mushrooms +than it would were no topdressing applied. I know that this is contrary +to the opinions and writings of many, at the same time it is according +to my own observation. + +Go over the bed very carefully and pick out every soft or "fogged-off" +mushroom, no matter how small it may be, and root out every bit of old +mushroom stem or tough spongy material formed by it, and in this way get +the bed thoroughly cleaned. Then fill up all the holes caused by pulling +the mushrooms or rooting out the old stumps, and when the whole surface +is level apply the topdressing evenly all over the face of the bed, +avoiding, as much as possible, burying the well advanced mushrooms. +While it would be very well to pack the dressing smoothly over the bed, +it is impracticable; we may press it gently with the back of the hand on +the bare spots between the mushrooms, but we should not even do this +over the mushrooms, no matter how tiny they may be, else many of the +"pinheads" will be injured and cause "fogging off." + +But we can firm the dressing to the bed by watering it, which may be +done over the whole surface of the bed, and without sparing the +mushrooms, large or small. Use clear water and apply it gently through a +water-pot rose. I always do this, and have never known it to injure the +young mushrooms. + +In the case of mushroom beds in which black spot has appeared in the +crop, I have found that a topdressing of fine, fresh earth applied +evenly all over the bed acts, to a certain extent, as a preventive of +further attack, but of course has no effect upon any of the already +affected mushrooms, large or small. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +THE PROPER TEMPERATURE. + + +The best temperature at which to keep the mushroom house or cellar is +55° to 57°. But much depends upon the method of growing the esculent; +the construction of the house or cellar, and other circumstances. +Mushrooms can be successfully grown in buildings in which the +temperature may be as low as 20° or as high as 65°. By covering the beds +well with hay or other protecting material they can be kept warm, even +in sharp frosty weather, as the London market gardeners do with their +outdoor beds in winter; but when the temperature in the structure in +which the mushrooms are grown averages as high as 70° we can not hope +for success; indeed, 65° is too high. + +A high temperature in a close house or cellar is injurious; it hurries +in the crop and forces up the mushrooms weak and thin-fleshed and with +ungainly, long stems; it soon exhausts the bed. The time when its evil +effects are least visible is early in the fall and late in spring when +the outside temperature is high, and when the beds are in somewhat airy +rather than close quarters. In the Dosoris cellars there is a steady +difference of about 5° in the temperature between the end next the +boiler, which is kept at 60° precisely, and that of the farther end, +which registers 55° steadily. There is very little difference in the +weight of crop produced on the beds at either end of these cellars, but +what little there is is in favor of the cooler end. At 60° the crop +begins to come in in six to seven weeks after spawning, lasts for three +to four weeks in heavy bearing and a week or more longer in light +bearing, and then it gradually dwindles. + +In a temperature of 55° it may be seven weeks after spawning before the +mushrooms appear. In a temperature of 50° they may take a few days +longer in appearing, but, as a rule, they are firm, heavy, +short-stemmed, and perhaps a little furry on top and clammy to the +touch, and the beds last in good bearing for two months; indeed, often a +whole winter long. But I have failed to find that the whole crop from a +bed in a 45° to 50° temperature was any greater than that of a like bed +in a 55° to 57° temperature; it is merely a case of getting in six weeks +from the warmer house what it takes ten weeks to get from the cooler +one. + +In a temperature of 50° it is not necessary to cover the beds to +increase their warmth, nor is it needful even in one of 45°, if there is +a fair warmth in the body of the bed to keep the spawn working; but if +the warmth of the interior of the bed falls under 57°, and the +atmospheric temperature under 45°, the bed should be kept warm by +covering with hay, straw, matting, or other material, or better still by +boxing it over and laying this covering on the outside of the boxing. +When cold thicken the covering, when warm lessen it. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +WATERING MUSHROOM BEDS. + + +If the beds get dry they should be watered, for mushrooms will not grow +well in dry beds or in a dry atmosphere. Watering is an operation +requiring much care. In properly-made beds the manure should remain +moist enough from first to last, and whatever dryness is evident should +be in the loam casing of the beds and the atmosphere. In all +artificially heated mushroom houses the beds and atmosphere are apt to +get too dry at one time or another; in underground houses or cellars +this is less apparent than in above-ground structures; in shaded +north-facing houses dryness is less troublesome than in houses more +openly placed. + +Endeavor by all fair means to lessen the necessity for watering the +beds, but when water is needed never hesitate to give it freely. +Mulching the beds and maintaining a moist atmosphere are the best +preventives. After the beds are spawned and molded it is a good plan to +cover them with a light coating of strawy litter or hay to prevent +drying, but this mulching should be removed when it is near time for the +young mushrooms to appear. A light sprinkling of water over this +mulching every few days, but never enough to reach the soil, assists in +preserving enough moisture in the bed under the mulch and also in the +atmosphere of the house. + +Clean, soft water at a temperature of 80° or 90°; a little warmer or a +little colder will not hurt, but do not use water higher than 110°, as +it might injure the little pinheads, nor lower than the average +temperature of the house, as it would chill the bed, and this should +always be avoided. + +Use a small or medium-sized watering pot with a long spout and a fine +rose sprinkler. Apply the water in a gentle shower over the bed, +mushrooms and all, but never use enough to allow it to settle in pools +or run off in little streams. Clean water sprinkled over the mushrooms +does not appear to hurt them, but they should never be touched with +manure water, as it stains them. Just as soon as the surface of the bed +shows signs of dryness give it water, the quantity depending upon the +condition of the bed. Never let a bed get very dry before watering it. +To thoroughly moisten a very dry bed requires a heavy watering; so much, +indeed, that the sudden change might injuriously affect the young +mushrooms and spawn. Give enough water at a time to moderately moisten +the soil, not to soak it, but never sufficient to pass through the soil +into the manure. Clean water only should be used until the beds come +into bearing, but after that time manure water may be employed with +advantage; however, this is not at all imperative; indeed, excellent +crops can be and are continually being produced without the aid of +manure water at all. + +In the case of beds in full bearing, manure water is beneficial to the +crop. Apply it from a small watering pot with a long narrow spout but no +rose, and pour the liquid on gently over the surface of the bed, running +it freely between the clumps but never touching any of the mushrooms. +For this reason a rose should not be used. + +I have always used manure water for mushrooms more or less, but during +the past two seasons--'87-'88 and '88-'89--I have experimented with it +continuously and very carefully, using it in some form or other on part +of every bed, and am satisfied that manure water made from fresh horse +droppings is the best, and the dark colored liquid, the drainings from +manure piles, is the poorest; in fact, this latter is not as good as +plain water, for it seems to have a deadening rather than quickening +effect upon the beds. Cow manure and sheep manure make a good liquid +manure, but still I prefer the horse manure, and although having given +hen and pigeon manure and guano fair tests I am not satisfied that they +have benefited the crop, and there is always a risk in their use. Liquid +manure made from the contents of the barnyard tank has not done much +good, but fresh urine from the horse and cow stables diluted twelve to +fifteen times its bulk has given favorable results. + +Mushrooms not only bear with impunity but appear to enjoy a stronger +liquid manure more than do any other cultivated plants, and I am +satisfied that the weak liquids usually recommended for pot and garden +plants would be barely more efficacious than plain water for mushrooms. + +The manure water that has given me most satisfaction is prepared as +follows: Dump two bushels of fresh horse droppings into a forty-five +gallon barrel and fill up with water; stir it up well and let it settle +over night. Drain off the liquid the next day and add a pound of +saltpeter to it. For use, to a pailful of this liquid add a pailful of +warm water. Water of about 80° to 90° is best for mushroom beds. +Saltpeter is an excellent fertilizer for mushrooms. I use it in two +ways, namely: First, powdered and mixed in the soil for casing the beds, +at the rate of two ounces of saltpeter to the bushel of earth. Second, +dissolved in water at the rate of two ounces of saltpeter to eight +gallons of water, and sprinkled over the beds. + +Common salt I use as an insecticide and also as a fertilizer, and am +satisfied that it proves beneficial in both ways. Sometimes I sprinkle +it broadcast on the surface of the beds, always on the bare places, +never touching the mushrooms, and leave it there for a day or two, then +with a fine, gentle sprinkling of water wash it into the soil. This is +to help destroy the anguillulæ. As a fertilizer only dissolve four +ounces of salt in ten gallons of water, and with this sprinkle the beds. + +A too dry atmosphere can be remedied by sprinkling the floors, walls, or +litter coverings on the beds with water, not heavily or copiously, but +gently and only enough to wet the surfaces; better moisten in this way +frequently than drench the place at any one time. But I very much +dislike sprinkling the beds in order to moisten the atmosphere. An +experienced man can tell in a moment whether or not the atmosphere of +the mushroom house is too dry. The air in the mushroom house should +always feel moist, at the same time not raw or chilly, and the floor and +wall surfaces should present a slow tendency to dry up, and the earth on +the beds should retain its dark, moist appearance. The least tendency to +dryness should at once be relieved by damping the wall and floor +surfaces. + +In houses heated by smoke flues, or still more by ordinary stoves and +sheet iron pipes, it may be necessary to dampen the floors and walls +once or several times a day to maintain a sufficiently moist atmosphere, +but where hot water pipes are used and the houses are tight enough to +require but little artificial heat, such frequent sprinkling will not be +necessary. In the case of beds in unheated structures the ordinary +atmosphere is generally moist enough. + +=Manure Steam for Moistening the Atmosphere.=--The late James Barnes, of +England, a grand old gardener, writing in the London _Garden_, Vol. III, +page 486, describes his method of growing mushrooms sixty years ago, and +says: "In winter a nice moist heat was maintained by placing hot stable +manure inside, and often turning it over." Mr. John G. Gardner, of +Jobstown, N. J., is one of Mr. Barnes's old pupils and a most successful +mushroom grower, and he now practices this same method of moistening the +atmosphere by hot manure steam. See page 21. + +In damping the floors of the mushroom house, as well as the beds, I use +a medium-sized watering pot and fine rose; but in sprinkling the walls +and other parts not readily accessible by the watering pot I use a +common garden syringe. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +GATHERING AND MARKETING MUSHROOMS. + + +This is an important point in the cultivation of this esculent, and +should be attended to with painstaking discretion. + +When mushrooms are fit to pick depends upon several conditions; for +instance, whether for market or for home use, and if for the latter, +whether they are wanted for soups or stews. For fresh and attractive +appearance and best appreciation in the market, pick them when they are +plump and fresh and just before the frill connecting the cap with the +stem breaks apart. The French mushrooms should always be gathered before +the frill bursts; the English mushrooms also look best when gathered at +this time, but they are admissible if gathered when the frill begins to +burst and before the cap has opened out flat. If the mushrooms display a +tendency to produce long stems pick them somewhat earlier, soon enough +to get them with short shanks, for long stems are disliked in market; +so, too, are dark or discolored or old mushrooms of any sort. Sometimes +we may not have enough mushrooms ready at one gathering to make it +worth while sending them to market, and are tempted to let them stay +ungathered until to-morrow, when they have grown larger and many more +shall have grown big enough to gather. This should never be done. It +will give an unfavored, unequal lot, some big, some little, some old, +some young. Far better pick every one the moment it is ready to gather, +and keep all safe in a cool place and covered until some more are ready +for use, and in this way have a uniform appearing lot of young produce. + +Mushrooms for soups should always be gathered before they burst their +gills; indeed, they are mostly gathered when in a button state; that is, +when they are about the size of marbles. In this condition, when cooked, +they retain their white appearance and do not discolor the soup. +Immature mushrooms are deficient in flavor. + +For home use, for baking, stewing, broiling, or for cooking in any way +in which the tenderness of the flesh and the delicious aroma of the +mushrooms are desirable in their finest condition, let the mushrooms +attain their full size and burst their frills, as seen in Fig. 24, and +gather them before the caps open out flat, or the gills lose any of +their bright pink color. If you let them get old enough for the gills to +turn brown before gathering, the mushrooms will become leathery in +texture, and lose in flavor and darken sadly in cooking. + +[Illustration: FIG. 24. A PERFECT MUSHROOM.] + +In picking, always pull the mushrooms out by the root, and never, if +practicable to avoid it, cut them over with a knife. In gathering, take +hold of the mushrooms and give them a sharp but gentle twist, pressing +them down at the same time, and they generally part from the bed without +any trouble; then place them in the baskets, root-end down, so as to +keep them perfectly clean and free from grit. Sometimes when several +mushrooms are joined together in one root-stock and it is impossible to +remove one without disturbing the whole, cut it over rather than pull it +out. In the case of clumps of young mushrooms, where one can not be +pulled out without displacing some of the others also, cut it out rather +than pull it. There is a knack in pulling mushrooms, easily attained by +practice. And even when they come up in thick bunches and it would +appear impossible to pull out the full-grown ones without disturbing the +others, a practiced hand will give them a twitch and a pull--they often +part from the bed by the gentlest touch--and get them out without +unfastening any of the multitude of small buttons that may be growing +around them. + +The advantages of pulling over cutting are several: It benefits the bed. +If we cut over a mushroom and leave its stump in the ground, in a few +days decay sets in and a fluffy or spongy substance grows around the old +butt, which destroys many of the little mushrooms around it, as well as +every thread of mycelium that comes in contact with it. One should be +particular to scoop out these stumps with a knife before this condition +takes place, and go over the beds every few days to fill up the holes, +made in scooping out the old stumps, with fresh loam. + +Pulled mushrooms always keep fresh longer than do those that have been +cut. In the interest of the market grower they have another advantage. +Mushrooms are bought and sold by weight, and as the stems are always +retained to the caps all are weighed together; if part of the stems had +been cut off the weight would have been reduced, and, in like +proportion, the price; but if the stems are retained entire not only are +the mushrooms benefited, but the weight, and with it the price, is also +increased. + +=Gathering Field or Wild Mushrooms.=--Go in search of them in the +morning before the sunshine gets warm and they become too open or old. +If you wish to gather and preserve them in their most perfect condition +pull them up by the "roots," carefully remove any soil from them, and +then lay them orderly in the basket, the root end down; and by spreading +a stout sheet of paper over the layer, another may be arranged above it +in the same way, and so on until the basket is full. But if you are not +so particular and wish them for immediate use, or for ketchup or drying, +the common way of cutting them off and carrying them home in bulk will +answer well enough. + +=Marketing Mushrooms.=--Most market growers who live immediately around +New York City sell direct, and deliver their mushrooms to hotels, +restaurants, and fancy fruiterers. But some of them, also most of those +who live at a considerable distance from the city, sell their mushrooms +through commission merchants in New York; they, in turn, sell in +quantities to suit customers. + +Mushrooms are sold by the pound, and come into market in boxes made of +strong undressed paper. Some growers have light wooden boxes made that +hold from one to four pounds of mushrooms each, and these make +convenient and strong packages for shipping by express. They may be sent +singly, or, as is the case with the paper boxes, several packed together +in crates or boxes. In sending directly to hotels, cheap baskets, +holding one or several pounds--Mr. Gardner's baskets hold twelve +pounds--are often used, but in sending to commission merchants, who +have to deal them out in quantities to suit customers, mushrooms should +always be packed in one, two, three or four pound boxes or baskets, +preferably one pound. Mushrooms are not like potatoes or apples, that +can be handled, remeasured, and repacked without damaging them. Each +rehandling will certainly discolor and perhaps break a good many of +them, rendering them unsalable, if not worthless. + +The utmost care in gathering and packing of mushrooms for shipping is of +primary importance. Gather them the moment they are in best condition, +no matter whether or not they are to be packed and shipped the same day; +never let them blow open before gathering them; and never cut off short +stems. Long stems have to be shortened, but not until everything is +ready to pack them. With a very soft hair brush dust off any earth that +may stick to the cap of the mushroom, and with a harder brush or the +back of a knife rub the earth off of the root end of the stem. Then sort +the mushrooms,--the big ones by themselves, the middle-sized by +themselves, the small or button-sized ones by themselves, and pack each +kind by itself. Pack very firmly without bruising, and so as to show the +pretty caps to the best advantage. Never pack mushrooms more than two +deep without using plenty of soft paper between the layers, and never +put a heavy bulk of them into one box or basket. They discolor so easily +that, all things considered, about a pound is enough in a box, if we +wish them to carry safely and retain their bright, fresh skin without +tarnishing. + +Mr. Barter, of London, writes me: "The punnets we use for marketing our +mushrooms in are the same that are used for strawberries or peaches. +These hold just one pound, but it is becoming more customary now to have +little boxes made holding from three to five pounds, as these are better +for packing in larger cases for long journeys." + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +RE-INVIGORATING OLD BEDS. + + +There is a wide-spread impression among horticulturists that worn out +beds which have ceased to bear may, by means of watering and certain +stimulants and warming up again, be so re-invigorated as to start into +full bearing, and yield a second and a good crop. I have given this +question much painstaking and practical consideration, and have +absolutely failed to revive a "dead" bed. I have not been able to do it +myself, and any instance of its having been done has never come under my +observation. This may appear heresy anent the multitudinous writings to +the contrary. + +A mushroom bed may keep on bearing in a desultory way for many months, +and now and again show spurts of increased fertility; but this is no +second crop; it is merely a prolonged dribbling of the first crop. A +bed, by reason of cold or dryness, may, as it were, stand still or +partially stop bearing, and soon after it is remoistened, warmed, and +otherwise submitted to congenial conditions, will display renewed +energy; but this is no second crop; it is merely a spurt of the first +crop caused by extra favorable cultural conditions. But to show how +vaguely this question which is so much written about is regarded, let me +quote from a letter to me by Mr. J. Barter, who grows 21,000 lbs of +mushrooms a year for the London market: "You ask me, 'Do you ever get a +second crop?' My beds last in bearing, on an average, each three months, +and that I reckon to be three crops. But whether it be three or six +months, the weight of mushrooms is about the same. As there is in, say +a ton of manure, only so much mushroom-producing power, if you force it +to produce that weight in two months you are a gainer, as you thereby +save in labor; but when that producing-power is exhausted it will +produce no more mushrooms." + +A spent mushroom bed is one that has been kept in bearing condition +under the most favorable circumstances at our command, and it has borne +a good crop, lasted some two months in bearing, and now it has stopped +bearing (except in a meagerly, desultory way) because the spawn or +mycelium has exhausted itself and is dead. Then, without living spawn in +the bed how are we to get mushrooms? Some bits of mycelium are still +alive and yield the desultory few, but every mushroom that they yield is +preying on their vitality, and after a time they too shall die and the +bed be completely barren, for the mycelium is altogether dead, and +without mycelium mushrooms are an impossibility. We can keep mushroom +mycelium in active growth the year round, and year after year, providing +we never let it bear mushrooms. This is done by taking the mycelium, +just before it begins bearing, from one manure bed and plant it in +another, and so on from bed to bed. At every fresh transplanting the +mycelium exerts itself into renewed growth, for it must become a strong +plant before it has strength enough to produce and support a mushroom. +Our utmost efforts have never rendered mycelium in a mushroom-bearing +condition perennial. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +INSECT AND OTHER ENEMIES. + + +The mushroom grower has his full share of insects to contend with, and +in order to overcome them one should acquaint himself with them, and +know what they are, what they do, whence they came, and how to destroy +them. One should study the diseases and mishaps of his crop and endeavor +to know their cause. If we know the cause of failing health in plants, +even in mushrooms, we can probably stop or devise a remedy for the +disease or means to prevent its recurrence, and if we can not benefit +the present subject we are forewarned against future attacks. But there +is a deal of mysterious trouble in this direction in mushroom-growing. +We are likely to know something about the depredations committed by +insects or parasitic molds above ground, but I am sure there is a good +deal of mischief going on under ground of which we know very little, if +anything. The ills to which the mycelium is subject are not at all fully +understood. + +="Maggots."=--This is the common name among practical mushroom growers +for the larvæ of a species of fly (Diptera) which from April on through +the warm summer months renders mushroom-growing unprofitable. It is +unavoidable, and so far has proved invincible. It attacks the mushrooms +in deep cellars, above-ground houses, greenhouses, or frames, and is +often quite common in early appearing crops in the open fields. We +sometimes read that it does not occur in unheated cellars, but this is a +mistake, for in our unheated tunnel cellars, where the temperature in +April does not exceed 55°, maggots always appear about the end of this +month. But it is true that in the case of cool houses and where the beds +are covered over with hay or straw maggots do not appear as early in the +season as they do in warm houses and open beds. While rigid cleanliness, +and care in keeping the house or cellar closed, no doubt have much to do +in lessening the trouble, I have never been able to overcome it, and +know of no one who has. We simply stop growing mushrooms in summer. + +The maggots or larvæ are about three-sixteenths to four-sixteenths of an +inch long, white with black head, and appear in all parts of the +mushroom, but mostly in the cap and at the base of the stem, and +perforate hither and thither leaving behind them a disgusting network of +burrows. The tiny buttons, about as soon as they appear at the surface +of the ground, are infested, but this does not check their growth, and +when they become mushrooms large enough for gathering, unless it be for +a dark looking puncture or tracing now and then visible on the outside +of the caps and stems, there are but few signs to indicate to the +inexperienced eye the presence of maggots. And this is why maggoty +mushrooms are so often found exposed for sale in summer. But in large or +full-grown mushrooms, and especially the white-skinned varieties, their +presence is visible enough. Although very repugnant, however, and +utterly unfit for food, maggoty mushrooms are not poisonous. + +But all the mushrooms of summer crops are not maggoty, only a large +proportion of them; the evil begins in April, and increases as the +summer advances, until August, when it decreases, and in October +completely stops--at least this is my experience. + +A solution of salt, saltpeter, or ammonia sprinkled over the surface of +the beds does not, in this case, do any good as an insecticide, +pyrethrum powder diffused through the atmosphere, and tobacco smoke, +have been ineffectual. Burning a lamp set in a basin of water with a +little kerosene floating on the surface is a most doubtful operation. +Multitudes of flies are destroyed by this lamp trap, but they are the +poor little innocent "manure flies," and the atmosphere of the house is +vitiated and rendered unhealthy for the crop. I have tried these lamp +traps season after season, and never knew of their doing any good; that +is, the maggots seemed just as numerous in the lamp-trapped cellar as in +the other cellar in which no lamp trap had been used. + +Regarding this "maggots" question, Mr. J. F. Barter, of London, writes +me: "During the summer months the outdoor mushrooms get maggoty before +they are big enough to gather, but of course they can be grown in cool +cellars all the year round.... I know of no sure cure for them (the +maggots); of course a slight sprinkling of salt with manure or mold does +prevent, to a certain extent, but it must be used very carefully." Now +my experience is, as I have already said, that it is impossible to grow +mushrooms here in summer, even in cool cellars, without having them more +or less maggoty. As regards the salt and loam preventive, I have tried +it lightly and heavily, but without any apparent good effect. + +=Black Spot.=--All mushroom growers are familiar with this disease, but +unless it appears in pronounced form very little notice is taken of it, +even by market men, for we see spotted mushrooms continually exposed for +sale. It appears as dark brown spots, streaks, or freckles, on the top +of the mushroom caps, and increases in distinctness and breadth with +age. Fig. 25. It is caused by eel worms (_Anguillulæ_). These minute +creatures enter the mushrooms when the latter are in their tiniest pin +form and before they emerge from the ground. If a button arises clean it +remains clean, if diseased it continues to be diseased, and it is a +fact that if one mushroom in a clump has black spot we usually find that +every mushroom in the clump has it. But mushrooms growing from the same +bit of spawn and that come up an inch or two away from the spotted ones +may be perfectly clean. Black spot has never occurred with me in new +beds, and seldom in those in vigorous bearing, but it generally appears +in beds that have been in bearing condition for some weeks or are +declining. It does not confine itself to any particular spot or part of +the bed, and sometimes it is much more plentiful than at others. Between +October and March we have very little black spot, but as the spring +opens this disease increases. During the winter season, with careful +attention, perhaps not so much as one per cent will show black spot, but +as the warm weather sets in the per centage increases until in May, when +as many as twenty per cent may be affected by it. + +[Illustration: FIG. 25. MUSHROOM AFFECTED WITH BLACK SPOT.] + +Black spot is a disease, however, that can be controlled. Keep +everything in and about the mushroom houses rigidly clean, and as soon +as a bed has ceased to bear a crop worth picking clear it out, lime-wash +the place it occupied, and make up another bed. Carefully observe that +no old loam or manure is allowed to accumulate anywhere, or green scum +forms upon the boards, paths, or walls; boiling water impregnated with +alum poured over the boards, walls, and other scum-covered surfaces, +will kill the eel worms, but it should not be allowed to touch the +mushroom beds that are in bearing or coming into bearing. Much can be +done to protect the bearing beds from the ravages of this pest: In +gathering the mushrooms remove every vestige of old stump and fogged-off +mushrooms, keep the holes filled up with fresh loam, and when the bed +has been in bearing condition for a fortnight sprinkle it over with a +solution of salt, and next day topdress with a half-inch coating of +finely sifted fresh loam; firm it to the bed with the back of the hand, +for it can not be pressed on with a spade on account of the growing +mushrooms. + +Is black spot unwholesome? I do not think so. I have never known any ill +effects from eating it. The spotted parts are merely flavorless and +tasteless. But it is a very disgusting disease, and no one, I am sure, +would care to eat eel worms with their mushrooms. Until quite recently I +used to regard the black spot as the mark of some parasitic fungus, and, +acting under this impression, sent affected mushrooms to Dr. W. G. +Farlow, Prof. of Cryptogamic Botany at Harvard University, for his +opinion. He wrote me: "I find that the trouble is due to _Anguillulæ_, +and I find an abundance of these animals in the brown spots." He advised +me to submit them to an expert in "worms." I then sent samples to my +kind friend, Mr. William Saunders, of Washington, D. C., who submitted +them, for me, to Dr. Thomas Taylor, the microscopist to the U. S. +Department of Agriculture, and who replied: "I recommend that you use a +sprinkling of scalding water thoroughly over the entire surface of the +bed, especially the portion next to the boxing. The scalding water +should be applied before the buttons appear, but not penetrate more than +one-eighth of an inch below the surface. Anguillulæ abound wherever +decaying vegetable matter exists.... The green algæ on the outside of +flower pots abounds in the anguillulæ." + +=Manure Flies.=--This is the name we give to the little flies (a species +of _Sciara_) that appear in large numbers in spring and summer in our +mushroom houses, or, indeed, in hotbeds or structures of any sort where +manure is used, as well as about the manure heaps in the yard. On +account of their habits they are regarded with much ill-favor. They hop +about the house and are continually running over the mushrooms, beds, +and walls, in the most suspicious manner. But, notwithstanding this, I +am inclined to regard them as perfectly harmless so far as injuring the +mushroom crop is concerned, except the fact that they soil the mushrooms +somewhat by their traveling over them with their muddy feet. + +In attempting to get rid of the maggot fly I have destroyed large +numbers of these little innocents, but without any apparent diminution +in their numbers. Lachaume recommends: "These flies may be destroyed by +placing about a number of pans filled with water to which a few drops of +oil of turpentine have been added. The flies are attracted by the odor +and drown themselves. They may also be caught with a floating light, in +which they will burn their wings and fall into the water." I have found +that pure buhach powder dusted into the air or burned on a hot shovel in +the mushroom house has been more effective in destroying these flies +than either the lamp or drowning process. + +=Slugs.=--These are serious pests in the mushroom house, especially in +above-ground structures, and they also occur in annoying numbers in +cellars. Wherever hay or straw is used in covering the beds, or there is +much woodwork about the house, slugs appear to be most numerous. They +are very fond of mushrooms and attack them in all stages, from the tiny +button just emerging from the ground to the fully developed plant. In +the case of the buttons or small mushrooms they usually eat out a piece +on the top or side of the cap, and as the mushroom advances in growth +these wounds spread open and display an ugly scar or disfigurement. They +also bite into the stems. But in the case of fresh, full grown mushrooms +they seem to have a particular liking for the gills, and eat patches +out of them here and there. + +="Bullet" or "Shot" Holes.=--My attention was first called to these by +Mr. A. H. Withington, of New Jersey. They are little holes cut clear +through the mushroom caps, as if perforated by a buckshot, and are +evidently the work of some insect. He had, before then, submitted some +of these perforated mushrooms to Prof. S. Lockwood, who sent them to +Prof. C. V. Riley for his opinion. Prof. Riley replied that: "It is +quite likely that the damage was done by some myriapod, possibly a +Julus, or some of its allies. Only observation on the spot will +determine this point." As I never had any trouble with myriapods +attacking mushrooms and had seen nothing of this "bullet hole" work in +our own beds I was much interested in the question and determined to +look out for it, so I marked off a part of a bed and left that uncared +for. I soon found out the trouble. These holes are the work of slugs +which I have found and watched in the act of eating out the holes. To +find the slugs at work, one has to take his lantern and go out and look +for them at night. And to find out about plant parasites--be they +fungus, or insect--one has to let them alone and watch them. Had we kept +up our unsparing hunt for slugs, probably we should not yet have known +what caused these "bullet holes," for no slug would have been left alive +long enough to eat a hole through a mushroom cap. + +Slugs must be caught and killed. We can find them at night by hunting +for them by lamp-light; their slimy track glistens and reveals their +presence. A few small bits of slate or half rotten boards with a pinch +of bran on them laid here and there about the beds are handy traps; the +slugs gather to eat the bran, hide beneath the rotten wood, and can then +be caught and killed. Fresh lettuce leaves make a capital trap, but +lettuces in January or February are about as scarce as mushrooms +themselves. A dressing of salt is distasteful to slugs, and not +injurious to mushrooms. Strong, fresh lime water may be freely sprinkled +over woodwork, pathways, walls, or elsewhere where slugs might gather +and hide themselves; but this solution should not be used upon the +mushroom beds. Rigid cleanliness, however, about the mushroom house, and +an ever-alert eye for slugs, should keep them under. + +=Wood Lice.=--These are sure to be more or less abundant in every +mushroom house, even in the cellars. They crawl in through doors, +ventilators, or other interstices, and are brought in with the manure, +and find shelter about the woodwork, manure, or any bits of dry litter +that may be around. They attack the pinhead and small button mushrooms +by biting out little patches in their tops and sides; and although these +patches are small to begin with, the blemish spreads as the mushroom +grows, and is an objectionable feature. Trapping and killing the insects +is the chief remedy. Put part of a half boiled potato (for which no salt +had been used) into a little pasteboard box, and cover the potato with +some very dry swamp moss, lay the box on its side, and open at the end +on the bed. The wood lice will gather to eat the potato, and remain +after feasting because the dry moss affords them a cozy hiding place. +Several of these little boxes can be used. Go through the house in the +morning, lift the little traps quickly, and shake out any wood lice that +may be in them into a tin pail (an old lard pail will do), which should +contain a little water and kerosene. These traps may be used for any +length of time, merely observing to change the potato now and again to +have it in appetizing condition. Hot water or strong kerosene emulsion +may be poured about the woodwork, walls, and pathways, to destroy the +wood lice, but should not be allowed to touch the beds. Poisoned sweet +apples, potatoes, and parsnips have been recommended as baits for these +pests, but I must discourage using poisons of any sort in the mushroom +house. Six or eight inch square pieces of half rotten very dry boards +laid in pairs, one above the other, also make capital traps; the wood +lice gather there to hide themselves; these traps should be examined +frequently and the insects shaken into the pail containing water and +kerosene. + +=Mites.=--Two kinds of mites are very common about mushrooms in spring +and summer; one is whitish and smaller than a "red spider" (one of the +commonest insect pests among garden plants), and the other is yellowish +and as large as or larger than a "red spider." But I do not think that +either of these mites is worth considering as a mushroom pest. The +yellow mite (probably _Lyroglyphus infestans_) is extremely common in +strawy litter on the surface of hotbeds, and I have no doubt finds its +way into the mushroom house as manure vermin rather than a mushroom +parasite. They are the effect and not the cause of injury to the crop. +When mushrooms are wounded or cracked, particularly about the stem, the +crevices often become abundantly inhabited with these mites, but they do +no material damage. + +=Mice and Rats.=--These rodents are very fond of mushrooms, and where +they have access to the beds are troublesome and destructive. Both the +common house mouse and the white-bellied fence mouse are mushroom +destroyers, but, so far, the nimble but timid field mouse (among garden, +open air, and frame crops generally) has never yet troubled our +mushrooms, but I can not believe that this immunity is voluntary on its +part. The mice bite a little piece here and there out of the caps of the +young mushrooms, and these bite-marks, as the mushrooms advance in +growth, spread open and become unsightly disfigurements. In the case of +open mushrooms, however, the mice, like slugs, prefer the gills to the +fleshy caps. Rats are far more destructive than mice. Trapping is the +only remedy I use, and would not use poison in the mushroom houses for +these creatures for obvious reasons. But we should make our houses +secure against their inroads. + +=Toads.=--These are recommended as good insect traps to be used in +mushroom houses, but I do not want them there; the cure is as bad as the +disease. The mushroom bed is a little paradise for the toad. He gets +upon it and burrows or elbows out a snug little hole for himself +wherever he wishes, and many of them, too, and cares nothing about +whether, in his efforts to make himself comfortable, he has heaved out +the finest clumps of young mushrooms in the beds. + +=Fogging Off.=--This is one of the commonest ailments peculiar to +cultivated mushrooms. It consists in the softening, shriveling, and +perishing of part of the young mushrooms, which also usually assume a +brownish color. These withered mushrooms do not occur singly here and +there over the face of the bed, but in patches; generally all or nearly +all of the very small mushrooms in a clump will turn brown and soft, and +there is no help for them; they never will recover their plumpness. Some +writers attribute fogging off to unfavorable atmospheric +conditions,--the temperature may be too cold, or too hot, or the +atmosphere too moist, or too dry. I am convinced that fogging off is due +to the destruction of the mycelium threads that supported these +mushrooms; it is a disease of the "root," to use this expression; the +"roots" having been killed, the tops must necessarily perish. If it were +caused by unfavorable conditions above ground we should expect all of +the crop to be more or less injuriously affected; but this does not +occur; the mushrooms in one clump may be withered, and contiguous clumps +perfectly healthy. + +Anything that will kill the spawn or mycelium threads will cause +fogging off to overtake every little mushroom that had been attached to +these mycelium threads. Keeping the bed or part of it continuously wet +or dry will cause fogging off, so will drip; watering with very cold +water is also said to cause it, but this I have not found to be the +case. Unfastening the ground by abruptly pulling up the large mushrooms +will destroy many of the small mushrooms and pinheads attached to the +same clump; and when large mushrooms push up through the soil and +displace some of the earth, all the small mushrooms so displaced will +probably waste away, as the threads of mycelium to which they were +attached for support have been severed. A common reason of fogging off +is caused by cutting off the mushrooms in gathering them and leaving the +stumps in the ground; in a few days' time these stumps develop a white +fluff or flecky substance, which seems to poison every thread of +mycelium leading to it, and all the mushrooms, present and to come, that +are attached to this arrested web of mycelium are affected by the poison +of the decaying old mushroom stump, and fogg off. Any impure matter in +the bed with which the mycelium comes in contact will destroy the spawn +and fogg off the young mushrooms. Lachaume complains about the larvæ of +two beetles, namely _Aphodius fimetarius_ and _Dermestes tessellatus_, +which "cause great damage by eating the spawn, thereby breaking up the +reproductive filaments." Damage of this sort by these or any other +insect vermin will cause fogging off. But I have not noticed either of +the above beetles or their larvæ about our beds. + +=Flock.=--This is the worst of all mushroom diseases and common wherever +mushrooms are grown artificially. It is not a new disease; I have known +it for twenty-five years, and it was as common then as it is now, and +practical gardeners have always called it _Flock_. I say "worst of all +diseases" because _I know_ that mushrooms affected by it are both +unwholesome and indigestible, and I can readily believe that in +aggravated cases they are poisonous. It is caused by other fungi which +infest the gills and frills of the mushrooms, and render them a hard, +flocky mass; sometimes the affected mushrooms preserve their white skin, +color, and normal form, at other times the cap becomes more or less +distorted. The illustration, Fig. 26, is from life, and a good average +of a flock-infested mushroom. In gathering mushrooms the growers should +insist that every flock-infested mushroom be discarded, and consumers of +mushrooms should familiarize themselves with this disease so as to know +and reject every mushroom showing a trace of it. + +[Illustration: FIG. 26. A FLOCK-DISEASED MUSHROOM.] + +Flock does not affect all the mushrooms in a bed at any time, and I do +not believe it spreads in the bed, or, to use the expression, becomes +contagious. If one spot of mildew appears upon a cucumber, rose, or +grape vine indoors, and is not checked, it soon becomes general all over +the plant or plants, and if one spot of mold occurs in a propagating bed +and is not checked at once it soon spreads over a large space and +destroys every cutting or seedling within its reach, but this is not the +case with flock in a mushroom bed. If one mushroom is affected with +flock every mushroom produced from that piece of spawn is affected, but +not one mushroom produced from the pieces of spawn inserted next to this +one is affected by it; not even if the mycelium from the several lumps +of spawn forms an interlacing web. If the flock is confined to the +mushrooms produced from a certain bit of spawn some may ask, will the +other pieces of spawn broken from the same brick produce flock-infested +mushrooms? No. I have given this point particular attention, have kept +the pieces of each brick close together, and where flock has appeared I +have failed to find that the other pieces of spawn from that brick are +more liable to produce flock-infested mushrooms than are the pieces of +the bricks that, as yet, have not shown any sign of diseased produce. + +How general is this disease? In a bed say three feet wide by thirty feet +long and of two months' bearing one may get as few as five or as many as +fifty flocky mushrooms; one or two may occur to-day, and we may not find +another for a week or two, when we may get a whole clump of them, and so +on. It is not the large number of them that makes them dangerous, for +they never appear in quantity. They sometimes appear among the earliest +mushrooms in the bed, but generally not until after the bed has been in +bearing condition for a week or two. + +What conditions are most favorable or unfavorable to the growth of this +disease I do not know; but it is certainly not caused by debility in the +mushroom itself, as the parasite attacks healthy, robust mushrooms and +debilitated ones indiscriminately. This flocky condition is caused by +one or more saprophytic and parasitic fungi of lowly origin, whose +various parts are reduced to mere threads, simple or branched, and +divided into tubular cells at intervals, or else they are long, +continuous microscopic tubes without any partitions, except at those +occasional points where a branch, destined to produce spores, is given +off. Generally two or more species of these thread-fungi are present at +the same time on the mushroom host, and by the multiplied crossing and +interweaving of their threads and branches produce, through their great +numbers, the whitish, felted mass of "flock"; while as individuals the +threads are so minute as to be scarcely or not at all visible to the +naked eye. Similar thread-fungi may often be found in the woods among +damp leaves, under rotten logs, and on those porous fungi which +project, shelf-like, from the trunks of trees. At present there is no +way known for destroying the "flock," except to take up and destroy +every clump of mushrooms attacked by it. Fortunately the disease is not +very serious if proper precautions are observed; for, in our own +cellars, where mushrooms have been grown year after year for the past +eleven years, we get but few flocky mushrooms in any bed's bearing. The +disease is not more common to-day than it was in any former year. But we +give our cellars a thorough cleaning every summer. + +=Cleaning the Mushroom Houses.=--After the season's cropping is finished +the mushroom houses and cellars should be thoroughly cleaned. Clear out +the old beds, and bring outside all the movable floor and shelf boards, +scrape up every bit of loose litter or dirt in the place and throw it +out, broom down the walls and whatever boarding is left. Whitewash the +walls with hot lime wash, and paint every bit of woodwork liberally with +crude oil or kerosene. This is to destroy anguillulæ and other insect +and fungus parasites. If you wish to use again the boards brought +outside, broom them over and paint them copiously with kerosene. And if +your cellar or house has a dirt floor, a heavy sprinkling of very +caustic lime water all over it will do good in ridding it of vermin. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +GROWING MUSHROOMS IN RIDGES OUT OF DOORS AROUND LONDON. + + +In the preface to _Kitchen and Market Gardening_ (London) is the +following: + +"Mr. W. Falconer and Mr. C. W. Shaw made, in connection with the London +_Garden_, what we believe to be the first attempt at long and systematic +observation of the best culture as it is in London market gardens." This +is mentioned to indicate that the writer speaks on this subject from +experience. And although it is now seventeen years since I became +disconnected with the London market gardens, by revisiting them a few +years ago, and by correspondence and the horticultural press, I have +endeavored to keep informed of all changes of methods and improvements +in culture as practiced there. At that time Steele, Bagley, Broadbent, +Dancer, Pocock and Myatt were among the largest and best gardeners +around London, and since then several of these grand old gentlemen have +passed away and their fields have been cut up and built upon. At that +time mushrooms were one of the general crops, as were snap beans or +cauliflower, and in their season were planted as a matter of course. +To-day they have become a specialty, and some gardeners devote their +whole energy to mushroom-growing alone, and make from $2000 to $5000 a +year clear profit from one acre of mushrooms, and that, too, from ridges +in the open field! There is no other field crop that yields such a large +profit. There they get twenty-four to forty-eight cents a pound for +their fresh mushrooms, here we get fifty cents to a dollar a pound for +ours. But as mushroom-growing there is confined to fall, winter and +spring, those gardeners who restrict themselves to mushrooms only devote +the summer months to making mushroom spawn for their own use, and also +for sale. + +Mr. John F. Barter, of Lancefield street, London, the king of London +mushroom growers, writes me under date of Dec. 10, 1888: "I employ men +for mushroom bed-making from August to March; then, in order to keep on +the same staff, I get about 10,000 bushels of brick spawn made up for +sale.... By the sale of spawn I make just half of my living." Now let us +see: 10,000 bushels = 160,000 bricks, and each brick weighs a pound, +thus we have 160,000 pounds. At ten cents a pound (retail price) the +total is $16,000; at five cents a pound (supposed wholesale price) +$8000, or at three and a half cents a pound (supposed manufacturer's +price) $5600. + +The manure is obtained from the city stables and hauled home by the +gardeners on their return trips from market. The manure collected after +midsummer is used for mushrooms, and an effort is made to save the very +best horse manure for this purpose. When enough has accumulated for a +bed the manure is turned and well shaken, removing only the rougher part +of the straw, and thrown into a large pyramidal pile to heat; this shape +is adopted as being better than the flat form for keeping out rain. In +three or four days the manure is again turned, shaken out and piled up +as before; after this it is turned every second day, unless it rains, +until it has been turned six or seven times in all. It should then be +ready for making into ridges. + +The site for the beds should be a warm, well-sheltered piece of ground, +either in the open field or orchard; much pains should be exercised to +protect it from cold winds. Although a great many mushroom ridges are +made under the partial shade of apple and pear trees, I always preferred +making them in the open ground. The land should be dry and of a slightly +elevated or sloping nature, so that no pools of water can possibly +collect on the surface. Having the ground cleared, leveled, and ready, +mark it off into strips two feet wide and six feet wide alternately. The +two feet wide space is for the mushroom bed, the six feet wide one for +the space between the beds; but after the ridges are built, earthed over +and covered with straw, they are almost six feet wide at the base. The +common sizes of ridges are two feet wide by two feet high, and two and +one-half feet wide by two and one-half feet high, and taper to six or +eight inches wide at top. + +The manure being ready and the site for the beds lined off, the manure +is carted to the place and wheeled upon the beds. In making the bed +shake out the manure well and evenly to cause it to hold together, tamp +it with the back of the fork as you go along, and two or three times +before the ridges are completed walk upon and tread the manure down +solidly with the feet, and trim down the sides to turn the rain water. +Two days after the bed is made up some holes should be bored from the +top to nearly the bottom with a small iron bar to let the heat off and +prevent the inside of the bed from becoming too dry. Make them about +nine inches apart all along the center of the bed. The old gardeners did +not use the crowbar. They were very particular not to build their ridges +before the chances of overheating were considered past; but +notwithstanding all their care some of their beds would get overwarm, +when, without a moment's hesitation, they tossed them over, part to the +right and part to the left, and left the manure thus exposed for a day +or two to cool, and then make up the beds again on the same site. + +Brick spawn is always used. Some of those who make a specialty of +mushrooms also make spawn for sale as well as for their own use; but the +majority of the gardeners prefer to buy rather than make their own +spawn. + +When the heat has fallen to between 80° and 90° the ridges are spawned, +the pieces inserted in three rows along each side, leaving about nine +inches between the pieces. A dibber should not be used on any account. +The spawn is put in tightly with the hand and the manure pressed down. +It should be put in level with the face of the bed, so that the mold may +just touch it when the bed is cased. In the event of cold or wet +weather, just as soon as the beds are spawned a slight covering of rank +litter is laid over them. After a few days this is removed and the beds +are molded over with mold from ground to which manure has not been +applied for some time. But the general market gardeners do not make this +distinction; they use the earth from between the ridges, which has been +manured regularly every year for a couple of hundred years or more. The +mold is put on evenly with the spade and is about two inches thick at +the base of the ridge and one inch thick at top, and well firmed by +beating with the back of the spade; indeed, the ridges are now commonly +watered through a water-pot rose, again beaten very firmly and the +surface left smooth and even. This smooth surface readily sheds rain +water, but I question if it has any advantage over a well-firmed +unglazed surface. After molding the beds are covered with litter, that +is, the rankest straw that had been shaken out of the manure, to a depth +of four, six, eight, or ten inches, according to the state of the bed +and weather; if the bed is inclined to be cool or if the weather is +cold, thicken the covering. + +Drenching or long drizzling rains are more injurious to the beds than is +cold, and in order to ward them off old Russia mats and any other sort +of cloth or carpet covering obtainable is laid over the litter on the +beds and weighted down with poles, boards, stones, or anything else that +is convenient. Do not disturb this covering for about four weeks, and +then on a dry day strip it off and shake up the litter loosely so as to +dry it. If there is any white mold on the surface of the soil take a +handful of straw and rub it off. If the bed is rather cold put a layer +of clean, dry hay next the bed, and on top of this replace the littery +covering. + +[Illustration: FIG. 27. THE COVERED RIDGES.] + +The first beds are made in August, and one or more every month after +till March, just as time, convenience and material permit. Summer beds +are not attempted unless in exceptional cases. The bulk of the beds are +generally put in in September and October. In early fall, also in +spring, beds yield mushrooms in about six weeks after spawning; in +winter they take eight or nine weeks or more, much depending on the +weather. + +In cold weather the mushrooms are gathered at noon-day; if the weather +is windy and it is possible to postpone gathering for another day this +is done, as the litter can not be replaced satisfactorily in windy +weather. In gathering the mushrooms one man carefully pulls the straw +down from the top of the bed, rolling it toward him; another gathers the +mushrooms (pulling them out by the roots, never cutting them) into +baskets, and a third man covers up the bed. In this way the three men go +up one side of the ridge and down the other, and the work is done +expeditiously and well, without exposing any part of the bed more than a +minute or two at a time. It is necessary that the uncovering be done by +rolling the straw down from the top of the ridge; if it were rolled up +the covering on the other side of the ridge would be sure to slip down a +little, and break off many small mushrooms. The mushrooms as gathered +are of three grades; the large or wide-spread ones are called +"broilers," the full-sized ones whose neck frill is merely broken about +half an inch wide are "cups," and the small white ones whose frills are +not broken at all are termed "buttons." All of these are kept separate. +They are marketed in different ways, but the growers who make mushrooms +a specialty assort and pack them in chip baskets, boxes, or otherwise, +as the metropolitan and provincial markets demand or suggest. Mr. John +F. Barter, writing to me from London, says: "As to punnetts, we use the +same as for strawberries or peaches" (the abundance of peaches we have +in America is unknown over there), "they hold just one pound. But it is +getting more general now to have little boxes made to hold say three to +five pounds each; these are better for packing in larger cases for long +journeys." + +The first cutting is a light one. After this the bed is cut twice a week +for three weeks in mild weather, or once a week in inclement weather. +The last two or three pickings are thin and only secured once a week. +Altogether ten or eleven good pickings are gathered from each bed. + +I never knew of a single instance in which any attempt was made to +renovate an old or worn-out bed. But when the beds become so dry as to +need watering a small handful of salt is dissolved in a large pailful of +water and with this solution the beds are freely watered over the straw +covering, but never, to my knowledge, under it. + +My old friends, George Steele and Mr. Bagley, of Fulham Fields, used to +run part of their beds east and west, not only for convenience sake so +far as the beds themselves were concerned, but with the view of growing +early tomatoes against the south side of these beds in summer, and here +they got their finest and earliest crops, for the London gardeners can +not grow tomatoes out of doors in the open fields as we can in America. +Other gardeners clear away the manure for use elsewhere in their fields, +and as it is so well rotted it is in capital condition for cauliflower, +lettuces, snap beans, and other crops. But as the mushroom growers who +restrict themselves entirely to mushrooms, and who, after the mushroom +beds have finished bearing, have no further use for the manure in the +spent beds, are always able to dispose of it at one-half the cost price. +It is excellent for garden crops and as a topdressing for lawns, on +account of its fineness and freedom from all rubbish as sticks, stones, +old bottles, old shoes, and the like, is in much demand. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +MUSHROOM GROWING IN THE PARIS CAVES. + + +In caves and subterranean passages underneath the city of Paris and its +environs, thousands of tons of mushrooms are artificially produced every +year. These underground caves and tunnels are abandoned quarries from +which white building stone and plaster have been excavated, and as the +veins of stone permeated through the bowels of the earth, 40 to 125 feet +deep, so were they quarried, and the blocks brought to the surface +through vertical shafts. It is these tunnels, varying in height and +width as the veins of stone varied, that are now used for +mushroom-growing. M. Lachaume, in his book, _The Cave Mushroom_, tells +us: "In the Department of the Seine there are 3000 quarries; those which +have been abandoned and which are situated close to Paris at Montrouge, +Bagneux, Vaugirard, Méry, Châtillon, Vitry, Honilles, and St. Denis, are +used by the 250 mushroom-growers of the Department. There are several of +these quarries with horizontal galleries driven into the calcareous rock +from the level of the road, which are mostly large enough to accommodate +a good sized cart, but the majority can only be entered, like many coal +mines, by vertical shafts 100 to 125 feet deep, down which everything +has to pass. The laborers climb up and down a ladder, and the fresh +manure is shoveled down the shaft from above, the waste stuff and +mushrooms being hauled up in baskets from beneath by means of a +windlass." + +The manure used is obtained from the Paris stables and furnished by +contractors, with whom the mushroom growers make special bargains +because they are very particular about the kind and quality of the +manure they use. Some of these growers use as much as 2000 to 3500 tons +of manure each a year for their mushroom beds. To the caves in the +immediate neighborhood of Paris the manure is hauled out in carts, but +to Méry and other places too far distant to be within easy carting +distance it is sent by rail. The mushroom growers consider that the +manure from animals that are worked hard and abundantly fed on dry, good +food is the best; the droppings from these are always dry and rich in +ammonia, nitrogen and phosphates. The manure from entire horses that are +worked hard they regard as the best, and, next in value, that from +mules. The manure from horses kept for pleasure, such as carriage and +riding horses, is regarded as poor, notwithstanding the high feeding of +these animals, and the manure from horses fed on grass or roots, also +that of cows, as worthless. Stress is laid on the importance of having a +good deal of urine-soaked straw in the manure, and this is another +reason why manure from draught horses is preferred to that from animals +kept for pleasure, as the bedding of the former is not apt to be kept so +clean as that in aristocratic stables. + +The preparation of the manure is conducted near the mouth of the caves +or shafts on a level, dry piece of ground, and altogether out of doors. +As soon as sufficient manure for a pile is obtained it is forked over, +thoroughly shaken up and intermixed, divested of all extraneous matter +such as sticks, stones, bottles, scrap iron, old shoes, and the like we +find in city stable manure, and any dry straw is moistened with water. +It is then squared off into a heap forty inches high and trodden down to +thirty inches high. In this state it is left for about six days, when it +is turned, shaken up loosely, the outside turned to the inside, and all +dry parts watered; the same shallow square form is retained, and it is +again trodden down firm. In about six days more it is again turned, +shaken up, watered, squared off, and trodden as before. In about three +days after this it should be fit for use and may be turned, shaken up +loosely, and dumped down the shaft into the cave and carried to the spot +where the beds are to be formed. Of course these operations must be +modified according to circumstances and the condition of the manure. + +In making the beds the ground is first marked off. The first bed is made +alongside of the wall, and rounded to the front; the other beds run +parallel with this and may be straight, crooked, or wavy, as the +interior of the cave may suggest. The beds are all ridge-shaped, +eighteen to twenty inches wide at the base, eighteen to twenty inches +high in the middle, six inches wide at top, and the sides sloping. +Pathways twelve inches wide run between the beds. The workmen build the +beds by piece-work and receive one-half cent per running foot. A good +workman can make 240 feet a day (_Lachaume_). The beds are built neatly +and firmly and with much nicety as regards size and proportions. But the +workmen do not use a fork or any other tool in the construction of the +beds; they lift, shake up, spread and build the manure with their naked +hands and pack it firm with their knees. + +The spawn is obtained from the working beds and is what the mushroom +growers there call "virgin" spawn, though not at all what we know by +that term. As a succession of beds is kept up all the year round it is +an easy matter for the growers to get their spawn at any time. The best +time to get the spawn is when the young mushrooms are first appearing. A +bed or part of a bed in capital working order is selected and broken up +and the cakes of manure thoroughly matted up with the active mycelium +are selected for spawning the fresh beds. It is asserted that from this +active spawn crops of mushrooms appear in twenty days' less time than if +dry spawn were used. + +The French spawn is used. Somewhere between the seventh and fourteenth +day after making the bed it will be in condition for spawning. Break the +spawn into pieces between two and three inches long, two inches wide, +and three-fourths of an inch thick, and insert these pieces in two rows +along the sides of the ridges; the first row eight inches above the +ground, the second row eight inches above the first, and the pieces put +in quincunx fashion eight inches apart in the row. The manure is firmly +packed in upon the spawn, the surface left smooth and even and without +being further disturbed until earthing time. + +Much stress is laid upon stratifying the spawn before using, when dry +spawn is employed. About eight days before a bed is to be spawned the +dry spawn is spread out in a row on the floor of the cave or cellar so +that it may absorb moisture and the mycelium begin to run. At spawning +time these cakes or flakes are broken up and used in the ordinary way, +and, it is claimed, with a week's difference in favor of the early +appearing of the mushrooms. But no more spawn than is necessary for +immediate use should be stratified, for it will not bear being dried and +damped again. + +The chips and powder of the stone which has been taken out of the quarry +and which can be had in abundance on the floor of the quarry or on the +surface of the ground around the shaft, are sifted, and the finer part +saved and mixed with earth in the proportion of three parts of stone +dust to one of earth, and with this the beds are molded over. The +powdered stone is strongly impregnated with salts, so advantageous to +the mushrooms. + +In seven to nine days after spawning, the beds are ready for earthing +over. This depends upon the condition of the spawn and how well it has +run in the manure. Before being earthed over the outside surface of the +beds should be covered with white filaments radiating in all directions +which give to the beds a bluish appearance. When the bed is in the +proper state for being covered with earth the mold is laid on equally +and firmly over the surface about three-fourths of an inch deep. It is +then thoroughly watered through a fine-rosed watering pot and allowed to +settle until the next day, when it is beaten solid by the back of a +wooden shovel. The bed now needs no further care until the young +mushrooms appear, except a light occasional watering should it get dry. + +[Illustration: FIG. 28. IN THE MUSHROOM CAVES OF PARIS.] + +In spacious, high-roofed caves the mean temperature is about 52° F., +while in narrow, low-roofed ones it is about 68°. Of course this makes a +wide difference in the time of bearing and duration of the beds made in +the different caves; those in the warm caves come into bearing sooner +and stop bearing quicker than do those in the high-roofed caves. On an +average the first mushrooms appear in about forty days after the beds +are spawned, and the beds continue bearing for forty or sixty days, but +toward the end of that time the yield diminishes very rapidly. + +They are gathered once a day, usually about midnight, so that they may +reach the Paris market early in the morning. In size the mushrooms range +from three-fourths to one and five-eighths inches in diameter of top, +and are pure white in color. The workmen always gather the mushrooms by +plucking them out by the roots, and never by cutting them; the gatherers +have two baskets, carried knapsack fashion on their back; one is to +receive the mushrooms as they are picked, the other contains mold with +which to fill in the little holes made by pulling the mushrooms out of +the bed. In some caves one man gathers the mushrooms and leaves them in +little piles on the bed as he goes along, a woman comes after him and +places them in a basket, and a man follows her and fills up the holes +with earth. Before bringing the mushrooms up out of the caves they are +covered over with a cloth to avoid contact with the outer air, which is +apt to turn them brown. They are then placed in baskets that contain +twenty-three to twenty-five pounds and sent to market, where they are +sold at auction as they arrive. Or they may be sent to +preserved-vegetable manufacturers, who contract for them at an all round +price. + +[Illustration: FIG. 29. GATHERING MUSHROOMS IN THE PARIS CAVES FOR +MARKET.] + +Proper ventilation is regarded as being of great importance, not only +for the sake of the workmen, but also for the mushrooms, which will not +thrive in an impure atmosphere. Ventilation is afforded by means of +narrow shafts surmounted by tall wooden chimneys whose upper ends are +cut at an angle so that the beveled side faces north. In order to avoid +sudden changes of temperature and strong draughts, fires, trap doors, +and other means employed in assisting the ventilation of coal mines +are adopted. To stop strong draughts, too, in the passages, tall, +straw-thatched hurdles are set up. In narrow caves the breath of the +workmen, the gases given off by fermentation, and the products of +combustion of the lamps would soon so vitiate the atmosphere as to +render the caves uninhabitable were they not properly ventilated. +Indeed, it frequently occurs that caves in which mushrooms have been +grown continuously for some years have to be abandoned for a year or two +because the crop has ceased to prosper in them. But after they have been +thoroughly cleared of all beds and the surface soil that would have been +likely to be touched or affected by the manure, and ventilated and +rested for a year or two, mushrooms can again be grown in them +successfully. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +COOKING MUSHROOMS. + + +Fresh mushrooms, well cooked and well served, are one of the most +delicious of all vegetables. If we grow our own mushrooms we can gather +them in their finest form, cook them as we please, and enjoy them in +their most delightful condition. If we are dependent upon the fields we +should be careful to gather only such mushrooms as are young, plump, and +fresh, and reject all that are old or discolored, or betray any signs of +the presence of disease or insects. And in the case of store mushrooms, +that is, the ones we get at the fruiterer's or other provision store, we +should examine them critically before using them to see that they are +perfectly free from "flock," "black spot," "maggots," or other ailment, +and discard all that have any symptoms of disease. + +The small, short-stemmed, white-skinned mushrooms offered for sale are +of the variety known as French mushrooms, and on account of their white +appearance are preferred by many; the longer-stemmed, broader-headed, +and darker-colored kind that we also find offered for sale is what is +known as the English mushroom. The French mushrooms are the most +attractive in appearance and preferred in the market, but the English +variety is the best flavored and generally the most liked for home use. + +As soon as the frill around the neck breaks apart the mushroom is fit to +gather; keeping it longer may add to its size a little, but surely will +detract from its tenderness. The gills of the mushrooms will retain +their pink tinge for a day after the frill breaks open, but they soon +grow browner and blacker, until in a few days they are unfit for food. +In gathering, the mushrooms should be pulled and never cut, and kept in +this way until ready to prepare them for cooking. By retaining the stem +uncut the mushroom holds its freshness and plumpness much longer than it +would were the stems removed. Keep them in a cool, dark place, and in an +earthenware vessel with a cover or a thick, damp cloth thrown over it; +this will preserve their plumpness. If the frill is broken wide apart +when the mushrooms are gathered, the caps are apt to open out flat in a +day or two, and the gills darken and spread their spores, just as if the +mushrooms were still unsevered from the ground. + +Carefully inspect the mushrooms before cooking them. If the gills are +black and the mushrooms are too old do not use them; if the cap is +perforated by insects discard it, as it is very likely there are maggots +inside; or if there are dark brown spots ("black spot") on the top of +the caps throw the mushrooms away. Old mushrooms are tough, ill-looking, +bad-tasting and indigestible, and those infested by insects, although +not poisonous, are very repugnant, and should not be used. But the +dangerous mushroom is the one affected by "Flock." + +Mushrooms should be gathered free from grit; if at all gritty they +require washing, which spoils them. All large mushrooms should be peeled +before they are cooked; the skin of the cap parts freely from the flesh, +but the skin of the stem must be rubbed or scraped off. The gills should +not be removed as they are the most delicate meat of the mushroom, but +if the mushrooms are old and intended for soup the gills should be +scraped out with the view of getting rid of their darkening influence in +the soup. In the case of small button mushrooms, which can not be +readily skinned, they should be rubbed over with a soft cloth dipped in +vinegar, so as to remove the outer part of the skin. While the stems may +be retained with the buttons, they should always be removed from the +full-grown mushrooms. + +Mushrooms should always be served hot, and they should be eaten as soon +as cooked. In the case of baked mushrooms and others prepared in a +somewhat similar way they should be covered in the oven by an inverted +dish, soup plate, basin, or the like, and if possible brought to the +table in this way and without the cover removed. Set the tin upon a mat +or cold plate upon the table, then uncover and serve on hot plates. By +this means the delicious aroma is preserved. + +=Baked Mushrooms.=--Peel and stem the mushrooms, rub and sprinkle a +little salt on the gills, and lay the mushrooms, gills up, on a shallow +baking tin and put a small piece of butter on each mushroom. Place an +inverted saucer or deep plate over them in the tin, and put them into a +brisk oven for about twenty minutes. Then take them out and serve upon a +hot plate, without spilling any of the juice that has collected in the +middle of each mushroom. Send to table and eat at once. This is the +common way of cooking mushrooms, and by it is secured the true mushroom +aroma and taste in their perfection. + +=Stewed Mushrooms.=--Peel and stem the mushrooms. Take an enameled +saucepan, put a lump of butter in it and melt it, then put in the +mushrooms, and season with salt and pepper and a small piece of pounded +mace (if you like it), then cover the saucepan tightly and stew the +mushrooms gently until they are tender, which will be in about half an +hour. Have ready some toast, either dry or fried in butter, as +preferred; spread out upon a hot dish, place the mushrooms upon the +toast, with the gills uppermost, pour the juice over them, and serve +hot. Button mushrooms are the ones usually selected for stewing, but +while nicer and whiter they are not so finely flavored as the full sized +ones. + +Another way of preparing stewed mushrooms is to stem and peel them; dip +in water containing lemon juice (this is to prevent their becoming +dark-colored in cooking, or giving a dark color to the stew), and drain +them dry. Put them into a stewpan, with a good-sized lump of butter and +some nice gravy, and let them stew for about ten minutes. Take a little +stock or cream, beat up some flour in it quite smooth, and add a little +lemon juice and grated nutmeg. Add this to the mushrooms and cook +briskly for about ten minutes longer, or until tender. + +=Soyer's Breakfast Mushrooms.=--Place some freshly-made toast, divided, +on a dish, and put the mushrooms, stemmed and peeled, gills upward upon +it; add a little pepper and salt and put a small bit of butter in the +middle of each mushroom. Pour a teaspoonful of cream over each, and add +one clove for the whole dish. Put an inverted basin over the whole. Bake +for twenty or twenty-five minutes, and do not remove the basin until the +dish is brought to the table, so as to preserve the grateful aroma. A +delightful dish. + +=Mushrooms à la Crême.=--Peel and stem the mushrooms, roll a lump of +butter in flour and put it into the saucepan, then add the mushrooms and +some salt, white pepper, a little sugar and finely chopped parsley. Stew +for ten minutes. Take the yolks of two eggs beaten up with two large +spoonfuls of cream, and add the mixture gradually to the stew; cook for +a few minutes longer, and serve hot. This is a delicious dish, but the +fine mushroom flavor is not as pronounced in it as it is in the plain +bake or stew. + +=Curried Mushrooms.=--Peel and stem a pound of mushrooms, sprinkle with +salt, add a little butter, and stew gently for fifteen or twenty minutes +in a little good stock or gravy. Then add four tablespoonfuls of cream +and one teaspoonful of good curry powder previously well mixed with two +teaspoonfuls of wheat flour. Mix carefully and cook for five or ten +minutes longer, and serve on hot toast on hot plates. A capital dish +much enjoyed by those who like curry. + +=Broiled Mushrooms.=--Select large, open, fresh mushrooms, stem and peel +them. Put them on the gridiron, stem side down, over a bright but not +very hot fire, and cook for three minutes. Then turn them and put a +small piece of butter in the middle of each, and broil for about ten +minutes longer. Put them in hot plates, gills upward, and place another +small piece of butter on each mushroom, together with a little pepper +and salt, and flavor with lemon juice or Chili vinegar, and put them +into the oven for a minute or two. Then send them to table. + +=Mushroom Soup.=--Take a quantity of fresh young mushrooms, and peel and +stem them. Stew them with a little butter, pepper and salt, and some +good stock, till tender; take them out and chop them up quite small; +prepare a good stock, as for any other soup, and add it to the mushrooms +and the liquor they have been stewed in. Boil all together, and serve. +If white soup is required use white button mushrooms and a good veal +stock, adding a spoonful of cream or a little milk as the color may +require. This is a nice soup and tastes good. If the mushrooms are very +young they have but little flavor; if they are full grown they darken +the soup, and if they are brown in the gills when used the soup will be +disagreeably dark. If, after preparing, but before cooking the +mushrooms, you pour some boiling water over them and into this drop a +little vinegar or lemon juice, then drain them off through a colander, +you can prevent, to a great extent, their darkening influence on the +soup, but always at the expense of their flavor. + +=Mushroom Stems.=--The stems of young, fresh mushrooms are excellent to +eat, but those of old or stale mushrooms are unfit for food. In the case +of plump, fresh, full-sized mushrooms, the upper part of the stem, that +is, the portion between the frill and the socket in the cap, is used, +but the portion below the frill, that is, the "root" end, is discarded. +Any part of the stem that is discolored or tough or woody should be +rejected, and only the portion that is succulent and brittle and of a +clean white color at any time used. The stems are nearly always retained +in "button" mushrooms when they are cooked, and the upper or succulent +parts of the stems of plump, fresh, full-grown mushrooms are often +cooked along with the caps, but when cooking full-grown mushrooms we +prefer, in all cases, to completely remove the stems from the mushrooms, +and cook both separately. The stems are not so tender or deliciously +flavored as are the caps, but are excellent for ketchup, or flavoring, +or a sauce for eating with boiled fowl. In cooking the stems they should +be peeled by scraping, for they can not be skinned like the caps. + +=Potted Mushrooms.=--Select nice button or unopen mushrooms, and to a +quart of these add three ounces of fresh butter, and stew gently in an +enameled saucepan, shaking them frequently to prevent burning. After a +few minutes dust a little finely powdered salt, a little spice, and a +few grains of cayenne over them, and stew until tender. When cooked turn +them into a colander standing in a basin, and leave them there until +cold; then press them into small potting-jars, and fill up the jars with +warm clarified butter, and cover with paper tied down and brushed over +with melted suet to exclude the air. Keep in a cool, dry place. The +gravy should be retained for flavoring other gravies, sauces, etc. + +=Gilbert's Breakfast Mushrooms.=--Get half grown mushrooms, peel them +and lay them, gills-side upward, on a plate; put to each a small piece +of butter, but only one layer thick; pepper and salt to taste; add two +tablespoonfuls of ketchup and one of water; press round the rim of the +plate a strip of paste, get another plate of the same size pressed +firmly in the paste; put the whole in a brisk oven for twenty-five +minutes. The top plate should be left on until served. + +=Baked Mushrooms.=--(A breakfast, luncheon, or supper dish.) +Ingredients: Sixteen or twenty mushroom flaps, butter, pepper to taste. +Mode. For this mode of cooking the mushroom flaps are better than the +buttons, and should not be too large. Cut off a portion of stalk, peel +the top, and wipe the mushrooms carefully with a piece of flannel and a +little fine salt. Put them into a tin baking dish, with a very small +piece of butter placed on each mushroom; sprinkle over a little pepper, +and let them bake for about twenty minutes, or longer should the +mushrooms be very large. Have ready a very hot dish, pile the mushrooms +high in the center, pour the gravy round, and send them to table quickly +on very hot plates. + +=Broiled Mushrooms.=--(A breakfast, luncheon, or supper dish.) +Ingredients: Mushrooms, pepper and salt to taste, butter, lemon juice. +Mode. Cleanse the mushrooms by wiping them with a piece of flannel and a +little salt; cut off a portion of the stalk and peel the tops; broil +them over a clear fire, turning them once, and arrange them on a very +hot dish. Put a small piece of butter on each mushroom, season with +pepper and salt and squeeze over them a few drops of lemon juice. Place +the dish before the fire, and when the butter is melted serve very hot +and quickly. Moderate sized flaps are better suited to this mode of +cooking than the buttons; the latter are better in stews. + +=Mushrooms à la Casse, Tout.=--Ingredients: Mushrooms, toast, two ounces +of butter, pepper and salt. Mode. Cut a round of bread one-half an inch +thick, and toast it nicely; butter both sides and place it in a clean +baking sheet or tin; cleanse the mushrooms as in preceding recipe, and +place them on the toast, head downwards, lightly pepper and salt them, +and place a piece of butter the size of a nut on each mushroom; cover +them with a finger glass and let them cook close to the fire for ten or +twelve minutes. Slip the toast into a hot dish, but do not remove the +glass cover until they are on the table. All the aroma and flavor of the +mushrooms are preserved by this method. The name of this excellent +recipe need not deter the careful housekeeper from trying it. With +moderate care the glass cover will not crack. In winter it should be +rinsed in warm water before using. + +=Stewed Mushrooms.=--Ingredients. One pint mushroom buttons, three +ounces of fresh butter, white pepper and salt to taste, lemon juice, one +teaspoonful of flour, cream or milk, one-fourth teaspoonful of grated +nutmeg. Mode. Cut off the ends of the stalks and pare neatly a pint of +mushroom buttons; put them into a basin of water with a little lemon +juice as they are done. When all are prepared take them from the water +with the hands, to avoid the sediment, and put them into a stewpan with +the fresh butter, white pepper, salt, and the juice of one-half a lemon; +cover the pan closely and let the mushrooms stew gently from twenty to +twenty-five minutes, then thicken the butter with the above proportion +of flour, add gradually sufficient cream, or cream and milk, to make the +sauce of a proper consistency, and put in the grated nutmeg. If the +mushrooms are not perfectly tender stew them for five minutes longer, +remove every particle of butter which may be floating on the top, and +serve. + +=Broiled Beefsteak and Mushrooms.=--Ingredients: Two or three dozen +small button mushrooms, one ounce of butter, salt and cayenne to taste, +one tablespoonful of mushroom ketchup. Mode. Wipe the mushrooms free +from grit with a piece of flannel, and salt; put them in a stewpan with +the butter, seasoning, and ketchup; stir over the fire until the +mushrooms are quite done. Have the steak nicely broiled, and pour over. +The above is very good with either broiled or stewed steak. + +=To Preserve Mushrooms.=--Ingredients: To each quart of mushrooms allow +three ounces of butter, pepper and salt to taste, the juice of one +lemon, clarified butter. Mode. Peel the mushrooms, put them into cold +water, with a little lemon juice; take them out and dry them very +carefully in a cloth. Put the butter into a stewpan capable of holding +the mushrooms; when it is melted add the mushrooms, lemon juice, and a +seasoning of pepper and salt; draw them down over a slow fire, and let +them remain until their liquor is boiled away and they have become quite +dry, but be careful in not allowing them to stick to the bottom of the +stewpan. When done put them into pots and pour over the top clarified +butter. If wanted for immediate use they will keep good a few days +without being covered over. To rewarm them put the mushrooms into a +stewpan, strain the butter from them, and they will be ready for use. + +=Mushroom Powder.=--(A valuable addition to sauces and gravies when +fresh mushrooms are not obtainable.) Ingredients: One-half peck of large +mushrooms, two onions, twelve cloves, one-fourth ounce of pounded mace, +two teaspoonfuls of white pepper. Mode. Peel the mushrooms, wipe them +perfectly free from grit and dirt, remove the black fur, and reject all +those that are at all worm-eaten; put them into a stewpan with the above +ingredients, but without water; shake them over a clear fire till all +the liquor is dried up, and be careful not to let them burn; arrange +them on tins and dry them in a slow oven; pound them to a fine powder, +which put into small dry bottles; cork well, seal the corks, and keep it +in a dry place. In using this powder, add it to the gravy just before +serving, when it will require one boil up. The flavor imparted by this +means to the gravy ought to be exceedingly good. This should be made in +September, or at the beginning of October, and if the mushroom powder +bottle in which it is stored away is not perfectly dry it will speedily +deteriorate. + +=Mushroom Powder.=--This is for use as a condiment. The finest +full-grown mushrooms--which are the best flavored--should be selected +and prepared for drying, and dried as stated under the heading of "Dried +Mushrooms," except that it is better to dry them in an oven or drying +machine so that they may be dried quickly and become brittle. Grate or +otherwise reduce them to a fine powder, and preserve this in +tightly-corked bottles. + +=To Dry Mushrooms.=--Wipe them clean, take away the brown part and peel +off the skin; lay them on sheets of paper to dry, in a cool oven, when +they will shrivel considerably. Keep them in paper bags, which hang in +a dry place. When wanted for use put them into cold gravy, bring them +gradually to simmer, and it will be found that they will regain nearly +their usual size. + +=Dried Mushrooms.=--In the flush of the pasture-mushroom season gather a +large number of mushrooms of all sizes and see that they are thoroughly +clean; remove and discard the stems and peel the caps. Stir them around +for a few minutes in boiling water to which a little lemon juice or +vinegar has been added to prevent them from turning dark colored. Some +people use plain cold water, or cold water with lemon juice or vinegar +in it. But never use salt in preparing mushrooms for drying, or else the +salted mushrooms will absorb moisture from the atmosphere and spoil. +Take the mushrooms out of the water and drain them on a sieve, then +string them and hang them up to dry and season in an open, airy shed, as +one would strings of drying fruit. They may also be dried in a drying +machine or oven as one would do with apples or peaches. They are used as +a substitute for fresh mushrooms when the latter can not be obtained. In +preparing dried mushrooms for use steep them in tepid water or milk +until they become quite soft and plump, then drain them dry and cook +them in the same way as fresh mushrooms. While they are a good +substitute for the fresh article they are deficient in flavor. + +=Mushroom Ketchup.=--To each peck of mushrooms add one-half pound of +salt; to each quart of mushroom liquor one-half ounce of allspice, +one-half ounce of ginger, two blades of pounded mace, one-fourth ounce +of cayenne. + +Choose full-grown mushroom flaps, and be careful that they are perfectly +fresh-gathered when the weather is tolerably dry; for if they are picked +during rain the ketchup made from them is liable to get musty, and will +not keep long. Put a layer of them in a deep pan, sprinkle salt over +them, then another layer of mushrooms and so on alternately. Let them +remain for a few hours, and break them up with the hand; put them in a +cool place for three days, occasionally stirring and mashing them well +to extract from them as much juice as possible. Measure the quantity +without straining, and to each quart allow the above proportion of +spices, etc. Put all into a stone jar, cover it up very closely, put it +in a saucepan of boiling water, set it over the fire and let it boil for +three hours. Have ready a clean stewpan; turn into it the contents of +the jar, and let the whole simmer very gently for half an hour; pour it +into a pitcher, where it should stand in a cool place until the next +day; then pour it off into another pitcher and strain it into very dry +clean bottles, and do not squeeze the mushrooms. To each pint of ketchup +add a few drops of brandy. Be careful not to shake the contents, but +leave all the sediment behind in the pitcher; cork well, and either seal +or rosin the cork, so as to exclude the air perfectly. When a very +clear, bright ketchup is wanted the liquor must be strained through a +very fine hair sieve or flannel bag after it has been very gently poured +off; if the operation is not successful it must be repeated until you +have quite a clear liquor. It should be examined occasionally, and if it +is spoiling should be reboiled with a few peppercorns. Seasonable from +the beginning of September to the middle of October, when this ketchup +should be made. + +=Mushroom Ketchup.=--This flavoring ingredient, if genuine and well +prepared, is one of the most useful store sauces to the experienced +cook, and no trouble should be spared in its preparation. Double ketchup +is made by reducing the liquor to half the quantity; for example, one +quart must be boiled down to one pint. This goes further than ordinary +ketchup, as so little is required to flavor a good quantity of gravy. +The sediment may also be bottled for immediate use, and will be found +to answer for flavoring thick soups or gravies. + +=Mushroom Ketchup.=--In making ketchup use the very best mushrooms, full +grown but young and fresh, as it is highly important to secure fine +flavor, and this we can not get from inferior mushrooms. Take a measure +of fine fresh mushrooms and see that they are clean and free from grit; +stem and peel them; cut them into very thin slices and place a layer of +these on the bottom of a deep dish or tureen; sprinkle this layer with +fine salt, then put in another layer and sprinkle with salt as before, +and so on until the dish is full. The white succulent part of the stems +may also be used in the ketchup, but never any discolored, tough or +stringy part. On the top of all strew a layer of fresh walnut rind cut +into small pieces. Place the dish in a cool cellar for four or five +days, to allow the contents to macerate. When the whole mass has become +nearly liquid pass it through a colander. Then boil down the strained +liquor to half of its bulk and add its own weight of calf's-foot jelly; +season with allspice or white pepper and boil down to the consistence of +jelly. Pour into stoneware jars and keep in a cool place. + +=Pickled Mushrooms.=--Use sufficient vinegar to cover the mushrooms; to +each quart of mushrooms two blades of pounded mace, one ounce of ground +pepper, salt to taste. Choose young button mushrooms for pickling, and +rub off the skin with a piece of flannel and salt, and cut off the +stalks; if very large take out the red gills and reject the black ones, +as they are too old. Put them in a stewpan, sprinkle salt over them, +with pounded mace and pepper in the above proportion; shake them well +over a clear fire until the liquor flows, and keep them there until it +is all dried up again; then add as much vinegar as will cover them; let +it simmer for one minute, and store it away in stone jars for use. When +cold tie down with bladder and keep in a dry place; they will remain +good for a long time, and are generally considered delicious. Make this +the same time as ketchup, from the beginning of September to the middle +of October. [The above recipes are furnished by Mrs. George Amberley, of +New York City.] + + + + +INDEX. + + +Ammonia Arising, 54 + +Anguillulæ, 124 + In Decaying Vegetation, 126 + Scalding Water to Kill, 126 + To Destroy, 114 + +Apparatus, Hot Water, 33 + +Atmosphere, Manure Steam for Moistening, 114 + Remedying a too Dry, 114 + + +Barn Cellars, 10 + +Bedding, Wetted with Urine, 58 + +Beds, 16 + Alongside of Wall, 18 + Banked Against a Wall, 53 + Bearing in November, 25 + Black Spot in the, 108 + Boring Holes in, to Reduce Temperature, 76 + Bottom of, 17 + Box, 17 + Casing, after Spawning, 100 + Casing the, 104 + Earthing Over the, 103 + Experiments as to Proper Time to Case, 104 + Fifteen Inches Thick, 22 + Firmly Built, 76 + Flat, 50 + Flat, Sods fit only for, 107 + Floor, 19 + Flooring for the, 28 + Green Sods, Method of Casing, 106 + Killing the Mycelium in, 96 + Loam for, 100 + Manure, 20 + Maximum Heat of Best, 75 + Midwinter, 39 + Mulching, 23 + Mushroom, 12 + Never Spawn, when Heat is Rising, 96 + Odorless, in Dwelling House Cellars, 21 + Of Low Temperature, 77 + On the Floor, 13 + Outside, 12 + Parching Effect Visible on, 26 + Picking "Fogged-off" Mushrooms from, 108 + Rack, 13 + Re-Invigorating Old, 120 + Renovating Old, in England, 142 + Ridge, 17 + Second Crop from, 120 + Shelf, 16, 29 + Spawned at 66° to 70°, 97 + Spawning and Molding, 14 + Spawning the, 96 + Spent Mushroom, 121 + Stale, 76 + Tamping Surface of, 23 + Temperature of a Twelve Inch Thick Bed, 96 + Ten or Twelve Inches Deep, 19 + Tending the, 17 + Three Feet Deep, 25 + To Keep, Warm, 109 + Topdressed, 23 + Under Greenhouse Benches, To make, 53 + Watering, 24 + Watering the, 108 + Watering Mushroom, 111 + When Dry to be Watered, 111 + Wide, With Pathway Above,* 44 + Worn Out, 120 + +Beetles, Larvæ of Two, Destroying Mycelium, 132 + +Benches Covered, 40 + +Black Spot, 124 + A Disease, 125 + In Beds in Vigorous Bearing, 125 + In New Beds, 125 + Is Unwholesome, 126 + To Prevent, 125 + +Boards, Stepping, 17 + +Boiler and Pipes, 32 + +Boilers, Hitching's Base-burner, 31 + +Boxing, 19 + Lid for, 19 + Old Carpet or Matting Over, 19 + +"Bullet" or "Shot" Holes in Mushrooms, 128 + +Bugs, Mealy, 12 + + +Calico, 18 + +Caves, 17 + +Caves of Paris, In the,* 147 + Paris, Description of, 143 + French Spawn Used in, 146 + Gathering Mushrooms for Market in the, 149 + Making Beds in the, 145 + Manure Used in the, 144 + Material Used for and Method of Earthing Over in, 146 + Methods of Regulating Draughts in the, 150 + Preparation of Manure for the, 144 + Paris, Spawn Used in the, and How Obtained, 145 + Stratifying Spawn Before Using in the, 146 + Temperature in Spacious, High Roofed, 147 + Ventilation in the, 148 + When and How Mushrooms are Gathered in the, 148 + +Ceiling, Flat, 37 + Sloping, 36 + Wet, 18 + +Cellar, Barn, 13 + Cleanliness in the Mushroom, 26 + Cool, 19 + Cross-section of the Dosoris Mushroom,* 27 + Dosoris Mushroom, 27 + Divided, 30 + Ground Plan of the Dosoris,* 28 + Height of, 17 + House, 13 + Interior Arrangements of, 16 + Mushroom, Under a Barn,* 16 + Of Dwelling House, 18 + Ordinary, 21 + Outhouse, 18 + Pent-up, 17 + Unheated, 17 + Vegetable, 12 + Warm, 19 + Wholly Devoted to Mushroom Growing, 15 + +Cellars, 10 + Artificial Heating, 17 + Cool, Airy, 20 + Flat Roofed Mushroom, 18 + Mushrooms in, 25 + Potato, 18 + Underground, 15, 27 + +Cistern, Large Underground, 18 + +Coal, Nut and Stove, 33 + +Cold and Vermin, 19 + +Cooking Mushrooms, 150 + +Crop, Common Average, 30 + Gathering the, 17 + Marketing the, 14 + Yielding, 31 + +Crops, Capital, 17 + +Cut Flower Season, 11 + + +Dirt, Roadside, 101 + +Doors, Double, 16 + Outside, 35 + Single, 16 + +Drip, Cold, Falling upon Beds, 36 + Crop Suffering From, 51 + From Benches, the Effects of, 51 + In Commercial Greenhouses, 52 + Plan for Warding off, 52 + +Dust and Noxious Gas, 17 + + +Entrance, 16 + +Entrance Pits, 30 + +Economy, False, 37 + + +Families, Private, 18 + +Farmers, 13 + +Flies, Manure, 126 + Manure, Ill-favor of, 126 + Manure Perfectly Harmless, 127 + +Fire, Danger of, 33 + +Flock, 132 + How General is, 134 + The Cause of, 133 + The Habits and Manner of Growth of, 133 + The Worst Mushroom Disease, 132 + What it Looks Like, 134 + What is, 133 + +Floor, A Dry, Necessary, 47 + Common Earth, 47 + Dry, 35, 39 + Earthen, 21 + +Flooring, 29 + +Fogging Off, 106, 131 + Favorable Conditions for, 132 + The Cause of, 131 + +Florists, 11 + +Florists' Greenhouses, 10 + +Frame, Boxed-up with Straw Covering,* 19 + Covered with Calico, 20 + Covered with Oiled Paper, 20 + Common Hotbed Box, 45 + Preparing Beds in the, 46 + Shading the, 47 + Spawning in, 46 + +Frost, Hoar, 35 + To Exclude, 40 + +Fruit Room, 12 + +Furnace, Boxed off, 17 + + +Gardens, Private, 37 + +Grapery, Beds and Frames Inside the, 13 + +Greenhouse Bench, Boxed Mushroom Bed Under,* 41 + +Greenhouse Benches, Among Other Plants on, 48 + +Greenhouse Benches, On, 42 + +Greenhouse Benches, Under, 47 + +Greenhouses, Beds in Open, Airy, 53 + Cool, 41 + Growing Mushrooms in, 41 + In Frames in, 44 + Steam-heated, 48 + +Growers, Parisian, 60 + + +Heat, Artificial not Absolutely Necessary, 17 + Fire, 17 + Parching, 17 + +Heater, Base-burning Water,* 32 + Vertical Section,* 32 + +Heating Apparatus, 28 + +Hoe, Angular-pointed, 23 + +Hops, Spent, 68 + Spent, Cost Nothing, 69 + +Horses, Those who Keep, 13 + +Hotbed Frames, 44 + +House, A Mushroom, 34 + Cow, 13 + Ground Plan of Mrs. Osborne's Mushroom,* 36 + In Dwelling, 18 + Interior Arrangement of Mushroom, 37 + Interior View of Mr. Henshaw's Mushroom,* 33 + Mr. Samuel Henshaw's, 37 + Mushroom, Built Against North-facing Wall,* 34 + Section of Mrs. Osborne's,* 35 + +Houses, Fruit-forcing, 12 + Growing Mushrooms in Rose, 49 + Lettuce, Mushrooms in, 50 + Tomato-forcing, Mushrooms in, 49 + Well-sheltered in Winter, 34 + + +Insecticide, Common Salt as an, 113 + + +Leaves, Condition of, to Heat, 68 + Fermenting, Beds Composed of, 68 + Oak, the Best, 67 + Quick-rotting, 67 + Tree, 67 + +Lettuce House, Moisture of, 10 + +Lice, Wood, 129 + +Loam and Manure, 11 + Mixed, 72 + Mixed, Temperature of, 77 + Mixed, To Prepare, 73 + +Loam, Coating, 20 + Common, for Casing, 100 + Containing Old Manure, 101 + Fibrous, Mellow, Best for Earthing Over, 103 + Fresh Sod, 100 + Heavy, Clayey, 101 + Ordinary Field Soil, 26 + Sod, Reasons for Use of, 73 + Topdressing with, 107 + +Lot, Village or Suburban, 13 + + +Manure, 13 + Baled, 64 + Cellar, 62 + City Stable, 63 + Common Horse, 21 + Cow, 65 + Cow, Necessary in Manufacture of Spawn, 66 + Drying by Exposure, 71 + Fermenting Fresh Horse, 24 + "Fire-fanged," 62 + Firmly Packed, 70 + Flies, 124, 126 + Fresh, 12 + Fresher the Better, 58 + From City Stables, 26 + German Peat Moss Stable, 66 + Handling, 35 + Homemade, 60 + Horse, 57 + Hog, Mycelium Evades, 63 + Liquid, 113 + Liquid, Cow and Sheep, 113 + Of Entire Horses, 60 + Of Horses fed with Carrots, 61 + Of Mules, 62 + Preparation of the, 69 + Preserve the Wet and Strawy Part, 60 + Proper Condition of, 72 + Sawdust Stable, 66 + Selected, 63 + Steaming Hot, 24 + The Best, 57 + To Prevent "fire-fang" in, 70 + Turning the, 14, 71 + Warm, 13 + Well-rotted, 14 + Without Preparatory Treatment, 22 + +Market, A Good, 25 + Gardener, 9, 15 + Gardening near New York, 9 + +Markets, Brooklyn, 26 + In Winter, 10 + +Materials, Exhausted, 16 + For Beds, Fresh, 16 + Waste of, 17 + +Method, Mr. Denton's, 25 + Mr. Gardner's, 21 + Mr. Van Siclen's, 27 + +Methods, Avoiding Complicated, 21 + +Mice and Rats, 130 + Different Kinds of, 130 + Fond of Mushrooms, 130 + +Mice, How they Disfigure Mushrooms, 130 + +Mites not a Mushroom Pest, 130 + The Home of, 130 + Two Kinds of, Common, 130 + +Moisture, Condensation of, 46 + +Mold on Beds, How Deep to Put, 105 + +Money, Pin- 14 + +Mushroom, A Perfect,* 116 + Affected with Black Spot,* 125 + Bed Built Flat on the Ground,* 52 + Bed Five Feet Wide, Profit from, 12 + Bed, Rigid,* 53 + Beds, 11 + Beds in England, How made, 137 + Beds, Making up the, 74 + Beds, Manure-fatted Loam in, 26 + Beds, Manure for, 57 + Beds, Mr. Wilson's,* 51 + Beds on Greenhouse Benches, Objection to, 42 + Beds, Sites for Around London, 137 + Cellar, Perspective View of the Dosoris,* 58 + Crop, 13 + Flock-Diseased,* 133 + Food, 24 + Growing in the Paris Caves, 143 + Growing Out of Doors a Specialty, 136 + Growing, Profit of, Around London, 136 + Growing, Success in, 12 + House, A Regular, 12 + House, Best Kind of, 11 + House, Cellar Everybody's, 15 + House, Damping Floors of, 115 + Houses, Cleaning the, 135 + Houses, Growing Mushrooms in, 34 + Houses, Ideal, 15 + Houses, Whitewashing, 135 + Season Closed, 31 + Spawn, 78 + The "Horse," 48 + A Winter Crop, 14 + Advantages of Pulling over Cutting, 117 + After a Dry Summer, 55 + And Grapevines, 13 + Black Spot in, 124 + Cause of Black Spot in, 124 + English, 115 + Filling Stump Holes with Fresh Loam, 117 + Five Inch Diameter before Expanding, 47 + For Family Use, 13 + For Soups, When to Pick, 116 + Fresh, 12 + From Natural Spawn, 48 + From October Until May, 30 + Gathering and Marketing, 115 + Gathering Field and Wild, 118 + Gathering in Cold Weather, 140 + Good, 19 + Growing in Cellars, 15 + Growing in Fields, 54 + Growing, in Narrow Troughs, 59 + Growing in Ridges Around London, 136 + Growing in Sawdust, 67 + Grown on Greenhouse Benches,* 43 + Growth of from Spawning under Different Temperatures, 110 + Head Room, 19 + Importance of Care in Gathering and Packing for Shipment, 119 + In August and September, 56 + In Crates and Baskets, 118 + In the Fields, Plan of Growing, 55 + Insect and Other Enemies of, 122 + Knack in Pulling, 117 + Maggots in, 122, 124 + "Maggots" in, appear in April, 123 + Maggots, Size of, in, 123 + Marketed in Paper Boxes, 118 + Marketing, 118 + Not a Bulky Crop, 11 + On Greenhouse Bench Under Tomatoes, 45 + Packed in Punnets for London Market, 119 + Picking so as not to Disturb Buttons, 117 + "Pin-Head," 107 + Profit on, Clear Gain, 51 + Proper Manner of Picking, 116 + Pulled, Keeping Qualities of, 117 + Scooping Out the Stumps, 117 + Sold by the Pound, 118 + Sorting and Packing for Market, in England, 141 + Summer Crops of, 123 + Under the Benches, 11 + When Fit to Pick, 115 + Who Should Grow, 9 + Wild, 55 + +Mulching, When to Remove, 42 + +Mycelium, Liquid to Encourage Spread of, 77 + + +Odor, Bad, 20 + +Outbuildings, 12 + + +Paper, Building, 52 + Oiled, 18 + +Passage-ways, 18 + +Pathways, 16 + +Peat Moss, Bale of German, 66 + +Pipes, Heating, 17 + Hot, Injury from, 48 + Hot Water, 23 + Sheet Iron, 27 + Smoke, 33 + +Private Gardeners, 12 + + +Rats, More Destructive than Mice, 131 + +Recipes for Cooking and Preserving Mushrooms, 150 + A la Casse, Tout, 157 + A la Crême, 154 + Baked, 152, 156 + Broiled, 154, 156 + Broiled Beefsteak and, 158 + Cooked, General Directions for Serving, 152 + Cooking, 150 + Cooking, General Preparation of, for, 151 + Curried, 154 + Dried, 160 + Gilbert's Breakfast, 156 + Ketchup, 160, 161, 162 + Kind of, to Select for, 150 + Pickled, 162 + Potted, 155 + Powder, 159 + Soup, 154 + Soyer's Breakfast, 153 + Stems, 155 + Stewed, 153, 157 + To Dry, 159 + To Preserve, 158 + +Ridges, 17 + Casing the, 139 + Covering the, 140 + Covering with Litter, 139 + Drenching Rains Injurious to, 139 + First made in August, 140 + For Growing Mushrooms in Open Field, 138 + Method of Gathering Mushrooms from, 141 + Smoothing the, 139 + The Covered,* 140 + Watering the, 139 + +Roof, 35 + +Roofs water-tight, 39 + Of Tin, 38 + With Coating of Salt Hay, 38 + + +Salad Plants, 10 + +Sashes, 46 + +Secret, No, 14 + +Shading on Sunny Days, 42 + +Shaft, Chimney-like, 16 + +Shaft, Tall, Wooden, 28 + +Shed, Open on South Side, 39 + Potting, 12 + Warm Potting, 40 + The Term Applied, 40 + Tool, 12 + Wood, 12 + +Sheds, Growing Mushrooms in, 39 + Unheated, 40 + +Shelves, Temporary Structures, 25 + +Shutters, Light Wooden, 53 + +Slugs, 127 + Attack Mushrooms in all Stages, 127 + Biting into Stems of Mushrooms, 127 + Fond of Mushrooms, 127 + How to Catch and Kill, 128 + Salt Distasteful to, 128 + The Cause of "Bullet" or "Shot" Holes, 128 + +Soil, Conditions of for Casing, 105 + Firming the, 106 + From Slopes and Dry Hollows in Woods, 101 + Ordinary Garden, 101 + Peat, or Swamp Muck, 101 + Sandy, 101 + Sifting, for Casing, 105 + +Southern States, 10 + +Spawn, 13 + American-made, 86 + Amount of Imported, 80 + Another Method by Lachaume, 94 + Black Colored to be Avoided, 86 + Breaking, 23 + Brick,* 80 + Brick, Cut in Pieces for Planting,* 97 + Brick, How to Make, 87 + Brick, the Best, 95 + Depth to Plant, 98 + Effect of Heat and Moisture Upon, 83 + Effect of Severe Frost Upon, 83 + English, 81 + English Brick, 23 + Flake, 82, 99 + Flake, Does Best under Cover, 95 + Flake or French,* 82 + French, 82 + French Flake, 24 + Homemade Around London, 137 + How to Distinguish Good from Poor, 84 + How to Get, 79 + How to Keep, 83 + How to make French (Flake), 91 + Imported from Europe, 79 + In Leaf Beds, 68 + In Manure, Do not Bury, 10 + Inserting French or Flake, 98 + Inserting more than Three Inches Deep, 105 + Insuring Development of, 49 + Lachaume's Method of Making, 93 + Making, Distinct Branch, 87 + Making French Virgin, 92 + Mill-track, 81 + Mr. J. Burton's Method of Making, 90 + Natural, 81 + New Versus Old, 83 + Never use Dibber in Planting, 98 + Other Recipes for Making, 89 + Planting of in Open Fields, 54 + Preparing the, 97 + Principal American Growers of, 86 + Relative Merits of Flake and Brick, 94 + Signs of Sterility in, 85 + Simplest Way of Making, 88 + Steeped, 99 + The Way in which it Comes, 81 + To tell Quality by Smell of, 85 + Transplanting Pieces of Working, 99 + "Very Dead," 84 + "Very Living," 84 + Virgin, 82, 91 + What is Mushroom, 78 + Where Obtained, 79 + +Spiders, Red, 12 + +Spores, Myriads of, 78 + +Spurious Fungi, 102 + +Stable, Empty Stall in Horse, 13 + +Staging, Erecting Temporary, 46 + +Stairway, 16 + In Pit, 32 + +Standard Crop, 9 + +Stoke-hole, 12 + +Stove, Common Iron, 26 + +Straw, Rye, 47 + +Sunlight, Protection from, 10 + + +Temperature, 10 + At Night, 41 + About 57° Suitable, 23 + Fluctuations of, 15 + From 50° to 60°, 18 + High, 19 + In Dosoris Cellars, 109 + In Midwinter, 33 + Low, 15 + Proper, 75, 109 + Sudden Changes to be Avoided, 47 + Too High, Guard Against, 76 + Winter, 60° Necessary, 38 + +Thrips, 12 + +Toads, 131 + Not to be Recommended, 131 + Upheaving Clumps of Mushrooms, 131 + +Toadstools, 102 + On Hotbeds, 102 + On Manure Piles, 102 + +Trapping Rats and Mice, 131 + +Traps for Wood Lice, 129 + +Tunnel, Subterranean, 27 + + +Ventilation, Assisting, 17 + +Ventilator, Chimney-like, 22 + +Ventilators, 16, 28 + Side Window, 35 + Window and Doors, 21 + +Village People and Suburban Residents, 13 + + +Wall, Cold, not Injurious 30 + +Walls 35 + +Warmth, Artificial, 17 + Steady, 17 + +Water, Manure, for Beds in Full Bearing, 112 + Space and Double Casing, 32 + +Watering, Endeavor to Lessen Necessity of, 111 + For, use Clean, Soft Water, 111 + Over Mulching, 111 + Pot, Size to use, 112 + +Wife, Farmer's, 14 + +Windows, 16 + +Winds, Piercing, and Draughts, 39 + +Women Searching for Remunerative Employment, 14 + +Wood Lice, 129 + Abundant in Mushroom Houses, 129 + Eating Potato, 129 + How to Trap, 129 + +Work, Clean, 14 + + + + + A Valuable Periodical for everybody in City, Village, and Country. + + The American Agriculturist. + (ESTABLISHED 1842.) + + _THE LEADING INTERNATIONAL PUBLICATION_ + FOR THE + FARM, GARDEN, AND HOUSEHOLD. + +[Illustration] + + A MONTHLY MAGAZINE of from 48 to 64 pages in each number, +containing in each volume upward of 700 pages and over 1000 original +engravings of typical and prize-winning Horses, Cattle, Sheep, Swine, +and Fowls; New Fruits, Vegetables, and Flowers; House and Barn Plans; +New Implements and Labor-saving Contrivances; and many pleasing and +instructive pictures for young and old. + + THE STANDARD AUTHORITY in all matters pertaining to Agriculture, +Horticulture, and Rural Arts, and the oldest and most ably edited +periodical of its class in the world. + + BEST RURAL PERIODICAL IN THE WORLD. + + The thousands of hints and suggestions given in every volume are +prepared by practical, intelligent farmers, who know what they write +about. + +=The Household Department= is valuable to every housekeeper, affording + very many useful hints and directions calculated to lighten and + facilitate indoor work. + +=The Department for Children and Youth= is prepared with special care, to + furnish not only amusement, but also to inculcate knowledge and + sound moral principles. + + Subscription Terms: $1.50 a year, postage included; + sample copies, 15c. each, + + TRY IT A YEAR! + + Address, + AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, + 52 & 54 Lafayette Place, New York. + + + + + SENT FREE ON APPLICATION. + + DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE + + --: OF :-- + + RURAL BOOKS, + + Containing 116 8vo pages, profusely illustrated, and giving full + descriptions of nearly 600 works on the following subjects: + + Farm And Garden, + Fruits, Flowers, Etc., + Cattle, Sheep, and Swine, + Dogs, Etc., Horses, Riding, Etc., + Poultry, Pigeons, and Bees, + Angling and Fishing, + Boating, Canoeing, and Sailing, + Field Sports and Natural History, + Hunting, Shooting, Etc., + Architecture and Building, + Landscape Gardening, + Household and Miscellaneous. + + + PUBLISHERS AND IMPORTERS. + ORANGE JUDD CO., + 52 & 54 Lafayette Place, New York. + + + + + STANDARD BOOKS. + +=Mushrooms. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Mushrooms: how to grow them + a practical treatise on mushroom culture for profit and pleasure + +Author: William Falconer + +Release Date: March 29, 2008 [EBook #24944] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MUSHROOMS: HOW TO GROW THEM *** + + + + +Produced by Steven Giacomelli, Leonard Johnson and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net +(This file was produced from images produced by Core +Historical Literature in Agriculture (CHLA), Cornell +University) + + + + + + +</pre> + + + +<div class="title_pg"> +<h1> +MUSHROOMS:<br /> +How to Grow Them.</h1> + +<p>A PRACTICAL TREATISE<br /> +<span style="font-size:80%">ON</span><br /> +<span style="font-size:120%; font-weight:bold;">Mushroom Culture for Profit and Pleasure.</span></p> + + +<p style="font-size:80%">BY</p> +<p>WILLIAM FALCONER.</p> + +<hr class="minor" /> +<p style="font-size:80%">ILLUSTRATED.</p> +<hr class="minor" /> + + +<p>NEW YORK,<br /> +ORANGE JUDD CO.<br /> +1892.</p> +<hr /> + +<p>Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1891, by the<br /> +ORANGE JUDD COMPANY,<br /> +In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.</p> +</div> +<hr /> + +<h2>PREFACE</h2> + + +<p>Mushrooms and their extensive and profitable culture should concern +every one. For home consumption they are a healthful and grateful food, +and for market, when successfully grown, they become a most profitable +crop. We can have in America the best market in the world for fresh +mushrooms; the demand for them is increasing, and the supply has always +been inadequate. The price for them here is more than double that paid +in any other country, and we have no fear of foreign competition, for +all attempts, so far, to import fresh mushrooms from Europe have been +unsuccessful.</p> + +<p>In the most prosperous and progressive of all countries, with a +population of nearly seventy millions of people alert to every +profitable, legitimate business, mushroom-growing, one of the simplest +and most remunerative of industries, is almost unknown. The market +grower already engaged in growing mushrooms appreciates his situation +and zealously guards his methods of cultivation from the public. This +only incites interest and inquisitiveness, and the people are becoming +alive to the fact that there is money in mushrooms and an earnest demand +has been created for information about growing them.</p> + +<p>The raising of mushrooms is within the reach of nearly every one. Good +materials to work with and careful attention to all practical details +should give good returns. The industry is one in which women and +children can take part as well as men. It furnishes indoor employment in +winter, and there is very little hard labor attached to it, while it can +be made subsidiary to almost any other business, and even a recreation +as well as a source of profit.</p> + +<p>In this book the endeavor has been, even at the risk of repetition, to +make the best methods as plain as possible. The facts herein presented +are the results of my own practical experience and observation, together +with those obtained by extensive reading, travel and correspondence.</p> + +<p>To Mr. Charles A. Dana, the proprietor of the Dosoris mushroom cellars +and estate, I am greatly indebted for opportunities to prepare this +book. For the past eight years everything has been unstintedly placed at +my disposal by him to grow mushrooms in every way I wished, and to +experiment to my heart's content.</p> + +<p>To Mr. William Robinson, editor of <i>The Garden</i>, London, I am especially +indebted for many courtesies—permission to quote from <i>The Garden</i>, +"Parks and Gardens of Paris," and his other works, and to illustrate the +chapters in this book on Mushroom-growing in the London market gardens +and the Paris caves, with the original beautiful plates from his own +books.</p> + +<p>The recipes given in the chapter on Cooking Mushrooms, except those +prepared for this work by Mrs. Ammersley, although based on the ones +given by Mr. Robinson, have been considerably modified by me and +repeatedly used in my own family.</p> + +<p>My thanks are also due to Mr. John F. Barter, of London, the largest +grower of mushrooms in England, for information given me regarding his +system of cultivation; to Mr. John G. Gardner, of Jobstown, N. J., one +of the most noted growers for market in this country, for facilities +allowed me to examine his method of raising mushrooms; and to Messrs. A. +H. Withington, Samuel Henshaw, George Grant, John Cullen, and other +successful growers for assistance kindly rendered.</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 24em;">WILLIAM FALCONER.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Dosoris</span>, L. I., 1891.<br /> +</p> + + + +<hr /> +<h2>TABLE OF CONTENTS</h2> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td colspan="2">CHAPTER I.—<span class="smcap">Those Who Should Grow Mushrooms</span></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_9">9</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td> </td><td>Market Gardeners— Florists— +Private Gardeners— Village People and Suburban Residents— Farmers.</td><td></td></tr> + +<tr><td colspan="2">CHAPTER II.—<span class="smcap">Growing Mushrooms in Cellars</span></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_15">15</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td> </td><td>Underground Cellars— In Dwelling House— Mr. Gardner's +Method— Mr. Denton's Method— Mr. Van Siclen's Method— The +Dosoris Mushroom Cellar.</td><td></td></tr> + +<tr><td colspan="2">CHAPTER III.—<span class="smcap">Growing Mushrooms in Mushroom Houses</span></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_34">34</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td> </td><td>Building the House— Mrs. Osborne's Mushroom House— Interior +Arrangement of Mushroom Houses— Mr. Samuel Henshaw's Mushroom +House.</td><td></td></tr> + +<tr><td colspan="2">CHAPTER IV.—<span class="smcap">Growing mushrooms in Sheds</span></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_39">39</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td> </td><td>The Temperature of Interior of the Bed— Shelf Beds— The Use +of the Term Shed.</td><td></td></tr> + +<tr><td colspan="2">CHAPTER V.—<span class="smcap">Growing Mushrooms in Greenhouses</span></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_41">41</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td> </td><td>Cool Greenhouses— On Greenhouse Benches— In Frames in the +Greenhouses— Orchard Houses— Under Greenhouse Benches— +Among Other Plants on Greenhouse Benches— Growing Mushrooms +in Rose Houses— Drip from the Benches— Ammonia Arising.</td><td></td></tr> + +<tr><td colspan="2">CHAPTER VI.—<span class="smcap">Growing Mushrooms in the Fields</span></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_54">54</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td> </td><td>Mushrooms often appear Spontaneously— Wild Mushrooms— Mr. +Henshaw's Plan— Brick Spawn in Pastures.</td><td></td></tr> + +<tr><td colspan="2">CHAPTER VII.—<span class="smcap">Manure for Mushroom Beds</span></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_57">57</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td> </td><td>Horse Manure— Fresher the Better— Manure of Mules— Cellar +Manure— City Stable Manure— Baled Manure— Cow Manure— +German Peat Moss Stable Manure for Mushroom Beds— Sawdust +Stable Manure for Mushroom Beds— Tree Leaves— Spent Hops.</td><td></td></tr> + +<tr><td colspan="2">CHAPTER VIII.—<span class="smcap">Preparation of the Manure</span></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_69">69</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td> </td><td>Preparing out of Doors— Warm Sunshine— Fire-fang— Guard +Against Over Moistening— The Proper Condition of the Manure— +Loam and Manure Mixed.</td><td></td></tr> + +<tr><td colspan="2">CHAPTER IX.—<span class="smcap">Making up the Mushroom Beds</span></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_74">74</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td> </td><td>The Thickness of the Beds— Shape of the Beds— Bottom-heat +Thermometers— The Proper Temperature— Too High +Temperature— Keep the House at 55°.</td><td></td></tr> + +<tr><td colspan="2">CHAPTER X.—<span class="smcap">Mushroom Spawn</span></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_78">78</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td> </td><td>What is Mushroom Spawn?— The Mushroom Plant— Spawn Obtained +at any Seed Store— Imported from Europe— The Great +Mushroom-growing Center of the Country— English Spawn— +Mill-track Mushroom Spawn— Flake or French Spawn— Virgin +Spawn— How to Keep Spawn— New Versus Old Spawn— How to +Distinguish Good from Poor Spawn— American-made Spawn— How to +make Brick Spawn— How to make French (flake) Spawn— Making +French Virgin Spawn— A Second Method— Third Method— Relative +Merits of Flake and Brick Spawn.</td><td></td></tr> + +<tr><td colspan="2">CHAPTER XI.—<span class="smcap">Spawning the Beds</span></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_96">96</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td> </td><td>Preparing the Spawn— Steeped Spawn— Flake Spawn— +Transplanting Working Spawn.</td><td></td></tr> + +<tr><td colspan="2">CHAPTER XII.—<span class="smcap">Loam for the Beds</span></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_100">100</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td> </td><td>Cavities in the Surface of Beds— The Best Kind of Loam— +Common Loam— Ordinary Garden Soil— Roadside Dirt— Sandy +Soil— Peat Soil or Swamp Muck— Heavy, Clayey Loam— Loam +Containing Old Manure.</td><td></td></tr> + +<tr><td colspan="2">CHAPTER XIII.—<span class="smcap">Earthing Over the Beds</span></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_103">103</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td> </td><td>Loam is Indispensable— The Best Soil— Proper Time to Case +Beds— Inserting the Spawn— Sifting the Soil— Firming the +Soil— Green Sods.</td><td></td></tr> + +<tr><td colspan="2">CHAPTER XIV.—<span class="smcap">Topdressing with Loam</span></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_107">107</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td> </td><td>Beds that are in Full Bearing— Filling up the Holes— Firming +the Dressing to the Bed— Beds in which Black Spot has +Appeared.</td><td></td></tr> + +<tr><td colspan="2">CHAPTER XV.—<span class="smcap">The Proper Temperature</span></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_109">109</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td> </td><td>Covering the Beds with Hay— A High Temperature— In a +Temperature of 50°— In a Temperature of 55°— Boxing Over the +Bed.</td><td></td></tr> + +<tr><td colspan="2">CHAPTER XVI.—<span class="smcap">Watering Mushroom Beds</span></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_111">111</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td> </td><td>Artificially Heated Mushroom Houses— Sprinkling Water over +Mulching— Watering Pots— Manure Water— Preparing Manure +Water— Common Salt— Sprinkling the Floors— Houses Heated by +Smoke Flues— Manure Steam for Moistening the Atmosphere.</td><td></td></tr> + +<tr><td colspan="2">CHAPTER XVII.—<span class="smcap">Gathering and Marketing Mushrooms</span></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_115">115</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td> </td><td>When Mushrooms are Fit to Pick— Picking— The Advantages of +Pulling over Cutting— Pulled Mushrooms— Gathering Field or +Wild Mushrooms— Marketing Mushrooms.</td><td></td></tr> + +<tr><td colspan="2">CHAPTER XVIII.—<span class="smcap">Re-invigorating Old Beds</span></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_120">120</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td> </td><td>Worn Out Beds— Spurts of Increased Fertility— A Spent +Mushroom Bed— Living Spawn.</td><td></td></tr> + +<tr><td colspan="2">CHAPTER XIX.—<span class="smcap">Insect and Other Enemies</span></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_122">122</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td> </td><td>Maggots— Black Spot— Manure Flies— Slugs— "Bullet" or +"Shot" Holes— Wood Lice— Mites— Mice and Rats— Toads— +Fogging Off— Flock— Cleaning the Mushroom Houses.</td><td></td></tr> + +<tr><td colspan="2">CHAPTER XX.—<span class="smcap">Growing Mushrooms in Ridges out of Doors +Around London</span></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_136">136</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td> </td><td>Ridges in the Open Field— Bed Making— Manure Obtained from +City Stables— The Site for Beds— Planting the Spawn— +Drenching Rains— Russia Mats— The First Beds— The First +Cutting— Watering.</td><td></td></tr> + +<tr><td colspan="2">CHAPTER XXI.—<span class="smcap">Mushroom Growing in the Paris Caves</span></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_143">143</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td> </td><td>Caves and Subterranean Passages— The Manure Used— +Preparation of the Manure— Making the Beds— The Spawn— +Stratifying the Spawn— Chips and Powder of Stone— Earthing +Over the Beds— Temperature in High-roofed Caves— When the +Mushrooms are Gathered— Proper Ventilation.</td><td></td></tr> + +<tr><td colspan="2">CHAPTER XXII.—<span class="smcap">Cooking Mushrooms</span></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_150">150</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td> </td><td>Baked Mushrooms— Stewed Mushrooms— Soyer's Breakfast +Mushrooms— Mushrooms à la Crême— Curried Mushrooms— Broiled +Mushrooms— Mushroom Soup— Mushroom Stews— Potted Mushrooms— +Gilbert's Breakfast Mushrooms— Baked Mushrooms— Mushrooms à +la Casse, Tout— Broiled Beefsteak and Mushrooms— To Preserve +Mushrooms— Mushroom Powder— To Dry Mushrooms— Dried +Mushrooms— Mushroom Ketchup— Pickled Mushrooms.</td><td></td></tr> +</table> + + + +<h2>ILLUSTRATIONS</h2> + + + + +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#fig01">Mushroom Cellar under a Barn,</a></td><td align='right'>16</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#fig02">Boxed-up Frame with Straw Covering,</a></td><td align='right'>19</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#fig03">Cross Section of the Dosoris Mushroom Cellar,</a></td><td align='right'>27</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#fig04">Ground Plan of the Dosoris Cellar,</a></td><td align='right'>28</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#fig05">Base-burning Water Heater,</a></td><td align='right'>32</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#fig06">Vertical Section of Base-burning Water Heater,</a></td><td align='right'>32</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#fig07">Mushroom House Built Against a North-facing Wall,</a></td><td align='right'>34</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#fig08">Section of Mrs. Osborne's Mushroom House,</a></td><td align='right'>35</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#fig09">Ground Plan of Mrs. Osborne's Mushroom House,</a></td><td align='right'>36</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#fig10">Interior View of Mr. S. Henshaw's Mushroom House,</a></td><td align='right'>38</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#fig11">Boxed Mushroom Bed under Greenhouse Bench,</a></td><td align='right'>41</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#fig12">Mushrooms Grown on Greenhouse Benches,</a></td><td align='right'>43</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#fig13">Wide Bed with Pathway Above,</a></td><td align='right'>44</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#fig14">Mushrooms on Greenhouse Benches under Tomatoes,</a></td><td align='right'>45</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#fig15">Mr. Wm. Wilson's Mushroom Beds,</a></td><td align='right'>51</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#fig16">Mushroom Bed Built Flat upon the Ground,</a></td><td align='right'>52</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#fig17">Ridged Mushroom Bed,</a></td><td align='right'>53</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#fig18">Banked Bed against a Wall,</a></td><td align='right'>53</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#fig19">Perspective View of the Dosoris Mushroom Cellar,</a></td><td align='right'>58</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#fig20">Bale of German Peat Moss,</a></td><td align='right'>66</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#fig21">Brick Spawn,</a></td><td align='right'>80</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#fig22">Flake, or French Spawn,</a></td><td align='right'>82</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#fig23">Brick Spawn Cut in Pieces for Planting,</a></td><td align='right'>97</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#fig24">A Perfect Mushroom,</a></td><td align='right'>116</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#fig25">Mushrooms Affected with Black Spot,</a></td><td align='right'>125</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#fig26">A Flock-Diseased Mushroom,</a></td><td align='right'>133</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#fig27">The Covered Ridges,</a></td><td align='right'>140</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#fig28">In the Mushroom Caves of Paris,</a></td><td align='right'>147</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#fig29">Gathering Mushrooms in the Paris Caves for Market,</a></td><td align='right'>149</td></tr> +</table> + + +<h1 style="margin-top:4em;">MUSHROOMS, HOW TO GROW THEM.</h1> + + + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER I.</h2> + +<p class="center">THOSE WHO SHOULD GROW MUSHROOMS.</p> + + +<p><b>Market Gardeners.</b>—The mushroom is a highly prized article of food which +can be as easily grown as many other vegetable products of the soil—and +with as much pleasure and profit. Below it is shown, in particular, +that this peculiar plant is singularly well adapted to the conditions +that surround many classes of persons, and by whom the mushroom might +become a standard crop for home use, the city market, or both. It is +directly in their line of business; is a winter crop, requiring their +care when outdoor operations are at a standstill, and they can most +conveniently attend to growing mushrooms. They have the manure needed +for their other crops, and they may well use it first for a mushroom +crop. After having borne a crop of mushrooms it is thoroughly rotted and +in good condition for early spring crops; and for seed beds of tomatoes, +lettuces, cabbages, cauliflowers, and other vegetables, it is the best +kind of manure.</p> + +<p>Years ago market gardening near New York in winter was carried on in +rather a desultory way, and the supply of salads and other forced +vegetables was limited and mostly raised in hotbeds and other frames, +and prices <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span>ran high. But of recent years our markets in winter have +been so liberally supplied from the Southern States, that, in order to +save themselves, our market gardeners have been compelled to take up a +fresh line in their business, and renounce the winter frames in favor of +greenhouses, and grow crops which many of them did not handle before. +These greenhouses are mostly long, wide (eighteen to twenty feet), low, +hip-roofed (30°) structures. In most of them the salad beds are made +upon the floor, and the pathways are sunken a little so as to give +headroom in walking and working. Others of these greenhouses are built a +little higher, and middle and side benches are erected within them, as +in the case of florists' greenhouses, and with the view of growing salad +plants on these benches as florists do carnations, and mushrooms under +the benches. The mushrooms are protected from sunlight by a covering of +light boards, or hay, or the space under the benches is entirely shut +in, cupboard fashion, with wooden shutters. The temperature is very +favorable for mushrooms,—steady and moderately cool, and easily +corrected by the covering-in of the beds; and the moisture of the +atmosphere of a lettuce house is about right for mushrooms. In such a +house the day temperature may run up, with sunshine, to 65° or 70° in +winter, but an artificial night temperature of only 45° to 50° is +maintained. Under these conditions, with the beds about fifteen inches +thick, they should continue to yield a good crop of short-stemmed, stout +mushrooms for two or three months, possibly longer.</p> + +<p>Besides growing the mushrooms in greenhouses our market gardeners are +very much in earnest in cultivating them in cellars. Some of these +cellars are ordinary barn cellars, others—large and commodious—have +been built under barns and greenhouses, purposely for the cultivation of +mushrooms. Several of these mushroom <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span>cellars may be found on Long +Island between Jamaica and Woodhaven.</p> + +<p><b>Florists.</b>—In midwinter the cut flower season is at its height and the +florist endeavors to make all the money out of his greenhouses that he +possibly can; every available inch of space exposed to the light is +occupied by growing plants, and under the benches alongside of the +pathways dahlias, cannas, caladiums, and other tubers and bulbs are +stored, also ivies, palms, succulents and the like. In order that the +plants may be more fully exposed to the sunlight, they are grown on +benches raised above the ground so as to bring them near to the glass; +and the greenhouse seems to be full to overflowing. But right here we +have the best kind of a mushroom house. The space under the benches, +which is nearly useless for other purposes, is admirably adapted for +mushroom beds, and the warmth and moisture of the greenhouse are +exceptionally congenial conditions for the cultivation of mushrooms. +Florists need the loam and manure anyway, and these are just as good for +potting purposes—better for young stock—after having been used in the +mushroom beds than they were before, so that the additional expense in +connection with the crop is the labor in making the beds and the price +of the spawn. Mushrooms are not a bulky crop; they require no space or +care in summer, are easily grown, handled, and marketed, and there is +always a demand for them at a good price. If the crop turns out well it +is nearly all profit; if it is a complete failure very little is lost, +and it must be a bad failure that will not yield enough to pay for its +cost. Why should the florist confine himself to one crop at a time in +the greenhouse when he may equally well have two crops in it at the same +time, and both of them profitable? He can have his roses on the benches +and mushrooms under the benches, and neither interferes with the other. +Let us take a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span>very low estimate: In a greenhouse a hundred feet long +make a five foot wide mushroom bed under the main bench; this will give +500 square feet of bed, and half a pound to the foot will give 250 +pounds of mushrooms, which, sold at fifty cents a pound net, brings +$125. This amount the florist would not have realized without growing +the mushrooms.</p> + +<p><b>Private Gardeners.</b>—It is a part of their routine duty, and success in +mushroom growing is as satisfactory to themselves as it is gratifying to +their employers. Fresh mushrooms, like good fruit and handsome flowers, +are a product of the garden that is always acceptable. One of the +principal pleasures in having a large garden and keeping a gardener +consists in being able to give to others a part of the choicest garden +products.</p> + +<p>In most pretentious gardens there is a regular mushroom house, and the +growing of mushrooms is an easy matter; in others there is no such +convenience, and the gardener has to trust to his own ingenuity where +and how he is to grow the mushrooms. But so long as he has an abundance +of fresh manure he can usually find a place in which to make the beds. +In the tool-shed, the potting-shed, the wood-shed, the stoke-hole, the +fruit-room, the vegetable-cellar, or in some other out-building he can +surely find a corner; or, handier still, convenient room under the +greenhouse benches, where he can make some beds. Failing all of these he +can start in August or September and make beds outside, as the London +market gardeners do.</p> + +<p>In fruit-forcing houses, especially early graperies, gardeners have a +prejudice against growing any other plants than the grapevines lest red +spiders, thrips, or mealy bugs are introduced with the plants, but in +the case of mushrooms no such grounds are tenable. As the vines have +yielded their fruit by midsummer and ripened their wood early so as to +be ready for starting into growth <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span>again in December or January, the +grapery is kept cool and ventilated in the fall and early winter, but +this need not interfere with the mushroom crop. Box up the beds or make +them in frames inside the grapery; the warm manure will afford the +mushrooms heat enough until it is time to start the vines, when the +increased temperature and moisture of the house will be in favor of the +mushrooms because of the declining heat in the manure beds. The +mushrooms have no deleterious effect whatever upon the vines, nor have +the vines upon the mushrooms.</p> + +<p><b>Village People and Suburban Residents.</b>—Those who keep horses should, at +least, grow mushrooms for their own family use and, if need be, for +market as well. They are so easily raised, and they take up so little +space that they commend themselves particularly to those who have only a +village or suburban lot, and, in fact, only a barn. And they are not a +crop for which we have to make a great preparation and need a large +quantity of manure. No matter how small the bed may be, it will bear +mushrooms; and if we desire we can add to the bed week after week, as +our store of manure increases, and in this way keep up a continuous +succession of mushrooms. A bed may be made in the cow-house or +horse-stable, the carriage-house, barn-cellar, woodshed, or +house-cellar; or if we can not spare much room anywhere, make a bed in a +big box and move it to where it will be least in the way. But the best +place is, perhaps, the cellar. An empty stall in a horse-stable is a +capital place, and not only affords room for a full bed on the floor, +but for rack-beds as well.</p> + +<p><b>Farmers.</b>—No one can grow mushrooms better or more economically than the +farmer. He has already the cellar-room, the fresh manure and the loam at +home, and all he needs is some spawn with which to plant the beds. +Nothing is lost. The manure, after having been <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span>used in mushroom beds, +is not exhausted of its fertility, but, instead, is well rotted and in a +better condition to apply to the land than it was before being prepared +for the mushroom crop. The farmer will not feel the little labor that it +takes. There is no secret whatever connected with it, and skilled labor +is unnecessary to make it successful. The commonest farm hand can do the +work, which consists of turning the manure once every day or two for +about three weeks, then building it into a bed and spawning and molding +it. Nearly all the labor for the next ten or twelve weeks consists in +maintaining an even temperature and gathering and marketing the crop.</p> + +<p>Many women are searching for remunerative and pleasant employment upon +the farm, and what can be more interesting, pleasant and profitable work +for them than mushroom-growing? After the farmer makes up the mushroom +bed his wife or daughter can attend to its management, with scarcely any +tax upon her time, and without interfering with her other domestic +duties. And it is clean work; there is nothing menial about it. No lady +in the land would hesitate to pick the mushrooms in the open fields, how +much less, then, should she hesitate to gather the fresh mushrooms from +the clean beds in her own clean cellar? Mushrooms are a winter crop; +they come when we need them most. The supply of eggs in the winter +season is limited enough, and pin-money often proportionately short; but +with an insatiable market demand for mushrooms all winter long, at good +prices, no farmer's wife need care whether the hens lay eggs at +Christmas or not. When mushroom-growing is intelligently conducted there +is more money in it than in hens, and with less trouble.</p> + + + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER II.</h2> + +<p class="center">GROWING MUSHROOMS IN CELLARS.</p> + + +<p><b>Underground Cellars.</b>—Mushrooms require a uniform moderately low +temperature and moist atmosphere, and will not thrive where draughts, or +sudden fluctuations of temperature or moisture prevail. Therefore an +underground cellar is the best of all structures in which to grow +mushrooms. The cellar is everybody's mushroom house.</p> + +<p>Cellars are under dwellings, barns, and often under other out-buildings. +These cellars are imperative for domestic purposes, for storing apples, +potatoes and other root crops and perishable produce; and for these uses +we need to make them frost proof and dry. These cellars are ideal +mushroom houses, and any one who has a good cellar can grow mushrooms in +it. In fact, our market gardeners who are making money out of mushrooms +find it pays them to excavate and build cellars expressly for growing +mushrooms. Indeed, some of our market gardeners who have never grown a +mushroom or seen one grown, but who know well that some of their +neighbors are making money out of this business, instinctively feel that +the first step in mushroom-growing is a cellar. It is almost incredible +how secretly the market growers guard everything in connection with +mushroom-growing from the outside world, and even from one another; in +fact, in some cases their next-door neighbors and life-long intimate +friends have never been inside their mushroom cellars.</p> + +<p>If a cellar is to be wholly devoted to mushroom-growing <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span>it should be +made as warm as possible with double windows, and double doors, where +the entrance is from the outside, but if from another building single +doors will suffice. A chimney-like shaft or shafts rising from the +ceiling should be used as ventilators in winter, when we can not +ventilate from doors or windows; indeed, side ventilation at anytime +when the beds are in bearing condition is rather precarious. There +should be some indoor way of getting into the cellar, as by a stairway +from the building above it. Also an easy way of getting in fresh +materials for the beds, and removing the exhausted material. This is, +perhaps, best obtained by having a door that opens to the outside, or a +moderately large one from the building above.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<a name="fig01" id="fig01"></a><img src="images/fig01.jpg" width="500" height="374" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">Fig. 1. Mushroom Cellar under a Barn.</span> +</div> + +<p>The interior arrangement of the cellar is a matter of choice with the +grower, but the simplest way is to have beds three or four feet wide +around the inside of the walls, and beds six feet wide, with pathways +two, or two and one-half feet wide between them running parallel along +the middle of the cellar. Above these floor-beds, shelf-beds in tiers of +one, two, or three, according to the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span>height of the cellar, may be +formed, always leaving a space of two and one-half or three feet between +the bottom of one bed and the bottom of the next. This is very +necessary, in order to admit of making and tending the beds and +gathering the crop, and emptying the beds when they are exhausted.</p> + +<p>Provision should also be made for the artificial heating of these +cellars, and room given for the heating pipes wherever they are to run. +But wherever fire heat is used in heating these cellars, if practicable, +the furnace itself should be boxed off, by a thin brick wall, from the +main cellar, and the pipes only introduced. This does away with the dust +and noxious gas, and modifies the parching heat.</p> + +<p>But in a snug, warm cellar, artificial heat is not absolutely necessary. +We can grow capital crops of mushrooms in such a cellar without any +furnace heat, simply by using a larger body of material in making the +beds,—enough to maintain a steady warmth for a long time. But this, +observe, is a waste of material, for no more mushrooms can be grown in a +bed two feet thick than in one a foot thick. In an unheated cellar the +mushrooms grow large and solid, but they do not come so quickly nor in +such large numbers as in a heated one. And a little artificial warmth +has the effect of dispelling that cold, raw, damp air peculiar to a +pent-up cellar in winter, and purifies the atmosphere by assisting +ventilation.</p> + +<p>Instead of using box beds, some growers spread the bed all over the +floor of the cellar, and leave no pathway whatever, stepping-boards or +raised pathways being used instead. Of course, in these instances, no +shelf beds are used. Others make ridge beds all over the cellar floor, +as the Parisians do in the caves. The ridges are two feet wide at +bottom, two feet high, and six or <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span>eight inches wide at top, and there +is a foot alley between them. Here, again, no shelf beds are used.</p> + +<p>One of the chief troubles with flat-roofed mushroom cellars is the drip +from the condensed moisture rising from the beds, and this is more +apparent in unheated than in heated cellars,—the wet gathers upon the +ceiling and, having no slope to run off, drips down again. Oiled paper +or calico strung along <ins title="Symbol: Inverted V">Λ wise</ins> above the upper beds +protects them perfectly; whatever falls upon the passage-ways upon the +floor does no harm.</p> + +<p>In any other outhouse cellar, as well as in one completely given over to +this use, we can make up beds and grow good mushrooms. Mr. James Vick +told me that at his seed farm near Rochester he raises many mushrooms in +winter in his potato cellars; and so can any one in similar places. Mr. +John Cullen, of South Bethlehem, Pa., a very successful cultivator, +tells me that his present mushroom cellar used to be a large underground +cistern, but with a little fixing, and opening a passage-way to it from +a neighboring cellar, he has converted it into an excellent cellar for +mushrooms, and surely the immense crops that I have seen in that cave of +total darkness justify his good opinion of it.</p> + +<p><b>In Dwelling House.</b>—The cellar of a dwelling house is a capital place +for mushroom beds, and can be used in whole or part for this purpose. In +the case of private families who wish to grow a few mushrooms only for +their own use it is not necessary to devote a whole cellar to it; but +partition off a part of it with boards and make the beds in this. Or +make a bed alongside of the wall anywhere and box it in to protect it +from cold and draughts, and mice and rats. You can have shelves above it +for domestic purposes, just as you would in any other part of the +cellar. Bear in mind that mushrooms thrive best in an atmospheric +temperature of from 50° to 60°, and if you can give them this in your +house-cellar <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span>you ought to get plenty of good mushrooms. But if such a +high temperature can not be maintained without impairing the usefulness +of the cellar for other purposes, box up the beds tightly, and from the +heat of the bed itself, when thus confined, there usually will be warmth +enough for the mushrooms, but if not spread a piece of old carpet or +matting over the boxing.</p> + +<p>The beds may be made upon the floor, and flat, or ridged, or banked +against the wall, ten or twelve inches deep in a warm cellar, and +fifteen to twenty inches or more deep in a cool cellar, and about three +feet wide and any length to suit.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<a name="fig02" id="fig02"></a> +<img src="images/fig02.jpg" width="500" height="274" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">Fig. 2. Boxed-up Frame with Straw Covering.</span> +</div> + +<p>The boxing may consist of any kind of boards for sides and ends, and be +built about six or ten inches higher than the top of the beds, so as to +give the mushrooms plenty headroom; the top of the boxing may be a lid +hung on hinges or straps, or otherwise arranged, to admit of being +easily raised or removed at will, and made of light lumber, say one-half +inch thick boards. In this way, by opening the lid, the mushrooms are +under observation and can be gathered without any trouble. When the lid +is shut they are secure from cold and vermin. Thus protected the cellars +can be ventilated without interfering with the welfare of the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span>mushrooms. A light wooden frame covered with calico or oiled paper +would also make a good top for the boxing, only it would not be proof +against much cold, or rats or mice. If desirable, in warm cellars, shelf +beds could be built above the floor beds, but in cool, airy cellars this +would not be advisable.</p> + +<p>Manure beds in the dwelling-house cellar may seem highly improper to +many people, but in truth, when rightly handled, these beds emit no bad +odor. The manure should be prepared away from the house, and when ready +for making into beds it can be spread out thin, so as to become +perfectly cool and free from steam. When it has lain for two days in +this condition it may be brought into the cellar and made into beds. +Having been well sweetened by previous preparation, it is now cool and +free from steam, and almost odorless; after a few days it will warm up a +little, and may then be spawned and earthed over at once. Do not bury +the spawn in the manure, merely set it in the surface of the manure; +this saves the spawn from being destroyed by too great a heat, should +the bed become unduly warm. This, if the manure has been well prepared, +is not likely to occur. The coating of loam prevents the escape of any +further steam or odor from the manure.</p> + +<p>On the 14th of January last, Mr. W. Robinson, editor of the London +<i>Garden</i>, in writing to me, mentioned the following very interesting +case of growing mushrooms in the cellar of a dwelling house: "I went out +the other day to see Mr. Horace Cox, the manager of the <i>Field</i> +newspaper, who lives at Harrow, near the famous school. His house is +heated by a hot-water system called Keith's, and the boiler is in a +chamber in the house in the basement. The system interested me and I +went down to see the boiler, which is a very simple one worked with coke +refuse. However, I was pleased to see all the floor of the room not +occupied by the boiler covered with <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span>little flat mushroom beds and +bearing a very good crop. Truth to tell, I used to fear growing +mushrooms in dwelling houses might be objectionable in various ways; but +this instance is very interesting, as there is not even the slightest +unpleasant smell in the chamber itself. The beds are small, scarcely a +foot high, and perfectly odorless; so that it is quite clear that one +may cultivate mushrooms in one's house, in such a case as this, without +the slightest offence."</p> + +<p><b>Mr. Gardner's Method.</b>—Mr. J. G. Gardner, of Jobstown, N. J., uses an +ordinary cellar, such as any farmer in the country has, and the little +that has been done to it to darken the windows and make them tight, so +as to render them better for mushrooms, any farmer with a hand-saw, an +ax, a hammer and a few nails and some boards can do. Mr. Gardner is a +market gardener, and has not the amount of fresh manure upon his own +place that he needs for mushroom-growing, but he buys it, common horse +manure, in New York, and it is shipped to him, over seventy miles, by +rail. And this pays; and if it will pay a man to get manure at such a +cost for mushroom-growing, how much more will mushroom-growing pay the +farmer who has the cellar and the manure as well? Mr. Gardner raises +mushrooms, and lots of them. When I visited him last November, instead +of trying to hide anything in their cultivation from me, he took +particular pains to show and explain to me everything about his way of +growing them. And he assures me that by adopting simple means of +preparing the manure and "fixing" for the crop, and avoiding all +complicated methods, one can get good crops and make fair profits.</p> + +<p>His cellar is sixty feet long, twenty-four feet wide, and nine feet high +from floor to ceiling. The floor is an earthen one, but perfectly dry. +It is well supplied with window ventilators and doors, and in the +ceiling in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span>the middle of the cellar opens a tall shaft or chimney-like +ventilator that passes straight up through the roof above. While the +beds are being made full ventilation by doors, windows and shaft is +given, but as soon as there is any sign of the mushrooms appearing all +ventilators except the shaft in the middle are shut and kept closed.</p> + +<p>The bed occupies the whole surface of the cellar floor and was all made +up in one day. As a pathway, a single row of boards is laid on the top +of the bed, running lengthwise along the middle of the cellar from the +door to the farther end, and here and there between this narrow path and +the walls on either side a few pieces of slate are laid down on the bed +to step upon when gathering the mushrooms. Here is the oddest thing +about Mr. Gardner's mushroom-growing. He does not give the manure any +preparatory treatment for the beds. He hauls it from the cars to the +cellar, at once spreads it upon the floor and packs it solid into a bed. +For example, on one occasion the manure arrived at Jobstown, July 8th; +it was hauled home and the bed made up the same day, and the first +mushrooms were gathered from this bed the second week in +September,—just two months from the time the manure left the New York +or Jersey City stables. The bed was fifteen inches thick. In making it +the manure was first shaken up loosely to admit of its being more evenly +spread than if pitched out in heavy forkfuls, and it was then tramped +down firmly with the feet. The bed was then marked off into halves. On +one half (No. 1) a layer of a little over three inches of loam was at +once placed over the manure; on the other half (No. 2) no loam was used +at this time, but the manure on the surface of the bed—about three +inches deep—was forked over loosely. Twelve days after having been put +in the temperature of the bed No. 2, three inches deep, was 90°, and +then it was spawned. On <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span>the next day the soil from bed No. 1, spawned +four days earlier, was thrown upon bed No. 2, and then part of the soil +that was thrown on No. 1 was thrown back again on No. 2, so that now a +coating of loam an inch and a half deep covered the whole surface of the +bed. When finished the surface was tamped gently with a tamper with a +face of pine plank sixteen inches long by twelve inches wide. Mr. +Gardner does not believe in the alleged advantages of a hard-packed +surface on the mushroom bed, but is inclined to favor a moderately firm +one.</p> + +<p>He uses the English brick spawn, which is sold by our seedsmen. He has +tried making his own spawn, but owing to not having proper means for +drying it, he has had rather indifferent success.</p> + +<p>Almost all growers insert the pieces of spawn about two to three inches +under the surface of the manure, one piece at a time, and at regular +intervals of nine inches or thereabouts apart each way—lengthwise and +crosswise. But here, again, Mr. Gardner displays his individuality. He +breaks up the spawn in the usual way, in pieces one or two inches +square. Of course, in breaking it up there is a good deal of fine +particles besides the lumps. With an angular-pointed hoe he draws drills +eighteen inches apart and two and one-half to three inches deep +lengthwise along the bed, and in the rows he sows the spawn, as if he +were sowing peach stones, or walnuts, or snap beans, and covers it in as +if it were seeds.</p> + +<p>Mr. Gardner regards 57° as the most suitable temperature for a mushroom +house or cellar, and, if possible, maintains that without the aid of +fire-heat. He has hot-water pipes connected with the contiguous +greenhouse heating arrangement in his cellar, but he never uses them for +heating the mushroom cellar except when obliged to. By mulching his bed +with straw he gets <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span>along without any fire-heat, but this is very +awkward when gathering the mushrooms.</p> + +<p>After the bed has borne a little while it is top-dressed all over with a +half-inch layer of fine soil. Before using, this soil has been kept in a +close place—pit, frame, shed, or large box—in which there was, at the +same time, a lot of steaming-hot manure, so that it might become +thoroughly charged with mushroom food absorbed from the steam from the +fermenting material.</p> + +<p>Should any portion of the bed get very dry, water of a temperature of +90° is given gently and somewhat sparingly through a fine-spraying +water-pot rose, or syringe. Enough water is never given at any one time +to penetrate through the casing into the manure below or the spawn in +the manure. But rather than make a practice of watering the beds, Mr. +Gardner finds it is better to maintain a moist atmosphere, and thus +lessen the necessity for watering.</p> + +<p>Mr. Gardner firmly believes that the mushrooms derive much nourishment +from the "steam" of fermenting fresh horse manure, and by using this +"steam" in our mushroom houses we can maintain an atmosphere almost +moist enough to be able to dispense with the use of the syringe, and the +mushrooms are fatter and heavier for it. And he practices what he +preaches. In one end of his mushroom cellar he has a very large, deep, +open box, half filled with steaming fresh horse-droppings, and once or +twice a day he tosses these over with a dung-fork, in order to raise a +"steam," which it certainly does. It is also for this purpose that he +introduces the loam so soon when making the beds, so that it may become +charged with food that otherwise would be dissipated in the atmosphere.</p> + +<p>There is a marked difference between the mushrooms raised from the +French flake spawn and those from the English brick spawn, but he has +never observed any distinct <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span>varieties from the same kind of spawn. +Sometimes a few mushrooms will appear that are somewhat differently +formed from those of the general crop, but this he regards as the result +of cultural conditions rather than of true varietal differences.</p> + +<p>His last year's bed began bearing early in November, and continued to +bear a good crop until the first of May. After that time, no matter what +the crop may be, the mushrooms become so infested with maggots as to be +perfectly worthless, and they are cleared out. It is on account of the +large body of manure in the bed, and the low, genial, and equable +temperature of the cellar that the beds in this house always continue so +long in good cropping condition.</p> + +<p>Some years ago the mushrooms were not gathered till their heads had +opened out flat, but nowadays the marketmen like to get them when they +are quite young and before the skin of the frill between the cup and the +stem has broken apart. A good market is found in New York, Philadelphia +and Boston.</p> + +<p><b>Mr. Denton's Method.</b>—Mr. W. H. Denton, of Woodhaven, L. I., is an +extensive market gardener about ten miles from New York. During the +summer months he grows outdoor vegetables for the New York and Brooklyn +markets, and in winter mushrooms in cellars. He has no greenhouses. +Under his barns he has two large cellars which he devotes entirely to +mushroom-growing in winter. The cellars are seven and one-half feet high +inside; the beds five feet wide, nine inches deep, two feet apart, and +run parallel to one another the whole length of the cellar. The beds are +three deep, that is, one bed is made upon the floor, and the other two, +rack or shelf fashion, are made above the floor bed, and two and +one-half feet apart from the bottom of the one bed to the bottom of the +one above it. The shelves altogether are temporary structures built of +ordinary rough <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span>scantling and hemlock boards, and the beds are all one +board deep.</p> + +<p>A common iron stove and string of sheet iron smoke pipes are used for +heating the cellars. But he tells me the parching effect is very visible +on the beds, it dries them up on the surface very much, and he has to +sprinkle them frequently with water to keep them moist enough. During +the late summer and fall months, on his return trips from the Brooklyn +markets, Mr. Denton hauls home fresh horse manure from the City stables. +All that he can put on a wagon costs him about twenty-five cents; and +this is what he uses for mushrooms. He prepares it in a large open shed +just above the cellar, and when it is fit for use he adds about +one-third of its bulk of loam. The loam is the ordinary field soil from +his market garden. He tells me he has better success with beds made up +in this way than when manure alone is used. We all know how very heavily +market gardeners manure their land, also how vigorously most writers on +mushroom culture denounce the use of manure-fatted loam in mushroom +beds, but here is Mr. Denton, the most successful grower of mushrooms +for market in the neighborhood of New York, practicing the very thing +that is denounced! While he likes good lively manure to begin with he is +very careful not to use it soon enough to run any risk of overheating in +the beds. The loam in the manure counteracts this strong heating +tendency, also with the loam mixture the shelf-beds can be built much +more firmly than with plain manure on the springy boards. When the +temperature falls to 90° he spawns the beds.</p> + +<p>He uses both French and brick spawn, but leans with most favor to the +latter, of which in the fall 1889 he used 400 lbs. He markets from 1700 +to 2500 lbs. of mushrooms a year from these two cellars. Mr. Denton +believes emphatically in cleanliness in the mushroom cellar, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span>and +ascribes his best successes to his most thorough cleaning. Every summer +he cleans out his cellars and limewashes all over.</p> + +<p><b>Mr. Van Siclen's Method.</b>—Mr. Abram Van Siclen, of Jamaica, L. I., also +grows mushrooms very extensively in underground cellars, whose +arrangements do not differ materially from those of Mr. Denton's, except +in his manner of heating. He runs an immense greenhouse +vegetable-growing establishment, as well as a summer truck farm, and +uses hot water heating apparatus, also smoke flues as employed +ordinarily in greenhouses, especially lettuce houses. The sheet iron +pipes, except in squash houses, he does not hold in much favor.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<a name="fig03" id="fig03"></a> +<img src="images/fig03.jpg" width="500" height="466" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">Fig. 3. Cross-section of the Dosoris Mushroom Cellar.</span> +</div> + +<p><b>The Dosoris Mushroom Cellar.</b>—This is a subterranean tunnel or cellar +that was excavated and arched some ten years ago, expressly for the +cultivation of mushrooms. It is situated in an open, sunny part of the +garden, and its extreme length from outside of end walls is eighty-three +feet; but of this space nine feet at either <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span>end are given up to +entrance pits and a heating apparatus; and the full length of the +mushroom cellar proper inside the inner walls is sixty-three feet. The +walls and arch are of brick, and the top of the arch is two and one-half +feet below the surface of the soil. This tunnel or arch is seven feet +high in the middle and eight feet wide within, but a raised +two-feet-wide pathway along the middle lessens the height to six and +one-half feet. Between this pathway and the sides of the building there +is only an earthen floor, but it is quite dry, as the cellar is +perfectly drained. Three ventilators sixteen feet apart had been built +in the top of the arch, but this was a mistake, as the condensation in +the cellar in winter from these ventilators always keeps the place under +them cold and wet and rather unproductive. One tall wooden chimney-like +shaft would have been a better ventilator than the three ventilating +holes now there, which are covered over with an iron and glass grating.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<a name="fig04" id="fig04"></a> +<img src="images/fig04.jpg" width="500" height="182" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">Fig. 4. Ground Plan of the Dosoris Cellar.</span> +</div> + +<p>At one end of the house and behind the stairs descending into the pit is +the heating apparatus, from which a four-inch hot-water pipe passes +around inside the house near the wall and only four inches above ground. +A three-feet wide hemlock flooring for the bed to rest on is laid along +each side and about four inches above the pipe, leaving the aperture +between the earth floor and the bottom of the bed along the pathway open +for the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span>escape of the artificial heat. One might think that the hot +water pipe under, and so near the bed, would dry it up and destroy it, +but such is not the case. In a cellar of this kind very little fire heat +is needed to maintain the required temperature, and I do not know where +else the pipes could be put where they would do the work any better and +be more out of the way.</p> + +<p>These beds, for convenience in building them, spawning them, molding +them over, gathering the crop and watering the beds, and removing the +manure after the beds are exhausted, are built against the wall and with +a rounded face, thus giving a three and one-half feet wide surface of +bed in place of one three feet wide, were it built flat. This gain in +superficial area is not so important as it might seem, for the part +immediately next to the edge of the pathway seldom yields very much. +Above these beds a string of shelf beds is arranged which runs the full +length of both sides of the cellar. From the floor of the under bed to +the floor of the top bed is three feet, and the upper beds are just as +wide as the lower ones. The shelves for the beds are temporary affairs, +put up and taken down every year. The cross-bars rest in sockets in the +wall made by cutting out half a brick every four feet along the wall, +and on upright strips or feet one and one-fourth by four inches wide, or +two by three inches, set under the inside ends of the cross-bars and +resting on the cement floor close up against the lower bed. By having +this foot end a quarter of an inch higher than the wall end the heavy +weight of the bed is thrown toward the wall. Loose hemlock boards set +close together form the flooring, for there is no need of nailing any of +them except the one next to the upright face board, which is ten inches +wide, and nailed along the front, by the pathway, to the posts and shelf +board. By tilting the weight to the wall the upright board is firm +enough to hold its place against any <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span>pressing out in building the beds. +The supporting legs of the shelves are also nailed to the face board of +the lower bed, and this holds them perfectly solid in place. The shelf +beds are eight inches deep at front, but can be made of any depth +desired against the walls at the back. The cold wall has no injurious +effect upon the bearing of the bed, and many fine mushrooms grow close +against the walls.</p> + +<p>The entrance pits are nine and one-half feet deep from ground level, +three feet eight inches wide, nine feet long, and are covered over with +folding doors on strong hinges, and descended into by means of wooden +movable stairs. These dimensions are needed at the end where the heating +apparatus is placed, but at the other end, although it is convenient in +handling the manure, a space two or three feet less would have answered +just as well. A close door at either end of the mushroom cellar proper +separates it from the end pits. The cellar is divided in the middle by a +partition. This gives, when it is in full working order, eight beds, +each thirty-one and one-half feet long, or a continuous run of 252 feet +or 756 square feet of surface, and as the beds are renewed twice a year +this gives 504 running feet of bed, or 1512 square feet of surface. A +common average crop is three-fifths of a pound of mushrooms to the +square foot of bed, and a good fair average is four-fifths of a pound. +This would give over a thousand pounds of mushrooms a season from this +cellar when it is in full running capacity. But as the aim is to have a +steady supply of mushrooms from October until May, and not a flush at +any one time and a scarcity at another, only two beds are made at a +time, allowing a month to intervene between every two.</p> + +<p>For the two beds, No. 1, preparing the manure begins in July, the beds +are made up in August, and gathering of the crop commences in October; +work on the two <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span>beds, No. 2, begins in August, the beds are made up in +September, and the mushrooms gathered in November; preparing for the two +beds, No. 3, begins in September, the beds are made up in October, +gathering commences in December; for the two beds, No. 4, work begins in +October, the beds are made up in November, and the crop is gathered in +January; for the two beds, No. 5 (No. 1 renewed), work begins in +November, the beds are made up in December, and the crop is gathered in +February; for the two beds, No. 6 (No. 2 renewed), work begins in +December, the beds are made up in January, and the crop is gathered in +March; for the two beds, No. 7 (No. 3 renewed), work begins in January, +the beds are made up in February, and the crop is gathered in April; for +the two beds, No. 8 (No. 4 renewed), work begins in February, the beds +are made up in March, and the mushrooms gathered in May. After this time +of year the summer heat renders mushroom-growing uncertain, and the +maggots destroy the mushrooms. This system allows each bed a bearing +period of two months. After yielding a crop for some seven to nine weeks +the beds are pretty well exhausted and hardly worth retaining longer. +They might drag along in a desultory way for weeks, but as soon as they +stop yielding a paying crop we clear them out and start afresh.</p> + +<p>And when the mushroom season is closed we lift out and remove the +manure, clean the boards used in shelving, and give the cellar a +thorough cleaning,—whitewash its walls and paint its woodwork with +kerosene to destroy noxious insects and fungi.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 318px;"> +<a name="fig05" id="fig05"></a> +<img src="images/fig05.jpg" width="318" height="400" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">Fig. 5. Base-burning Water Heater.</span> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 247px;"> +<a name="fig06" id="fig06"></a> +<img src="images/fig06.jpg" width="247" height="400" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">Fig. 6. Vertical Section.</span> +</div> + +<p>The heating apparatus consists of one of Hitchings' base-burner boilers +with a four-inch hot-water pipe that passes around inside the cellar, +and it deserves special mention because of its economy, efficiency, and +the satisfaction it gives generally. This boiler needs no deep or +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span>spacious stoke-hole. Here it is set under the stairway in a pit four +and one-half feet long, by three feet wide, by eighteen inches deep; it +is not in the way, and there is plenty of room to attend to it. The +heater, like a common parlor stove, has a magazine for the supply of +coal. It has a double casing with the water space between and down to +the bottom of it, so that when set in a shallow pit there is no +difficulty whatever about the circulation of the water in the pipes. The +hot water passes from the boiler to an open iron tank placed two feet +above it, as shown in the engraving, and thence down through a +perpendicular pipe till it reaches and enters the horizontal pipes that +pass around the cellar and, returning, enters the boiler again near its +base. The boiler and pipes are filled from this tank, which should +always be kept at least half full of water, and looked into every day +when in use, so that when the water gets lower than half full it may be +filled up again. About 134 running feet of four-inch pipe are included +inside the cellar (sixty-four feet on each side and six feet across at +further end); this gives 134 square feet of heating surface, or a +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span>proportion of about a square foot of heating surface for every fifteen +cubic feet of air space in the cellar. This proportion is more than +ample in the coldest weather, but beneficial in so far that there is no +need to fire hard to maintain the proper temperature. A three-inch pipe +would have given heat enough, but the heat would not have been so +steady. Both nut and stove coal is used in this heater, and in the +severest winter weather it burns not more than a common hodful in +twenty-four hours. It is so easily regulated that the temperature of the +cellar day or night, or in mild or severe weather, never varies more +than three degrees, namely from 57° to 60°.</p> + +<p>In a close underground cellar where the temperature in midwinter without +any artificial heat does not fall below 40° or 45° it is an easy matter, +with such a heater as this is, to maintain any desired temperature. If +the grates are renewed now and then, the heater should last in good +condition for twenty years. With the ordinary stove there is danger of +fire, of escaping gas and of sudden changes of temperature, and the evil +influence of a dry, parching heat—just what mushrooms most dislike—is +ever present. The first cost of a hot water apparatus may be more than +that of an old stove and sheet iron pipes, but where mushrooms are grown +extensively, as a matter of economy, efficiency, and convenience, the +advantages are altogether on the side of the hot water apparatus. +Furthermore, hot water pipes can be run where it would be unsafe to put +smoke pipes.</p> + + + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER III.</h2> + +<p class="center">GROWING MUSHROOMS IN MUSHROOM HOUSES.</p> + + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<a name="fig07" id="fig07"></a> +<img src="images/fig07.jpg" width="500" height="395" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">Fig. 7. Mushroom House built against a North-facing +Wall.</span> +</div> + +<p>A mushroom house is a building erected purposely for mushroom culture. +It may be wholly or partly above ground, and built of wood, brick, or +stone, and extend to any desired dimensions. But a few general +principles should be borne in mind. Mushrooms in houses are a winter and +not a summer crop, and they are impatient of sudden changes of +temperature and of a hot or arid atmosphere. Therefore, build the houses +where they will be warm and well-sheltered in winter, so as to get the +advantage of the natural warmth, and spare the artificial heat. They +should be entered from an adjoining building, or through a porch on the +south side, so as to guard against cold draughts or blasts in winter +when the door would be opened in going into or coming out <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span>of the house. +At the same time, do not lose sight of convenience in handling the +manure, either in bringing it into the house or taking it out, and with +this in view it may be necessary to have a door opening to the outside. +All outside doors should be double and securely packed around in winter. +Side window ventilators are not necessary, at the same time they are +useful in the early part of the season and in summer time; they should +be double and tightly packed in winter. The walls, if made of brick, +should be hollow, if of wood, double; indeed, walls built as if for an +ice house are the very best for a mushroom house, and should be banked +with earth, tree leaves, or strawy manure in winter, to help keep the +interior of the house a little warmer.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<a name="fig08" id="fig08"></a> +<img src="images/fig08.jpg" width="500" height="319" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">Fig. 8. Section of Mrs. C. J. Osborne's Mushroom House.</span> +</div> + +<p>The floor should be perfectly dry; that is, so well drained that water +will not stand upon it, but it is immaterial whether the floor is an +ordinary earthen one or of wood or cement.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<a name="fig09" id="fig09"></a> +<img src="images/fig09.jpg" width="500" height="368" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">Fig. 9. Ground Plan of Mrs. Osborne's Mushroom House.</span> +</div> + +<p>The roof should be double and always sloping,—never flat. The hoar +frost that appears in severe weather inside a single roof is likely to +melt as the heat of the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span>day increases, and this cold drip falling upon +the beds below is very prejudicial to the mushroom crop. A double roof +saves the beds from this drip, and it also renders the house warmer, and +less fire is needed to maintain the requisite temperature. One might +think that a single roof like that of a dwelling house, and then a flat +ceiling under it, would be equivalent to a double sloping roof, but it +is not. The moisture arising from the interior of the house condenses +upon the flat ceiling, and the water, having no way of running off, +drips down upon the beds. With a sloping ceiling or inside roof the +water runs down the ceiling to the walls. A very pointed example of this +may be seen in Mrs. C. J. Osborne's excellent mushroom house at +Mamaroneck, N. Y. It had been built in the most substantial manner, with +a sloping roof and a flat ceiling under the roof, but so much annoyance +was caused by the drip falling from it upon the beds below that her +gardener had the flat ceiling removed and a sloping one built instead, +and now it works splendidly, and a few months ago I saw as fine a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span>crop +of mushrooms in that house as one could wish to look at.</p> + +<p>The interior arrangement of the mushroom house may resemble that of the +mushroom cellar. Beds may be made alongside of the walls and, if there +is room, also along the middle of the house, and shelves erected in the +same way as in the cellar. But in the case of cold, thin outside walls, +the shelf-beds should not be built close against them, but instead boxed +off about two inches from the walls, so as to remove the beds from the +chilling touch of the wall in winter. Economy may suggest the +advisability of high mushroom houses, so that one may be able to build +one shelf above another, until the shelves are two, three, or four deep. +But this is a mistake. The artificial heat required to maintain a +temperature of 55° in midwinter in a house built high above ground would +be too parching and unsteady for the good of the mushrooms; besides, a +second shelf is inconvenient enough, and when it comes to a third or a +fourth the inconvenience would be too great, and overreach any advantage +hoped for in economy of space. An unheated mushroom house must be +regarded as a shed, and treated similarly, as described in the following +chapter.</p> + +<p>In large, well appointed, private gardens, a mushroom house is +considered an almost indispensable adjunct to the glasshouse +establishment, and is generally built against the north-facing wall of a +greenhouse. In this way it gets the benefit of the warm wall, and may be +easily heated by introducing one or two hot-water pipes from the +greenhouse system; besides, in winter the house may be entered from the +glass house or adjacent shed, and in this way be exempted from the +inclement breath of the frosty air that would be admitted in opening the +outside door.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<a name="fig10" id="fig10"></a> +<img src="images/fig10.jpg" width="500" height="472" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">Fig. 10. Interior View of Mr. S. Henshaw's Mushroom +House.</span> +</div> + +<p><b>Mr. Samuel Henshaw's Mushroom House.</b>—Mr. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span>Henshaw has raised mushrooms +several years at his place on Staten Island. His mushroom house is nine +feet wide and sixty feet long. One side is a brick wall and the other is +double boarded. The roof is of tin, in which there are three sashes each +two by five feet, supplying ample light. At each end is a door giving +convenient access to the interior, for carrying in and removing material +without disturbing the bearing beds. In winter the roof is covered with +a coating of salt hay, to preserve an equable temperature and prevent +the moisture from condensing on the ceiling and falling in drops on the +beds. The floor is of earth, which, when well drained, he thinks +preferable to either brick or lumber. The floor is entirely covered with +beds, no shelves or walks being used. This makes it necessary to step on +the beds, but as no covering is employed it is always easy to avoid +stepping on the clusters of young mushrooms, and so long as they are +left uninjured the bed is seldom, if ever, impaired by the compacting +effect of the treading. In order to maintain a necessary winter +temperature of 60° a four-inch hot-water pipe extends the whole length +of the house about two feet from the floor. On the other side of the +brick wall is a greenhouse which, by keeping the wall warm, helps to +keep the mushroom house warm. Mr. Henshaw divides this house into three +equal beds. The part at the further end of the house is made up in the +fall and comes into bearing in December; the middle part a month later +to come in a month later, and the near end still a month later, to +follow as another <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span>succession. Then, if need be, and he wishes to renew +the bed at the further end of the house, he clears it out and supplies +fresh material for the new bed.</p> + + + +<h2>CHAPTER IV.</h2> + +<p class="center">GROWING MUSHROOMS IN SHEDS.</p> + + +<p>Any one who has a snug, warm shed, may have a good mushroom house, but +it is imperative that the floor should be dry, and the roof water-tight. +Of course a close shed, as a tool-house or a carriage-house, is better +than an open shed, but even a shed that is open on the south side, if +closely walled on the other sides, can also be made of good use for +mushroom beds. While open sheds are good enough for beds that yield +their crop before Christmas, they are ill-adapted for midwinter beds. +The temperature of the interior of a mushroom bed should be about 60° +during the bearing period, and the temperature of the surface of the bed +45° to 50° at least; if lower than that the mycelium has a tendency to +rest, and the crop stagnates. Now this temperature can not be maintained +in an open shed, in hard frosty weather, without more trouble than the +crop is worth. The beds would have to be boxed up and mulched very +heavily. And even in a close, warm shed, protection in this way would +have to be given, but the bed should not be under the penetrating +influence of piercing winds and draughts. The mushroom beds should +therefore be made in the warmest parts of the warmest sheds.</p> + +<p>The beds should be made upon the floor and as much to one side as +possible, so as to be out of the way, and in form flat on the ground, or +rounded up against the sides of the shed; in the latter case the house +should be well <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span>banked around on the outside with litter or tree leaves +or earth, so as to exclude frost from the lower part of the walls, and +thereby prevent the manure in the beds from getting badly chilled. The +beds should be made deeper in a cool shed than in a cellar or warm +mushroom house, so that they may retain their heat for a long time.</p> + +<p>Shelf beds should not be used in unheated sheds, because of the +difficulty in keeping them warm in winter. As a rule, shelf beds are not +made as deep as are those upon the floor; hence they do not hold their +heat so long. When cold weather sets in it is easy to box up and cover +over the lower beds to keep them warm, but in the case of shelf beds, +that are exposed above and below, it is more trouble to protect them +sufficiently against cold than they are worth.</p> + +<p>Generally speaking, the term shed is applied to unheated, simple wooden +structures; for instance, the wood-shed, the tool-shed, a +carriage-house, or a hay-barn. But we often use the name shed to +designate heated buildings, as the potting and packing sheds of +florists. Were it not that these heated sheds are simply workrooms, and +where there is a great deal of going out and in, and, consequently, +draughts and sudden and frequent fluctuations of temperature, the +treatment of mushroom beds made in them would be the same as that +advised for regular mushroom houses; but as the circumstances are +somewhat different the treatment, too, should not be the same. A warm +potting shed is an excellent place for mushroom beds. Here they should +be made under the benches and covered up in front with thick calico, +plant-protecting cloth, or light wooden shutters, to exclude cold +currents and sudden atmospheric changes, and guard against the beds +drying too quickly.</p> + + + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER V.</h2> + +<p class="center">GROWING MUSHROOMS IN GREENHOUSES.</p> + + +<p>Any one who has a greenhouse can grow mushrooms in it. And it does not +matter what kind of greenhouse it is, whether a fruit house, a flower +house, or a vegetable house, it is available for mushrooms. One of the +advantages of raising mushrooms in a greenhouse is that they grow to +perfection in parts of the greenhouse that are nearly worthless for +other purposes; for instance, under the stages, where nothing else grows +well, although rhubarb and asparagus might be forced there, and a little +chicory and dandelion blanched.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<a name="fig11" id="fig11"></a> +<img src="images/fig11.jpg" width="500" height="358" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">Fig. 11. Boxed Mushroom Bed under Greenhouse Bench.</span> +</div> + +<p>Cool greenhouses, in all cases, are better for mushrooms than hothouses. +Cool houses are seldom kept at a lower temperature than 45° or 50° in +winter, while hothouses run from 60° to 70° at night, with a rise of ten +to twenty degrees by day, and this is too hot for mushrooms. It is a +very easy matter, by means of covering <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span>with hay or boxing over and +covering the boxing with hay or matting, to keep a mushroom bed in a +cool house warm and free from marked changes in temperature; but it is a +difficult matter to keep a mushroom bed in a hothouse cool enough and +prevent sudden rises in temperature.</p> + +<p><b>On Greenhouse Benches.</b>—It sometimes happens that the beds are formed on +the greenhouse benches, and the mushrooms occupy the same place that +might be assigned to roses or any other planted-out crop. The beds on +the benches are made one board deep, that is, eight to ten inches of +short, fresh manure, and otherwise as in the case of beds anywhere else. +After the beds are spawned and cased with soil, by covering them over +with a layer of straw litter or hay, sudden drying out of the surface is +prevented, and in order to further prevent this drying it is a good plan +to sprinkle some water over the mulching every day or two, but not +enough to soak through into the bed. About the time the young mushrooms +commence to show themselves, remove the mulching and replace it with a +covering of shutters raised another board's height above the bed, or +with strong calico or plant-protecting cloth hung curtain-fashion over +the beds. The accompanying illustration, Fig. 12, for which I am +indebted to Henry A. Dreer, of Philadelphia, gives an excellent idea of +how mushrooms may be grown and cared for on greenhouse benches. This +illustration, Mr. Dreer writes: "is made from a photograph of a crop +grown on the greenhouse benches at the Model Farm, by Mr. McCaffrey, +gardener to J. E. Kingsley, Esq., of the Continental Hotel.... No +covering of litter is used, but the requisite shading on sunny days is +secured by the use of cotton cloth stretched over the top of the bed, as +shown in the engraving."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 286px;"> +<a name="fig12" id="fig12"></a> +<img src="images/fig12.jpg" width="286" height="400" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">Fig. 12. Mushrooms grown on Greenhouse Benches at Mr. J. +E. Kingsley's Model Farm.</span> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span>My principal objection to mushroom beds on greenhouse benches is their +liability to frequent and marked changes of atmospheric temperature and +moisture, and to drying out. In midwinter they may be all right, but as +spring advances and the sun's brightness and heat increase, the +susceptibility of the beds to become dry also increases.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<a name="fig13" id="fig13"></a> +<img src="images/fig13.jpg" width="500" height="249" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">Fig. 13. Wide Bed with Pathway above.</span> +</div> + +<p><b>In Frames in the Greenhouses.</b>—Mr. J. G. Gardner has a range of +greenhouses some 900 feet long—the longest unbroken string of +glasshouses that I know of—for the forcing of fruit and vegetables in +winter; grapes, peaches, nectarines, figs, tomatoes, cucumbers, snap +beans, peas, lettuce. This range is divided into several compartments, +to accommodate the different varieties of crops, also so that some can +be run as succession houses. In order to make the most of everything, +market-gardener-like, he doubles up his crops wherever possible, and for +this end he finds no crop more amenable and profitable than mushrooms. +It matters nothing to him whether the house is cold or warm, he can grow +mushrooms in it anyway, and in order to be master of the situation he +makes his mushroom beds in hotbed frames inside the greenhouses. By +attending to ventilating or keeping close, or covering up or leaving +bare, he can properly regulate the temperature <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span>of the mushroom bed, no +matter how hot or cold the atmosphere of the greenhouse may be. In the +same way—by shading the panes or unshading them—he governs the light +admitted to the mushrooms.</p> + +<p>The greenhouses in which the mushrooms are grown are orchard houses, +that is, glasshouses in which peach and nectarine trees are grown and +forced. As these trees fruit and finish their growth early, it is +necessary that they be kept as cool and inactive as possible in the fall +and early winter, and started again into growth in late winter. In the +fall, therefore, the fermenting material being confined in frames +retains warmth enough for the proper development of the mushrooms, and +as the winter advances and the heat in the frames begins to wane it +becomes necessary to begin heating the greenhouses in order to start the +trees into bloom and growth, and thus are provided very favorable +conditions for the continued production of the mushroom crop.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<a name="fig14" id="fig14"></a> +<img src="images/fig14.jpg" width="500" height="422" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">Fig. 14. Mushrooms on Greenhouse Benches under Tomatoes.</span> +</div> + +<p>The frames used are common hotbed box frames seven <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span>feet wide and +carrying three and one-half feet wide sashes. A string of them is run +along the middle of the greenhouses, for greenhouse after greenhouse is +occupied by them. They are flat upon the floor, and in the early part of +the season alone in the greenhouses. But as the winter advances a +temporary staging is erected over these frames, on which spiræas, peas, +beans, or other flowers or vegetables are to be grown. These love the +light and a position near the glass, whereas the mushrooms grow +perfectly well in the dark quarters of the frames under the stages. If +he did not grow mushrooms under these stages the room would be +unoccupied, hence unproductive; but by occupying it with mushrooms he +not only gets peaches and snap beans at once out of the same greenhouse, +but also a crop of mushrooms, often worth as much as the other two.</p> + +<p>In preparing the beds in the frames they were made up a foot deep, very +firm, and with New York stable manure brought direct from the cars. +There was no preliminary preparation of the manure. A layer of loam one +and one-half inches deep was then spread over the surface and forked +into the bed of manure one and one-half inches deep, so as to form an +earthy mat three inches deep. This was then packed solid with the feet, +and a two-inch layer of loose manure added all over. In about ten days +the temperature three inches below the surface was about 95°, and the +beds were then spawned. In spawning, drills were drawn across the beds +about a foot apart and just deep enough to touch but not penetrate the +earthy mat before referred to. The broken spawn was then sown in the +drills and covered with a layer of loam one and one-half to two inches +deep, which was tamped slightly. The sashes were then put on and tilted +up a little to let the moisture escape. By the time the mushrooms +appeared there was very little need of ventilating, as the condensation +of moisture on the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span>glass was scarcely apparent; but ventilation is +easily guided by the appearance of moisture on the glass, the more of +this the more ventilation should be given. To begin with, there was no +attempt at shading the frames; but as soon as the mushrooms began to +appear the beds were shaded, and mostly by the crops of other plants on +the stages above them. These frame beds were made up last October, and +began bearing in December, and on March 14 Mr. Gardner wrote me: "The +mushrooms in my frames have done grandly. I cut large basketfuls to-day +of the finest mushrooms I have ever seen, some of them measuring five +inches in diameter before being fully expanded."</p> + +<p>And further, in submitting the above notes to him for verification, he +adds: "There is one vital point we should impress upon all who grow +mushrooms in frames or under greenhouse benches, namely, that sudden +changes of temperature must be avoided. While light, in my opinion, is +good for mushrooms, it causes a rise of temperature, and this we must +guard against. In order to maintain a uniform temperature all glass +exposed to light or heat in any other way should be covered with some +non-conducting material. Rye straw is the best thing for this purpose +that I know of. Indeed, neglect of this simple matter, in cases where +sunlight and heat from hot-water pipes come in contact with the young +mushrooms or mycelium on the surface of the beds, is the cause of many +failures in growing in frames and greenhouses."</p> + +<p><b>Under Greenhouse Benches.</b>—Open empty spaces under the stages anywhere +are good places for mushroom beds. However, carefully observe a few +points, to wit: A dry floor under the beds is imperative, for a wet +floor soaks and chills the beds, and renders them unhealthy for the +spawn; but the common earth floor is good enough, provided water does +not stand upon it at any time; if <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span>it does, the floor to be under the +beds can be rendered dry by raising it a little higher than the general +level, or using a flooring of old boards. Beds should not be built close +up against hot-water pipes, steam pipes, or smoke flues, as the heat +from these when they are in working condition will bake the parts of the +beds next to them and render them unproductive, and also crack and spoil +the caps of the mushrooms that come up within a foot or two of the +pipes. But this injury from hot pipes and flues can be lessened greatly +by boxing the pipes, so as to shut off the heat from the mushroom beds +and allowing it full escape upward; then the beds can be made, with +safety, up to within a foot of the pipes. As a rule, hot-water pipes are +run around under the front benches of a greenhouse, then it would not be +advisable to make beds under those benches. The middle bench is the one +most commonly free from pipes, hence the one best adapted for beds. It +has more headroom, and therefore easier working facilities. Steam-heated +greenhouses generally present the best accommodations for mushroom beds, +because the pipes occupy less room under the benches than do those for +hot water, and they are always kept higher from the ground.</p> + +<p><b>Among Other Plants on Greenhouse Benches.</b>—It sometimes happens that +mushrooms spring up spontaneously among the roses, carnations, violets, +mignonette, and other crops that are grown "planted out" on the benches, +and this is particularly the case where fresh soil had just been used, +in whole or part, for filling the bench beds. These mushrooms come from +natural spawn contained in the loam or manure before they were brought +indoors, and which is apt to be true virgin spawn. The mushrooms are +generally of the common kind, grown from brick spawn, but occasionally a +much larger and heavier sort is produced, and this is the "horse" +mushroom. It is perfectly good to eat, only of coarser quality than the +other.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span>A fair and certain crop can be obtained by planting pieces of spawn in +the beds here and there between the plants and where they will be least +likely to be soaked with water. In order to further insure the +development of the spawn, holes about the size of a pint cup should be +scooped out here and there over the bed, and filled up solidly with +quite fresh but dry horse droppings, with the piece of spawn in the +middle, and covered over on top with an inch of loam, so as to leave the +whole surface of the bed level. So small a quantity of dry manure +surrounded with cold earth will not heat perceptibly, and the moisture +of the loam about it will soon moisten it, no matter how dry it may be. +The dry, fresh droppings are the very best material for starting the +mycelium into growth.</p> + +<p><b>Growing Mushrooms in Rose Houses.</b>—George Savage, the head gardener at +Mr. Kimball's greenhouses, Rochester, N. Y., grows mushrooms very +successfully under the benches of the rose houses. When he makes up his +earliest mushroom beds in the fall the rose house is kept cool, and this +is an advantage to the mushroom beds, which get all the warmth they need +from the fermenting manure; but as November advances, and the heat in +the beds begins to wane the rose houses are "started," and this +artificial warmth comes in good season to benefit the growing mushrooms. +The roses, in this case, are planted out on benches, hence there is +scarcely any dripping of water from above upon the mushroom beds below.</p> + +<p>Mr. George Grant, of Mamaroneck, N. Y., who grows mushrooms in the +greenhouse, I called to see last January, and was very much pleased with +his simple and successful method. The beds were then in fine bearing, +very full, and the crop was of the best quality. The beds were made upon +the earthen floor of his tomato-forcing house and under the back bench. +The bed was <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span>flat, seven to eight inches deep, with a casing of a +ten-inch-wide hemlock board set on edge at the back, and another of same +size against the front. The bed was made of horse droppings, six inches +deep, and molded over with fresh loam one and one-half inch deep. Over +the whole, and resting on the edges of the hemlock boards, was a light +covering of other boards, with a sprinkling of hay on top of them to +arrest and shed drip, and maintain an equable temperature in the bed.</p> + +<p>Mr. Abram Van Siclen, of Jamaica, Long Island, is one of the largest +mushroom growers for market in the country, as well as one of the most +extensive growers of market-garden truck under glass around New York. He +devotes an immense area under his lettuce-house benches to the +cultivation of mushrooms. The beds are made upon the floor in the usual +way, only for convenience' sake, to admit of plenty of room in making up +the beds and gathering the crop, besides avoiding the necessity for +building higher structures than the ordinary lettuce greenhouses, the +mushroom beds are sunken about eighteen to twenty-four inches under the +level of the pathways. As the lettuces are planted out upon the benches +there is very little drip from them, hence the sunken beds are well +enough. And the temperature of a lettuce house is about right for a +long-lasting mushroom bed. Light is excluded by a simple covering of +salt hay laid over the beds, and sometimes by light wooden shutters set +up against the aperture between the lettuce benches and the floor, in +this way boxing in the mushrooms in total darkness.</p> + +<p>Mr. William Wilson, of Astoria, has an immense greenhouse establishment +near New York. In his greenhouses, under both the side and middle +benches, he grows mushrooms, and when I saw them in January there were +about 300 square yards of beds. The beds were flat, about nine inches +thick, built upon the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span>ground, and protected from strong light by having +muslin tacked over the openings between the benches and the beds +alongside the pathways. But his crop was suffering from drip. Mr. Wilson +told me he could not begin to supply the demand. He says whatever he +makes on mushrooms is mostly clear gain. They occupy space that +otherwise would remain unoccupied, and he needs the manure and the loam +in his florist business, and it is in better condition for potting after +it has been rotted in the mushroom beds than it was before it was used +for this purpose.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<a name="fig15" id="fig15"></a> +<img src="images/fig15.jpg" width="500" height="306" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">Fig. 15. Mr. Wm. Wilson's Mushroom Beds.</span> +</div> + +<p><b>Drip from the Benches.</b>—This must be prevented from the beds above, else +it will soak or chill, and in a large measure kill the spawn. I have +seen many examples of this evil. The beds would be full of drip holes +all over their surface, and although a good many mushrooms here and +there about the bed might perfect themselves, multitudes only reach the +pin-head condition—or possibly the size of peas—and then fogg off in +patches. It is not one or two little mushrooms in a clump that fogg off, +but where one foggs off all of the little ones in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span>that patch go, for it +is not a disease of the individual mushroom, but of the mycelium or +mushroom plant that runs in the bed, and when this is injured or killed +all the little mushrooms arising from this particular patch of plant are +robbed of sustenance and must perish.</p> + +<p>In greenhouses where the benches are occupied with roses, carnations, +bouvardias, violets, or lettuces, "planted out," as commercial florists +and gardeners generally grow them, there is very little drip, because +while the plants on these benches are freely watered, the soil is never +soaked enough for the water to drain from it in dripping streamlets, as +is continually the case in greenhouses where potted plants are grown on +the stages. Under these "planted out" benches, if care is exercised, +mushrooms can be grown in open beds; in fact, it is about the best place +and condition for them in a greenhouse.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<a name="fig16" id="fig16"></a> +<img src="images/fig16.jpg" width="500" height="143" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">Fig. 16. Mushroom Bed built flat upon the Ground.</span> +</div> + +<p>With stages occupied by plants in pots provision needs to be made to +ward off the drip from the mushroom beds, by erecting over, and +conveniently high above them, a light wooden framework, on which rest +light wooden frames covered with oiled paper, oiled muslin, or +plant-protecting cloth. In fact, three light wooden strips run over the +bed, as shown in <a href="#fig12">Fig. 12</a>, or three strings of stout cord or wire run in +the same manner will answer for small beds, and act as a support for the +oiled muslin or plant-protecting cloth. Building paper is sometimes used +for the same purpose. Mr. J. G. Gardner uses <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span>ordinary hotbed frames and +sashes, as described in a previous chapter. Light wooden shutters—made +of one-half inch or five-eighths inch pine—may be used for the same +end, and will last for many years.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<a name="fig17" id="fig17"></a> +<img src="images/fig17.jpg" width="500" height="325" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">Fig. 17. Ridged Mushroom Bed.</span> +</div> + +<p>The beds under the greenhouse benches may be made up in the same way as +are beds anywhere else; that is, flat upon the floor and between two +boards set on edge, as seen in Fig. 16, or in ridges under the high or +middle benches, as in Fig. 17, or in banked beds against the back wall, +as shown in Fig. 18. Generally the flat bed is the most convenient to +make and take care of.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<a name="fig18" id="fig18"></a> +<img src="images/fig18.jpg" width="500" height="214" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">Fig. 18. Banked Bed against a Wall.</span> +</div> + +<p>In open, airy greenhouses it is always well to inclose the mushroom beds +in box casings and with sash or shutter <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span>coverings, to prevent draughts +and fluctuations of temperature and atmospheric moisture. This can +easily be done by making the sides a board and a half (fifteen inches), +or two boards (twenty inches) high, and covering over with light wooden +shutters, sashes, or muslin or paper-covered light frames. See <a href="#fig11">Fig. 11.</a></p> + +<p><b>Ammonia Arising.</b>—Ammonia arising from the manure of the mushroom beds +in the greenhouse may be injurious to the other inmates of the +greenhouse. If the manure has been well prepared before it was +introduced into the greenhouse, the ammonia arising from it will not, in +the least degree, injure any other plants or flowers that may be in the +house; but if the manure is fresh, hot, and rank, the opposite will be +the case. Beds in greenhouses should always be made up of manure that +has been well prepared beforehand out of doors or in a shed, and as it +is brought into the greenhouse it should at once be built solidly into +the beds. Then very little steam will arise from the beds; in fact, it +will be imperceptible to sight or smell.</p> + + + +<h2>CHAPTER VI.</h2> + +<p class="center">GROWING MUSHROOMS IN THE FIELDS.</p> + + +<p>Under suitable conditions we can grow mushrooms easily and abundantly in +the open fields, and the planting of the spawn is all the trouble they +will cause us. During the late summer and fall months mushrooms often +appear spontaneously and in great quantity in our open pastures, but in +their natural condition they are an uncertain crop, as in one year they +may occur in the greatest abundance, and in the next perhaps none can be +found in the fields in which they had been so numerous <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span>the previous +year. Why this should be so is not very clear. The popular opinion is +that after a dry summer mushrooms abound in the fields, but after a wet +summer they are a very scarce crop; and the inference is that the +moisture has killed the spawn in the ground. This may be true to a +certain extent, but how does it happen—as it certainly often does—that +good spawn planted by hand in the fields in early summer will produce +mushrooms toward fall no matter whether the summer has been wet or dry? +At the same time, it is true that a wet spell immediately succeeding the +planting of the spawn will kill a great deal of it.</p> + +<p>As a rule, wild mushrooms abound most in rich, old, well-drained, +rolling pasture lands, and avoid dry, sandy, or wet places, or the +neighborhood of trees and bushes. In attempting to cultivate them in the +open fields we should endeavor to provide similar conditions. Then the +chief requisite is good spawn, for without this we can not raise +mushrooms.</p> + +<p>About the middle of June take a sharp spade in the pasture, make <b>V</b> or +<b>T</b>-shaped cuts in the grass sod about four inches deep and raise one side +enough to allow the insertion of a bit of spawn two to three inches +square under it, so that it shall be about two inches below the surface, +then tamp the sod down. By cutting and raising the sod in this way, +without breaking it off, it is not as likely to die of drought in +summer. In this way plant as much or little as may be desired and at +distances of three, four, or more feet apart. During the following +August or September the mushrooms should show themselves, and continue +in bearing for several weeks.</p> + +<p>Mr. Henshaw, of Staten Island, who has been very successful in growing +mushrooms in the fields as well as indoors, writes to me as follows: +"You ask me to give you my plan of growing mushrooms in the fields +during <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span>the summer. It is very simple. About the end of June, or as soon +as dry weather sets in, we remove the old beds from our mushroom house, +and if there should be any live spawn in the bottom of our beds we put +it in a wheelbarrow and take it to the field, where we plant it in the +open places, but never under trees. In planting, we lift a sod and put a +shovelful of the manure containing the spawn in the hole, then replace +the sod and beat it down firm; this we do at distances of twelve feet +apart. If we have no live spawn from our indoor beds we take the common +brick spawn, and put about a quarter of a brick into each hole, +returning and beating down the sod as already stated. This is all that +is done. If there comes a dry time after the spawn is put in the pasture +we are sure to have a good supply of mushrooms in the fall."</p> + +<p>A few years ago Carter & Co., seedsmen, London, sent this to one of the +gardening periodicals: "The following mode of growing mushrooms in +meadows by one of our customers may be interesting to your readers: In +March (May would be soon enough here) he begins to collect droppings +from the stables. These, when enough have been gathered together, are +taken into the meadow, where holes dug here and there about one foot or +eighteen inches square are filled with them, the soil removed being +scattered over the surrounding grass. When all the holes have been +filled and made solid he then places two or three pieces of spawn about +one inch square in each hole, treads all down firmly, replaces the turf +and beats it tightly down. Under this system, in August and September +mushrooms appear without fail in abundance and without any further care. +The method is simple and the result certain. Therefore all who happen to +have a meadow, paddock, or grass field, and are fond of mushrooms, +should try the experiment.... In the case in question fresh holes were +spawned every year."</p> + + + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER VII.</h2> + +<p class="center">MANURE FOR MUSHROOM BEDS.</p> + + +<p>In order to grow mushrooms successfully and profitably a supply of fresh +horse manure is needed, and this should be the very best that is made, +either at home or bought from other stables. The questions of manure and +spawn are the most important that we have to deal with. Very few make +their own spawn, as it is bought and accepted upon its good +looks,—often rather deceptive,—but the manure business is entirely in +our own hands, and success with it depends absolutely upon ourselves. We +can not reasonably expect good results from poor manure nor from +ill-prepared manure. It is only from the very best of horse manure +prepared in the very best fashion that we can hope for the very best +crops of the best mushrooms.</p> + +<p><b>Horse Manure.</b>—There are various kinds of horse manure, differing +materially in their worth for mushroom beds. The kind of manure depends +upon the condition of the horses, how they are housed, fed, and bedded, +and how the manure is taken care of. But while the manure of all healthy +animals is useful for our purpose, there still is a great choice in +horse manure. If we are dependent upon our home supply we may use and +make the best of what we have, but if we have to buy the manure we +should be very particular to select the best kind of manure and accept +of no other.</p> + +<p>The very best manure is that from strong, healthy, hard-worked, +well-kept animals that are liberally fed with hard food, as timothy hay +and grain, and bedded with straw. And if the bedding be pretty well +wetted <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span>with urine and trampled under the horses' feet, so much the +better; indeed, this is one reason why manure from farm and teamsters' +stables is better than that from stylish establishments, where +everything is kept so scrupulously dry and clean.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 296px;"> +<a name="fig19" id="fig19"></a> +<img src="images/fig19.jpg" width="296" height="400" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">Fig. 19. Perspective View of the Dosoris Mushroom +Cellar.</span> +</div> + +<p>The fresher the manure is the better, still manure that is not perfectly +fresh may also be quite good. Stable <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span>manure may accumulate in a cellar +for a couple of months, and still be first rate. After our hotbed season +is over I stack our stable manure high in the yard, and from June until +August, as the manure is taken away from the stable each day, it is +piled on the top of this stack. My object is to keep it so dry that it +can neither heat nor rot. In August the stack is broken down and the +best manure shaken out to one side for mushrooms, and the long straw and +rotted parts thrown to the other side. This short manure, when moistened +with water and thrown into a heap, exposed to the sun for a day or two, +will heat up briskly. The beds illustrated in Fig. 19 were made from +manure prepared in this way in August.</p> + +<p>In the case of quite fresh manure, let it accumulate for a few days, or +a fortnight, even, until there is enough of it to make up a bed, and +then prepare it. Be very particular to prevent, from the first, its +heating violently or "burning" while accumulating in the pile. Beds made +from very fresh manure respond quickly and generously. The crop comes in +heavily to begin with, and continues bearing largely while it lasts, but +its duration is usually shorter than in the case of a bed made up of +less fresh manure. But altogether it yields a better and heavier crop +than a bed that comes in more gradually and lasts longer, and the +mushrooms are of the finest quality.</p> + +<p>Some growers use the droppings only, and reject all of the strawy part, +or as much of it as they can conveniently shake out. This gives them an +excellent manure and perhaps the very best for use on a small scale or +in small beds. When mushrooms are to be grown in boxes, narrow troughs, +half barrels, and other confined quarters, it is well to concentrate the +manure as much as possible—use all the droppings and as little straw as +you can. But droppings alone for large beds would take too <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span>much manure +and cost too much, and they would not be any better than with a rougher +manure.</p> + +<p>Always preserve the wet, strawy part of the manure, along with the +droppings, and mix and ferment them together, and in this way not only +add largely to the bulk of the pile, but secure the benefits afforded by +the urine without reducing, in any way, the strength or fermenting +properties of the manure. Shake out all the rank, dry, strawy part of +the manure and lay it aside for other purposes. This may be of further +use as bedding in the stables, covering the mushroom beds after they +have been made up, or for hotbeds; if well wetted with stable drainings, +or even plain water, it forms a ready heating material.</p> + +<p>Many a time when we have been short of home-made manure I have bought +some loads here and there from different stables in the village, and +mixed all together and made it into beds with excellent results. +Sometimes when the manure under preparation had been rather old and +cool, I have added a fifth or tenth part of fresh droppings to it, with +very quickening effect in heating and apparent benefit to the crop.</p> + +<p>It is generally believed that the manure of entire horses is better for +mushrooms than that of other horses, but positive evidence in this +direction has never come under my observation. Some practical men assert +that there is no difference. Mr. John G. Gardner, at the Rancocas Farm, +who has had abundant opportunity to test this matter, tells me that he +has given it a fair trial and been unable to find any difference in the +quality or quantity of mushrooms raised from beds made from the manure +of entire horses and those raised from beds made from the manure of +other equally as well fed animals. But the Parisian growers insist that +there is a difference in favor of entire horses, especially in the case +of hard-worked animals such as are engaged in heavy carting.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span>Manure of horses that are largely fed with carrots is emphatically +condemned by most writers on the cultivation of mushrooms; indeed, it is +one of <i>the</i> points in every book on mushrooms which I have read. Let us +look at a few practical facts: There are at Dosoris two shelf beds in +one cellar; each is thirty feet long, three feet wide, and nine inches +deep, and both are bearing a very thick crop of mushrooms. The material +in these beds consists of horse manure three parts and chopped sod loam +one part, which had been mixed and fermented together from the first +preparation. The manure was saved from the stables on the place in +November, '88, the materials prepared in December, the beds built Dec. +17, spawned Dec. 24, molded over Dec. 31, and first mushrooms gathered +Feb. 7, 1889. These beds bore well until the middle of April. The +mushrooms did not average as large as they did on the deeper beds upon +the floor of the cellar, but they ran about three-fourths to one ounce +apiece, and a good many were more than this. It is most always the case, +however, that the crop on thin shelf beds averages less than it does on +thick floor beds, and especially is this noticeable after the first +flush of the crop has been gathered, no matter what kind of fermenting +material had been used. At the time when the manure used for these beds +was being saved at the stable the horses were only very lightly worked, +and to each horse was fed, in addition to hay and some oats and bran, +about a third of a bushel of carrots a day. And this is the manure used +for the late mushroom beds, and yet good crops and good mushrooms are +produced. This is not only the experience of one year's practice but the +regular routine of many.</p> + +<p>Perhaps some one would like to ask: Do you consider the manure of +carrot-fed horses as good as the manure of animals to which no carrots +or other root crops had been fed? My answer is—decidedly not. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span>While +the manure of carrot-fed animals is not the best, at the same time it is +good, and any one having plenty of it can also have plenty of mushrooms. +The complete denunciation of the manure of carrot-fed horses so +emphatically stereotyped upon the minds and pens of horticultural +writers is not always founded on fact.</p> + +<p><b>Manure of Mules.</b>—This is regarded as being next in value to that of +entire horses, and some French growers go so far as to say that it is +quite as good. Mr. John G. Gardner tells me of an extraordinary crop of +mushrooms he once had which astonished that veteran, Samuel Henshaw, and +that it was from beds made of manure from mule stables. Certainly the +heaviest crop of mushrooms I ever did see was at Mr. Wilbur's place at +South Bethlehem, Pa., four years ago, and the beds were of clean mule +droppings from the coal mines. Mule manure can be had in quantity at our +mule stock yards, which are in nearly every large city in the Middle and +Southern States. Getting it from the mines costs more than it is worth, +except as a fancy article; the men will not collect and save it for any +reasonable price.</p> + +<p><b>Cellar Manure.</b>—Many stables have cellars under them into which the +manure and urine are dropped at every day's cleaning. These cellars are +not generally cleaned out before a good deal of manure has accumulated +in them, say a few weeks', or a few months', or a winter's gathering, +and it is commonly pretty well moistened by the urine. If this manure +has not become too dry and "fire-fanged" in the cellar it is splendid +for mushrooms. We buy a good deal of it, but are particular to reject +the very dry and white-burned parts. Sometimes the manure from the +cow-stables, as well as from the horse-stables, is dropped together into +the cellar; then I would give less for the manure, especially if the cow +manure predominated, because in the working it keeps too cold and wet +and pasty; but if there is not <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span>cow manure enough to give the mass a +pasty character it will make capital mushroom beds. Pigs often have the +run of the manure-cellar, as is generally the case in farmyards. I would +not use any part of this mixed pig manure. Mycelium evades hog manure; +besides it is impure and malodorous, and a propagating bed for noxious +insect vermin. It matters very little what kind of bedding is used, in +the case of cellar manure, but I would not buy it if sawdust or salt hay +had been used as bedding. Neither of these materials, in limited +quantity, is deleterious to the mushrooms; at the same time, they are +far less desirable than straw, field hay, German peat moss, or corn +stalks, and there are risks enough in mushroom-growing without courting +any that we can as well avoid.</p> + +<p><b>City Stable Manure.</b>—Around New York this can always be had in any +quantity at a reasonable rate, and it is first-rate manure for mushroom +beds. Market gardeners haul in a load of vegetables to market and bring +back a load of manure; others may buy and haul home manure in the same +way, or make arrangements with a teamster to do it for them. But the +whole matter of city manure is now so deftly handled by agents, who make +a special business of it, that we can get any quantity of manure, from a +500 lb bale to an unlimited number of loads, and of most any quality, +delivered near or far, inland or coastwise, at a fairly moderate price. +It is the city stable manure that nearly all our large market growers +use for their mushroom beds. When they get it at the stables and cart it +home themselves they know what they are handling, and should take only +fresh horse dung. In ordering it of an agent be particular to arrange +for the freshest and cleanest, pure horse manure. They will get it for +you. We get several hundreds of loads of this selected manure from them +every year for hotbeds, and find it excellent. We also get 1000 to 2000 +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span>loads of the common New York stable manure a year for our general +outdoor crops, and it also is capital manure in its way, but not so good +as the selected manure for mushrooms. It is mixed a little and smells +very rank, and in mushroom beds usually produces a good deal of spurious +fungi. Most all of our largest mushroom growers, Van Siclen of Jamaica, +Denton of Woodhaven, Connard of Hoboken, and others, live within easy +hauling distance of the city, and are able to select and get the very +choicest manure at a very cheap rate.</p> + +<p><b>Baled Manure.</b>—Within a year or two a good deal of our city horse manure +has been put up in bales and thus shipped and sold. Each bale contains +from 350 to nearly 500 lbs, and is made up, pressed and tied in about +the same way as baled hay. The principal advantages of the bales are +these: Only the cleanest horse manure is put up in this way; cow manure, +offal, spent hops, or other short or soft manures are not included in +the bales, nor, on account of shipping considerations, are malodorous +manures of any sort permitted in them. The railroads allow baled manure +to be put off on their platforms, and closer to their stations than they +would allow loose manure; and it often happens that an agent will send a +carload to a railroad station and dump it off there so that the people +around who have only small garden lots can have an opportunity of buying +one or more bales, just as they need it, and without, as is generally +the case, having to buy a whole load when they need only half a load. +These bales are quite a boon to people who would like to have a small +bed of mushrooms in their cellar and who have no other manure. Bring +home one or more bales, open them, spread out the manure a little, and +when it heats turn it a few times, and it will soon be ready for use. Or +if you do not wish to litter up the place, roll the bales into the +cellar, shed, or wherever else you wish to make use of them, and mix +about one-fourth <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span>of their bulk of loam with the manure and make up the +bed at once.</p> + +<p>The Board of Health of New York city is very emphatic in its endeavors +to rid the city of any accumulation of manure and, a year ago, had under +consideration a plan to compel the manure agents, for sanitary reasons, +to bale the stable manure. And perhaps this is the reason why it is so +easily procured, to wit: A New York gentleman, desirous of engaging in +the mushroom-growing business, writes me: "I get my manure from the city +in bales. All it costs me is the freight to my place at White Plains." +Lucky gentleman! With any amount of the best kind of stable manure +gratis, no wonder he wishes to embark in the mushroom ship.</p> + +<p><b>Cow Manure.</b>—This is sometimes used with horse manure in forming the +materials for a mushroom bed, and several European writers are emphatic +in advocating its use. But I have tried it time and time again, and in +various ways, and am satisfied that it has no advantage whatever over +plain horse manure, if, indeed, it is as good. It is not used by the +market growers in this country.</p> + +<p>The best kind of cow manure is said to be the dry chips gathered from +the open pastures; these are brought home, chopped up fine and mixed +with horse manure. The time and expense incurred in collecting and +chopping these "chips" completely overreach any advantages that might be +derived from them, no matter how desirable they may be. The next best +kind of cow manure is that of stall-fed cattle, to which dry food only, +as hay and grain, is fed. This is seldom obtainable except in winter, +and is then available for spring beds only. This I have used freely. +One-third of it to two-thirds of dry horse manure works up very well, +heats moderately, retains its warmth a long time, also its moisture +without any tendency to pastiness; the mycelium travels through <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span>it +beautifully, and it bears fine mushrooms. Still, it is no better than +plain horse manure. The poorest kind of cow manure is the fresh manure +of cattle fed with green grass, ensilage, and root crops; indeed, such +manure can not be used alone; it needs to be freely mixed with some +absorbent, as dry loam, German moss, dry horse droppings, and the like, +and even then I have utterly failed to perceive its advantages; it is a +dirty mass to work, and quite cold.</p> + +<p>In the manufacture of spawn, however, cow manure is a requisite +ingredient, and here again the manure of dry fed animals is better than +that of those fed with green and other soft food. But my chief objection +to the use of cow manure in the mushroom beds is that it is a favorite +breeding and feeding place for hosts of pernicious bugs and grubs and +earth worms,—creatures that we had better repel from, rather than +encourage in, our mushroom beds.</p> + +<p><b>German Peat Moss Stable Manure for Mushroom Beds.</b>—Although I have not +yet had an opportunity of trying this material for mushroom beds, Mr. +Gardner, of Jobstown, has great faith in it; so, too, has that prince of +English mushroom growers, Richard Gilbert, of Burghley, who relates his +success with it in growing mushrooms in the English garden papers. This +peat moss is a comparatively new thing in this country, and is used in +place of straw for bedding horses. It is a great absorbent and soaks up +much of the urine that, were straw used instead, would be likely to pass +off into the drains. To this is ascribed its great virtue in mushroom +culture. It should be mixed with loam when used for mushroom beds.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 335px;"> +<a name="fig20" id="fig20"></a> +<img src="images/fig20.jpg" width="335" height="336" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">Fig. 20. Bale of German Peat Moss.</span> +</div> + +<p><b>Sawdust Stable Manure for Mushroom Beds.</b>—This is the manure obtained +from stables where sawdust <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span>has been used for bedding for the horses. It +is a good absorbent and retains considerable of the stable wettings. +Such manure ferments well, makes up nicely into beds, the mycelium runs +well in it, and good mushrooms are produced from it. But if I could get +any other fairly good manure I wouldn't use it. I remember seeing it at +Mr. Henshaw's place some years ago. He had bought a quantity of fresh +stable manure from the Brighton coal yards, where sawdust had been used +for bedding for the horses, and this he used for his mushroom beds. I +went back again in a few months to see the bed in bearing, but it was +not a success. At the same time, some European growers record great +success with sawdust stable manure. George Bolas, Hopton, Wirkeworth, +England, sent specimens of mushrooms that he grew on sawdust manure beds +to the editor of the <i>Garden</i>, who pronounced them "in every way +excellent." Mr. Bolas says: "In making up the bed I mixed about +one-third of burnt earth with the sawdust, sand, and droppings. The +mushrooms were longer in coming up than usual, the bed being in a close +shed, without any heat whatever. They have, however, far exceeded my +expectations."</p> + +<p>Richard Gilbert, of Burghley, also wrote to the <i>Garden</i>, April 25, +1885: "There is nothing new in growing mushrooms in sawdust. I have done +it here for years past; that is to say, after it had done service as a +bed for horses, and got intermixed with their droppings. I have never +been able to detect the least difference in size or quality between +mushrooms grown in sawdust and those produced in the ordinary way."</p> + +<p><b>Tree Leaves.</b>—Forest tree leaves are often used for mushroom beds, +sometimes alone, instead of manure, but more frequently mixed with horse +manure to increase the bulk of the fermenting material. Oak tree leaves +are the best; quick-rotting leaves, like those of the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span>chestnut, maple, +or linden, are not so good, and those of coniferous trees are of no use +whatever. As the leaves must be in a condition to heat readily they +should be fresh; such are easily secured before winter sets in, but in +spring, after lying out under the winter's snow and rain, their +"vitality" is mostly gone. But we can secure a large lot of dry leaves +in the fall and pile them where they will keep dry until required for +use. As needed we can prepare a part of this pile by wetting the leaves, +taking them under cover to a warm south-facing shed, and otherwise +assisting fermentation just as if we were preparing for a hotbed. While +moistening the leaves with clean water will induce a good fermentation, +wetting them with liquid from the horse-stable urine tanks will cause a +brisk heat, and for mushrooms produce more genial conditions.</p> + +<p>Mushroom beds composed in whole or part of fermenting tree leaves should +be much deeper than would be necessary were horse manure alone used; for +half leaves and half manure, say fifteen inches deep; for all leaves, +say twenty to thirty inches deep.</p> + +<p>While mushroom spawn will run freely in leaf beds and we can get good +mushrooms from them, my experience has satisfied me that we do not get +as fine crops from these beds or any modification of them as from the +ordinary stable manure beds. And we can not wonder much at this, +considering that the wild mushroom is scarcely ever found in the +neighborhood of trees or where leaf mold deposits occur.</p> + +<p><b>Spent Hops.</b>—We can make good use of this in one way. If we are short of +good materials for a mushroom bed, we can first make up the beds eight +or ten inches deep with fermenting spent hops, and above this lay a four +or five inch layer of horse manure, or this and loam mixed. The hops +will keep up the warmth, and the manure affords a congenial home for the +mushroom <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span>spawn. But we should never use spent hops alone, nor so near +the surface of the beds that the spawn will have to travel through it.</p> + +<p>Spent hops can be had for nothing, and our city brewers even pay a +premium to the manure agents to take the hops away.</p> + + + + +<h2>CHAPTER VIII.</h2> + +<p class="center">PREPARATION OF THE MANURE.</p> + + +<p>Get as good a quality of fresh horse manure as you can, and in +sufficient quantity for the amount of bed or beds you wish to make. Next +get it into suitable condition for making up into beds. This can be done +out of doors or under cover of a shed, but preferably in the shed. Out +of doors the manure is under the drying influence of sun and wind, and +it is also liable to become over-wetted by rain, but under cover we have +full control of its condition. All the manure for beds between July and +the end of October is prepared out of doors on a dry piece of ground, +but what is used after the first of November, all through the winter, is +handled in a shed open to the south. During the autumn months we get +along very well with it out of doors; after every turning cover the heap +with strawy litter to save it from the drying influences of sun and +wind. Remove this covering when next turned, and lay light wooden +shutters on top of it as a precaution against rain. In the shed in +winter the manure is protected against rain and snow and we can always +work it conveniently; when the shed is open to the south—as wagon and +wood-sheds often are—we get the benefit of the warm sunshine in the +daytime in starting fermentation in the manure, but <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span>in the event of +dull, cold weather, cover up the pile quite snugly with straw and +shutters to start the heat in it. Altogether, a warm, close shed would +be better.</p> + +<p>It seldom happens that one can get all the manure he wants at one time; +it accumulates by degrees. This is the case with the market grower who +uses many tons, and hauls it home from the city stables a little at a +time; also with the private grower, who uses only a few bushels or half +a cord, and has it accumulate for days or weeks from his own stable. As +the manure accumulates throw it into a pile, straw and all, but not into +such a big pile that it will heat violently; and particularly observe +that it shall not "fire-fang" or "burn" in the heap. If it shows any +tendency to do this, turn it over loosely, sprinkle it freely with +water, spread it out a little, and after a few hours, or when it has +cooled off nicely, throw it up into a pile again and tread it firmly to +keep it moist and from heating hastily.</p> + +<p>When enough manure has accumulated for a bed, prepare it in the +following way: Turn it over, shaking it up loosely and mixing it all +well together. Throw aside the dry, strawy part, also any white "burnt" +manure that may be in it, and all extraneous matter, as sticks, stones, +old tins, bones, leather straps, rags, scraps of iron, or such other +trash as we usually find in manure heaps, but do not throw out any of +the wet straw; indeed, we should aim to retain all the straw that has +been well wetted in the stable. If the manure is too dry do not hesitate +to sprinkle it freely with water, and it will take a good deal of water +to well moisten a heap of dry manure. Then throw it into a compact +oblong pile about three or four feet high, and tread it down a little. +This is to prevent hasty and violent heating and "burning," for firmly +packed manure does not heat up so readily or whiten so quickly as does a +pile loosely thrown together. Leave it undisturbed until fermentation +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span>has started briskly, which in early fall may be in two or three days, +or in winter in six to ten days, then turn it over again, shaking it up +thoroughly and loosely and keeping what was outside before inside now, +and what was inside before toward the outside now; and if there are any +unduly dry parts moisten them as you go along. Trim up the heap into the +same shape as you had before, and again tread it down firmly. This +compacting of the pile at every turning reduces the number of required +turnings. When hot manure is turned and thrown loosely into a pile it +regains its great heat so rapidly that it will need turning again within +twenty-four hours, in order to save it from burning, and all practical +men know that at every turning ammonia is wasted,—the most potent food +of the mushroom. We should therefore endeavor to get along with as few +turnings as possible; at the same time, never allow any part of the +manure to burn, even if we have to turn the heap every day. These +turnings should be continued until the manure has lost its tendency to +heat violently, and its hot, rank smell is gone,—usually in about three +weeks' time. If the manure, or any part of it, is too dry at any +turning, the dry part should be sprinkled with water and kept in the +middle of the heap. Plain water is what is generally used for moistening +the manure, but I sometimes use liquid from the stable tanks, which not +only answers the purpose of wetting the dry materials, but it also is a +powerful stimulant and welcome addition to the manure. But the greatest +vigilance should be observed to guard against overmoistening the manure; +far better fail on the side of dryness than on that of wetness.</p> + +<p>If the manure is too wet to begin with it should be spread out thinly +and loosely and exposed to sun and wind, if practicable, to dry. Drying +by exposure in this way is not as enervating as "burning" in a hot +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span>pile, and better have recourse to any method of drying the manure than +use it wet. If, on account of the weather or lack of convenience for +drying, the manure can not be dried enough, add dry loam, dry sand, dry +half-rotted leaves, dry peat moss, dry chaff, or dry finely cut hay or +straw, and mix together.</p> + +<p>The proper condition of the manure, as regards dryness or moistness, can +readily be known by handling it. Take a handful of the manure and +squeeze it tight; it should be unctuous enough to hold together in a +lump, and so dry that you can not squeeze a drop of water out of it.</p> + +<p>Some private gardeners in England lay particular stress upon collecting +the fresh droppings at the stables every day, and spreading them out +upon a shed or barn floor to dry, and in this way keeping them dry and +from heating until enough has accumulated for a bed, when the bed is +made up entirely of this material, or of part of this and part of loam. +But market gardeners, the ones whose bread and butter depend upon the +crops they raise, never practice this method, and that patriarch in the +business, Richard Gilbert, denounces the practice unstintedly.</p> + +<p>Different growers have different ideas of preparing manure for mushroom +beds, but the aim of all is to get it into the best possible condition +with the least labor and expense, and to guard against depriving it of +any more ammonia than can be helped. See Mr. Gardner's method of +preparing manure, <a href="#Page_22">p. 22.</a></p> + +<p><b>Loam and Manure Mixed.</b>—Mushroom beds are often formed of loam and +manure mixed together, say one-third or one-fourth part of the whole +being loam, and the other two-thirds or three-fourths manure; if a +larger proportion of loam is used it will render the beds rather cold +unless they are made unusually deep. I am not prepared to affirm or deny +that this mixed material <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span>has any advantages over plain manure; I use it +considerably every year and with good results; at the same time, I get +as good crops from the plain manure beds. But it has many warm friends +who are excellent growers.</p> + +<p>In preparing this mixed material I use fresh sod loam well chopped up, +and add it to the manure in this way: First select the manure and throw +it into a heap to ferment, as before explained; then after the first +turning cover the heap with a layer of this loam about three or four +inches thick, enough to arrest the steam; at the next turning mix this +casing of loam with the manure, and when the heap is squared off add +another coating of loam of the same thickness in the same way as before, +and so on at each turning until the whole mass is fit for use, and the +full complement of loam, say one-fourth the full bulk, has been added. +In this way much of the ammonia that otherwise would be evaporated from +the manure is arrested and retained.</p> + +<p>Some growers, when they first shake out their fresh manure, add the full +complement of loam to it at once and mix them together. Others, again, +Mr. Denton, of Woodhaven, for instance, prepare the manure in the +ordinary way and when ready for use add the quota of loam. I use good +sod loam for two reasons, namely, because it is the very best that can +be used for the purpose, and, also, after being used in the mushroom +beds it is a capital material, and in fine condition for use in potting +soft-wooded plants. But the loam commonly used to mix with the manure is +ordinary field soil. If the loam is ordinarily moist to begin with, and +also the manure, there is very little likelihood of any of the material +getting too dry during the preparation. And much less preparation is +needed, for the presence of the loam lessens, considerably, the +probability of hasty, violent fermentation.</p> + +<p>Mr. Withington, of South Amboy, N. J., uses rather a stinted amount of +loam in his manure. He writes me: <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span>"We made up our beds this year with a +proportion of loam in the manure, say one part loam to eight parts +manure, but have always used clear manure heretofore, and I think the +beds hold out longer than when only manure is used."</p> + + + + +<h2>CHAPTER IX.</h2> + +<p class="center">MAKING UP THE MUSHROOM BEDS.</p> + + +<p>The place in the cellar, shed, house, or elsewhere, where we intend to +grow the mushrooms, should be in readiness as soon as the manure has +been well prepared and is in proper condition for use. The bed or beds +should be made up at once. The thickness of the beds depends a good deal +upon circumstances, such as the quality of the manure,—whether it is +plain horse manure, or manure and loam mixed together,—or whether the +beds are to be made in heated or unheated buildings, and on the floor or +on shelves. Floor beds are generally nine to fifteen inches deep; about +nine inches in the case of manure alone, in warm quarters, and ten to +fourteen inches when manure and loam are used. In cool houses the beds +are made a few inches deeper than this so as to keep up a steady, mild +warmth for a long time. The beds may be made flat, or ridged, or like a +rounded bank against the wall; but the flat form is the commonest, and +the most convenient where shelves are also used in the same building. +Shelf beds are generally nine inches deep; that is, the depth of one +board.</p> + +<p>In making up the beds, bring in the manure and shake it up loosely and +spread it evenly over the bed, beating it down firmly with the back of +the fork as you go along, and continue in this way until the desired +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span>depth is attained. If it is a floor bed and there is no impediment, as +a shelf overhead, tread the manure down firmly and evenly; if the manure +is fairly dry and in good condition it will be pretty firm and still +springy, but if it is too moist and poorly prepared treading will pack +it together like wet rotten dung.</p> + +<p>Now pierce a hole in the bed and insert a thermometer. There are +"ground" or "bottom-heat" thermometers, as gardeners call them, for this +purpose, but any common thermometer will do well enough; and after two +or three days examine this thermometer daily to see what is the +temperature of the manure in the bed. In roomy or airy structures or +where only a small bed has been made it may, in the meantime, be left in +this condition. But in a tight cellar I find that the warm moisture +arising from the bed condenses in the atmosphere and settles on the top +of the manure, making it perfectly wet. In order to counteract this, as +soon as the bed is made up I spread some straw or hay over it loosely; +the moisture settles on the covering and does not reach through to the +manure. Beware of overcovering, as such induces overheating inside the +bed. At spawning time remove this covering. The bed will then have +become so cool (80° or 90°) that there is very little evaporation from +it, consequently little danger of surface-wetting.</p> + +<p><b>The Proper Temperature.</b>—This, in mushroom beds, depends upon the +materials of which they are composed, their thickness, how they are +built, the situation they are in, and other circumstances. If the manure +was good and fresh to begin with, carefully prepared and used as soon as +ready, the bed in a few days will warm up to 125°, or a little more or +less, and this is very good. My best beds have always shown a maximum +heat of between 120° and 125°. Had the manure been used a few days too +soon the heat would rise higher, perhaps to 135°, but this is too warm; +in this case I <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span>would fork over the surface of the bed a few inches deep +to let the heat escape, and after a couple of days compact the bed +again. Boring holes all over the surface of the beds with a crowbar is +the common way of reducing a too high temperature, and when the heat has +subsided sufficiently fill up these holes with finely pulverized dry +loam. With loam we can fill them up perfectly, but we can not do this +with manure, and if left open they remain as wet sweat holes that are +very deleterious to the spreading spawn.</p> + +<p>A too high temperature in the beds should be sedulously guarded against, +for it wastes the substance of the manure, dries up the interior of the +bed, and the mushroom crop must necessarily be starved and short.</p> + +<p>Provided that the manure is fresh and good and has been well prepared, +if the beds, after being made up, do not indicate more than 100° or 110° +no alarm need be felt, for excellent crops will likely be produced by +these beds. The thicker the beds are the higher the heat will probably +rise in them. Firmly built beds warm up more slowly than do loosely +built ones, and they keep their heat longer. If the materials are quite +cool when built solidly into beds they are not apt to become very warm +afterward. But I always like to make up the beds with moderately warm +manure.</p> + +<p>It sometimes happens that circumstances may prevent the making up of the +beds just as soon as the manure is in prime condition, and even after +they are made up the heat does not rise above 75° or 80°. In such a case +if the manure is otherwise in good condition and fresh, it is well +enough and a good crop may be expected. But if the manure, to begin +with, had been a little stale, rotten and inert, I certainly would not +hesitate to at once break up the bed, add some fresh horse droppings to +it, mix thoroughly, then make it up again. Or a fair heat may be started +in such a stale bed by sprinkling it <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span>over rather freely with urine from +the barnyard, then forking the surface over two or three inches deep and +afterward compacting it slightly with the back of the fork. Spread a +layer of hay, straw, or strawy stable litter a few inches deep over the +bed till the heat rises. If the manure had been moist enough this +sprinkling should not be resorted to, but the fresh droppings added +instead. When it is applied, however, great care should be taken to +prevent overheating; a lessening or entire removal of the strawy +covering, and again firmly compacting the surface of the bed will reduce +the temperature. Some saltpeter, or nitrate of soda, an ounce to three +gallons of liquid, will encourage the spread of the mycelium after the +spawn is inserted; a much stronger solution of these salts can now be +used than would be safe to apply after the mycelium is running in the +bed.</p> + +<p>When loam and manure mixed together comprise the materials of which the +bed is made, the temperature is not likely to rise so high as when +manure alone is used, but this matters not so long as the materials of +which the bed is composed are sweet and fresh and not over-moist. But if +the materials are cold and stale treat as recommended for a manure bed, +always bearing in mind that it is better to have a cold bed that is +fairly dry than one that is wet, or, indeed, a warm one that is wet.</p> + +<p>Mr. Withington, of South Amboy, has a good word to say for beds of a low +temperature. He writes me: "Our beds kept in good bearing two months, +though they have borne in a desultory way a month longer. Our best bed +this season was one that was kept at an even temperature. The manure +never rose above 75° when made up, and decreased to about 60° soon after +spawning. Kept the house at 55°."</p> + + + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER X.</h2> + +<p class="center">MUSHROOM SPAWN.</p> + + +<p>What is mushroom spawn? Is it a seed or a root? Do you plant it or sow +it, or how do you prepare it? are some of the questions asked me now and +again. To the general public there seems to be some great mystery +surrounding this spawn question; in fact, it appears to be the chief +enigma connected with mushroom-growing. Now, the truth is, there is no +mystery at all about the matter. What practical mushroom growers call +spawn, botanists term mycelium.</p> + +<p>The spawn is the true mushroom plant and permeates the ground, manure, +or other material in which it may be growing; and what we know as +mushrooms is the fruit of the mushroom plant. The spawn is represented +by a delicate white mold-like network of whitish threads which traverse +the soil or manure. Under favorable circumstances it grows and spreads +rapidly, and in due time produces fruit, or mushrooms as we call them. +The mushrooms bear myriads of spores which are analogous to seeds, and +these spores become diffused in the atmosphere and fall upon the ground. +It is reasonable to suppose that they are the origin of the spawn which +produces the natural mushrooms in the fields, also the spawn we find in +manure heaps. But we never have been able to produce spawn artificially +from spores, or in other words, mushrooms have never been grown by man, +so far as I can find any authentic record, from "seed." How, then, do we +get the spawn? By propagation by division. We take the mushroom plant or +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span>spawn, as we call it, and break it up into pieces, and plant these +pieces separately in a prepared bed of manure or other material, under +conditions favorable for their growth, and we find that these pieces of +spawn develop into vigorous plants that bear fruit (mushrooms) in about +two months from planting time. When the spawn has borne its full crop of +fruit it dies.</p> + +<p>Well, then, if we can not produce spawn from spores, and the spawn in +the beds that have borne mushrooms has died out, how are we to get the +spawn for our future crops? is a question that may suggest itself to the +inexperienced. By securing it when it is in its most vigorous condition, +which is before it begins to show signs of forming mushrooms, and drying +it, and keeping it dry till required for use. But in order to secure the +spawn we need to take and keep with it the manure to which it adheres or +in which it is spreading. In this way it can be kept in good condition +for several years and without its vitality being perceptibly impaired. +Keeping it dry merely suspends its growth; as soon as it is again +submitted to favorable conditions of moisture and heat its pristine +activity returns.</p> + +<p>Mushroom spawn can be obtained at any seed store. Our seedsmen always +keep it in stock, both the brick (English), and the flake (French) +spawn. It is retailed in quantities of one pound or more, and as the +article is perfectly dry it can be easily sent by mail in small +quantities.</p> + +<p>The seedsmen import it from Europe every year along with their seeds. A +prominent Boston seedsman writes me: "We get our supply through the +London wholesale seedsmen, for the sake of convenience and cheaper ocean +freight, etc. Coming with a shipment of other goods and on same bill of +lading brings the freight charges down. The low price at which mushroom +spawn is sold in quantity can only be maintained with <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span>low freight +rates, as there is a duty here of 20% on the article."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<a name="fig21" id="fig21"></a> +<img src="images/fig21.jpg" width="500" height="374" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">Fig. 21. Brick Spawn.</span> +</div> + +<p>By direct inquiry of the leading importers in different cities I find +that we import about 4500 lbs of French or flake spawn, and 4000 +bushels, or 64,000 lbs of English or brick spawn, and that fully a half +of this whole importation is handled by the seedsmen of New York city. +In New York one firm alone, who make a specialty of supplying market +gardeners, has in one year imported 1500 bushels of brick spawn. But the +vicinity of New York is the great mushroom-growing center of the +country, also the best market for mushrooms in the country. One gardener +at Jamaica, L. I., bought 1000 lbs of brick spawn at one time, and a +neighbor of his bought 400 lbs; this shows what a large quantity of +spawn market gardeners require. And the demand this year is +unprecedented; some of our leading importers had sold out their supply +before the first of November. And it is not private growers so much as +market growers <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span>who are the cause of this; the market men find there is +money in growing mushrooms and they are going into it.</p> + +<p>Spawn comes in the form of dry, hard, solid manure bricks, and also in +the form of flakes of half rotted strawy manure. These bricks and flakes +are completely permeated with the mushroom mycelium.</p> + +<p>The brick spawn is commonly known as English spawn, and what is imported +into this country is made in England, mostly about London. The bricks +made by the different manufacturers vary a little in size and weight; in +some cases ten bricks go to the bushel, in others fourteen, and in +others sixteen. This last is the commonest sized brick, and weighs +exactly a pound, and measures about eight and one-half inches long, five +and one-fourth inches wide, and one and one-fourth inches thick; it is +what the London spawn makers call a 9x6x2 inch brick, but it shrinks in +drying. In retailing brick spawn in this country it is sold by weight +and not by measure.</p> + +<p>Mill-track mushroom spawn is advertised by some of our seedsmen, but +what they sell under this name is only the ordinary English brick spawn. +One of our prominent seed firms who advertise it write me: "Genuine +mill-track spawn used to be the best in England, but it has been +superseded, although European gardeners still call for English spawn +under the name of 'mill-track.'" The real mill-track spawn is the +natural spawn that has spread through the thoroughly amalgamated horse +droppings in mill-tracks or the cleanings from mill-tracks. It is +usually sold in large, irregular, somewhat soft lumps, and is much +esteemed by spawn makers for impregnating their bricks, but nowadays, +that horses have given place to steam as a motive power in mills, we +have no further supply of mill-track spawn for use in spawning our +mushroom beds. We do not feel this loss, however, as the spawn now +manufactured by our best <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span>makers will produce as good a crop of +mushrooms as the old mill-track natural spawn used to do.</p> + +<p>The flake spawn is what is generally known as French spawn, and is +imported into this country from France. But the manufacture of "French" +spawn for sale, however, is not strictly confined to France. It is put +up in two ways, namely, nicely packed in thin wooden boxes, each +containing two or three pounds of spawn, and also loose in bulk when it +is sold by weight or measure.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<a name="fig22" id="fig22"></a> +<img src="images/fig22.jpg" width="500" height="278" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">Fig. 22. Flake or French Spawn.</span> +</div> + +<p>Virgin spawn is what we call natural spawn or wild spawn; that is, the +spawn that occurs naturally in the fields, in manure piles, or +elsewhere, and without any artificial aid. It is supposed to be produced +directly from the mushroom spores, and is not a new growth of surviving +parts of old spawn that may have lived over in the ground. It is far +more vigorous than "made" spawn, and spawn makers always endeavor to get +it to use in spawning the artificial spawn. It is seldom used for +spawning mushroom beds because not easy to obtain. Now and again we come +upon a lot of it in a manure pile; it looks like a netted mass of white +strings traversing the manure. As soon as discovered secure all you can +find, bring it indoors to a loft, shed, or room, and spread it out to +dry; after drying it thoroughly keep it <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span>dry and preserve and use it as +you would French spawn, for it is the best kind of flake spawn. In using +virgin spawn for spawning beds I have obtained larger and heavier +mushrooms than from "made" spawn, and the beds lasted longer in good +bearing, but the weight of the whole crop has not been more than from +artificial spawn.</p> + +<p><b>How to Keep Spawn.</b>—Spawn should be kept in a dry, airy place, somewhat +dark, if convenient, and in a temperature between 35° and 65°. Wherever +things will "must," as in a cellar, cupboard against a wall, or in a +close, damp building, is a very poor place for keeping spawn. If the +spawn is perfectly dry and kept in a dry, airy place, and not in large +bulk, and covered, it will bear a high temperature with apparent +impunity, but whenever dampness, even of the atmosphere, is coupled with +heat, the mycelium begins to grow, and this, in the storeroom, is +ruinous to the spawn. Judging from our natural mushroom crops, the spawn +for which must be alive in the ground in winter, one concludes that +frost should not be injurious to the artificial spawn, still my +experience is that hard frost destroys the vitality of both brick and +flake spawn. And this is one reason why I get our full supply of spawn +in the fall and keep it myself rather than submit it to the mercy of the +seed store.</p> + +<p><b>New Versus Old Spawn.</b>—How long spawn may be kept without its vitality +becoming impaired is an unsettled question, but there is no doubt, if +properly kept, it will remain good for several years. But I can not +impress too strongly upon the reader the importance of using fresh +spawn. Do not use any old spawn at any price; do not accept it gratis +and ruin your prospect of success by using it. It takes three months +from the time when the manure is gathered for the beds until the +mushrooms are harvested. Can you, therefore, afford <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span>to spend this time, +and undergo the care and trouble and expense, and court a failure by +using old spawn? We have risks enough with new spawn, let alone old +spawn. I do not use any more old spawn, but I have used it often and +long enough to be convinced of its general worthlessness, unless +preserved with the greatest care.</p> + +<p><b>How to Distinguish Good from Poor Spawn.</b>—This is a very difficult +matter, notwithstanding what people may say to the contrary. If we could +positively tell good from bad spawn, we would never use bad spawn, and, +therefore, with ordinary care, have very few failures in +mushroom-growing; for good spawn is the root of success in this +business. Spawn differs very much in its appearance; sometimes the +bricks show very little appearance of the presence of spawn, and still +are perfectly good; and again, we may get bricks that are pretty well +interlaced and clouded with bluish white mold or fine threads, and this, +too, is good. When the bricks are freely pervaded with pronounced white +threads this is no sign that the spawn is bad. Bricks dried as hard as a +board may be perfectly good; so, too, may be those that are +comparatively soft. Mushroom spawn should have a decided smell of +mushrooms, and whatever cobweb-like mold may be apparent should be of a +fresh bluish white color, and the fine threads clear white. Prominent +yellowish threads or veins are a sign that the mycelium had started to +grow and been killed. Distinct white mold patches on the surface of the +bricks indicate the presence of some other fungous parasite on the +mushroom mycelium; the absence of any mushroom smell in the spawn +indicates its worthlessness and that the mycelium is dead. One familiar +with mushroom spawn can tell with considerable certainty "very living" +spawn and "very dead" spawn, but I am far from convinced that any one +can decide unhesitatingly in the case of middling or weak spawn.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span>Mr. S. Henshaw, in Henderson's Handbook of Plants, tells us: "The +quality of the spawn may be very easily detected by the mushroom-like +smell, ... and I should have no hesitation in picking out good spawn in +the dark." Sanguine, surely, but I have tried it and found the test +wanting. M. Lachaume says that good spawn shows "an abundance of +bluish-white filaments well fitted together, and giving off a strongly +marked odor of mushrooms. All those portions which show traces of white +or yellow mold or have a floury appearance, should be rejected and +destroyed." Mr. Wright says: "A brick may be a mass of moldiness, and +yet be quite worthless; and if the mold has a spotted appearance, as if +fine white sand had been dredged on and through the mass, it is certain +there is no mushroom-growing power there.... If thick threads pass +through the mass and there are signs of miniature tubercles on them, +then the spawn may be regarded as too far gone.... Clusters of white +specks on the spawn denote sterility."</p> + +<p>Mr. A. D. Cowan, of New York, who has the reputation of being an +excellent judge of mushroom spawn, writes me: "To correctly judge the +quality of brick spawn by its appearance requires experience in handling +it, and a trained eye which enables one quickly to detect good from bad, +fair to middling. As two lots seldom come exactly or nearly alike in +appearance, it is hardly possible to give precise rules to follow, +excepting the never-failing requisite which the spawn must possess to be +good, namely, the moldy appearance on the surface, the more the better, +without showing threads. Too many of these to a given space are a sure +indication of exhausted vitality, arising generally from the bricks +being heaped together when in process of manufacture, before they are +sufficiently dried. Healthy bricks are usually of a dusty brown color, +and of light weight. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span>Black colored spawn is to be avoided, as a rule, +and when the black appearance is very prevalent in a cargo of bricks it +is a strong indication that the spawn has not run its course; and as it +is not expected to do so after it has reached the hands of the retailer +it is economy to cast it aside. Some persons break a brick into several +pieces to see how it looks inside. To the experienced eye this is not +necessary, or even to lay hands upon it, as the outward moldy appearance +is the best of all evidence of its healthy vitality, and this never +exists if the bricks have lost their germinating power, excepting, of +course, where they have been kept damp, and the spawn has spent its +power, which is detected by the white threads appearing in great +quantity."</p> + +<p><b>American-made Spawn.</b>—So far as I have been able to find out by diligent +inquiry, mushroom spawn is not made for sale in this country. But I am +informed that a few growers do save and use their own flake spawn. Some +of our principal growers, Van Siclen, Gardner, and Henshaw, for +instance, in time past attempted to make their own spawn, but with only +partial success, and now they confine themselves to the imported +article. But this state of affairs can not long continue. The demand +here for fresh mushrooms is so great, the industry of mushroom-growing +so important, the price of imported spawn so high, and the quantity of +foreign spawn imported annually into this country is so large, that, +before long, we hope some one will find it to his advantage to make a +specialty of growing mushroom spawn in this country to supply the +American market. There is no practical operation in connection with the +cultivation of mushrooms so little known or understood by the general +grower as the growing (or "making," as it is commonly called) and +preserving of mushroom spawn. General cultivators in England and France +(outside of the Paris caves) do not make their own <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span>spawn; it is a +distinct branch of the business, and carried on by specialists who grow +mushrooms for sale in winter, and spawn in summer.</p> + +<p>The time and attention required to produce a small quantity of +first-class spawn are worth more than the cost of the spawn at the seed +store. In order to make spawn profitably we must make it in large +quantity, and we need not attempt to make it unless we have good +materials and conditions for its proper preparation, and will give it +every attention possible for its best development.</p> + +<p>Because spawn may be made in America is no reason whatever why the +American people will buy it. We must produce, at least, as good an +article as the best in Europe before we can find countenance in our home +market. It is not the shape of the manure brick, its size, fine finish, +hardness, softness, or freshness, that counts in this case; it is the +fullness and vitality of the mass of mycelium or mushroom plant that is +contained within it.</p> + + +<p class="center">HOW TO MAKE BRICK SPAWN.</p> + +<p>As the making of brick spawn for sale is not yet an American industry, +but almost entirely confined to England, I think it best to restrict +myself to describing how it is made in England. Mr. John F. Barter, of +Lancefield street, London, is one of the most successful mushroom +growers and spawn makers in Great Britain. He writes me that he confines +himself entirely to the mushroom business; he makes his living by it. He +grows mushrooms in the winter months and makes spawn in the summer +months; he employs men for mushroom bed making from August until March, +then, to keep on the same hands during summer, he makes spawn for sale. +He grows for and sells in the London market about 21,000 pounds of +mushrooms a year, and in summer <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span>makes some 10,000 bushels, equal to +160,000 pounds, of brick spawn for sale. The amount of spawn made in a +year by this one manufacturer is about three times as much as the total +annual importation of mushroom spawn of all kinds into this country. And +he is only one maker among several. This fact alone must convince us +that mushroom-growing is carried on to a vastly greater extent in +European countries than it is here, where we have as good facilities as +they have, and an immensely better market.</p> + +<p>The manner of making the spawn differs a little with the different +manufacturers, and no one can become proficient in it without practical +knowledge. I asked Mr. Barter if he thought spawn could be made +profitably in this country, paying, as we do, $1.50 a day for laborers, +and without any certainty of the same men staying with us permanently. +He writes me: "Uncertain labor would be of no use. Of course the wages +you pay would not affect it much, as I pay nearly as much as that for my +leading men. But to begin with, you must have a man that has had some +experience."</p> + +<p>About the simplest and best way of making brick spawn that I find +described is the following from <i>The Gardeners' Assistant</i>. I may here +state that Robert Thompson, the author of this work, was for many years +the superintendent of the Royal Horticultural Society's gardens at +Chiswick, near London, and, in his day, was regarded as without a peer +in practical horticulture, and lived in the midst of the market gardens +of London and the principal mushroom-growing district.</p> + +<p>"Fresh horse droppings, cow dung, and a little loam mixed and beaten up +with as much stable drainings as may be necessary to reduce the whole to +the consistence of mortar. It may then be spread on the floor of an open +shed, and when somewhat firm it may be cut into cakes of six inches +square. These should be placed on <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span>edge in a dry, airy place, and must +be frequently turned and protected from rain. When half dry make a hole +in the broadside of each, large enough to admit of about an inch square +of good old spawn being inserted so deep as to be a little below the +surface; close it with some moist material the same as used in making +the bricks. When the bricks are nearly dry make, on a dry bottom, a +layer nine inches thick of horse dung prepared as for a hotbed, and on +this pile the bricks rather openly. Cover with litter so that the steam +and heat of the layer of dung may circulate among the bricks. The +temperature, however, should not rise above 60°; therefore, if it is +likely to do so, the covering must be reduced accordingly. The spawn +will soon begin to run through the bricks, which should be frequently +examined whilst the process of spawning is going on, and when, on +breaking, the spawn appears throughout pretty abundantly, like a white +mold, the process has gone far enough. If allowed to proceed the spawn +would form threads and small tubercles, which is a stage too far +advanced for the retention of its vegetative powers. Therefore, when the +spawn is observed to pervade the bricks throughout like a white mold, +and before it assumes the thread-like form, it should be removed and +allowed to dry in order to arrest the further progress of vegetation +till required for use. It ought to be kept in a dark and perfectly dry +place." I would add, do not keep it where it is apt to become musty or +moldy in summer; also keep it in as cool a dry place as possible in +summer, and always above 35° in winter.</p> + +<p>These other recipes are also given:</p> + +<p>"1. Horse droppings one part, cow dung one-fourth, loam one twentieth.</p> + +<p>"2. Fresh horse droppings mixed with short litter one part, cow dung +one-third, and a small portion of loam.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span>"3. Equal parts of horse dung, cow dung, and sheep's dung, with the +addition of some rotten leaves or old hotbed dung.</p> + +<p>"4. Horse dung one part, cow dung two parts, sheep's dung one part.</p> + +<p>"5. Horse droppings from the roads one part, cow dung two parts, mixed +with a little loam.</p> + +<p>"6. Horse dung, cow dung, and loam, in equal parts."</p> + +<p>From the above it appears that horse dung and cow dung are the +principals in spawn bricks; the loam is added for the purpose of making +the other materials hold together; it also absorbs the ammonia, which +otherwise would pass off.</p> + +<p><b>J. Burton's Method.</b> From <i>The Kitchen and Market Garden</i>.—Make the +spawn in early spring. As cow manure is the principal ingredient used in +making the bricks this should be secured before the animals get any +green food. Store it on the floor of an open, dry, airy shed, and turn +it every few days for a week or two. Then add an equal part of the +following: Fresh horse droppings, a little loam, and chopped straw, +mixed together. "The whole should then be worked well together and then +trodden down, after which it may be allowed to remain for a few days, +when it will be required to be turned two or three times a week. If the +weather be fine and dry the mass will soon be in a fit condition for +molding into bricks, which process can be performed by using a mold in +the same way as the brick makers, or, ... the manure may be spread +evenly on the floor to a thickness of six inches, and then be firmly +trodden and beaten down evenly with the back of the spade. It should +then be lined out to the required size of the bricks, and be cut with a +sharp spade or turfing iron. In a few days the bricks will be +sufficiently dry to handle, when they should be set up edgeways to dry +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span>thoroughly, and if exposed to the sun for two or three days they will +be ready to receive the spawn. In introducing the spawn two holes large +enough to admit a piece of spawn as big as a pigeon's egg should be cut +in each brick at equal distances. This should be well beaten in and the +surface made even with a little manure. The bricks should then be +collected together in a heap and covered with enough short manure to +cause a gentle heat, being careful that there is no rank heat or steam +to kill the spawn. This must be carefully attended to until the spawn is +found to have penetrated through the whole of the bricks, after which +they should be stacked away in any convenient dry place."</p> + + +<p class="center">HOW TO MAKE FRENCH (flake) SPAWN.</p> + +<p>I can not do better than to let a practical Frenchman engaged in the +business tell this story. In Vol. XIII of the London <i>Garden</i> I find an +English translation of M. Lachaume's book, "The Cave Mushroom," and this +comment by the editor: "The most complete account of the cave culture of +mushrooms which has been published by any cultivator on the spot well +acquainted with the subject is that recently published by M. Lachaume."</p> + +<p>Lachaume says: "The best spawn to use is what is called 'virgin spawn'; +that is to say, which has not yet produced mushrooms. In this country +this kind of spawn may be procured of any respectable nurseryman, under +the name of 'French spawn.' It differs from English spawn by being in +the form of small tufty cakes, instead of in compact blocks. Large +mushroom growers, however, always provide themselves with their own +spawn by taking it from a bed which is just about to produce its crop, +or which has already produced a few small mushrooms.... It is true that +by thus 'breeding in and in,' as it were, the mushrooms show a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span>tendency +to deteriorate after a time; new spawn must therefore be obtained as +soon as any signs of deterioration begin to manifest themselves."</p> + +<p><b>Making French Virgin Spawn.</b>—Condensed from Lachaume's book on +mushrooms. Take five or six barrow loads of horse droppings that have +lain in a heap for some time, and lost their heat, and mix them with +one-fourth of their bulk of short stable litter. Then, in April, open a +trench two feet wide, twenty inches deep, and length to suit, at the +foot of, but eight inches distant from, a wall facing north. In the +bottom of the trench spread a layer three to four inches deep of chopped +straw, then an equally thick layer of the prepared manure, all pressed +firmly by treading it down. The two layers must now be gently watered, +and then another double layer of chopped straw and droppings must be +laid, trodden down and watered, and so on until the top of the trench is +reached. The bed ought to rise above the level of the ground and be +rounded off like the top of a trunk. To prevent excessive dampness from +heavy rain cover the mound with a thick layer of stable litter. Three +months after filling the trench it should be opened at the side or end. +If the pieces of manure are well covered with masses of bluish-white +filaments, giving off the odor of mushrooms, the operation has +succeeded, and the spawn is fit for use or for drying to preserve for +future use. But if the threads are only sparingly scattered through the +mass, the trench should be covered up again and left for another month. +In saving the spawn the flakes of manure containing the largest amount +of spawn filaments should be retained, and those showing a brown +appearance rejected. In order to facilitate the drying of the spawn the +flakes should be broken into pieces, weighing from one to two pounds; +they are then placed in a well ventilated shed, but they must not be +piled upon each other. Properly prepared and dried this spawn keeps good +for ten years.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span><b>A Second Method</b> (by Lachaume). "This is generally adopted by mushroom +growers. The formation of the spawn is accelerated by adding pieces of +old spawn here and there.... At the beginning of April we must choose a +piece of ground situated at the foot of a wall facing north.... The soil +ought to be very open and light rather than heavy, so as to avoid +dampness. Taking advantage of a fine day, we open a trench sixteen +inches wide and at about eight inches from the foot of the wall, and of +a length adapted to the quantity of spawn we desire to produce. The +earth is thrown out on the side opposite the wall. Manure which has been +prepared for a mushroom bed, and has just come into condition is then +filled into the trench, leaving, however, a space at one end of it about +two feet and six inches in length for the formation of a mushroom bed, +which is made by tossing the manure about and shaking it up with the +hands, after which it is pressed down with the hands and knees. As soon +as the layer of manure reaches six inches in thickness we place along +the edge a number of lumps of spawn at about one foot apart. These lumps +are placed level with the manure on the edge facing the wall. This +portion of the surface of the manure ought to be raised vertically, and +should lean against the earthen wall of the trench. The other half of +the surface ought to slope gently toward the wall, leaving a space of +three or four inches between it and the side of the trench, so that it +may be trimmed. The lumps of spawn on this surface should be placed a +little backward, so that they may not be broken when the bed is trimmed. +The bed is then covered with more manure, until the first lumps of spawn +are buried three or four inches deep. A second row of lumps of spawn is +then inserted, as described in the directions for making the first row, +and the bed is filled up level with the surface of the soil. It is +finished by covering it up with <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span>a layer of fine, dry soil three or four +inches thick. The spawn ought to be very dry, otherwise we shall get a +premature crop of mushrooms instead of fresh spawn. At the end of six +weeks or a couple of months the new spawn ought to make its appearance, +a fact which we may learn by opening the bed. One sign, which will save +us the trouble of opening up the beds, is the appearance of young +mushrooms on the surface. The layer of earth is first removed, and then +the cakes of spawn are treated as described in the directions given for +the first method of making spawn."</p> + +<p><b>Third Method</b> (by Lachaume). "By filling in a trench like that described +in the first method, by a series of layers of one-third of pigeon or +fowl guano, and two-thirds of short manure, containing a large +proportion of spent horse droppings, treading it down firmly, watering +it if it is too dry, and finishing up with a layer of soil, as described +already, we may, at the end of a couple of months, or even a little +longer, procure a supply of well-formed cakes of spawn of excellent +quality, which may be used in the ordinary manner."</p> + +<p>From Mr. Robinson's "Mushroom Culture." "This (French) spawn is obtained +by preparing a little bed, as if for mushrooms, in the ordinary way, and +spawning it with morsels of virgin spawn, if that is obtainable; and +then when the spawn has spread through it, the bed is broken up and used +for spawning beds in the caves, or dried and preserved for sale."</p> + +<p>From Mr. Wright's book on mushrooms. "French spawn ... is contained in +flakes of manure. Neither is it virgin spawn, nor derived immediately +from it, ... but is spawn taken from one bed for impregnating another."</p> + +<p><b>Relative Merits of Flake and Brick Spawn.</b>—The flake or French spawn +costs about three times as much as the brick or English spawn, and, as +it is so <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span>much whiter with mycelium than is the brick spawn, many +believe that it is more potent and well worth the additional cost. In +spawning the beds I use two pounds of flake spawn to plant the same +space for which I would use five pounds of brick spawn, and this gives a +capital crop, with number of mushrooms a little in favor of the flake +spawn, but on account of the larger size of the mushrooms the weight of +crop is considerably in favor of the brick spawn. And I find more +certainty of a crop in the case of the brick spawn than in the other.</p> + +<p>Regarding the respective merits of brick and flake spawn, Mr. Barter, in +response to my inquiry, writes me: "I have tried them both, and know +brick spawn to be far the best. You see, I do nothing but this mushroom +business for a living, so, of course, would use the best kind of spawn +for my crop. Generally the French spawn produces one-third less +mushrooms than does the brick spawn from the same length of bed, +besides, those from the brick spawn are by far the heaviest and +fleshiest."</p> + +<p>I would here observe that Mr. Barter's remarks apply more to ridge beds +out of doors than beds in the cellar or mushroom house. And it is odd, +but true, that the flake spawn does not produce as good results in +outdoor beds as it does in those under cover.</p> + + + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER XI.</h2> + +<p class="center">SPAWNING THE BEDS.</p> + + +<p>After the mushroom bed is made up it should, within a few days, warm to +a temperature of 110° to 120°. Carefully observe this, and never spawn a +bed when the heat is rising, or when it is warmer than 100°, but always +when it is on the decline and under 90°. In this there is perfect +safety. Have a ground thermometer and keep it plunged in the bed; by +pulling it out and looking at it one can know exactly the temperature of +the bed. Have a few straight, smooth stakes, like short walking canes, +and stick the end of these into the bed, twelve to twenty feet apart; by +pulling them out and feeling them with the hand one can tell pretty +closely what the temperature of the bed is.</p> + +<p>All practical mushroom growers know that if the temperature of a twelve +inch thick bed at seven inches from the surface is 100°, that within an +inch of the surface of the bed will only be about 95° indoors, and 85° +to 90° out of doors. Also, that when the heat of the manure is on the +decline it falls quite rapidly, five, often ten degrees, a day, till it +reaches about 75°, and between that and 65° it may rest for weeks.</p> + +<p>Some years ago I gave considerable attention to this matter of spawning +beds at different temperatures. Spawn planted as soon as the bed was +made (five days after spawning the heat in interior of bed ran up to +123°) yielded no mushrooms, the mycelium being killed. The same was the +case in all beds where the spawn had been planted before the heat in the +beds had attained its maximum <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span>(120° or over). Where the heat in the +middle of the bed never reached 115°, the spawn put in when the bed was +made, and molded over the same day, yielded a small crop of mushrooms. A +bed in which the heat was declining was spawned at 110°; this bore a +very good crop, and at 100° and under to 65° good crops in every case +were secured, with several days' delay in bearing in the case of the +lowest temperatures. But notwithstanding these facts, my advice to all +beginners in mushroom growing is, wait until the heat of the bed is on +the decline and fallen to at least 90°, before inserting the spawn.</p> + +<p>Writing to me about spawning his beds, Mr. Withington, of New Jersey, +says: "I believe a bed spawned at 60° to 70°, and kept at 55° after the +mushrooms appear, will give better results than one spawned at a higher +temperature, say 90°."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<a name="fig23" id="fig23"></a> +<img src="images/fig23.jpg" width="500" height="164" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">Fig. 23. Brick Spawn Cut in Pieces for Planting.</span> +</div> + +<p><b>Preparing the Spawn.</b>—If brick spawn is used cut up the bricks (standard +size) into ten or twelve pieces with a sharp hatchet, and avoid, as much +as possible, making many crumbs, as is the case generally when a hammer +or mallet is used in breaking the bricks. Extra large pieces of spawn +are apt to produce large clumps of mushrooms, but this is not always an +advantage, as when many mushrooms grow together in a clump they are apt +to be somewhat undersized, and in gathering we can not pluck them all +out clean enough so as not to leave a part of the "root" in the ground +to poison the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span>balance of the clump, in cases where several or many of +them spring from one common base.</p> + +<p><b>Inserting the Spawn.</b>—When brick spawn is used plant the lumps about an +inch deep under the surface of the manure, and about ten inches apart +each way. If the spawn looks very good, and the lumps are large do not +plant them quite so close as when the spawn shows less mycelium in it, +and the lumps are small. Never use a dibber in planting spawn; simply +make a hole in the manure with the fingers, insert the lump and cover it +over at once, and as soon as the bed has been planted firm it well all +over. Although the lumps are buried only an inch deep under the manure, +we have to make a hole three or four inches deep to push the lump into +to get it buried.</p> + +<p>French or flake spawn is inserted in much the same way and at about the +same distance, only, instead of cutting it up into lumps, we merely +break it into flaky pieces about three inches long by an inch thick, and +in planting it in the beds, in place of pushing it into the hole, lay in +the flake on its flat side and at once cover it.</p> + +<p>Many growers plant spawn a good deal deeper than I do, but I have never +found any advantage in deep planting. In moderately warm beds, or beds +that are likely to retain their heat for a considerable time, I am +satisfied that shallow planting is better than deep planting. When we +want to mold over our beds soon after spawning them, shallow planting is +to be recommended. But if the beds are only 75° to 78°, before being +spawned; then I think deep planting is better than shallow planting, +because the genial temperature gives the mycelium a better start in life +than would the cooler manure nearer the surface.</p> + +<p>If there is any likelihood of the surface manure getting wet from the +condensed moisture of the atmosphere, I would again cover over the beds +with some hay or <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span>straw, and let it remain on until molding time. And if +the bed is a little sluggish,—that is, cool,—this covering will help +in keeping it warm. Outside beds should be molded over in three or four +days after spawning; inside beds in eight to ten days.</p> + +<p><b>Steeped Spawn.</b>—As brick spawn is so hard and dry I have tried the +effect of steeping it in tepid water before planting; some pieces were +merely dipped in the water, and others allowed to soak in the pails +one-half, one, five, and ten hours. The effect was prejudicial in every +instance and ruinous in the case of the long-soaked pieces.</p> + +<p><b>Flake Spawn.</b>—"This is produced by breaking up the brick spawn into +pieces about two inches square and mixing them in a heap of manure that +is fermenting gently. After lying in this heap about three weeks it will +be found one mass of spawn, and just in the right condition for running +vigorously all through the bed in a very short time.... When flake spawn +is used the appearance of the crop is from two to three weeks earlier +than when brick spawn is used."—Mr. Henshaw, in first edition of +"Henderson's Handbook of Plants." I have tried this method and given it +careful attention, but the results were inferior to those obtained where +plain, common brick spawn had been used at once.</p> + +<p>In all my practice I have found that any disturbance of the spawn when +in active growth which would cause a breaking, exposing, or arresting of +the threads of the mycelium has always had a weakening influence upon +it. I have transplanted pieces of working spawn from one bed to another, +as the French growers do, but am satisfied that I get better crops and +larger mushrooms from beds spawned with dry spawn than from beds planted +with working spawn from any other beds.</p> + + + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER XII.</h2> + +<p class="center">LOAM FOR THE BEDS.</p> + + +<p>In growing mushrooms we need loam for casing the beds after they are +spawned, topdressing the bearing beds when they first show signs of +exhaustion, filling up the cavities in the surface of the beds caused by +the removal of the mushroom stumps, and for mixing with manure to form +the beds. The selection of soil depends a good deal on what kind of soil +we have at hand, or can readily obtain.</p> + +<p>The best kind of loam for every purpose in connection with +mushroom-growing is rich, fresh, mellow soil, such as florists eagerly +seek for potting and other greenhouse purposes. In early fall I get +together a pile of fresh sod loam, that is, the top spit from a pasture +field, but do not add any manure to it. Of course, while this contains a +good deal of grassy sod there is much fine soil among it, and this is +what I use for mushrooms. Before using it I break up the sods with a +spade or fork, throw aside the very toughest parts of them, and use the +finer earthy portion, but always in its rough state, and never sifted. +The green, soddy parts that are not too rough are allowed to remain in +the soil, for they do no harm whatever, either in arresting the mycelium +or checking the mushrooms, and there is no danger that the grass would +grow up and smother the mushrooms.</p> + +<p>Common loam from an open, well-drained fallow field is good, and, if the +soil is naturally rich, excellent for any purpose. But do not take it +from the wet parts of the fields. Reject all stones, rough clods, +tussocks, and the like. Such loam may be used at once.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span>Ordinary garden soil is used more frequently than any other sort, and +altogether with highly satisfactory results. The greatest objection I +have to it is the amount of insects it is apt to contain on account of +its often repeated heavy manurings.</p> + +<p>Roadside dirt, whether loamy or gritty, may also be used with good +results. If free from weeds, sticks, stones and rough drift, it may be +used at once, but it is much better to stack it in a pile to rot for a +few months before using.</p> + +<p>Sandy soil, such as occurs in the water-shed drifts along the roads and +where it has been washed into the fields, is much inferior to stiffer +and more fibrous earth.</p> + +<p>I have used the rich dark colored soil from slopes and dry hollows in +woods, and, odd though it may appear, as mushrooms do not naturally grow +in woods, with success. But it is not as good as loam from the open +field.</p> + +<p>Peat soil or swamp muck that has been composted for two or three years +has failed to give me good returns. The mushrooms will come up through +it all right, but they do not take kindly to it.</p> + +<p>Heavy, clayey loam is, in one way, excellent, in another, not so good. +So long as we can keep it equably moist without making it muddy it is +all right, but if we let it get a little too dry it cracks, and in this +way breaks the threads of the spawn and ruins the mushrooms that were +fed through them.</p> + +<p><b>Loam Containing Old Manure.</b>—Loam in which there is a good deal of old, +undecomposed manure, such as the rich soil of our vegetable gardens, is +unqualifiedly condemned by some writers because of the quantity of +spurious and noxious fungi it is supposed to produce when used in +mushroom beds. But I can not join in this denunciation because my +experience does not justify it. This earth is the only kind used by many +market gardeners, as they have no other, and certainly without <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span>apparent +injurious effect. When I was connected with the London market gardens, +some twenty years ago, Steele, Bagley, Broadbent, and the other large +mushroom growers in the Fulham Fields cased all of their beds with the +common garden soil—perhaps the most manure-filled soil on the face of +the earth—and spurious fungi never troubled them. Indeed, I can not +understand why it should produce baneful crops of toadstools when used +in mushroom beds, and no toadstools when used for other horticultural +purposes, as on our carnation benches in greenhouses, in our lettuce or +cucumber beds, or in the case of potted plants. True, spurious fungi may +appear in the earth on our greenhouse benches or frame beds or mushroom +beds at any time and in more or less quantity, but I am convinced that +the rich earth of the vegetable garden has no more to do with producing +toadstools than has any other good soil, and old manure has far less to +do with it than has fresh manure.</p> + +<p>All practical gardeners know how apt hotbeds, in spring when their heat +is on the decline, are to produce a number of toadstools; and, also, +that when the bed is "spent," that is, when the heat is altogether gone, +the tendency to bear toadstools has gone too. This peculiarity is more +apparent in spring than in fall. All mushroom growers know that spurious +fungi, when they appear at all, are most numerous three to two weeks +before it is time for the mushrooms to come in sight. The same growth +appears in the manure piles out in the yard; a few weeks after the +strong heat of the manure has gone lots of toadstools may be observed on +and about the heaps, but on the piles of well-rotted cold manure we +seldom find toadstools at all.</p> + +<p>The fresh, clean stable manure used in mushroom-growing is not apt to be +charged with the spores of pernicious toadstools; their presence is +always most marked in the case of mixed manures.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span>And there is a current idea that mushrooms will not thrive in beds in +which old manure abounds, either in the loam or fermenting material; +that it kills the mycelium. This, too, I must refute. I have seen heavy +crops of spontaneous mushrooms come up in violet and carnation beds in +winter, and where the soil consisted of at least one-fourth of rotted +manure well mixed with the earth. In cucumber and lettuce beds the same +thing has taken place. And in similar beds that have been planted +artificially with spawn, good crops of mushrooms have also been raised, +and the mycelium, instead of evading the lumps of old manure in the soil +often forms a white web right through them.</p> + + + + +<h2>CHAPTER XIII.</h2> + +<p class="center">EARTHING OVER THE BEDS.</p> + + +<p>This is an important operation in mushroom-growing, and the one for +which loam is indispensable. It consists in covering the manure beds, +after they have been spawned, with a coating, or casing as it is more +commonly called, of loam. The spawn spreads in the manure and rises up +into the casing, where most of the young mushrooms develop, and all find +a firm foothold. The loam also contributes to their sustenance. And it +protects the manure, hence the spawn, from sudden fluctuations of +temperature, and preserves it from undue wetting or drying.</p> + +<p>The best soil to use for this purpose is rich, fibrous, mellow loam, +such as is described, page 100.</p> + +<p>If the manure is fresh and in good condition and the beds are in a snug +cellar or closed mushroom house, I would not case them until the second +week after spawning, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span>say about the eighth or tenth day; but were these +same beds in an open, airy shed or other building I would case them over +some days earlier, say the fourth or fifth day. A fear is often +expressed that when beds are cased within three or four days after being +spawned the close exclusion of the manure from the air is apt to raise +the heat of the manure in the bed, and thereby destroy the spawn; but I +have never known of any truth in this theory, and with well-prepared +manure I am satisfied no brisk reheating takes place, at least the +thermometer does not indicate it. The great danger of early casing is in +killing the spawn by burying it too deep in damp material and before it +has begun to run through the manure.</p> + +<p>I have conducted several experiments in order to satisfy myself +regarding when is the proper time to case the beds, and have found no +difference in results between beds that were cased over as soon as they +were spawned and others that were not cased over until the fourth, +seventh, tenth, or fourteenth day after spawning. The good or bad +results in the time of casing depend on the condition of the manure in +the beds, the depth at which the spawn has been inserted, the openness +or closeness of the place in which the beds are situated, and other +cultural conditions. But to delay casing as late as the fifteenth or +sixteenth day after spawning is injurious to the crop, because in +applying the covering of soil we are sure to break many of the mycelium +threads that have by this time so freely permeated the surface of the +manure. After the fourth week little white knots may be observed here +and there on the spawn threads; these are forming mushrooms, and to +delay casing the bed until this time would smother these little +pinheads, and greatly mar our prospects of a good crop.</p> + +<p>Peter Henderson, in his invaluable work, "Gardening for Profit," has +given rise to a deep seated prejudice <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span>against molding over mushroom +beds as soon as they are spawned by telling us that in his first attempt +at mushroom-growing he had labored for two years without being able to +produce a single mushroom, and all because he molded over his beds with +a two-inch casing of loam just as soon as he had spawned them. Then he +changed his tactics, and did not mold over the beds until the tenth or +twelfth day after spawning, and was rewarded with good crops of +mushrooms. Now, notwithstanding Mr. Henderson's experience, it is a fact +that many excellent growers spawn and mold their beds the same day, and +with success. But Mr. H. has done much good in displaying a rock against +which many might be wrecked, so much depends upon other cultural +conditions. The old practice of inserting the spawn three or more inches +deep into the manure bed and then molding it at once with two inches +deep of loam was enough to destroy the most potent spawn; nowadays we +barely cover the spawn with the manure, and this is how molding over at +once is so successful.</p> + +<p>All the preparation necessary is to have the loam in medium dry, mellow +condition, well broken up with the spade or digging fork, and freed from +sticks, stones, big roots, clods, chunks of old manure, and the like.</p> + +<p>Sifting the soil for casing the beds is labor lost. Sifted soil has no +advantage over unsifted earth, except when it is to be used for +topdressing the bearing beds or filling up the holes in their surface.</p> + +<p>The condition of the soil should be mellow but inclined to moist. If wet +it can only be used clumsily and spread with difficulty; if dry it can +be spread easily but not made firm, and on ridge beds can not be put on +evenly. But when moderately moist it can be spread easily and evenly on +flat or rounded surfaces, and made firm and smooth.</p> + +<p>How deep the mold shall be put upon the bed is also <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span>an unsettled +question. Some growers recommend three-fourths of an inch, others one, +one and one-half, two, or two and one-half inches, and some of our best +growers of fifty or seventy-five years ago were emphatic in asserting +three inches as the proper depth, but among recent writers I do not find +any who go beyond two and one-half inches. My own experience is in favor +of a heavy covering, say one and one-half to two inches. In the case of +a thin covering the mushrooms come up all right but their texture is not +as solid as it is in the case of a heavy covering, nor do the beds +continue as long in bearing; besides, "fogging off" is much more +prevalent under thinly covered than under heavily covered beds; also, +when the coating of loam is heavy a great many more of the "pinheads" +develop into full sized mushrooms than in the case of thinly molded +beds.</p> + +<p>Opinions differ as to firming the soil. I am in favor of packing the +soil quite firm, and have never seen good mushrooms that could not come +through a well firmed casing of loam, and I never knew of an instance +where firm casing stopped or checked the spreading of the mycelium or +the development of the mushrooms. In the case of flat beds,—for +instance, those made on shelves and floors,—a slightly compacted +coating (and this is all Mr. J. G. Gardner uses) may be all right, but +in the case of alongside-of-walls, ridge, and other rounded beds I much +prefer and always use solidly compacted casings.</p> + +<p>Mr. Henshaw has for several years used green sods about two inches +thick, put all over the bed, grass side down, and beaten firmly. The +advantage of using sods instead of soil, he thinks, is that the young +clusters of mushrooms never damp or "fogg off" as they are apt to do +when soil is used.</p> + +<p>I have given this green sods method repeated and careful trials, and am +satisfied that it has no advantages, in any way, over common fibrous +loam; indeed, it is <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span>not as good. No matter how firmly a sod, having its +green side down, may be beaten on to a bed of manure, there is barely +any union between the two; the sod merely rests upon the dung, but so +closely that the mycelium enters it freely. A slight movement or +displacement of the sod after the spawn enters it will break the threads +of mycelium between the manure and the sod, and this will destroy the +immature mushrooms forming in the sod. This gave me a good deal of +trouble. Stepping on the sod would disturb it. A clump of strong +mushrooms formed under it sometimes displaces it in forcing their way to +the surface.</p> + +<p>Sods are only fit for use on flat beds where they can lie solid; on +rounded or ridge beds they are too liable to be disturbed. And the +trouble and expense of procuring sods are too great to warrant their +use, even if they had any advantages.</p> + + + + +<h2>CHAPTER XIV.</h2> + +<p class="center">TOPDRESSING WITH LOAM.</p> + + +<p>In beds that are in full bearing or a little past their best we often +find multitudes of very small or what we call "pinhead" mushrooms, that +seem to be sitting right on the top of the loam, or clumps that have +been raised a little above the surface by growing in bunches, or what we +term "rocks"; now a topdressing of finely sifted fresh loam, about +one-fourth to one-half inch thick, spread all over the bed, will help +these mushrooms materially without doing any of them harm. But while +this topdressing assists all mushrooms that are visible above ground, no +matter how small they may be when the dressing is applied, I am not +convinced that it <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span>induces greater fertility in the spawn, or, in other +words, induces the spawn to spread further and produce more mushrooms +than it would were no topdressing applied. I know that this is contrary +to the opinions and writings of many, at the same time it is according +to my own observation.</p> + +<p>Go over the bed very carefully and pick out every soft or "fogged-off" +mushroom, no matter how small it may be, and root out every bit of old +mushroom stem or tough spongy material formed by it, and in this way get +the bed thoroughly cleaned. Then fill up all the holes caused by pulling +the mushrooms or rooting out the old stumps, and when the whole surface +is level apply the topdressing evenly all over the face of the bed, +avoiding, as much as possible, burying the well advanced mushrooms. +While it would be very well to pack the dressing smoothly over the bed, +it is impracticable; we may press it gently with the back of the hand on +the bare spots between the mushrooms, but we should not even do this +over the mushrooms, no matter how tiny they may be, else many of the +"pinheads" will be injured and cause "fogging off."</p> + +<p>But we can firm the dressing to the bed by watering it, which may be +done over the whole surface of the bed, and without sparing the +mushrooms, large or small. Use clear water and apply it gently through a +water-pot rose. I always do this, and have never known it to injure the +young mushrooms.</p> + +<p>In the case of mushroom beds in which black spot has appeared in the +crop, I have found that a topdressing of fine, fresh earth applied +evenly all over the bed acts, to a certain extent, as a preventive of +further attack, but of course has no effect upon any of the already +affected mushrooms, large or small.</p> + + + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER XV.</h2> + +<p class="center">THE PROPER TEMPERATURE.</p> + + +<p>The best temperature at which to keep the mushroom house or cellar is +55° to 57°. But much depends upon the method of growing the esculent; +the construction of the house or cellar, and other circumstances. +Mushrooms can be successfully grown in buildings in which the +temperature may be as low as 20° or as high as 65°. By covering the beds +well with hay or other protecting material they can be kept warm, even +in sharp frosty weather, as the London market gardeners do with their +outdoor beds in winter; but when the temperature in the structure in +which the mushrooms are grown averages as high as 70° we can not hope +for success; indeed, 65° is too high.</p> + +<p>A high temperature in a close house or cellar is injurious; it hurries +in the crop and forces up the mushrooms weak and thin-fleshed and with +ungainly, long stems; it soon exhausts the bed. The time when its evil +effects are least visible is early in the fall and late in spring when +the outside temperature is high, and when the beds are in somewhat airy +rather than close quarters. In the Dosoris cellars there is a steady +difference of about 5° in the temperature between the end next the +boiler, which is kept at 60° precisely, and that of the farther end, +which registers 55° steadily. There is very little difference in the +weight of crop produced on the beds at either end of these cellars, but +what little there is is in favor of the cooler end. At 60° the crop +begins to come in in six to seven weeks after spawning, lasts for three +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span>to four weeks in heavy bearing and a week or more longer in light +bearing, and then it gradually dwindles.</p> + +<p>In a temperature of 55° it may be seven weeks after spawning before the +mushrooms appear. In a temperature of 50° they may take a few days +longer in appearing, but, as a rule, they are firm, heavy, +short-stemmed, and perhaps a little furry on top and clammy to the +touch, and the beds last in good bearing for two months; indeed, often a +whole winter long. But I have failed to find that the whole crop from a +bed in a 45° to 50° temperature was any greater than that of a like bed +in a 55° to 57° temperature; it is merely a case of getting in six weeks +from the warmer house what it takes ten weeks to get from the cooler +one.</p> + +<p>In a temperature of 50° it is not necessary to cover the beds to +increase their warmth, nor is it needful even in one of 45°, if there is +a fair warmth in the body of the bed to keep the spawn working; but if +the warmth of the interior of the bed falls under 57°, and the +atmospheric temperature under 45°, the bed should be kept warm by +covering with hay, straw, matting, or other material, or better still by +boxing it over and laying this covering on the outside of the boxing. +When cold thicken the covering, when warm lessen it.</p> + + + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER XVI.</h2> + +<p class="center">WATERING MUSHROOM BEDS.</p> + + +<p>If the beds get dry they should be watered, for mushrooms will not grow +well in dry beds or in a dry atmosphere. Watering is an operation +requiring much care. In properly-made beds the manure should remain +moist enough from first to last, and whatever dryness is evident should +be in the loam casing of the beds and the atmosphere. In all +artificially heated mushroom houses the beds and atmosphere are apt to +get too dry at one time or another; in underground houses or cellars +this is less apparent than in above-ground structures; in shaded +north-facing houses dryness is less troublesome than in houses more +openly placed.</p> + +<p>Endeavor by all fair means to lessen the necessity for watering the +beds, but when water is needed never hesitate to give it freely. +Mulching the beds and maintaining a moist atmosphere are the best +preventives. After the beds are spawned and molded it is a good plan to +cover them with a light coating of strawy litter or hay to prevent +drying, but this mulching should be removed when it is near time for the +young mushrooms to appear. A light sprinkling of water over this +mulching every few days, but never enough to reach the soil, assists in +preserving enough moisture in the bed under the mulch and also in the +atmosphere of the house.</p> + +<p>Clean, soft water at a temperature of 80° or 90°; a little warmer or a +little colder will not hurt, but do not use water higher than 110°, as +it might injure the little pinheads, nor lower than the average +temperature of the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span>house, as it would chill the bed, and this should +always be avoided.</p> + +<p>Use a small or medium-sized watering pot with a long spout and a fine +rose sprinkler. Apply the water in a gentle shower over the bed, +mushrooms and all, but never use enough to allow it to settle in pools +or run off in little streams. Clean water sprinkled over the mushrooms +does not appear to hurt them, but they should never be touched with +manure water, as it stains them. Just as soon as the surface of the bed +shows signs of dryness give it water, the quantity depending upon the +condition of the bed. Never let a bed get very dry before watering it. +To thoroughly moisten a very dry bed requires a heavy watering; so much, +indeed, that the sudden change might injuriously affect the young +mushrooms and spawn. Give enough water at a time to moderately moisten +the soil, not to soak it, but never sufficient to pass through the soil +into the manure. Clean water only should be used until the beds come +into bearing, but after that time manure water may be employed with +advantage; however, this is not at all imperative; indeed, excellent +crops can be and are continually being produced without the aid of +manure water at all.</p> + +<p>In the case of beds in full bearing, manure water is beneficial to the +crop. Apply it from a small watering pot with a long narrow spout but no +rose, and pour the liquid on gently over the surface of the bed, running +it freely between the clumps but never touching any of the mushrooms. +For this reason a rose should not be used.</p> + +<p>I have always used manure water for mushrooms more or less, but during +the past two seasons—'87-'88 and '88-'89—I have experimented with it +continuously and very carefully, using it in some form or other on part +of every bed, and am satisfied that manure water made <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span>from fresh horse +droppings is the best, and the dark colored liquid, the drainings from +manure piles, is the poorest; in fact, this latter is not as good as +plain water, for it seems to have a deadening rather than quickening +effect upon the beds. Cow manure and sheep manure make a good liquid +manure, but still I prefer the horse manure, and although having given +hen and pigeon manure and guano fair tests I am not satisfied that they +have benefited the crop, and there is always a risk in their use. Liquid +manure made from the contents of the barnyard tank has not done much +good, but fresh urine from the horse and cow stables diluted twelve to +fifteen times its bulk has given favorable results.</p> + +<p>Mushrooms not only bear with impunity but appear to enjoy a stronger +liquid manure more than do any other cultivated plants, and I am +satisfied that the weak liquids usually recommended for pot and garden +plants would be barely more efficacious than plain water for mushrooms.</p> + +<p>The manure water that has given me most satisfaction is prepared as +follows: Dump two bushels of fresh horse droppings into a forty-five +gallon barrel and fill up with water; stir it up well and let it settle +over night. Drain off the liquid the next day and add a pound of +saltpeter to it. For use, to a pailful of this liquid add a pailful of +warm water. Water of about 80° to 90° is best for mushroom beds. +Saltpeter is an excellent fertilizer for mushrooms. I use it in two +ways, namely: First, powdered and mixed in the soil for casing the beds, +at the rate of two ounces of saltpeter to the bushel of earth. Second, +dissolved in water at the rate of two ounces of saltpeter to eight +gallons of water, and sprinkled over the beds.</p> + +<p>Common salt I use as an insecticide and also as a fertilizer, and am +satisfied that it proves beneficial in both ways. Sometimes I sprinkle +it broadcast on the surface <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span>of the beds, always on the bare places, +never touching the mushrooms, and leave it there for a day or two, then +with a fine, gentle sprinkling of water wash it into the soil. This is +to help destroy the anguillulæ. As a fertilizer only dissolve four +ounces of salt in ten gallons of water, and with this sprinkle the beds.</p> + +<p>A too dry atmosphere can be remedied by sprinkling the floors, walls, or +litter coverings on the beds with water, not heavily or copiously, but +gently and only enough to wet the surfaces; better moisten in this way +frequently than drench the place at any one time. But I very much +dislike sprinkling the beds in order to moisten the atmosphere. An +experienced man can tell in a moment whether or not the atmosphere of +the mushroom house is too dry. The air in the mushroom house should +always feel moist, at the same time not raw or chilly, and the floor and +wall surfaces should present a slow tendency to dry up, and the earth on +the beds should retain its dark, moist appearance. The least tendency to +dryness should at once be relieved by damping the wall and floor +surfaces.</p> + +<p>In houses heated by smoke flues, or still more by ordinary stoves and +sheet iron pipes, it may be necessary to dampen the floors and walls +once or several times a day to maintain a sufficiently moist atmosphere, +but where hot water pipes are used and the houses are tight enough to +require but little artificial heat, such frequent sprinkling will not be +necessary. In the case of beds in unheated structures the ordinary +atmosphere is generally moist enough.</p> + +<p><b>Manure Steam for Moistening the Atmosphere.</b>—The late James Barnes, of +England, a grand old gardener, writing in the London <i>Garden</i>, Vol. III, +page 486, describes his method of growing mushrooms sixty years ago, and +says: "In winter a nice moist heat was maintained by placing hot stable +manure inside, and often <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span>turning it over." Mr. John G. Gardner, of +Jobstown, N. J., is one of Mr. Barnes's old pupils and a most successful +mushroom grower, and he now practices this same method of moistening the +atmosphere by hot manure steam. See <a href="#Page_21">page 21.</a></p> + +<p>In damping the floors of the mushroom house, as well as the beds, I use +a medium-sized watering pot and fine rose; but in sprinkling the walls +and other parts not readily accessible by the watering pot I use a +common garden syringe.</p> + + + + +<h2>CHAPTER XVII.</h2> + +<p class="center">GATHERING AND MARKETING MUSHROOMS.</p> + + +<p>This is an important point in the cultivation of this esculent, and +should be attended to with painstaking discretion.</p> + +<p>When mushrooms are fit to pick depends upon several conditions; for +instance, whether for market or for home use, and if for the latter, +whether they are wanted for soups or stews. For fresh and attractive +appearance and best appreciation in the market, pick them when they are +plump and fresh and just before the frill connecting the cap with the +stem breaks apart. The French mushrooms should always be gathered before +the frill bursts; the English mushrooms also look best when gathered at +this time, but they are admissible if gathered when the frill begins to +burst and before the cap has opened out flat. If the mushrooms display a +tendency to produce long stems pick them somewhat earlier, soon enough +to get them with short shanks, for long stems are disliked in market; +so, too, are dark or discolored or old mushrooms of any sort. Sometimes +we <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span>may not have enough mushrooms ready at one gathering to make it +worth while sending them to market, and are tempted to let them stay +ungathered until to-morrow, when they have grown larger and many more +shall have grown big enough to gather. This should never be done. It +will give an unfavored, unequal lot, some big, some little, some old, +some young. Far better pick every one the moment it is ready to gather, +and keep all safe in a cool place and covered until some more are ready +for use, and in this way have a uniform appearing lot of young produce.</p> + +<p>Mushrooms for soups should always be gathered before they burst their +gills; indeed, they are mostly gathered when in a button state; that is, +when they are about the size of marbles. In this condition, when cooked, +they retain their white appearance and do not discolor the soup. +Immature mushrooms are deficient in flavor.</p> + +<p>For home use, for baking, stewing, broiling, or for cooking in any way +in which the tenderness of the flesh and the delicious aroma of the +mushrooms are desirable in their finest condition, let the mushrooms +attain their full size and burst their frills, as seen in Fig. 24, and +gather them before the caps open out flat, or the gills lose any of +their bright pink color. If you let them get old enough for the gills to +turn brown before gathering, the mushrooms will become leathery in +texture, and lose in flavor and darken sadly in cooking.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<a name="fig24" id="fig24"></a> +<img src="images/fig24.jpg" width="500" height="390" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">Fig. 24. A Perfect Mushroom.</span> +</div> + +<p>In picking, always pull the mushrooms out by the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span>root, and never, if +practicable to avoid it, cut them over with a knife. In gathering, take +hold of the mushrooms and give them a sharp but gentle twist, pressing +them down at the same time, and they generally part from the bed without +any trouble; then place them in the baskets, root-end down, so as to +keep them perfectly clean and free from grit. Sometimes when several +mushrooms are joined together in one root-stock and it is impossible to +remove one without disturbing the whole, cut it over rather than pull it +out. In the case of clumps of young mushrooms, where one can not be +pulled out without displacing some of the others also, cut it out rather +than pull it. There is a knack in pulling mushrooms, easily attained by +practice. And even when they come up in thick bunches and it would +appear impossible to pull out the full-grown ones without disturbing the +others, a practiced hand will give them a twitch and a pull—they often +part from the bed by the gentlest touch—and get them out without +unfastening any of the multitude of small buttons that may be growing +around them.</p> + +<p>The advantages of pulling over cutting are several: It benefits the bed. +If we cut over a mushroom and leave its stump in the ground, in a few +days decay sets in and a fluffy or spongy substance grows around the old +butt, which destroys many of the little mushrooms around it, as well as +every thread of mycelium that comes in contact with it. One should be +particular to scoop out these stumps with a knife before this condition +takes place, and go over the beds every few days to fill up the holes, +made in scooping out the old stumps, with fresh loam.</p> + +<p>Pulled mushrooms always keep fresh longer than do those that have been +cut. In the interest of the market grower they have another advantage. +Mushrooms are bought and sold by weight, and as the stems are always +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span>retained to the caps all are weighed together; if part of the stems had +been cut off the weight would have been reduced, and, in like +proportion, the price; but if the stems are retained entire not only are +the mushrooms benefited, but the weight, and with it the price, is also +increased.</p> + +<p><b>Gathering Field or Wild Mushrooms.</b>—Go in search of them in the morning +before the sunshine gets warm and they become too open or old. If you +wish to gather and preserve them in their most perfect condition pull +them up by the "roots," carefully remove any soil from them, and then +lay them orderly in the basket, the root end down; and by spreading a +stout sheet of paper over the layer, another may be arranged above it in +the same way, and so on until the basket is full. But if you are not so +particular and wish them for immediate use, or for ketchup or drying, +the common way of cutting them off and carrying them home in bulk will +answer well enough.</p> + +<p><b>Marketing Mushrooms.</b>—Most market growers who live immediately around +New York City sell direct, and deliver their mushrooms to hotels, +restaurants, and fancy fruiterers. But some of them, also most of those +who live at a considerable distance from the city, sell their mushrooms +through commission merchants in New York; they, in turn, sell in +quantities to suit customers.</p> + +<p>Mushrooms are sold by the pound, and come into market in boxes made of +strong undressed paper. Some growers have light wooden boxes made that +hold from one to four pounds of mushrooms each, and these make +convenient and strong packages for shipping by express. They may be sent +singly, or, as is the case with the paper boxes, several packed together +in crates or boxes. In sending directly to hotels, cheap baskets, +holding one or several pounds—Mr. Gardner's baskets hold twelve +pounds—are often used, but in sending to commission <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span>merchants, who +have to deal them out in quantities to suit customers, mushrooms should +always be packed in one, two, three or four pound boxes or baskets, +preferably one pound. Mushrooms are not like potatoes or apples, that +can be handled, remeasured, and repacked without damaging them. Each +rehandling will certainly discolor and perhaps break a good many of +them, rendering them unsalable, if not worthless.</p> + +<p>The utmost care in gathering and packing of mushrooms for shipping is of +primary importance. Gather them the moment they are in best condition, +no matter whether or not they are to be packed and shipped the same day; +never let them blow open before gathering them; and never cut off short +stems. Long stems have to be shortened, but not until everything is +ready to pack them. With a very soft hair brush dust off any earth that +may stick to the cap of the mushroom, and with a harder brush or the +back of a knife rub the earth off of the root end of the stem. Then sort +the mushrooms,—the big ones by themselves, the middle-sized by +themselves, the small or button-sized ones by themselves, and pack each +kind by itself. Pack very firmly without bruising, and so as to show the +pretty caps to the best advantage. Never pack mushrooms more than two +deep without using plenty of soft paper between the layers, and never +put a heavy bulk of them into one box or basket. They discolor so easily +that, all things considered, about a pound is enough in a box, if we +wish them to carry safely and retain their bright, fresh skin without +tarnishing.</p> + +<p>Mr. Barter, of London, writes me: "The punnets we use for marketing our +mushrooms in are the same that are used for strawberries or peaches. +These hold just one pound, but it is becoming more customary now to have +little boxes made holding from three to five pounds, as these are better +for packing in larger cases for long journeys."</p> + + + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER XVIII.</h2> + +<p class="center">RE-INVIGORATING OLD BEDS.</p> + + +<p>There is a wide-spread impression among horticulturists that worn out +beds which have ceased to bear may, by means of watering and certain +stimulants and warming up again, be so re-invigorated as to start into +full bearing, and yield a second and a good crop. I have given this +question much painstaking and practical consideration, and have +absolutely failed to revive a "dead" bed. I have not been able to do it +myself, and any instance of its having been done has never come under my +observation. This may appear heresy anent the multitudinous writings to +the contrary.</p> + +<p>A mushroom bed may keep on bearing in a desultory way for many months, +and now and again show spurts of increased fertility; but this is no +second crop; it is merely a prolonged dribbling of the first crop. A +bed, by reason of cold or dryness, may, as it were, stand still or +partially stop bearing, and soon after it is remoistened, warmed, and +otherwise submitted to congenial conditions, will display renewed +energy; but this is no second crop; it is merely a spurt of the first +crop caused by extra favorable cultural conditions. But to show how +vaguely this question which is so much written about is regarded, let me +quote from a letter to me by Mr. J. Barter, who grows 21,000 lbs of +mushrooms a year for the London market: "You ask me, 'Do you ever get a +second crop?' My beds last in bearing, on an average, each three months, +and that I reckon to be three crops. But whether it be three or six +months, the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span>weight of mushrooms is about the same. As there is in, say +a ton of manure, only so much mushroom-producing power, if you force it +to produce that weight in two months you are a gainer, as you thereby +save in labor; but when that producing-power is exhausted it will +produce no more mushrooms."</p> + +<p>A spent mushroom bed is one that has been kept in bearing condition +under the most favorable circumstances at our command, and it has borne +a good crop, lasted some two months in bearing, and now it has stopped +bearing (except in a meagerly, desultory way) because the spawn or +mycelium has exhausted itself and is dead. Then, without living spawn in +the bed how are we to get mushrooms? Some bits of mycelium are still +alive and yield the desultory few, but every mushroom that they yield is +preying on their vitality, and after a time they too shall die and the +bed be completely barren, for the mycelium is altogether dead, and +without mycelium mushrooms are an impossibility. We can keep mushroom +mycelium in active growth the year round, and year after year, providing +we never let it bear mushrooms. This is done by taking the mycelium, +just before it begins bearing, from one manure bed and plant it in +another, and so on from bed to bed. At every fresh transplanting the +mycelium exerts itself into renewed growth, for it must become a strong +plant before it has strength enough to produce and support a mushroom. +Our utmost efforts have never rendered mycelium in a mushroom-bearing +condition perennial.</p> + + + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER XIX.</h2> + +<p class="center">INSECT AND OTHER ENEMIES.</p> + + +<p>The mushroom grower has his full share of insects to contend with, and +in order to overcome them one should acquaint himself with them, and +know what they are, what they do, whence they came, and how to destroy +them. One should study the diseases and mishaps of his crop and endeavor +to know their cause. If we know the cause of failing health in plants, +even in mushrooms, we can probably stop or devise a remedy for the +disease or means to prevent its recurrence, and if we can not benefit +the present subject we are forewarned against future attacks. But there +is a deal of mysterious trouble in this direction in mushroom-growing. +We are likely to know something about the depredations committed by +insects or parasitic molds above ground, but I am sure there is a good +deal of mischief going on under ground of which we know very little, if +anything. The ills to which the mycelium is subject are not at all fully +understood.</p> + +<p><b>"Maggots."</b>—This is the common name among practical mushroom growers for +the larvæ of a species of fly (Diptera) which from April on through the +warm summer months renders mushroom-growing unprofitable. It is +unavoidable, and so far has proved invincible. It attacks the mushrooms +in deep cellars, above-ground houses, greenhouses, or frames, and is +often quite common in early appearing crops in the open fields. We +sometimes read that it does not occur in unheated cellars, but this is a +mistake, for in our unheated tunnel <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span>cellars, where the temperature in +April does not exceed 55°, maggots always appear about the end of this +month. But it is true that in the case of cool houses and where the beds +are covered over with hay or straw maggots do not appear as early in the +season as they do in warm houses and open beds. While rigid cleanliness, +and care in keeping the house or cellar closed, no doubt have much to do +in lessening the trouble, I have never been able to overcome it, and +know of no one who has. We simply stop growing mushrooms in summer.</p> + +<p>The maggots or larvæ are about three-sixteenths to four-sixteenths of an +inch long, white with black head, and appear in all parts of the +mushroom, but mostly in the cap and at the base of the stem, and +perforate hither and thither leaving behind them a disgusting network of +burrows. The tiny buttons, about as soon as they appear at the surface +of the ground, are infested, but this does not check their growth, and +when they become mushrooms large enough for gathering, unless it be for +a dark looking puncture or tracing now and then visible on the outside +of the caps and stems, there are but few signs to indicate to the +inexperienced eye the presence of maggots. And this is why maggoty +mushrooms are so often found exposed for sale in summer. But in large or +full-grown mushrooms, and especially the white-skinned varieties, their +presence is visible enough. Although very repugnant, however, and +utterly unfit for food, maggoty mushrooms are not poisonous.</p> + +<p>But all the mushrooms of summer crops are not maggoty, only a large +proportion of them; the evil begins in April, and increases as the +summer advances, until August, when it decreases, and in October +completely stops—at least this is my experience.</p> + +<p>A solution of salt, saltpeter, or ammonia sprinkled over the surface of +the beds does not, in this case, do any good as an insecticide, +pyrethrum powder diffused <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span>through the atmosphere, and tobacco smoke, +have been ineffectual. Burning a lamp set in a basin of water with a +little kerosene floating on the surface is a most doubtful operation. +Multitudes of flies are destroyed by this lamp trap, but they are the +poor little innocent "manure flies," and the atmosphere of the house is +vitiated and rendered unhealthy for the crop. I have tried these lamp +traps season after season, and never knew of their doing any good; that +is, the maggots seemed just as numerous in the lamp-trapped cellar as in +the other cellar in which no lamp trap had been used.</p> + +<p>Regarding this "maggots" question, Mr. J. F. Barter, of London, writes +me: "During the summer months the outdoor mushrooms get maggoty before +they are big enough to gather, but of course they can be grown in cool +cellars all the year round.... I know of no sure cure for them (the +maggots); of course a slight sprinkling of salt with manure or mold does +prevent, to a certain extent, but it must be used very carefully." Now +my experience is, as I have already said, that it is impossible to grow +mushrooms here in summer, even in cool cellars, without having them more +or less maggoty. As regards the salt and loam preventive, I have tried +it lightly and heavily, but without any apparent good effect.</p> + +<p><b>Black Spot.</b>—All mushroom growers are familiar with this disease, but +unless it appears in pronounced form very little notice is taken of it, +even by market men, for we see spotted mushrooms continually exposed for +sale. It appears as dark brown spots, streaks, or freckles, on the top +of the mushroom caps, and increases in distinctness and breadth with +age. <a href="#fig25">Fig. 25</a>. It is caused by eel worms (<i>Anguillulæ</i>). These minute +creatures enter the mushrooms when the latter are in their tiniest pin +form and before they emerge from the ground. If a button arises clean it +remains clean, if <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span>diseased it continues to be diseased, and it is a +fact that if one mushroom in a clump has black spot we usually find that +every mushroom in the clump has it. But mushrooms growing from the same +bit of spawn and that come up an inch or two away from the spotted ones +may be perfectly clean. Black spot has never occurred with me in new +beds, and seldom in those in vigorous bearing, but it generally appears +in beds that have been in bearing condition for some weeks or are +declining. It does not confine itself to any particular spot or part of +the bed, and sometimes it is much more plentiful than at others. Between +October and March we have very little black spot, but as the spring +opens this disease increases. During the winter season, with careful +attention, perhaps not so much as one per cent will show black spot, but +as the warm weather sets in the per centage increases until in May, when +as many as twenty per cent may be affected by it.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 406px;"> +<a name="fig25" id="fig25"></a> +<img src="images/fig25.jpg" width="406" height="300" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">Fig. 25. Mushroom affected with Black Spot.</span> +</div> + +<p>Black spot is a disease, however, that can be controlled. Keep +everything in and about the mushroom houses rigidly clean, and as soon +as a bed has ceased to bear a crop worth picking clear it out, lime-wash +the place it occupied, and make up another bed. Carefully observe that +no old loam or manure is allowed to accumulate anywhere, or green scum +forms upon the boards, paths, or walls; boiling water impregnated with +alum poured over the boards, walls, and other scum-covered surfaces, +will kill the eel worms, but it should not be allowed to touch the +mushroom beds that are in bearing or coming into bearing. Much can be +done to protect the bearing beds from the ravages of this pest: In +gathering the mushrooms remove every vestige of old stump and fogged-off +mushrooms, keep the holes filled <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span>up with fresh loam, and when the bed +has been in bearing condition for a fortnight sprinkle it over with a +solution of salt, and next day topdress with a half-inch coating of +finely sifted fresh loam; firm it to the bed with the back of the hand, +for it can not be pressed on with a spade on account of the growing +mushrooms.</p> + +<p>Is black spot unwholesome? I do not think so. I have never known any ill +effects from eating it. The spotted parts are merely flavorless and +tasteless. But it is a very disgusting disease, and no one, I am sure, +would care to eat eel worms with their mushrooms. Until quite recently I +used to regard the black spot as the mark of some parasitic fungus, and, +acting under this impression, sent affected mushrooms to Dr. W. G. +Farlow, Prof. of Cryptogamic Botany at Harvard University, for his +opinion. He wrote me: "I find that the trouble is due to <i>Anguillulæ</i>, +and I find an abundance of these animals in the brown spots." He advised +me to submit them to an expert in "worms." I then sent samples to my +kind friend, Mr. William Saunders, of Washington, D. C., who submitted +them, for me, to Dr. Thomas Taylor, the microscopist to the U. S. +Department of Agriculture, and who replied: "I recommend that you use a +sprinkling of scalding water thoroughly over the entire surface of the +bed, especially the portion next to the boxing. The scalding water +should be applied before the buttons appear, but not penetrate more than +one-eighth of an inch below the surface. Anguillulæ abound wherever +decaying vegetable matter exists.... The green algæ on the outside of +flower pots abounds in the anguillulæ."</p> + +<p><b>Manure Flies.</b>—This is the name we give to the little flies (a species +of <i>Sciara</i>) that appear in large numbers in spring and summer in our +mushroom houses, or, indeed, in hotbeds or structures of any sort where +manure is used, as well as about the manure heaps in the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span>yard. On +account of their habits they are regarded with much ill-favor. They hop +about the house and are continually running over the mushrooms, beds, +and walls, in the most suspicious manner. But, notwithstanding this, I +am inclined to regard them as perfectly harmless so far as injuring the +mushroom crop is concerned, except the fact that they soil the mushrooms +somewhat by their traveling over them with their muddy feet.</p> + +<p>In attempting to get rid of the maggot fly I have destroyed large +numbers of these little innocents, but without any apparent diminution +in their numbers. Lachaume recommends: "These flies may be destroyed by +placing about a number of pans filled with water to which a few drops of +oil of turpentine have been added. The flies are attracted by the odor +and drown themselves. They may also be caught with a floating light, in +which they will burn their wings and fall into the water." I have found +that pure buhach powder dusted into the air or burned on a hot shovel in +the mushroom house has been more effective in destroying these flies +than either the lamp or drowning process.</p> + +<p><b>Slugs.</b>—These are serious pests in the mushroom house, especially in +above-ground structures, and they also occur in annoying numbers in +cellars. Wherever hay or straw is used in covering the beds, or there is +much woodwork about the house, slugs appear to be most numerous. They +are very fond of mushrooms and attack them in all stages, from the tiny +button just emerging from the ground to the fully developed plant. In +the case of the buttons or small mushrooms they usually eat out a piece +on the top or side of the cap, and as the mushroom advances in growth +these wounds spread open and display an ugly scar or disfigurement. They +also bite into the stems. But in the case of fresh, full grown mushrooms +they seem to have a particular <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span>liking for the gills, and eat patches +out of them here and there.</p> + +<p><b>"Bullet" or "Shot" Holes.</b>—My attention was first called to these by Mr. +A. H. Withington, of New Jersey. They are little holes cut clear through +the mushroom caps, as if perforated by a buckshot, and are evidently the +work of some insect. He had, before then, submitted some of these +perforated mushrooms to Prof. S. Lockwood, who sent them to Prof. C. V. +Riley for his opinion. Prof. Riley replied that: "It is quite likely +that the damage was done by some myriapod, possibly a Julus, or some of +its allies. Only observation on the spot will determine this point." As +I never had any trouble with myriapods attacking mushrooms and had seen +nothing of this "bullet hole" work in our own beds I was much interested +in the question and determined to look out for it, so I marked off a +part of a bed and left that uncared for. I soon found out the trouble. +These holes are the work of slugs which I have found and watched in the +act of eating out the holes. To find the slugs at work, one has to take +his lantern and go out and look for them at night. And to find out about +plant parasites—be they fungus, or insect—one has to let them alone +and watch them. Had we kept up our unsparing hunt for slugs, probably we +should not yet have known what caused these "bullet holes," for no slug +would have been left alive long enough to eat a hole through a mushroom +cap.</p> + +<p>Slugs must be caught and killed. We can find them at night by hunting +for them by lamp-light; their slimy track glistens and reveals their +presence. A few small bits of slate or half rotten boards with a pinch +of bran on them laid here and there about the beds are handy traps; the +slugs gather to eat the bran, hide beneath the rotten wood, and can then +be caught and killed. Fresh lettuce leaves make a capital trap, but +lettuces in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span>January or February are about as scarce as mushrooms +themselves. A dressing of salt is distasteful to slugs, and not +injurious to mushrooms. Strong, fresh lime water may be freely sprinkled +over woodwork, pathways, walls, or elsewhere where slugs might gather +and hide themselves; but this solution should not be used upon the +mushroom beds. Rigid cleanliness, however, about the mushroom house, and +an ever-alert eye for slugs, should keep them under.</p> + +<p><b>Wood Lice.</b>—These are sure to be more or less abundant in every mushroom +house, even in the cellars. They crawl in through doors, ventilators, or +other interstices, and are brought in with the manure, and find shelter +about the woodwork, manure, or any bits of dry litter that may be +around. They attack the pinhead and small button mushrooms by biting out +little patches in their tops and sides; and although these patches are +small to begin with, the blemish spreads as the mushroom grows, and is +an objectionable feature. Trapping and killing the insects is the chief +remedy. Put part of a half boiled potato (for which no salt had been +used) into a little pasteboard box, and cover the potato with some very +dry swamp moss, lay the box on its side, and open at the end on the bed. +The wood lice will gather to eat the potato, and remain after feasting +because the dry moss affords them a cozy hiding place. Several of these +little boxes can be used. Go through the house in the morning, lift the +little traps quickly, and shake out any wood lice that may be in them +into a tin pail (an old lard pail will do), which should contain a +little water and kerosene. These traps may be used for any length of +time, merely observing to change the potato now and again to have it in +appetizing condition. Hot water or strong kerosene emulsion may be +poured about the woodwork, walls, and pathways, to destroy the wood +lice, but should not be allowed to touch the beds. Poisoned <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span>sweet +apples, potatoes, and parsnips have been recommended as baits for these +pests, but I must discourage using poisons of any sort in the mushroom +house. Six or eight inch square pieces of half rotten very dry boards +laid in pairs, one above the other, also make capital traps; the wood +lice gather there to hide themselves; these traps should be examined +frequently and the insects shaken into the pail containing water and +kerosene.</p> + +<p><b>Mites.</b>—Two kinds of mites are very common about mushrooms in spring and +summer; one is whitish and smaller than a "red spider" (one of the +commonest insect pests among garden plants), and the other is yellowish +and as large as or larger than a "red spider." But I do not think that +either of these mites is worth considering as a mushroom pest. The +yellow mite (probably <i>Lyroglyphus infestans</i>) is extremely common in +strawy litter on the surface of hotbeds, and I have no doubt finds its +way into the mushroom house as manure vermin rather than a mushroom +parasite. They are the effect and not the cause of injury to the crop. +When mushrooms are wounded or cracked, particularly about the stem, the +crevices often become abundantly inhabited with these mites, but they do +no material damage.</p> + +<p><b>Mice and Rats.</b>—These rodents are very fond of mushrooms, and where they +have access to the beds are troublesome and destructive. Both the common +house mouse and the white-bellied fence mouse are mushroom destroyers, +but, so far, the nimble but timid field mouse (among garden, open air, +and frame crops generally) has never yet troubled our mushrooms, but I +can not believe that this immunity is voluntary on its part. The mice +bite a little piece here and there out of the caps of the young +mushrooms, and these bite-marks, as the mushrooms advance in growth, +spread open and become unsightly disfigurements. In the case of open +mushrooms, however, the mice, like slugs, prefer <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span>the gills to the +fleshy caps. Rats are far more destructive than mice. Trapping is the +only remedy I use, and would not use poison in the mushroom houses for +these creatures for obvious reasons. But we should make our houses +secure against their inroads.</p> + +<p><b>Toads.</b>—These are recommended as good insect traps to be used in +mushroom houses, but I do not want them there; the cure is as bad as the +disease. The mushroom bed is a little paradise for the toad. He gets +upon it and burrows or elbows out a snug little hole for himself +wherever he wishes, and many of them, too, and cares nothing about +whether, in his efforts to make himself comfortable, he has heaved out +the finest clumps of young mushrooms in the beds.</p> + +<p><b>Fogging Off.</b>—This is one of the commonest ailments peculiar to +cultivated mushrooms. It consists in the softening, shriveling, and +perishing of part of the young mushrooms, which also usually assume a +brownish color. These withered mushrooms do not occur singly here and +there over the face of the bed, but in patches; generally all or nearly +all of the very small mushrooms in a clump will turn brown and soft, and +there is no help for them; they never will recover their plumpness. Some +writers attribute fogging off to unfavorable atmospheric +conditions,—the temperature may be too cold, or too hot, or the +atmosphere too moist, or too dry. I am convinced that fogging off is due +to the destruction of the mycelium threads that supported these +mushrooms; it is a disease of the "root," to use this expression; the +"roots" having been killed, the tops must necessarily perish. If it were +caused by unfavorable conditions above ground we should expect all of +the crop to be more or less injuriously affected; but this does not +occur; the mushrooms in one clump may be withered, and contiguous clumps +perfectly healthy.</p> + +<p>Anything that will kill the spawn or mycelium threads <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span>will cause +fogging off to overtake every little mushroom that had been attached to +these mycelium threads. Keeping the bed or part of it continuously wet +or dry will cause fogging off, so will drip; watering with very cold +water is also said to cause it, but this I have not found to be the +case. Unfastening the ground by abruptly pulling up the large mushrooms +will destroy many of the small mushrooms and pinheads attached to the +same clump; and when large mushrooms push up through the soil and +displace some of the earth, all the small mushrooms so displaced will +probably waste away, as the threads of mycelium to which they were +attached for support have been severed. A common reason of fogging off +is caused by cutting off the mushrooms in gathering them and leaving the +stumps in the ground; in a few days' time these stumps develop a white +fluff or flecky substance, which seems to poison every thread of +mycelium leading to it, and all the mushrooms, present and to come, that +are attached to this arrested web of mycelium are affected by the poison +of the decaying old mushroom stump, and fogg off. Any impure matter in +the bed with which the mycelium comes in contact will destroy the spawn +and fogg off the young mushrooms. Lachaume complains about the larvæ of +two beetles, namely <i>Aphodius fimetarius</i> and <i>Dermestes tessellatus</i>, +which "cause great damage by eating the spawn, thereby breaking up the +reproductive filaments." Damage of this sort by these or any other +insect vermin will cause fogging off. But I have not noticed either of +the above beetles or their larvæ about our beds.</p> + +<p><b>Flock.</b>—This is the worst of all mushroom diseases and common wherever +mushrooms are grown artificially. It is not a new disease; I have known +it for twenty-five years, and it was as common then as it is now, and +practical gardeners have always called it <i>Flock</i>. I say "worst of all +diseases" because <i>I know</i> that mushrooms <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span>affected by it are both +unwholesome and indigestible, and I can readily believe that in +aggravated cases they are poisonous. It is caused by other fungi which +infest the gills and frills of the mushrooms, and render them a hard, +flocky mass; sometimes the affected mushrooms preserve their white skin, +color, and normal form, at other times the cap becomes more or less +distorted. The illustration, Fig. 26, is from life, and a good average +of a flock-infested mushroom. In gathering mushrooms the growers should +insist that every flock-infested mushroom be discarded, and consumers of +mushrooms should familiarize themselves with this disease so as to know +and reject every mushroom showing a trace of it.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 413px;"> +<a name="fig26" id="fig26"></a> +<img src="images/fig26.jpg" width="413" height="332" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">Fig. 26. A Flock-Diseased Mushroom.</span> +</div> + +<p>Flock does not affect all the mushrooms in a bed at any time, and I do +not believe it spreads in the bed, or, to use the expression, becomes +contagious. If one spot of mildew appears upon a cucumber, rose, or +grape vine indoors, and is not checked, it soon becomes general all over +the plant or plants, and if one spot of mold occurs in a propagating bed +and is not checked at once it soon spreads over a large space and +destroys every cutting or seedling within its reach, but this is not the +case with flock in a mushroom bed. If one mushroom is affected with +flock every mushroom produced from that piece of spawn is affected, but +not one mushroom produced from the pieces of spawn inserted next to this +one is affected by it; not even if the mycelium from the several lumps +of spawn forms an interlacing web. If the flock is confined to the +mushrooms produced from a certain bit of spawn some may ask, will the +other pieces of spawn broken from the same brick produce flock-infested +mushrooms? No. I have given this point particular attention, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span>have kept +the pieces of each brick close together, and where flock has appeared I +have failed to find that the other pieces of spawn from that brick are +more liable to produce flock-infested mushrooms than are the pieces of +the bricks that, as yet, have not shown any sign of diseased produce.</p> + +<p>How general is this disease? In a bed say three feet wide by thirty feet +long and of two months' bearing one may get as few as five or as many as +fifty flocky mushrooms; one or two may occur to-day, and we may not find +another for a week or two, when we may get a whole clump of them, and so +on. It is not the large number of them that makes them dangerous, for +they never appear in quantity. They sometimes appear among the earliest +mushrooms in the bed, but generally not until after the bed has been in +bearing condition for a week or two.</p> + +<p>What conditions are most favorable or unfavorable to the growth of this +disease I do not know; but it is certainly not caused by debility in the +mushroom itself, as the parasite attacks healthy, robust mushrooms and +debilitated ones indiscriminately. This flocky condition is caused by +one or more saprophytic and parasitic fungi of lowly origin, whose +various parts are reduced to mere threads, simple or branched, and +divided into tubular cells at intervals, or else they are long, +continuous microscopic tubes without any partitions, except at those +occasional points where a branch, destined to produce spores, is given +off. Generally two or more species of these thread-fungi are present at +the same time on the mushroom host, and by the multiplied crossing and +interweaving of their threads and branches produce, through their great +numbers, the whitish, felted mass of "flock"; while as individuals the +threads are so minute as to be scarcely or not at all visible to the +naked eye. Similar thread-fungi may often be found in the woods among +damp <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span>leaves, under rotten logs, and on those porous fungi which +project, shelf-like, from the trunks of trees. At present there is no +way known for destroying the "flock," except to take up and destroy +every clump of mushrooms attacked by it. Fortunately the disease is not +very serious if proper precautions are observed; for, in our own +cellars, where mushrooms have been grown year after year for the past +eleven years, we get but few flocky mushrooms in any bed's bearing. The +disease is not more common to-day than it was in any former year. But we +give our cellars a thorough cleaning every summer.</p> + +<p><b>Cleaning the Mushroom Houses.</b>—After the season's cropping is finished +the mushroom houses and cellars should be thoroughly cleaned. Clear out +the old beds, and bring outside all the movable floor and shelf boards, +scrape up every bit of loose litter or dirt in the place and throw it +out, broom down the walls and whatever boarding is left. Whitewash the +walls with hot lime wash, and paint every bit of woodwork liberally with +crude oil or kerosene. This is to destroy anguillulæ and other insect +and fungus parasites. If you wish to use again the boards brought +outside, broom them over and paint them copiously with kerosene. And if +your cellar or house has a dirt floor, a heavy sprinkling of very +caustic lime water all over it will do good in ridding it of vermin.</p> + + + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER XX.</h2> + +<p class="center">GROWING MUSHROOMS IN RIDGES OUT OF DOORS AROUND LONDON.</p> + + +<p>In the preface to <i>Kitchen and Market Gardening</i> (London) is the +following:</p> + +<p>"Mr. W. Falconer and Mr. C. W. Shaw made, in connection with the London +<i>Garden</i>, what we believe to be the first attempt at long and systematic +observation of the best culture as it is in London market gardens." This +is mentioned to indicate that the writer speaks on this subject from +experience. And although it is now seventeen years since I became +disconnected with the London market gardens, by revisiting them a few +years ago, and by correspondence and the horticultural press, I have +endeavored to keep informed of all changes of methods and improvements +in culture as practiced there. At that time Steele, Bagley, Broadbent, +Dancer, Pocock and Myatt were among the largest and best gardeners +around London, and since then several of these grand old gentlemen have +passed away and their fields have been cut up and built upon. At that +time mushrooms were one of the general crops, as were snap beans or +cauliflower, and in their season were planted as a matter of course. +To-day they have become a specialty, and some gardeners devote their +whole energy to mushroom-growing alone, and make from $2000 to $5000 a +year clear profit from one acre of mushrooms, and that, too, from ridges +in the open field! There is no other field crop that yields such a large +profit. There they get twenty-four to forty-eight cents a pound for +their <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span>fresh mushrooms, here we get fifty cents to a dollar a pound for +ours. But as mushroom-growing there is confined to fall, winter and +spring, those gardeners who restrict themselves to mushrooms only devote +the summer months to making mushroom spawn for their own use, and also +for sale.</p> + +<p>Mr. John F. Barter, of Lancefield street, London, the king of London +mushroom growers, writes me under date of Dec. 10, 1888: "I employ men +for mushroom bed-making from August to March; then, in order to keep on +the same staff, I get about 10,000 bushels of brick spawn made up for +sale.... By the sale of spawn I make just half of my living." Now let us +see: 10,000 bushels = 160,000 bricks, and each brick weighs a pound, +thus we have 160,000 pounds. At ten cents a pound (retail price) the +total is $16,000; at five cents a pound (supposed wholesale price) +$8000, or at three and a half cents a pound (supposed manufacturer's +price) $5600.</p> + +<p>The manure is obtained from the city stables and hauled home by the +gardeners on their return trips from market. The manure collected after +midsummer is used for mushrooms, and an effort is made to save the very +best horse manure for this purpose. When enough has accumulated for a +bed the manure is turned and well shaken, removing only the rougher part +of the straw, and thrown into a large pyramidal pile to heat; this shape +is adopted as being better than the flat form for keeping out rain. In +three or four days the manure is again turned, shaken out and piled up +as before; after this it is turned every second day, unless it rains, +until it has been turned six or seven times in all. It should then be +ready for making into ridges.</p> + +<p>The site for the beds should be a warm, well-sheltered piece of ground, +either in the open field or orchard; much pains should be exercised to +protect it from cold <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span>winds. Although a great many mushroom ridges are +made under the partial shade of apple and pear trees, I always preferred +making them in the open ground. The land should be dry and of a slightly +elevated or sloping nature, so that no pools of water can possibly +collect on the surface. Having the ground cleared, leveled, and ready, +mark it off into strips two feet wide and six feet wide alternately. The +two feet wide space is for the mushroom bed, the six feet wide one for +the space between the beds; but after the ridges are built, earthed over +and covered with straw, they are almost six feet wide at the base. The +common sizes of ridges are two feet wide by two feet high, and two and +one-half feet wide by two and one-half feet high, and taper to six or +eight inches wide at top.</p> + +<p>The manure being ready and the site for the beds lined off, the manure +is carted to the place and wheeled upon the beds. In making the bed +shake out the manure well and evenly to cause it to hold together, tamp +it with the back of the fork as you go along, and two or three times +before the ridges are completed walk upon and tread the manure down +solidly with the feet, and trim down the sides to turn the rain water. +Two days after the bed is made up some holes should be bored from the +top to nearly the bottom with a small iron bar to let the heat off and +prevent the inside of the bed from becoming too dry. Make them about +nine inches apart all along the center of the bed. The old gardeners did +not use the crowbar. They were very particular not to build their ridges +before the chances of overheating were considered past; but +notwithstanding all their care some of their beds would get overwarm, +when, without a moment's hesitation, they tossed them over, part to the +right and part to the left, and left the manure thus exposed for a day +or two to cool, and then make up the beds again on the same site.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span>Brick spawn is always used. Some of those who make a specialty of +mushrooms also make spawn for sale as well as for their own use; but the +majority of the gardeners prefer to buy rather than make their own +spawn.</p> + +<p>When the heat has fallen to between 80° and 90° the ridges are spawned, +the pieces inserted in three rows along each side, leaving about nine +inches between the pieces. A dibber should not be used on any account. +The spawn is put in tightly with the hand and the manure pressed down. +It should be put in level with the face of the bed, so that the mold may +just touch it when the bed is cased. In the event of cold or wet +weather, just as soon as the beds are spawned a slight covering of rank +litter is laid over them. After a few days this is removed and the beds +are molded over with mold from ground to which manure has not been +applied for some time. But the general market gardeners do not make this +distinction; they use the earth from between the ridges, which has been +manured regularly every year for a couple of hundred years or more. The +mold is put on evenly with the spade and is about two inches thick at +the base of the ridge and one inch thick at top, and well firmed by +beating with the back of the spade; indeed, the ridges are now commonly +watered through a water-pot rose, again beaten very firmly and the +surface left smooth and even. This smooth surface readily sheds rain +water, but I question if it has any advantage over a well-firmed +unglazed surface. After molding the beds are covered with litter, that +is, the rankest straw that had been shaken out of the manure, to a depth +of four, six, eight, or ten inches, according to the state of the bed +and weather; if the bed is inclined to be cool or if the weather is +cold, thicken the covering.</p> + +<p>Drenching or long drizzling rains are more injurious to the beds than is +cold, and in order to ward them off <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span>old Russia mats and any other sort +of cloth or carpet covering obtainable is laid over the litter on the +beds and weighted down with poles, boards, stones, or anything else that +is convenient. Do not disturb this covering for about four weeks, and +then on a dry day strip it off and shake up the litter loosely so as to +dry it. If there is any white mold on the surface of the soil take a +handful of straw and rub it off. If the bed is rather cold put a layer +of clean, dry hay next the bed, and on top of this replace the littery +covering.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<a name="fig27" id="fig27"></a> +<img src="images/fig27.jpg" width="500" height="289" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">Fig. 27. The Covered Ridges.</span> +</div> + +<p>The first beds are made in August, and one or more every month after +till March, just as time, convenience and material permit. Summer beds +are not attempted unless in exceptional cases. The bulk of the beds are +generally put in in September and October. In early fall, also in +spring, beds yield mushrooms in about six weeks after spawning; in +winter they take eight or nine weeks or more, much depending on the +weather.</p> + +<p>In cold weather the mushrooms are gathered at noon-day; if the weather +is windy and it is possible to postpone <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span>gathering for another day this +is done, as the litter can not be replaced satisfactorily in windy +weather. In gathering the mushrooms one man carefully pulls the straw +down from the top of the bed, rolling it toward him; another gathers the +mushrooms (pulling them out by the roots, never cutting them) into +baskets, and a third man covers up the bed. In this way the three men go +up one side of the ridge and down the other, and the work is done +expeditiously and well, without exposing any part of the bed more than a +minute or two at a time. It is necessary that the uncovering be done by +rolling the straw down from the top of the ridge; if it were rolled up +the covering on the other side of the ridge would be sure to slip down a +little, and break off many small mushrooms. The mushrooms as gathered +are of three grades; the large or wide-spread ones are called +"broilers," the full-sized ones whose neck frill is merely broken about +half an inch wide are "cups," and the small white ones whose frills are +not broken at all are termed "buttons." All of these are kept separate. +They are marketed in different ways, but the growers who make mushrooms +a specialty assort and pack them in chip baskets, boxes, or otherwise, +as the metropolitan and provincial markets demand or suggest. Mr. John +F. Barter, writing to me from London, says: "As to punnetts, we use the +same as for strawberries or peaches" (the abundance of peaches we have +in America is unknown over there), "they hold just one pound. But it is +getting more general now to have little boxes made to hold say three to +five pounds each; these are better for packing in larger cases for long +journeys."</p> + +<p>The first cutting is a light one. After this the bed is cut twice a week +for three weeks in mild weather, or once a week in inclement weather. +The last two or three pickings are thin and only secured once a week. +Altogether ten or eleven good pickings are gathered from each bed.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span>I never knew of a single instance in which any attempt was made to +renovate an old or worn-out bed. But when the beds become so dry as to +need watering a small handful of salt is dissolved in a large pailful of +water and with this solution the beds are freely watered over the straw +covering, but never, to my knowledge, under it.</p> + +<p>My old friends, George Steele and Mr. Bagley, of Fulham Fields, used to +run part of their beds east and west, not only for convenience sake so +far as the beds themselves were concerned, but with the view of growing +early tomatoes against the south side of these beds in summer, and here +they got their finest and earliest crops, for the London gardeners can +not grow tomatoes out of doors in the open fields as we can in America. +Other gardeners clear away the manure for use elsewhere in their fields, +and as it is so well rotted it is in capital condition for cauliflower, +lettuces, snap beans, and other crops. But as the mushroom growers who +restrict themselves entirely to mushrooms, and who, after the mushroom +beds have finished bearing, have no further use for the manure in the +spent beds, are always able to dispose of it at one-half the cost price. +It is excellent for garden crops and as a topdressing for lawns, on +account of its fineness and freedom from all rubbish as sticks, stones, +old bottles, old shoes, and the like, is in much demand.</p> + + + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER XXI.</h2> + +<p class="center">MUSHROOM GROWING IN THE PARIS CAVES.</p> + + +<p>In caves and subterranean passages underneath the city of Paris and its +environs, thousands of tons of mushrooms are artificially produced every +year. These underground caves and tunnels are abandoned quarries from +which white building stone and plaster have been excavated, and as the +veins of stone permeated through the bowels of the earth, 40 to 125 feet +deep, so were they quarried, and the blocks brought to the surface +through vertical shafts. It is these tunnels, varying in height and +width as the veins of stone varied, that are now used for +mushroom-growing. M. Lachaume, in his book, <i>The Cave Mushroom</i>, tells +us: "In the Department of the Seine there are 3000 quarries; those which +have been abandoned and which are situated close to Paris at Montrouge, +Bagneux, Vaugirard, Méry, Châtillon, Vitry, Honilles, and St. Denis, are +used by the 250 mushroom-growers of the Department. There are several of +these quarries with horizontal galleries driven into the calcareous rock +from the level of the road, which are mostly large enough to accommodate +a good sized cart, but the majority can only be entered, like many coal +mines, by vertical shafts 100 to 125 feet deep, down which everything +has to pass. The laborers climb up and down a ladder, and the fresh +manure is shoveled down the shaft from above, the waste stuff and +mushrooms being hauled up in baskets from beneath by means of a +windlass."</p> + +<p>The manure used is obtained from the Paris stables and furnished by +contractors, with whom the mushroom <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span>growers make special bargains +because they are very particular about the kind and quality of the +manure they use. Some of these growers use as much as 2000 to 3500 tons +of manure each a year for their mushroom beds. To the caves in the +immediate neighborhood of Paris the manure is hauled out in carts, but +to Méry and other places too far distant to be within easy carting +distance it is sent by rail. The mushroom growers consider that the +manure from animals that are worked hard and abundantly fed on dry, good +food is the best; the droppings from these are always dry and rich in +ammonia, nitrogen and phosphates. The manure from entire horses that are +worked hard they regard as the best, and, next in value, that from +mules. The manure from horses kept for pleasure, such as carriage and +riding horses, is regarded as poor, notwithstanding the high feeding of +these animals, and the manure from horses fed on grass or roots, also +that of cows, as worthless. Stress is laid on the importance of having a +good deal of urine-soaked straw in the manure, and this is another +reason why manure from draught horses is preferred to that from animals +kept for pleasure, as the bedding of the former is not apt to be kept so +clean as that in aristocratic stables.</p> + +<p>The preparation of the manure is conducted near the mouth of the caves +or shafts on a level, dry piece of ground, and altogether out of doors. +As soon as sufficient manure for a pile is obtained it is forked over, +thoroughly shaken up and intermixed, divested of all extraneous matter +such as sticks, stones, bottles, scrap iron, old shoes, and the like we +find in city stable manure, and any dry straw is moistened with water. +It is then squared off into a heap forty inches high and trodden down to +thirty inches high. In this state it is left for about six days, when it +is turned, shaken up loosely, the outside turned to the inside, and all +dry parts <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span>watered; the same shallow square form is retained, and it is +again trodden down firm. In about six days more it is again turned, +shaken up, watered, squared off, and trodden as before. In about three +days after this it should be fit for use and may be turned, shaken up +loosely, and dumped down the shaft into the cave and carried to the spot +where the beds are to be formed. Of course these operations must be +modified according to circumstances and the condition of the manure.</p> + +<p>In making the beds the ground is first marked off. The first bed is made +alongside of the wall, and rounded to the front; the other beds run +parallel with this and may be straight, crooked, or wavy, as the +interior of the cave may suggest. The beds are all ridge-shaped, +eighteen to twenty inches wide at the base, eighteen to twenty inches +high in the middle, six inches wide at top, and the sides sloping. +Pathways twelve inches wide run between the beds. The workmen build the +beds by piece-work and receive one-half cent per running foot. A good +workman can make 240 feet a day (<i>Lachaume</i>). The beds are built neatly +and firmly and with much nicety as regards size and proportions. But the +workmen do not use a fork or any other tool in the construction of the +beds; they lift, shake up, spread and build the manure with their naked +hands and pack it firm with their knees.</p> + +<p>The spawn is obtained from the working beds and is what the mushroom +growers there call "virgin" spawn, though not at all what we know by +that term. As a succession of beds is kept up all the year round it is +an easy matter for the growers to get their spawn at any time. The best +time to get the spawn is when the young mushrooms are first appearing. A +bed or part of a bed in capital working order is selected and broken up +and the cakes of manure thoroughly matted up with the active mycelium +are selected for spawning the fresh beds. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span>It is asserted that from this +active spawn crops of mushrooms appear in twenty days' less time than if +dry spawn were used.</p> + +<p>The French spawn is used. Somewhere between the seventh and fourteenth +day after making the bed it will be in condition for spawning. Break the +spawn into pieces between two and three inches long, two inches wide, +and three-fourths of an inch thick, and insert these pieces in two rows +along the sides of the ridges; the first row eight inches above the +ground, the second row eight inches above the first, and the pieces put +in quincunx fashion eight inches apart in the row. The manure is firmly +packed in upon the spawn, the surface left smooth and even and without +being further disturbed until earthing time.</p> + +<p>Much stress is laid upon stratifying the spawn before using, when dry +spawn is employed. About eight days before a bed is to be spawned the +dry spawn is spread out in a row on the floor of the cave or cellar so +that it may absorb moisture and the mycelium begin to run. At spawning +time these cakes or flakes are broken up and used in the ordinary way, +and, it is claimed, with a week's difference in favor of the early +appearing of the mushrooms. But no more spawn than is necessary for +immediate use should be stratified, for it will not bear being dried and +damped again.</p> + +<p>The chips and powder of the stone which has been taken out of the quarry +and which can be had in abundance on the floor of the quarry or on the +surface of the ground around the shaft, are sifted, and the finer part +saved and mixed with earth in the proportion of three parts of stone +dust to one of earth, and with this the beds are molded over. The +powdered stone is strongly impregnated with salts, so advantageous to +the mushrooms.</p> + +<p>In seven to nine days after spawning, the beds are ready for earthing +over. This depends upon the condition <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span>of the spawn and how well it has +run in the manure. Before being earthed over the outside surface of the +beds should be covered with white filaments radiating in all directions +which give to the beds a bluish appearance. When the bed is in the +proper state for being covered with earth the mold is laid on equally +and firmly over the surface about three-fourths of an inch deep. It is +then thoroughly watered through a fine-rosed watering pot and allowed to +settle until the next day, when it is beaten solid by the back of a +wooden shovel. The bed now needs no further care until the young +mushrooms appear, except a light occasional watering should it get dry.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<a name="fig28" id="fig28"></a> +<img src="images/fig28.jpg" width="500" height="288" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">Fig. 28. In the Mushroom Caves of Paris.</span> +</div> + +<p>In spacious, high-roofed caves the mean temperature is about 52° F., +while in narrow, low-roofed ones it is about 68°. Of course this makes a +wide difference in the time of bearing and duration of the beds made in +the different caves; those in the warm caves come into bearing sooner +and stop bearing quicker than do those in the high-roofed caves. On an +average the first mushrooms <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span>appear in about forty days after the beds +are spawned, and the beds continue bearing for forty or sixty days, but +toward the end of that time the yield diminishes very rapidly.</p> + +<p>They are gathered once a day, usually about midnight, so that they may +reach the Paris market early in the morning. In size the mushrooms range +from three-fourths to one and five-eighths inches in diameter of top, +and are pure white in color. The workmen always gather the mushrooms by +plucking them out by the roots, and never by cutting them; the gatherers +have two baskets, carried knapsack fashion on their back; one is to +receive the mushrooms as they are picked, the other contains mold with +which to fill in the little holes made by pulling the mushrooms out of +the bed. In some caves one man gathers the mushrooms and leaves them in +little piles on the bed as he goes along, a woman comes after him and +places them in a basket, and a man follows her and fills up the holes +with earth. Before bringing the mushrooms up out of the caves they are +covered over with a cloth to avoid contact with the outer air, which is +apt to turn them brown. They are then placed in baskets that contain +twenty-three to twenty-five pounds and sent to market, where they are +sold at auction as they arrive. Or they may be sent to +preserved-vegetable manufacturers, who contract for them at an all round +price.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 240px;"> +<a name="fig29" id="fig29"></a> +<img src="images/fig29.jpg" width="240" height="400" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">Fig. 29. Gathering Mushrooms in the Paris Caves for +Market.</span> +</div> + +<p>Proper ventilation is regarded as being of great importance, not only +for the sake of the workmen, but also for the mushrooms, which will not +thrive in an impure atmosphere. Ventilation is afforded by means of +narrow shafts surmounted by tall wooden chimneys whose upper ends are +cut at an angle so that the beveled side faces north. In order to avoid +sudden changes of temperature and strong draughts, fires, trap doors, +and other means employed in assisting the ventilation of coal <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span>mines +are adopted. To stop strong draughts, too, in the passages, tall, +straw-thatched hurdles are set up. In narrow caves the breath of the +workmen, the gases given off by fermentation, and the products of +combustion of the lamps would soon so vitiate the atmosphere as to +render the caves uninhabitable were they not properly ventilated. +Indeed, it frequently occurs that caves in which mushrooms have been +grown continuously for some years have to be abandoned for a year or two +because the crop has ceased to prosper in them. But after they have been +thoroughly cleared of all beds and the surface soil that would have been +likely to be touched or affected by the manure, and ventilated and +rested for a year or two, mushrooms can again be grown in them +successfully.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2>CHAPTER XXII.</h2> + +<p class="center">COOKING MUSHROOMS.</p> + + +<p>Fresh mushrooms, well cooked and well served, are one of the most +delicious of all vegetables. If we grow our own mushrooms we can gather +them in their finest form, cook them as we please, and enjoy them in +their most delightful condition. If we are dependent upon the fields we +should be careful to gather only such mushrooms as are young, plump, and +fresh, and reject all that are old or discolored, or betray any signs of +the presence of disease or insects. And in the case of store mushrooms, +that is, the ones we get at the fruiterer's or other provision store, we +should examine them critically before using them to see that they are +perfectly free from "flock," "black spot," "maggots," or other ailment, +and discard all that have any symptoms of disease.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span>The small, short-stemmed, white-skinned mushrooms offered for sale are +of the variety known as French mushrooms, and on account of their white +appearance are preferred by many; the longer-stemmed, broader-headed, +and darker-colored kind that we also find offered for sale is what is +known as the English mushroom. The French mushrooms are the most +attractive in appearance and preferred in the market, but the English +variety is the best flavored and generally the most liked for home use.</p> + +<p>As soon as the frill around the neck breaks apart the mushroom is fit to +gather; keeping it longer may add to its size a little, but surely will +detract from its tenderness. The gills of the mushrooms will retain +their pink tinge for a day after the frill breaks open, but they soon +grow browner and blacker, until in a few days they are unfit for food. +In gathering, the mushrooms should be pulled and never cut, and kept in +this way until ready to prepare them for cooking. By retaining the stem +uncut the mushroom holds its freshness and plumpness much longer than it +would were the stems removed. Keep them in a cool, dark place, and in an +earthenware vessel with a cover or a thick, damp cloth thrown over it; +this will preserve their plumpness. If the frill is broken wide apart +when the mushrooms are gathered, the caps are apt to open out flat in a +day or two, and the gills darken and spread their spores, just as if the +mushrooms were still unsevered from the ground.</p> + +<p>Carefully inspect the mushrooms before cooking them. If the gills are +black and the mushrooms are too old do not use them; if the cap is +perforated by insects discard it, as it is very likely there are maggots +inside; or if there are dark brown spots ("black spot") on the top of +the caps throw the mushrooms away. Old mushrooms are tough, ill-looking, +bad-tasting and indigestible, and those infested by insects, although +not poisonous, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span>are very repugnant, and should not be used. But the +dangerous mushroom is the one affected by "Flock."</p> + +<p>Mushrooms should be gathered free from grit; if at all gritty they +require washing, which spoils them. All large mushrooms should be peeled +before they are cooked; the skin of the cap parts freely from the flesh, +but the skin of the stem must be rubbed or scraped off. The gills should +not be removed as they are the most delicate meat of the mushroom, but +if the mushrooms are old and intended for soup the gills should be +scraped out with the view of getting rid of their darkening influence in +the soup. In the case of small button mushrooms, which can not be +readily skinned, they should be rubbed over with a soft cloth dipped in +vinegar, so as to remove the outer part of the skin. While the stems may +be retained with the buttons, they should always be removed from the +full-grown mushrooms.</p> + +<p>Mushrooms should always be served hot, and they should be eaten as soon +as cooked. In the case of baked mushrooms and others prepared in a +somewhat similar way they should be covered in the oven by an inverted +dish, soup plate, basin, or the like, and if possible brought to the +table in this way and without the cover removed. Set the tin upon a mat +or cold plate upon the table, then uncover and serve on hot plates. By +this means the delicious aroma is preserved.</p> + +<p><b>Baked Mushrooms.</b>—Peel and stem the mushrooms, rub and sprinkle a little +salt on the gills, and lay the mushrooms, gills up, on a shallow baking +tin and put a small piece of butter on each mushroom. Place an inverted +saucer or deep plate over them in the tin, and put them into a brisk +oven for about twenty minutes. Then take them out and serve upon a hot +plate, without spilling any of the juice that has collected in the +middle of each mushroom. Send to table and eat at once. This is the +common way of cooking mushrooms, and by <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span>it is secured the true mushroom +aroma and taste in their perfection.</p> + +<p><b>Stewed Mushrooms.</b>—Peel and stem the mushrooms. Take an enameled +saucepan, put a lump of butter in it and melt it, then put in the +mushrooms, and season with salt and pepper and a small piece of pounded +mace (if you like it), then cover the saucepan tightly and stew the +mushrooms gently until they are tender, which will be in about half an +hour. Have ready some toast, either dry or fried in butter, as +preferred; spread out upon a hot dish, place the mushrooms upon the +toast, with the gills uppermost, pour the juice over them, and serve +hot. Button mushrooms are the ones usually selected for stewing, but +while nicer and whiter they are not so finely flavored as the full sized +ones.</p> + +<p>Another way of preparing stewed mushrooms is to stem and peel them; dip +in water containing lemon juice (this is to prevent their becoming +dark-colored in cooking, or giving a dark color to the stew), and drain +them dry. Put them into a stewpan, with a good-sized lump of butter and +some nice gravy, and let them stew for about ten minutes. Take a little +stock or cream, beat up some flour in it quite smooth, and add a little +lemon juice and grated nutmeg. Add this to the mushrooms and cook +briskly for about ten minutes longer, or until tender.</p> + +<p><b>Soyer's Breakfast Mushrooms.</b>—Place some freshly-made toast, divided, on +a dish, and put the mushrooms, stemmed and peeled, gills upward upon it; +add a little pepper and salt and put a small bit of butter in the middle +of each mushroom. Pour a teaspoonful of cream over each, and add one +clove for the whole dish. Put an inverted basin over the whole. Bake for +twenty or twenty-five minutes, and do not remove the basin until the +dish is brought to the table, so as to preserve the grateful aroma. A +delightful dish.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span><b>Mushrooms à la Crême.</b>—Peel and stem the mushrooms, roll a lump of +butter in flour and put it into the saucepan, then add the mushrooms and +some salt, white pepper, a little sugar and finely chopped parsley. Stew +for ten minutes. Take the yolks of two eggs beaten up with two large +spoonfuls of cream, and add the mixture gradually to the stew; cook for +a few minutes longer, and serve hot. This is a delicious dish, but the +fine mushroom flavor is not as pronounced in it as it is in the plain +bake or stew.</p> + +<p><b>Curried Mushrooms.</b>—Peel and stem a pound of mushrooms, sprinkle with +salt, add a little butter, and stew gently for fifteen or twenty minutes +in a little good stock or gravy. Then add four tablespoonfuls of cream +and one teaspoonful of good curry powder previously well mixed with two +teaspoonfuls of wheat flour. Mix carefully and cook for five or ten +minutes longer, and serve on hot toast on hot plates. A capital dish +much enjoyed by those who like curry.</p> + +<p><b>Broiled Mushrooms.</b>—Select large, open, fresh mushrooms, stem and peel +them. Put them on the gridiron, stem side down, over a bright but not +very hot fire, and cook for three minutes. Then turn them and put a +small piece of butter in the middle of each, and broil for about ten +minutes longer. Put them in hot plates, gills upward, and place another +small piece of butter on each mushroom, together with a little pepper +and salt, and flavor with lemon juice or Chili vinegar, and put them +into the oven for a minute or two. Then send them to table.</p> + +<p><b>Mushroom Soup.</b>—Take a quantity of fresh young mushrooms, and peel and +stem them. Stew them with a little butter, pepper and salt, and some +good stock, till tender; take them out and chop them up quite small; +prepare a good stock, as for any other soup, and add it to the mushrooms +and the liquor they have been <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span>stewed in. Boil all together, and serve. +If white soup is required use white button mushrooms and a good veal +stock, adding a spoonful of cream or a little milk as the color may +require. This is a nice soup and tastes good. If the mushrooms are very +young they have but little flavor; if they are full grown they darken +the soup, and if they are brown in the gills when used the soup will be +disagreeably dark. If, after preparing, but before cooking the +mushrooms, you pour some boiling water over them and into this drop a +little vinegar or lemon juice, then drain them off through a colander, +you can prevent, to a great extent, their darkening influence on the +soup, but always at the expense of their flavor.</p> + +<p><b>Mushroom Stems.</b>—The stems of young, fresh mushrooms are excellent to +eat, but those of old or stale mushrooms are unfit for food. In the case +of plump, fresh, full-sized mushrooms, the upper part of the stem, that +is, the portion between the frill and the socket in the cap, is used, +but the portion below the frill, that is, the "root" end, is discarded. +Any part of the stem that is discolored or tough or woody should be +rejected, and only the portion that is succulent and brittle and of a +clean white color at any time used. The stems are nearly always retained +in "button" mushrooms when they are cooked, and the upper or succulent +parts of the stems of plump, fresh, full-grown mushrooms are often +cooked along with the caps, but when cooking full-grown mushrooms we +prefer, in all cases, to completely remove the stems from the mushrooms, +and cook both separately. The stems are not so tender or deliciously +flavored as are the caps, but are excellent for ketchup, or flavoring, +or a sauce for eating with boiled fowl. In cooking the stems they should +be peeled by scraping, for they can not be skinned like the caps.</p> + +<p><b>Potted Mushrooms.</b>—Select nice button or unopen <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span>mushrooms, and to a +quart of these add three ounces of fresh butter, and stew gently in an +enameled saucepan, shaking them frequently to prevent burning. After a +few minutes dust a little finely powdered salt, a little spice, and a +few grains of cayenne over them, and stew until tender. When cooked turn +them into a colander standing in a basin, and leave them there until +cold; then press them into small potting-jars, and fill up the jars with +warm clarified butter, and cover with paper tied down and brushed over +with melted suet to exclude the air. Keep in a cool, dry place. The +gravy should be retained for flavoring other gravies, sauces, etc.</p> + +<p><b>Gilbert's Breakfast Mushrooms.</b>—Get half grown mushrooms, peel them and +lay them, gills-side upward, on a plate; put to each a small piece of +butter, but only one layer thick; pepper and salt to taste; add two +tablespoonfuls of ketchup and one of water; press round the rim of the +plate a strip of paste, get another plate of the same size pressed +firmly in the paste; put the whole in a brisk oven for twenty-five +minutes. The top plate should be left on until served.</p> + +<p><b>Baked Mushrooms.</b>—(A breakfast, luncheon, or supper dish.) Ingredients: +Sixteen or twenty mushroom flaps, butter, pepper to taste. Mode. For +this mode of cooking the mushroom flaps are better than the buttons, and +should not be too large. Cut off a portion of stalk, peel the top, and +wipe the mushrooms carefully with a piece of flannel and a little fine +salt. Put them into a tin baking dish, with a very small piece of butter +placed on each mushroom; sprinkle over a little pepper, and let them +bake for about twenty minutes, or longer should the mushrooms be very +large. Have ready a very hot dish, pile the mushrooms high in the +center, pour the gravy round, and send them to table quickly on very hot +plates.</p> + +<p><b>Broiled Mushrooms.</b>—(A breakfast, luncheon, or <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span>supper dish.) +Ingredients: Mushrooms, pepper and salt to taste, butter, lemon juice. +Mode. Cleanse the mushrooms by wiping them with a piece of flannel and a +little salt; cut off a portion of the stalk and peel the tops; broil +them over a clear fire, turning them once, and arrange them on a very +hot dish. Put a small piece of butter on each mushroom, season with +pepper and salt and squeeze over them a few drops of lemon juice. Place +the dish before the fire, and when the butter is melted serve very hot +and quickly. Moderate sized flaps are better suited to this mode of +cooking than the buttons; the latter are better in stews.</p> + +<p><b>Mushrooms à la Casse, Tout.</b>—Ingredients: Mushrooms, toast, two ounces +of butter, pepper and salt. Mode. Cut a round of bread one-half an inch +thick, and toast it nicely; butter both sides and place it in a clean +baking sheet or tin; cleanse the mushrooms as in preceding recipe, and +place them on the toast, head downwards, lightly pepper and salt them, +and place a piece of butter the size of a nut on each mushroom; cover +them with a finger glass and let them cook close to the fire for ten or +twelve minutes. Slip the toast into a hot dish, but do not remove the +glass cover until they are on the table. All the aroma and flavor of the +mushrooms are preserved by this method. The name of this excellent +recipe need not deter the careful housekeeper from trying it. With +moderate care the glass cover will not crack. In winter it should be +rinsed in warm water before using.</p> + +<p><b>Stewed Mushrooms.</b>—Ingredients. One pint mushroom buttons, three ounces +of fresh butter, white pepper and salt to taste, lemon juice, one +teaspoonful of flour, cream or milk, one-fourth teaspoonful of grated +nutmeg. Mode. Cut off the ends of the stalks and pare neatly a pint of +mushroom buttons; put them into a basin of water with a little lemon +juice as they are done. When <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span>all are prepared take them from the water +with the hands, to avoid the sediment, and put them into a stewpan with +the fresh butter, white pepper, salt, and the juice of one-half a lemon; +cover the pan closely and let the mushrooms stew gently from twenty to +twenty-five minutes, then thicken the butter with the above proportion +of flour, add gradually sufficient cream, or cream and milk, to make the +sauce of a proper consistency, and put in the grated nutmeg. If the +mushrooms are not perfectly tender stew them for five minutes longer, +remove every particle of butter which may be floating on the top, and +serve.</p> + +<p><b>Broiled Beefsteak and Mushrooms.</b>—Ingredients: Two or three dozen small +button mushrooms, one ounce of butter, salt and cayenne to taste, one +tablespoonful of mushroom ketchup. Mode. Wipe the mushrooms free from +grit with a piece of flannel, and salt; put them in a stewpan with the +butter, seasoning, and ketchup; stir over the fire until the mushrooms +are quite done. Have the steak nicely broiled, and pour over. The above +is very good with either broiled or stewed steak.</p> + +<p><b>To Preserve Mushrooms.</b>—Ingredients: To each quart of mushrooms allow +three ounces of butter, pepper and salt to taste, the juice of one +lemon, clarified butter. Mode. Peel the mushrooms, put them into cold +water, with a little lemon juice; take them out and dry them very +carefully in a cloth. Put the butter into a stewpan capable of holding +the mushrooms; when it is melted add the mushrooms, lemon juice, and a +seasoning of pepper and salt; draw them down over a slow fire, and let +them remain until their liquor is boiled away and they have become quite +dry, but be careful in not allowing them to stick to the bottom of the +stewpan. When done put them into pots and pour over the top clarified +butter. If wanted for immediate use they will keep <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span>good a few days +without being covered over. To rewarm them put the mushrooms into a +stewpan, strain the butter from them, and they will be ready for use.</p> + +<p><b>Mushroom Powder.</b>—(A valuable addition to sauces and gravies when fresh +mushrooms are not obtainable.) Ingredients: One-half peck of large +mushrooms, two onions, twelve cloves, one-fourth ounce of pounded mace, +two teaspoonfuls of white pepper. Mode. Peel the mushrooms, wipe them +perfectly free from grit and dirt, remove the black fur, and reject all +those that are at all worm-eaten; put them into a stewpan with the above +ingredients, but without water; shake them over a clear fire till all +the liquor is dried up, and be careful not to let them burn; arrange +them on tins and dry them in a slow oven; pound them to a fine powder, +which put into small dry bottles; cork well, seal the corks, and keep it +in a dry place. In using this powder, add it to the gravy just before +serving, when it will require one boil up. The flavor imparted by this +means to the gravy ought to be exceedingly good. This should be made in +September, or at the beginning of October, and if the mushroom powder +bottle in which it is stored away is not perfectly dry it will speedily +deteriorate.</p> + +<p><b>Mushroom Powder.</b>—This is for use as a condiment. The finest full-grown +mushrooms—which are the best flavored—should be selected and prepared +for drying, and dried as stated under the heading of "Dried Mushrooms," +except that it is better to dry them in an oven or drying machine so +that they may be dried quickly and become brittle. Grate or otherwise +reduce them to a fine powder, and preserve this in tightly-corked +bottles.</p> + +<p><b>To Dry Mushrooms.</b>—Wipe them clean, take away the brown part and peel +off the skin; lay them on sheets of paper to dry, in a cool oven, when +they will shrivel considerably. Keep them in paper bags, which hang in +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span>a dry place. When wanted for use put them into cold gravy, bring them +gradually to simmer, and it will be found that they will regain nearly +their usual size.</p> + +<p><b>Dried Mushrooms.</b>—In the flush of the pasture-mushroom season gather a +large number of mushrooms of all sizes and see that they are thoroughly +clean; remove and discard the stems and peel the caps. Stir them around +for a few minutes in boiling water to which a little lemon juice or +vinegar has been added to prevent them from turning dark colored. Some +people use plain cold water, or cold water with lemon juice or vinegar +in it. But never use salt in preparing mushrooms for drying, or else the +salted mushrooms will absorb moisture from the atmosphere and spoil. +Take the mushrooms out of the water and drain them on a sieve, then +string them and hang them up to dry and season in an open, airy shed, as +one would strings of drying fruit. They may also be dried in a drying +machine or oven as one would do with apples or peaches. They are used as +a substitute for fresh mushrooms when the latter can not be obtained. In +preparing dried mushrooms for use steep them in tepid water or milk +until they become quite soft and plump, then drain them dry and cook +them in the same way as fresh mushrooms. While they are a good +substitute for the fresh article they are deficient in flavor.</p> + +<p><b>Mushroom Ketchup.</b>—To each peck of mushrooms add one-half pound of salt; +to each quart of mushroom liquor one-half ounce of allspice, one-half +ounce of ginger, two blades of pounded mace, one-fourth ounce of +cayenne.</p> + +<p>Choose full-grown mushroom flaps, and be careful that they are perfectly +fresh-gathered when the weather is tolerably dry; for if they are picked +during rain the ketchup made from them is liable to get musty, and will +not keep long. Put a layer of them in a deep pan, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span>sprinkle salt over +them, then another layer of mushrooms and so on alternately. Let them +remain for a few hours, and break them up with the hand; put them in a +cool place for three days, occasionally stirring and mashing them well +to extract from them as much juice as possible. Measure the quantity +without straining, and to each quart allow the above proportion of +spices, etc. Put all into a stone jar, cover it up very closely, put it +in a saucepan of boiling water, set it over the fire and let it boil for +three hours. Have ready a clean stewpan; turn into it the contents of +the jar, and let the whole simmer very gently for half an hour; pour it +into a pitcher, where it should stand in a cool place until the next +day; then pour it off into another pitcher and strain it into very dry +clean bottles, and do not squeeze the mushrooms. To each pint of ketchup +add a few drops of brandy. Be careful not to shake the contents, but +leave all the sediment behind in the pitcher; cork well, and either seal +or rosin the cork, so as to exclude the air perfectly. When a very +clear, bright ketchup is wanted the liquor must be strained through a +very fine hair sieve or flannel bag after it has been very gently poured +off; if the operation is not successful it must be repeated until you +have quite a clear liquor. It should be examined occasionally, and if it +is spoiling should be reboiled with a few peppercorns. Seasonable from +the beginning of September to the middle of October, when this ketchup +should be made.</p> + +<p><b>Mushroom Ketchup.</b>—This flavoring ingredient, if genuine and well +prepared, is one of the most useful store sauces to the experienced +cook, and no trouble should be spared in its preparation. Double ketchup +is made by reducing the liquor to half the quantity; for example, one +quart must be boiled down to one pint. This goes further than ordinary +ketchup, as so little is required to flavor a good quantity of gravy. +The sediment <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span>may also be bottled for immediate use, and will be found +to answer for flavoring thick soups or gravies.</p> + +<p><b>Mushroom Ketchup.</b>—In making ketchup use the very best mushrooms, full +grown but young and fresh, as it is highly important to secure fine +flavor, and this we can not get from inferior mushrooms. Take a measure +of fine fresh mushrooms and see that they are clean and free from grit; +stem and peel them; cut them into very thin slices and place a layer of +these on the bottom of a deep dish or tureen; sprinkle this layer with +fine salt, then put in another layer and sprinkle with salt as before, +and so on until the dish is full. The white succulent part of the stems +may also be used in the ketchup, but never any discolored, tough or +stringy part. On the top of all strew a layer of fresh walnut rind cut +into small pieces. Place the dish in a cool cellar for four or five +days, to allow the contents to macerate. When the whole mass has become +nearly liquid pass it through a colander. Then boil down the strained +liquor to half of its bulk and add its own weight of calf's-foot jelly; +season with allspice or white pepper and boil down to the consistence of +jelly. Pour into stoneware jars and keep in a cool place.</p> + +<p><b>Pickled Mushrooms.</b>—Use sufficient vinegar to cover the mushrooms; to +each quart of mushrooms two blades of pounded mace, one ounce of ground +pepper, salt to taste. Choose young button mushrooms for pickling, and +rub off the skin with a piece of flannel and salt, and cut off the +stalks; if very large take out the red gills and reject the black ones, +as they are too old. Put them in a stewpan, sprinkle salt over them, +with pounded mace and pepper in the above proportion; shake them well +over a clear fire until the liquor flows, and keep them there until it +is all dried up again; then add as much vinegar as will cover them; let +it simmer for one minute, and store it away in stone jars for use. When +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span>cold tie down with bladder and keep in a dry place; they will remain +good for a long time, and are generally considered delicious. Make this +the same time as ketchup, from the beginning of September to the middle +of October. [The above recipes are furnished by Mrs. George Amberley, of +New York City.]</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 250px;"> +<img src="images/fig_deco.jpg" width="250" height="141" alt="decoration" title="" /> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span></p> +<h2>INDEX.</h2> + + +<ul class="IX"> +<li class="cat">Ammonia Arising, <a href="#Page_54">54</a></li> + +<li class="cat">Anguillulæ, <a href="#Page_124">124</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li> In Decaying Vegetation, <a href="#Page_126">126</a></li> +<li> Scalding Water to Kill, <a href="#Page_126">126</a></li> +<li> To Destroy, <a href="#Page_114">114</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li class="cat">Apparatus, Hot Water, <a href="#Page_33">33</a></li> + +<li class="cat">Atmosphere, Manure Steam for Moistening, <a href="#Page_114">114</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li> Remedying a too Dry, <a href="#Page_114">114</a></li> +</ul></li> + + +<li class="new_ltr">Barn Cellars, <a href="#Page_10">10</a></li> + +<li class="cat">Bedding, Wetted with Urine, <a href="#Page_58">58</a></li> + +<li class="cat">Beds, <a href="#Page_16">16</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li> Alongside of Wall, <a href="#Page_18">18</a></li> +<li> Banked Against a Wall, <a href="#Page_53">53</a></li> +<li> Bearing in November, <a href="#Page_25">25</a></li> +<li> Black Spot in the, <a href="#Page_108">108</a></li> +<li> Boring Holes in, to Reduce Temperature, <a href="#Page_76">76</a></li> +<li> Bottom of, <a href="#Page_17">17</a></li> +<li> Box, <a href="#Page_17">17</a></li> +<li> Casing, after Spawning, <a href="#Page_100">100</a></li> +<li> Casing the, <a href="#Page_104">104</a></li> +<li> Earthing Over the, <a href="#Page_103">103</a></li> +<li> Experiments as to Proper Time to Case, <a href="#Page_104">104</a></li> +<li> Fifteen Inches Thick, <a href="#Page_22">22</a></li> +<li> Firmly Built, <a href="#Page_76">76</a></li> +<li> Flat, <a href="#Page_50">50</a></li> +<li> Flat, Sods fit only for, <a href="#Page_107">107</a></li> +<li> Floor, <a href="#Page_19">19</a></li> +<li> Flooring for the, <a href="#Page_28">28</a></li> +<li> Green Sods, Method of Casing, <a href="#Page_106">106</a></li> +<li> Killing the Mycelium in, <a href="#Page_96">96</a></li> +<li> Loam for, <a href="#Page_100">100</a></li> +<li> Manure, <a href="#Page_20">20</a></li> +<li> Maximum Heat of Best, <a href="#Page_75">75</a></li> +<li> Midwinter, <a href="#Page_39">39</a></li> +<li> Mulching, <a href="#Page_23">23</a></li> +<li> Mushroom, <a href="#Page_12">12</a></li> +<li> Never Spawn, when Heat is Rising, <a href="#Page_96">96</a></li> +<li> Odorless, in Dwelling House Cellars, <a href="#Page_21">21</a></li> +<li> Of Low Temperature, <a href="#Page_77">77</a></li> +<li> On the Floor, <a href="#Page_13">13</a></li> +<li> Outside, <a href="#Page_12">12</a></li> +<li> Parching Effect Visible on, <a href="#Page_26">26</a></li> +<li> Picking "Fogged-off" Mushrooms from, <a href="#Page_108">108</a></li> +<li> Rack, <a href="#Page_13">13</a></li> +<li> Re-Invigorating Old, <a href="#Page_120">120</a></li> +<li> Renovating Old, in England, <a href="#Page_142">142</a></li> +<li> Ridge, <a href="#Page_17">17</a></li> +<li> Second Crop from, <a href="#Page_120">120</a></li> +<li> Shelf, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, 29</li> +<li> Spawned at 66° to 70°, <a href="#Page_97">97</a></li> +<li> Spawning and Molding, <a href="#Page_14">14</a></li> +<li> Spawning the, <a href="#Page_96">96</a></li> +<li> Spent Mushroom, <a href="#Page_121">121</a></li> +<li> Stale, <a href="#Page_76">76</a></li> +<li> Tamping Surface of, <a href="#Page_23">23</a></li> +<li> Temperature of a Twelve Inch Thick Bed, <a href="#Page_96">96</a></li> +<li> Ten or Twelve Inches Deep, <a href="#Page_19">19</a></li> +<li> Tending the, <a href="#Page_17">17</a></li> +<li> Three Feet Deep, <a href="#Page_25">25</a></li> +<li> To Keep, Warm, <a href="#Page_109">109</a></li> +<li> Topdressed, <a href="#Page_23">23</a></li> +<li> Under Greenhouse Benches, To make, <a href="#Page_53">53</a></li> +<li> Watering, <a href="#Page_24">24</a></li> +<li> Watering the, <a href="#Page_108">108</a></li> +<li> Watering Mushroom, <a href="#Page_111">111</a></li> +<li> When Dry to be Watered, <a href="#Page_111">111</a></li> +<li> Wide, With Pathway Above,* <a href="#fig13">44</a></li> +<li> Worn Out, <a href="#Page_120">120</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li class="cat">Beetles, Larvæ of Two, Destroying Mycelium, <a href="#Page_132">132</a></li> + +<li class="cat">Benches Covered, <a href="#Page_40">40</a></li> + +<li class="cat">Black Spot, <a href="#Page_124">124</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li> A Disease, <a href="#Page_125">125</a></li> +<li> In Beds in Vigorous Bearing, <a href="#Page_125">125</a></li> +<li> In New Beds, <a href="#Page_125">125</a></li> +<li> Is Unwholesome, <a href="#Page_126">126</a></li> +<li> To Prevent, <a href="#Page_125">125</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li class="cat">Boards, Stepping, <a href="#Page_17">17</a></li> + +<li class="cat">Boiler and Pipes, <a href="#Page_32">32</a></li> + +<li class="cat">Boilers, Hitching's Base-burner, <a href="#Page_31">31</a></li> + +<li class="cat">Boxing, <a href="#Page_19">19</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li> Lid for, <a href="#Page_19">19</a></li> +<li> Old Carpet or Matting Over, <a href="#Page_19">19</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li class="cat">"Bullet" or "Shot" Holes in Mushrooms, <a href="#Page_128">128</a></li> + +<li class="cat">Bugs, Mealy, <a href="#Page_12">12</a></li> + + +<li class="new_ltr">Calico, <a href="#Page_18">18</a></li> + +<li class="cat">Caves, <a href="#Page_17">17</a></li> + +<li class="cat">Caves of Paris, In the,* <a href="#fig28">147</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li> Paris, Description of, <a href="#Page_143">143</a></li> +<li> French Spawn Used in, <a href="#Page_146">146</a></li> +<li> Gathering Mushrooms for Market in the, <a href="#Page_149">149</a></li> +<li> Making Beds in the, <a href="#Page_145">145</a></li> +<li> Manure Used in the, <a href="#Page_144">144</a></li> +<li> Material Used for and Method of Earthing Over in, <a href="#Page_146">146</a><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span></li> +<li> Methods of Regulating Draughts in the, <a href="#Page_150">150</a></li> +<li> Preparation of Manure for the, <a href="#Page_144">144</a></li> +<li> Paris, Spawn Used in the, and How Obtained, <a href="#Page_145">145</a></li> +<li> Stratifying Spawn Before Using in the, <a href="#Page_146">146</a></li> +<li> Temperature in Spacious, High Roofed, <a href="#Page_147">147</a></li> +<li> Ventilation in the, <a href="#Page_148">148</a></li> +<li> When and How Mushrooms are Gathered in the, <a href="#Page_148">148</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li class="cat">Ceiling, Flat, <a href="#Page_37">37</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li> Sloping, <a href="#Page_36">36</a></li> +<li> Wet, <a href="#Page_18">18</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li class="cat">Cellar, Barn, <a href="#Page_13">13</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li> Cleanliness in the Mushroom, <a href="#Page_26">26</a></li> +<li> Cool, <a href="#Page_19">19</a></li> +<li> Cross-section of the Dosoris Mushroom,* <a href="#fig03">27</a></li> +<li> Dosoris Mushroom, <a href="#Page_27">27</a></li> +<li> Divided, <a href="#Page_30">30</a></li> +<li> Ground Plan of the Dosoris,* <a href="#fig04">28</a></li> +<li> Height of, <a href="#Page_17">17</a></li> +<li> House, <a href="#Page_13">13</a></li> +<li> Interior Arrangements of, <a href="#Page_16">16</a></li> +<li> Mushroom, Under a Barn,* <a href="#fig01">16</a></li> +<li> Of Dwelling House, <a href="#Page_18">18</a></li> +<li> Ordinary, <a href="#Page_21">21</a></li> +<li> Outhouse, <a href="#Page_18">18</a></li> +<li> Pent-up, <a href="#Page_17">17</a></li> +<li> Unheated, <a href="#Page_17">17</a></li> +<li> Vegetable, <a href="#Page_12">12</a></li> +<li> Warm, <a href="#Page_19">19</a></li> +<li> Wholly Devoted to Mushroom Growing, <a href="#Page_15">15</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li class="cat">Cellars, <a href="#Page_10">10</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li> Artificial Heating, <a href="#Page_17">17</a></li> +<li> Cool, Airy, <a href="#Page_20">20</a></li> +<li> Flat Roofed Mushroom, <a href="#Page_18">18</a></li> +<li> Mushrooms in, <a href="#Page_25">25</a></li> +<li> Potato, <a href="#Page_18">18</a></li> +<li> Underground, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li class="cat">Cistern, Large Underground, <a href="#Page_18">18</a></li> + +<li class="cat">Coal, Nut and Stove, <a href="#Page_33">33</a></li> + +<li class="cat">Cold and Vermin, <a href="#Page_19">19</a></li> + +<li class="cat">Cooking Mushrooms, <a href="#Page_150">150</a></li> + +<li class="cat">Crop, Common Average, <a href="#Page_30">30</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li> Gathering the, <a href="#Page_17">17</a></li> +<li> Marketing the, <a href="#Page_14">14</a></li> +<li> Yielding, <a href="#Page_31">31</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li class="cat">Crops, Capital, <a href="#Page_17">17</a></li> + +<li class="cat">Cut Flower Season, <a href="#Page_11">11</a></li> + + +<li class="new_ltr">Dirt, Roadside, <a href="#Page_101">101</a></li> + +<li class="cat">Doors, Double, <a href="#Page_16">16</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li> Outside, <a href="#Page_35">35</a></li> +<li> Single, <a href="#Page_16">16</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li class="cat">Drip, Cold, Falling upon Beds, <a href="#Page_36">36</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li> Crop Suffering From, <a href="#Page_51">51</a></li> +<li> From Benches, the Effects of, <a href="#Page_51">51</a></li> +<li> In Commercial Greenhouses, <a href="#Page_52">52</a></li> +<li> Plan for Warding off, <a href="#Page_52">52</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li class="cat">Dust and Noxious Gas, <a href="#Page_17">17</a></li> + + +<li class="new_ltr">Entrance, <a href="#Page_16">16</a></li> + +<li class="cat">Entrance Pits, <a href="#Page_30">30</a></li> + +<li class="cat">Economy, False, <a href="#Page_37">37</a></li> + + +<li class="new_ltr">Families, Private, <a href="#Page_18">18</a></li> + +<li class="cat">Farmers, <a href="#Page_13">13</a></li> + +<li class="cat">Flies, Manure, <a href="#Page_126">126</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li> Manure, Ill-favor of, <a href="#Page_126">126</a></li> +<li> Manure Perfectly Harmless, <a href="#Page_127">127</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li class="cat">Fire, Danger of, <a href="#Page_33">33</a></li> + +<li class="cat">Flock, <a href="#Page_132">132</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li> How General is, <a href="#Page_134">134</a></li> +<li> The Cause of, <a href="#Page_133">133</a></li> +<li> The Habits and Manner of Growth of, <a href="#Page_133">133</a></li> +<li> The Worst Mushroom Disease, <a href="#Page_132">132</a></li> +<li> What it Looks Like, <a href="#Page_134">134</a></li> +<li> What is, <a href="#Page_133">133</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li class="cat">Floor, A Dry, Necessary, <a href="#Page_47">47</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li> Common Earth, <a href="#Page_47">47</a></li> +<li> Dry, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_39">39</a></li> +<li> Earthen, <a href="#Page_21">21</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li class="cat">Flooring, <a href="#Page_29">29</a></li> + +<li class="cat">Fogging Off, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>, 131 +<ul class="IX"> +<li> Favorable Conditions for, <a href="#Page_132">132</a></li> +<li> The Cause of, <a href="#Page_131">131</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li class="cat">Florists, <a href="#Page_11">11</a></li> + +<li class="cat">Florists' Greenhouses, <a href="#Page_10">10</a></li> + +<li class="cat">Frame, Boxed-up with Straw Covering,* <a href="#fig02">19</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li> Covered with Calico, <a href="#Page_20">20</a></li> +<li> Covered with Oiled Paper, <a href="#Page_20">20</a></li> +<li> Common Hotbed Box, <a href="#Page_45">45</a></li> +<li> Preparing Beds in the, <a href="#Page_46">46</a></li> +<li> Shading the, <a href="#Page_47">47</a></li> +<li> Spawning in, <a href="#Page_46">46</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li class="cat">Frost, Hoar, <a href="#Page_35">35</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li> To Exclude, <a href="#Page_40">40</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li class="cat">Fruit Room, <a href="#Page_12">12</a></li> + +<li class="cat">Furnace, Boxed off, <a href="#Page_17">17</a></li> + + +<li class="new_ltr">Gardens, Private, <a href="#Page_37">37</a></li> + +<li class="cat">Grapery, Beds and Frames Inside the, <a href="#Page_13">13</a></li> + +<li class="cat">Greenhouse Bench, Boxed Mushroom Bed Under,* <a href="#fig11">41</a></li> + +<li class="cat">Greenhouse Benches, Among Other Plants on, <a href="#Page_48">48</a></li> + +<li class="cat">Greenhouse Benches, On, <a href="#Page_42">42</a></li> + +<li class="cat">Greenhouse Benches, Under, <a href="#Page_47">47</a></li> + +<li class="cat">Greenhouses, Beds in Open, Airy, <a href="#Page_53">53</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li> Cool, <a href="#Page_41">41</a></li> +<li> Growing Mushrooms in, <a href="#Page_41">41</a></li> +<li> In Frames in, <a href="#Page_44">44</a></li> +<li> Steam-heated, <a href="#Page_48">48</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li class="cat">Growers, Parisian, <a href="#Page_60">60</a></li> + + +<li class="new_ltr">Heat, Artificial not Absolutely Necessary, <a href="#Page_17">17</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li> Fire, <a href="#Page_17">17</a></li> +<li> Parching, <a href="#Page_17">17</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li class="cat">Heater, Base-burning Water,* <a href="#fig05">32</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li> Vertical Section,* <a href="#fig06">32</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li class="cat">Heating Apparatus, <a href="#Page_28">28</a></li> + +<li class="cat">Hoe, Angular-pointed, <a href="#Page_23">23</a></li> + +<li class="cat">Hops, Spent, <a href="#Page_68">68</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li> Spent, Cost Nothing, <a href="#Page_69">69</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li class="cat">Horses, Those who Keep, <a href="#Page_13">13</a></li> + +<li class="cat">Hotbed Frames, <a href="#Page_44">44</a></li> + +<li class="cat">House, A Mushroom, <a href="#Page_34">34</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li> Cow, <a href="#Page_13">13</a></li> +<li> Ground Plan of Mrs. Osborne's Mushroom,* <a href="#fig09">36</a><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span></li> +<li> In Dwelling, <a href="#Page_18">18</a></li> +<li> Interior Arrangement of Mushroom, <a href="#Page_37">37</a></li> +<li> Interior View of Mr. Henshaw's Mushroom,* <a href="#fig10">38</a></li> +<li> Mr. Samuel Henshaw's, <a href="#Page_37">37</a></li> +<li> Mushroom, Built Against North-facing Wall,* <a href="#fig07">34</a></li> +<li> Section of Mrs. Osborne's,* <a href="#fig08">35</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li class="cat">Houses, Fruit-forcing, <a href="#Page_12">12</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li> Growing Mushrooms in Rose, <a href="#Page_49">49</a></li> +<li> Lettuce, Mushrooms in, <a href="#Page_50">50</a></li> +<li> Tomato-forcing, Mushrooms in, <a href="#Page_49">49</a></li> +<li> Well-sheltered in Winter, <a href="#Page_34">34</a></li> +</ul></li> + + +<li class="new_ltr">Insecticide, Common Salt as an, <a href="#Page_113">113</a></li> + + +<li class="new_ltr">Leaves, Condition of, to Heat, <a href="#Page_68">68</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li> Fermenting, Beds Composed of, <a href="#Page_68">68</a></li> +<li> Oak, the Best, <a href="#Page_67">67</a></li> +<li> Quick-rotting, <a href="#Page_67">67</a></li> +<li> Tree, <a href="#Page_67">67</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li class="cat">Lettuce House, Moisture of, <a href="#Page_10">10</a></li> + +<li class="cat">Lice, Wood, <a href="#Page_129">129</a></li> + +<li class="cat">Loam and Manure, <a href="#Page_11">11</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li> Mixed, <a href="#Page_72">72</a></li> +<li> Mixed, Temperature of, <a href="#Page_77">77</a></li> +<li> Mixed, To Prepare, <a href="#Page_73">73</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li class="cat">Loam, Coating, <a href="#Page_20">20</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li> Common, for Casing, <a href="#Page_100">100</a></li> +<li> Containing Old Manure, <a href="#Page_101">101</a></li> +<li> Fibrous, Mellow, Best for Earthing Over, <a href="#Page_103">103</a></li> +<li> Fresh Sod, <a href="#Page_100">100</a></li> +<li> Heavy, Clayey, <a href="#Page_101">101</a></li> +<li> Ordinary Field Soil, <a href="#Page_26">26</a></li> +<li> Sod, Reasons for Use of, <a href="#Page_73">73</a></li> +<li> Topdressing with, <a href="#Page_107">107</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li class="cat">Lot, Village or Suburban, <a href="#Page_13">13</a></li> + + +<li class="new_ltr">Manure, <a href="#Page_13">13</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li> Baled, <a href="#Page_64">64</a></li> +<li> Cellar, <a href="#Page_62">62</a></li> +<li> City Stable, <a href="#Page_63">63</a></li> +<li> Common Horse, <a href="#Page_21">21</a></li> +<li> Cow, <a href="#Page_65">65</a></li> +<li> Cow, Necessary in Manufacture of Spawn, <a href="#Page_66">66</a></li> +<li> Drying by Exposure, <a href="#Page_71">71</a></li> +<li> Fermenting Fresh Horse, <a href="#Page_24">24</a></li> +<li> "Fire-fanged," <a href="#Page_62">62</a></li> +<li> Firmly Packed, <a href="#Page_70">70</a></li> +<li> Flies, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, 126</li> +<li> Fresh, <a href="#Page_12">12</a></li> +<li> Fresher the Better, <a href="#Page_58">58</a></li> +<li> From City Stables, <a href="#Page_26">26</a></li> +<li> German Peat Moss Stable, <a href="#Page_66">66</a></li> +<li> Handling, <a href="#Page_35">35</a></li> +<li> Homemade, <a href="#Page_60">60</a></li> +<li> Horse, <a href="#Page_57">57</a></li> +<li> Hog, Mycelium Evades, <a href="#Page_63">63</a></li> +<li> Liquid, <a href="#Page_113">113</a></li> +<li> Liquid, Cow and Sheep, <a href="#Page_113">113</a></li> +<li> Of Entire Horses, <a href="#Page_60">60</a></li> +<li> Of Horses fed with Carrots, <a href="#Page_61">61</a></li> +<li> Of Mules, <a href="#Page_62">62</a></li> +<li> Preparation of the, <a href="#Page_69">69</a></li> +<li> Preserve the Wet and Strawy Part, <a href="#Page_60">60</a></li> +<li> Proper Condition of, <a href="#Page_72">72</a></li> +<li> Sawdust Stable, <a href="#Page_66">66</a></li> +<li> Selected, <a href="#Page_63">63</a></li> +<li> Steaming Hot, <a href="#Page_24">24</a></li> +<li> The Best, <a href="#Page_57">57</a></li> +<li> To Prevent "fire-fang" in, <a href="#Page_70">70</a></li> +<li> Turning the, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, 71</li> +<li> Warm, <a href="#Page_13">13</a></li> +<li> Well-rotted, <a href="#Page_14">14</a></li> +<li> Without Preparatory Treatment, <a href="#Page_22">22</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li class="cat">Market, A Good, <a href="#Page_25">25</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li> Gardener, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_15">15</a></li> +<li> Gardening near New York, <a href="#Page_9">9</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li class="cat">Markets, Brooklyn, <a href="#Page_26">26</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li> In Winter, <a href="#Page_10">10</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li class="cat">Materials, Exhausted, <a href="#Page_16">16</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li> For Beds, Fresh, <a href="#Page_16">16</a></li> +<li> Waste of, <a href="#Page_17">17</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li class="cat">Method, Mr. Denton's, <a href="#Page_25">25</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li> Mr. Gardner's, <a href="#Page_21">21</a></li> +<li> Mr. Van Siclen's, <a href="#Page_27">27</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li class="cat">Methods, Avoiding Complicated, <a href="#Page_21">21</a></li> + +<li class="cat">Mice and Rats, <a href="#Page_130">130</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li> Different Kinds of, <a href="#Page_130">130</a></li> +<li> Fond of Mushrooms, <a href="#Page_130">130</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li class="cat">Mice, How they Disfigure Mushrooms, <a href="#Page_130">130</a></li> + +<li class="cat">Mites not a Mushroom Pest, <a href="#Page_130">130</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li> The Home of, <a href="#Page_130">130</a></li> +<li> Two Kinds of, Common, <a href="#Page_130">130</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li class="cat">Moisture, Condensation of, <a href="#Page_46">46</a></li> + +<li class="cat">Mold on Beds, How Deep to Put, <a href="#Page_105">105</a></li> + +<li class="cat">Money, Pin- <a href="#Page_14">14</a></li> + +<li class="cat">Mushroom, A Perfect,* <a href="#fig24">116</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li> Affected with Black Spot,* <a href="#fig25">125</a></li> +<li> Bed Built Flat on the Ground,* <a href="#fig16">52</a></li> +<li> Bed Five Feet Wide, Profit from, <a href="#Page_12">12</a></li> +<li> Bed, Rigid,* <a href="#fig17">53</a></li> +<li> Beds, <a href="#Page_11">11</a></li> +<li> Beds in England, How made, <a href="#Page_137">137</a></li> +<li> Beds, Making up the, <a href="#Page_74">74</a></li> +<li> Beds, Manure-fatted Loam in, <a href="#Page_26">26</a></li> +<li> Beds, Manure for, <a href="#Page_57">57</a></li> +<li> Beds, Mr. Wilson's,* <a href="#fig15">51</a></li> +<li> Beds on Greenhouse Benches, Objection to, <a href="#Page_42">42</a></li> +<li> Beds, Sites for Around London, <a href="#Page_137">137</a></li> +<li> Cellar, Perspective View of the Dosoris,* <a href="#fig19">58</a></li> +<li> Crop, <a href="#Page_13">13</a></li> +<li> Flock-Diseased,* <a href="#fig26">133</a></li> +<li> Food, <a href="#Page_24">24</a></li> +<li> Growing in the Paris Caves, <a href="#Page_143">143</a></li> +<li> Growing Out of Doors a Specialty, <a href="#Page_136">136</a></li> +<li> Growing, Profit of, Around London, <a href="#Page_136">136</a></li> +<li> Growing, Success in, <a href="#Page_12">12</a></li> +<li> House, A Regular, <a href="#Page_12">12</a></li> +<li> House, Best Kind of, <a href="#Page_11">11</a><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span></li> +<li> House, Cellar Everybody's, <a href="#Page_15">15</a></li> +<li> House, Damping Floors of, <a href="#Page_115">115</a></li> +<li> Houses, Cleaning the, <a href="#Page_135">135</a></li> +<li> Houses, Growing Mushrooms in, <a href="#Page_34">34</a></li> +<li> Houses, Ideal, <a href="#Page_15">15</a></li> +<li> Houses, Whitewashing, <a href="#Page_135">135</a></li> +<li> Season Closed, <a href="#Page_31">31</a></li> +<li> Spawn, <a href="#Page_78">78</a></li> +<li> The "Horse," <a href="#Page_48">48</a></li> +<li> A Winter Crop, <a href="#Page_14">14</a></li> +<li> Advantages of Pulling over Cutting, <a href="#Page_117">117</a></li> +<li> After a Dry Summer, <a href="#Page_55">55</a></li> +<li> And Grapevines, <a href="#Page_13">13</a></li> +<li> Black Spot in, <a href="#Page_124">124</a></li> +<li> Cause of Black Spot in, <a href="#Page_124">124</a></li> +<li> English, <a href="#Page_115">115</a></li> +<li> Filling Stump Holes with Fresh Loam, <a href="#Page_117">117</a></li> +<li> Five Inch Diameter before Expanding, <a href="#Page_47">47</a></li> +<li> For Family Use, <a href="#Page_13">13</a></li> +<li> For Soups, When to Pick, <a href="#Page_116">116</a></li> +<li> Fresh, <a href="#Page_12">12</a></li> +<li> From Natural Spawn, <a href="#Page_48">48</a></li> +<li> From October Until May, <a href="#Page_30">30</a></li> +<li> Gathering and Marketing, <a href="#Page_115">115</a></li> +<li> Gathering Field and Wild, <a href="#Page_118">118</a></li> +<li> Gathering in Cold Weather, <a href="#Page_140">140</a></li> +<li> Good, <a href="#Page_19">19</a></li> +<li> Growing in Cellars, <a href="#Page_15">15</a></li> +<li> Growing in Fields, <a href="#Page_54">54</a></li> +<li> Growing, in Narrow Troughs, <a href="#Page_59">59</a></li> +<li> Growing in Ridges Around London, <a href="#Page_136">136</a></li> +<li> Growing in Sawdust, <a href="#Page_67">67</a></li> +<li> Grown on Greenhouse Benches,* <a href="#fig12">43</a></li> +<li> Growth of from Spawning under Different Temperatures, <a href="#Page_110">110</a></li> +<li> Head Room, <a href="#Page_19">19</a></li> +<li> Importance of Care in Gathering and Packing for Shipment, <a href="#Page_119">119</a></li> +<li> In August and September, <a href="#Page_56">56</a></li> +<li> In Crates and Baskets, <a href="#Page_118">118</a></li> +<li> In the Fields, Plan of Growing, <a href="#Page_55">55</a></li> +<li> Insect and Other Enemies of, <a href="#Page_122">122</a></li> +<li> Knack in Pulling, <a href="#Page_117">117</a></li> +<li> Maggots in, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a></li> +<li> "Maggots" in, appear in April, <a href="#Page_123">123</a></li> +<li> Maggots, Size of, in, <a href="#Page_123">123</a></li> +<li> Marketed in Paper Boxes, <a href="#Page_118">118</a></li> +<li> Marketing, <a href="#Page_118">118</a></li> +<li> Not a Bulky Crop, <a href="#Page_11">11</a></li> +<li> On Greenhouse Bench Under Tomatoes, <a href="#Page_45">45</a></li> +<li> Packed in Punnets for London Market, <a href="#Page_119">119</a></li> +<li> Picking so as not to Disturb Buttons, <a href="#Page_117">117</a></li> +<li> "Pin-Head," <a href="#Page_107">107</a></li> +<li> Profit on, Clear Gain, <a href="#Page_51">51</a></li> +<li> Proper Manner of Picking, <a href="#Page_116">116</a></li> +<li> Pulled, Keeping Qualities of, <a href="#Page_117">117</a></li> +<li> Scooping Out the Stumps, <a href="#Page_117">117</a></li> +<li> Sold by the Pound, <a href="#Page_118">118</a></li> +<li> Sorting and Packing for Market, in England, <a href="#Page_141">141</a></li> +<li> Summer Crops of, <a href="#Page_123">123</a></li> +<li> Under the Benches, <a href="#Page_11">11</a></li> +<li> When Fit to Pick, <a href="#Page_115">115</a></li> +<li> Who Should Grow, <a href="#Page_9">9</a></li> +<li> Wild, <a href="#Page_55">55</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li class="cat">Mulching, When to Remove, <a href="#Page_42">42</a></li> + +<li class="cat">Mycelium, Liquid to Encourage Spread of, <a href="#Page_77">77</a></li> + + +<li class="new_ltr">Odor, Bad, <a href="#Page_20">20</a></li> + +<li class="cat">Outbuildings, <a href="#Page_12">12</a></li> + + +<li class="new_ltr">Paper, Building, <a href="#Page_52">52</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li> Oiled, <a href="#Page_18">18</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li class="cat">Passage-ways, <a href="#Page_18">18</a></li> + +<li class="cat">Pathways, <a href="#Page_16">16</a></li> + +<li class="cat">Peat Moss, Bale of German, <a href="#Page_66">66</a></li> + +<li class="cat">Pipes, Heating, <a href="#Page_17">17</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li> Hot, Injury from, <a href="#Page_48">48</a></li> +<li> Hot Water, <a href="#Page_23">23</a></li> +<li> Sheet Iron, <a href="#Page_27">27</a></li> +<li> Smoke, <a href="#Page_33">33</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li class="cat">Private Gardeners, <a href="#Page_12">12</a></li> + + +<li class="new_ltr">Rats, More Destructive than Mice, <a href="#Page_131">131</a></li> + +<li class="cat">Recipes for Cooking and Preserving Mushrooms, <a href="#Page_150">150</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li> A la Casse, Tout, <a href="#Page_157">157</a></li> +<li> A la Crême, <a href="#Page_154">154</a></li> +<li> Baked, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>, <a href="#Page_78">156</a></li> +<li> Broiled, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>, <a href="#Page_78">156</a></li> +<li> Broiled Beefsteak and, <a href="#Page_158">158</a></li> +<li> Cooked, General Directions for Serving, <a href="#Page_152">152</a></li> +<li> Cooking, <a href="#Page_150">150</a></li> +<li> Cooking, General Preparation of, for, <a href="#Page_151">151</a></li> +<li> Curried, <a href="#Page_154">154</a></li> +<li> Dried, <a href="#Page_160">160</a></li> +<li> Gilbert's Breakfast, <a href="#Page_156">156</a></li> +<li> Ketchup, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>, 161, <a href="#Page_162">162</a></li> +<li> Kind of, to Select for, <a href="#Page_150">150</a></li> +<li> Pickled, <a href="#Page_162">162</a></li> +<li> Potted, <a href="#Page_155">155</a></li> +<li> Powder, <a href="#Page_159">159</a></li> +<li> Soup, <a href="#Page_154">154</a></li> +<li> Soyer's Breakfast, <a href="#Page_153">153</a></li> +<li> Stems, <a href="#Page_155">155</a></li> +<li> Stewed, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>, 157</li> +<li> To Dry, <a href="#Page_159">159</a></li> +<li> To Preserve, <a href="#Page_158">158</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li class="cat">Ridges, <a href="#Page_17">17</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li> Casing the, <a href="#Page_139">139</a></li> +<li> Covering the, <a href="#Page_140">140</a></li> +<li> Covering with Litter, <a href="#Page_139">139</a></li> +<li> Drenching Rains Injurious to, <a href="#Page_139">139</a></li> +<li> First made in August, <a href="#Page_140">140</a></li> +<li> For Growing Mushrooms in Open Field, <a href="#Page_138">138</a></li> +<li> Method of Gathering Mushrooms from, <a href="#Page_141">141</a><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span></li> +<li> Smoothing the, <a href="#Page_139">139</a></li> +<li> The Covered,* <a href="#fig27">140</a></li> +<li> Watering the, <a href="#Page_139">139</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li class="cat">Roof, <a href="#Page_35">35</a></li> + +<li class="cat">Roofs water-tight, <a href="#Page_39">39</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li> Of Tin, <a href="#Page_38">38</a></li> +<li> With Coating of Salt Hay, <a href="#Page_38">38</a></li> +</ul></li> + + +<li class="new_ltr">Salad Plants, <a href="#Page_10">10</a></li> + +<li class="cat">Sashes, <a href="#Page_46">46</a></li> + +<li class="cat">Secret, No, <a href="#Page_14">14</a></li> + +<li class="cat">Shading on Sunny Days, <a href="#Page_42">42</a></li> + +<li class="cat">Shaft, Chimney-like, <a href="#Page_16">16</a></li> + +<li class="cat">Shaft, Tall, Wooden, <a href="#Page_28">28</a></li> + +<li class="cat">Shed, Open on South Side, <a href="#Page_39">39</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li> Potting, <a href="#Page_12">12</a></li> +<li> Warm Potting, <a href="#Page_40">40</a></li> +<li> The Term Applied, <a href="#Page_40">40</a></li> +<li> Tool, <a href="#Page_12">12</a></li> +<li> Wood, <a href="#Page_12">12</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li class="cat">Sheds, Growing Mushrooms in, <a href="#Page_39">39</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li> Unheated, <a href="#Page_40">40</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li class="cat">Shelves, Temporary Structures, <a href="#Page_25">25</a></li> + +<li class="cat">Shutters, Light Wooden, <a href="#Page_53">53</a></li> + +<li class="cat">Slugs, <a href="#Page_127">127</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li> Attack Mushrooms in all Stages, <a href="#Page_127">127</a></li> +<li> Biting into Stems of Mushrooms, <a href="#Page_127">127</a></li> +<li> Fond of Mushrooms, <a href="#Page_127">127</a></li> +<li> How to Catch and Kill, <a href="#Page_128">128</a></li> +<li> Salt Distasteful to, <a href="#Page_128">128</a></li> +<li> The Cause of "Bullet" or "Shot" Holes, <a href="#Page_128">128</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li class="cat">Soil, Conditions of for Casing, <a href="#Page_105">105</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li> Firming the, <a href="#Page_106">106</a></li> +<li> From Slopes and Dry Hollows in Woods, <a href="#Page_101">101</a></li> +<li> Ordinary Garden, <a href="#Page_101">101</a></li> +<li> Peat, or Swamp Muck, <a href="#Page_101">101</a></li> +<li> Sandy, <a href="#Page_101">101</a></li> +<li> Sifting, for Casing, <a href="#Page_105">105</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li class="cat">Southern States, <a href="#Page_10">10</a></li> + +<li class="cat">Spawn, <a href="#Page_13">13</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li> American-made, <a href="#Page_86">86</a></li> +<li> Amount of Imported, <a href="#Page_80">80</a></li> +<li> Another Method by Lachaume, <a href="#Page_94">94</a></li> +<li> Black Colored to be Avoided, <a href="#Page_86">86</a></li> +<li> Breaking, <a href="#Page_23">23</a></li> +<li> Brick,* <a href="#fig21">80</a></li> +<li> Brick, Cut in Pieces for Planting,* <a href="#fig23">97</a></li> +<li> Brick, How to Make, <a href="#Page_87">87</a></li> +<li> Brick, the Best, <a href="#Page_95">95</a></li> +<li> Depth to Plant, <a href="#Page_98">98</a></li> +<li> Effect of Heat and Moisture Upon, <a href="#Page_83">83</a></li> +<li> Effect of Severe Frost Upon, <a href="#Page_83">83</a></li> +<li> English, <a href="#Page_81">81</a></li> +<li> English Brick, <a href="#Page_23">23</a></li> +<li> Flake, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_78">99</a></li> +<li> Flake, Does Best under Cover, <a href="#Page_95">95</a></li> +<li> Flake or French,* <a href="#fig22">82</a></li> +<li> French, <a href="#Page_82">82</a></li> +<li> French Flake, <a href="#Page_24">24</a></li> +<li> Homemade Around London, <a href="#Page_137">137</a></li> +<li> How to Distinguish Good from Poor, <a href="#Page_84">84</a></li> +<li> How to Get, <a href="#Page_79">79</a></li> +<li> How to Keep, <a href="#Page_83">83</a></li> +<li> How to make French (Flake), <a href="#Page_91">91</a></li> +<li> Imported from Europe, <a href="#Page_79">79</a></li> +<li> In Leaf Beds, <a href="#Page_68">68</a></li> +<li> In Manure, Do not Bury, <a href="#Page_10">10</a></li> +<li> Inserting French or Flake, <a href="#Page_98">98</a></li> +<li> Inserting more than Three Inches Deep, <a href="#Page_105">105</a></li> +<li> Insuring Development of, <a href="#Page_49">49</a></li> +<li> Lachaume's Method of Making, <a href="#Page_93">93</a></li> +<li> Making, Distinct Branch, <a href="#Page_87">87</a></li> +<li> Making French Virgin, <a href="#Page_92">92</a></li> +<li> Mill-track, <a href="#Page_81">81</a></li> +<li> Mr. J. Burton's Method of Making, <a href="#Page_90">90</a></li> +<li> Natural, <a href="#Page_81">81</a></li> +<li> New Versus Old, <a href="#Page_83">83</a></li> +<li> Never use Dibber in Planting, <a href="#Page_98">98</a></li> +<li> Other Recipes for Making, <a href="#Page_89">89</a></li> +<li> Planting of in Open Fields, <a href="#Page_54">54</a></li> +<li> Preparing the, <a href="#Page_97">97</a></li> +<li> Principal American Growers of, <a href="#Page_86">86</a></li> +<li> Relative Merits of Flake and Brick, <a href="#Page_94">94</a></li> +<li> Signs of Sterility in, <a href="#Page_85">85</a></li> +<li> Simplest Way of Making, <a href="#Page_88">88</a></li> +<li> Steeped, <a href="#Page_99">99</a></li> +<li> The Way in which it Comes, <a href="#Page_81">81</a></li> +<li> To tell Quality by Smell of, <a href="#Page_85">85</a></li> +<li> Transplanting Pieces of Working, <a href="#Page_99">99</a></li> +<li> "Very Dead," <a href="#Page_84">84</a></li> +<li> "Very Living," <a href="#Page_84">84</a></li> +<li> Virgin, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_91">91</a></li> +<li> What is Mushroom, <a href="#Page_78">78</a></li> +<li> Where Obtained, <a href="#Page_79">79</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li class="cat">Spiders, Red, <a href="#Page_12">12</a></li> + +<li class="cat">Spores, Myriads of, <a href="#Page_78">78</a></li> + +<li class="cat">Spurious Fungi, <a href="#Page_102">102</a></li> + +<li class="cat">Stable, Empty Stall in Horse, <a href="#Page_13">13</a></li> + +<li class="cat">Staging, Erecting Temporary, <a href="#Page_46">46</a></li> + +<li class="cat">Stairway, <a href="#Page_16">16</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li> In Pit, <a href="#Page_32">32</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li class="cat">Standard Crop, <a href="#Page_9">9</a></li> + +<li class="cat">Stoke-hole, <a href="#Page_12">12</a></li> + +<li class="cat">Stove, Common Iron, <a href="#Page_26">26</a></li> + +<li class="cat">Straw, Rye, <a href="#Page_47">47</a></li> + +<li class="cat">Sunlight, Protection from, <a href="#Page_10">10</a></li> + + +<li class="new_ltr">Temperature, <a href="#Page_10">10</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li> At Night, <a href="#Page_41">41</a></li> +<li> About 57° Suitable, <a href="#Page_23">23</a></li> +<li> Fluctuations of, <a href="#Page_15">15</a></li> +<li> From 50° to 60°, <a href="#Page_18">18</a></li> +<li> High, <a href="#Page_19">19</a></li> +<li> In Dosoris Cellars, <a href="#Page_109">109</a></li> +<li> In Midwinter, <a href="#Page_33">33</a></li> +<li> Low, <a href="#Page_15">15</a></li> +<li> Proper, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a></li> +<li> Sudden Changes to be Avoided, <a href="#Page_47">47</a></li> +<li> Too High, Guard Against, <a href="#Page_76">76</a><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span></li> +<li> Winter, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>° Necessary, <a href="#Page_38">38</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li class="cat">Thrips, <a href="#Page_12">12</a></li> + +<li class="cat">Toads, <a href="#Page_131">131</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li> Not to be Recommended, <a href="#Page_131">131</a></li> +<li> Upheaving Clumps of Mushrooms, <a href="#Page_131">131</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li class="cat">Toadstools, <a href="#Page_102">102</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li> On Hotbeds, <a href="#Page_102">102</a></li> +<li> On Manure Piles, <a href="#Page_102">102</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li class="cat">Trapping Rats and Mice, <a href="#Page_131">131</a></li> + +<li class="cat">Traps for Wood Lice, <a href="#Page_129">129</a></li> + +<li class="cat">Tunnel, Subterranean, <a href="#Page_27">27</a></li> + + +<li class="new_ltr">Ventilation, Assisting, <a href="#Page_17">17</a></li> + +<li class="cat">Ventilator, Chimney-like, <a href="#Page_22">22</a></li> + +<li class="cat">Ventilators, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_28">28</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li> Side Window, <a href="#Page_35">35</a></li> +<li> Window and Doors, <a href="#Page_21">21</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li class="cat">Village People and Suburban Residents, <a href="#Page_13">13</a></li> + + +<li class="new_ltr">Wall, Cold, not Injurious, <a href="#Page_30">30</a></li> + +<li class="cat">Walls, <a href="#Page_35">35</a></li> + +<li class="cat">Warmth, Artificial, <a href="#Page_17">17</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li> Steady, <a href="#Page_17">17</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li class="cat">Water, Manure, for Beds in Full Bearing, <a href="#Page_112">112</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li> Space and Double Casing, <a href="#Page_32">32</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li class="cat">Watering, Endeavor to Lessen Necessity of, <a href="#Page_111">111</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li> For, use Clean, Soft Water, <a href="#Page_111">111</a></li> +<li> Over Mulching, <a href="#Page_111">111</a></li> +<li> Pot, Size to use, <a href="#Page_112">112</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li class="cat">Wife, Farmer's, <a href="#Page_14">14</a></li> + +<li class="cat">Windows, <a href="#Page_16">16</a></li> + +<li class="cat">Winds, Piercing, and Draughts, <a href="#Page_39">39</a></li> + +<li class="cat">Women Searching for Remunerative Employment, <a href="#Page_14">14</a></li> + +<li class="cat">Wood Lice, <a href="#Page_129">129</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li> Abundant in Mushroom Houses, <a href="#Page_129">129</a></li> +<li> Eating Potato, <a href="#Page_129">129</a></li> +<li> How to Trap, <a href="#Page_129">129</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li class="cat">Work, Clean, <a href="#Page_14">14</a></li> + +</ul> + +<hr /> + +<p class="center" style="margin-top:4em;"> +A Valuable Periodical for everybody in City, Village, and Country.</p> + +<p class="center" style="font-size:2em; font-weight:bold;">The American Agriculturist.</p> +<p class="center" style="font-size:0.8em;">(ESTABLISHED 1842.)</p> + +<p class="center"><i>THE LEADING INTERNATIONAL PUBLICATION</i></p> +<p class="center" style="font-size:0.8em;">FOR THE</p> +<p class="center" style="font-size:1.2em;">FARM, GARDEN, AND HOUSEHOLD.</p> + + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/fig_ad.jpg" width="500" height="233" alt="advertisement" title="" /> +<br /> +<br /> +</div> + +<p class="indent">A MONTHLY MAGAZINE of from 48 to 64 pages in each number, +containing in each volume upward of 700 pages and over 1000 original +engravings of typical and prize-winning Horses, Cattle, Sheep, Swine, +and Fowls; New Fruits, Vegetables, and Flowers; House and Barn Plans; +New Implements and Labor-saving Contrivances; and many pleasing and +instructive pictures for young and old. +</p> +<p class="indent">THE STANDARD AUTHORITY in all matters pertaining to Agriculture, +Horticulture, and Rural Arts, and the oldest and most ably edited +periodical of its class in the world. +</p> +<p class="center">BEST RURAL PERIODICAL IN THE WORLD.</p> + +<p class="indent">The thousands of hints and suggestions given in every volume are +prepared by practical, intelligent farmers, who know what they write +about.</p> + +<p><b>The Household Department</b> is valuable to every housekeeper, affording +very many useful hints and directions calculated to lighten and +facilitate indoor work.</p> + +<p><b>The Department for Children and Youth</b> is prepared with special care, to +furnish not only amusement, but also to inculcate knowledge and +sound moral principles.</p> + +<p class="center">Subscription Terms: $1.50 a year, postage included; +sample copies, 15c. each, +</p> + +<p class="center">TRY IT A YEAR!</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Address,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">52 & 54 Lafayette Place, New York.</span><br /> +</p> +<hr /> +<p class="center"> +<br /> +<br /> +SENT FREE ON APPLICATION.<br /> +<br /> +DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE<br /> +<br /> +—: OF :—<br /> +<br /> +RURAL BOOKS,<br /> +<br /> +Containing 116 8vo pages, profusely illustrated, and giving full<br /> +descriptions of nearly 600 works on the following subjects:<br /> +</p> +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;"><span class="smcap">Farm And Garden,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 11em;">Fruits, Flowers, Etc.,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 13em;">Cattle, Sheep, and Swine,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">Dogs, Etc., Horses, Riding, Etc.,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 11em;">Poultry, Pigeons, and Bees,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 13em;">Angling and Fishing,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">Boating, Canoeing, and Sailing,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 11em;">Field Sports and Natural History,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 13em;">Hunting, Shooting, Etc.,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">Architecture and Building,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 11em;">Landscape Gardening,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 13em;">Household and Miscellaneous.</span></span><br /> +<br /> +<br /></p> +<p class="center">PUBLISHERS AND IMPORTERS.<br /> +ORANGE JUDD CO.,<br /> +52 & 54 Lafayette Place, New York.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +</p> +<hr /> +<p class="center">STANDARD BOOKS.</p> + +<p><b>Mushrooms. How to Grow Them.</b></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +For home use fresh Mushrooms are a delicious, highly +nutritious and wholesome delicacy; and for market they are +less bulky than eggs, and, when properly handled, no crop is +more remunerative. Anyone who has an ordinary house cellar, +woodshed, or barn can grow Mushrooms. This is the most +practical work on the subject ever written, and the only book +on growing Mushrooms ever published in America. The whole +subject is treated in detail, minutely and plainly, as only a +practical man, actively engaged in Mushroom growing, can +handle it. The author describes how he himself grows +Mushrooms, and how they are grown for profit by the leading +market gardeners, and for home use by the most successful +private growers. The book is amply and pointedly illustrated, +with engravings drawn from nature expressly for this work. By +Wm. Falconer. Is nicely printed and bound in cloth. Price, +post-paid. 1.50 +</div> + +<p><b>Allen's Mew American Farm Book.</b></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +The very best work on the subject; comprising all that can be +condensed into an available volume. Originally by Richard L. +Allen. Revised and greatly enlarged by Lewis F. Allen. Cloth, +12mo. 2.50 +</div> + +<p><b>Henderson's Gardening for Profit.</b></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +By Peter Henderson. New edition. Entirely rewritten and +greatly enlarged. The standard work on Market and Family +Gardening. The successful experience of the author for more +than thirty years, and his willingness to tell, as he does in +this work, the secret of his success for the benefit of +others, enables him to give most valuable information. The +book is profusely illustrated. Cloth, 12mo. 2.00 +</div> + +<p><b>Fuller's Practical Forestry.</b></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +A Treatise on the Propagation, Planting, and Cultivation, with +a description and the botanical and proper names of all the +indigenous trees of the United States, both Evergreen and +Deciduous, with Notes on a large number of the most valuable +Exotic Species. By Andrew S. Fuller, author of "Grape +Culturist" "Small Fruit Culturist" etc. 1.50 +</div> + +<p><b>The Dairyman's Manual.</b></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +By Henry Stewart, author of "The Shepherd's Manual," +"Irrigation," etc. A useful and practical work by a writer who +is well known as thoroughly familiar with the subject of which +he writes. Cloth, 12mo. 2.00 +</div> + +<p><b>Truck Farming at the South.</b></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +A work giving the experience of a successful grower of +vegetables or "grain truck" for Northern markets. Essential to +any one who contemplates entering this promising field of +Agriculture. By A. Oemler, of Georgia. Illustrated. Cloth, 1.50 +</div> + +<p><b>Harris on the Pig.</b></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +New edition. Revised and enlarged by the author. The points of +the various English and American breeds are thoroughly +discussed, and the great advantage of using thoroughbred males +clearly shown. The work is equally valuable to the farmer who +keeps but few pigs, and to the breeder on an extensive scale. +By Joseph Harris. Illustrated. Cloth, 12mo. 1.50 +</div> + +<p><b>Jones's Peanut Plant—Its Cultivation and Uses.</b></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +A practical Book, instructing the beginner how to raise good +crops of Peanuts. By B. W. Jones, Surry Co., Va. Paper Cover, .50 +</div> + +<p><b>Barry's Fruit Garden.</b></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +By P. Barry. A standard work on fruit and fruit-trees; the +author having had over thirty years' practical experience at +the head of one of the largest nurseries in this country. New +edition, revised up to date. Invaluable to all fruit-growers. +Illustrated. Cloth, 12mo. 2.00 +</div> + +<p><b>The Propagation of Plants.</b></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +By Andrew S. Fuller. Illustrated with numerous engravings. An +eminently practical and useful work. Describing the process of +hybridizing and crossing species and varieties, and also the +many different modes by which cultivated plants may be +propagated and multiplied. Cloth, 12mo. 1.50 +</div> + +<p><b>Stewart's Shepherd's Manual.</b></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +A Valuable Practical Treatise on the Sheep for American +farmers and sheep growers. It is so plain that a farmer, or a +farmer's son, who has never kept a sheep, may learn from its +pages how to manage a flock successfully, and yet so complete +that even the experienced shepherd may gather many suggestions +from it. The results of personal experience of some years with +the characters of the various modern breeds of sheep, and the +sheep-raising capabilities of many portions of our extensive +territory and that of Canada—and the careful study of the +diseases to which our sheep are chiefly subject, with those by +which they may eventually be afflicted through unforeseen +accidents—as well as the methods of management called for +under our circumstances, are here gathered. By Henry Stewart. +Illustrated. Cloth, 12mo. 1.50 +</div> + +<p><b>Allen's American Cattle.</b></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +Their History, Breeding, and Management. By Lewis F. Allen. +This Book will be considered indispensable by every breeder of +live stock. The large experience of the author in improving +the character of American herds adds to the weight of his +observations, and has enabled him to produce a work which will +at once make good his claims as a standard authority on the +subject. New and revised edition. Illustrated. Cloth, 12mo. 2.50 +</div> + +<p><b>Fuller's Grape Culturist.</b></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +By. A. S. Fuller. This is one of the very best of works on the +culture of the hardy grapes, with full directions for all +departments of propagation, culture, etc., with 150 excellent +engravings, illustrating planting, training, grafting, etc. +Cloth, 12mo. 1.50 +</div> + +<p><b>White's Cranberry Culture.</b></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<span class="smcap">Contents</span>:— Natural History.— History of Cultivation.— +Choice of Location.— Preparing the Ground.— Planting the +Vines.— Management of Meadows.— Flooding— Enemies and +Difficulties Overcome.— Picking.— Keeping.— Profit and +Loss.— Letters from Practical Growers.— Insects Injurious to +the Cranberry. By Joseph J. White. A practical grower. +Illustrated. Cloth, 12mo. New and revised edition. 1.25 +</div> + +<p><b>Herbert's Hints to Horse-Keepers.</b></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +This is one of the best and most popular works on the Horse in +this country. A Complete Manual for Horsemen, embracing: How +to Breed a Horse; How to Buy a Horse; How to Break a Horse; +How to Use a Horse; How to Feed a Horse; How to Physic a Horse +(Allopathy or Homœpathy); How to Groom a Horse; How to +Drive a Horse; How to Ride a Horse, etc. By the late Henry +William Herbert (Frank Forester), Beautifully Illustrated. +Cloth, 12mo. 1.75 +</div> + +<p><b>Henderson's Practical Floriculture.</b></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +By Peter Henderson. A guide to the successful propagation and +cultivation of florists' plants. The work is not one for +florists and gardeners only, but the amateur's wants are +constantly kept in mind, and we have a very complete treatise +on the cultivation of flowers under glass, or in the open air, +suited to those who grow flowers for pleasure as well as those +who make them a matter of trade. The work is characterized by +the same radical common sense that marked the author's +"Gardening for Profit," and it holds a high place in the +estimation of lovers of agriculture. Beautifully illustrated. +New and enlarged edition. Cloth, 12mo. 1.50 +</div> + +<p><b>Harris's Talks on Manures.</b></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +By Joseph Harris, M. S., author of "Walks and Talks on the +Farm," "Harris on the Pig." etc. Revised and enlarged by the +author. A series of familiar and practical talks between the +author and the deacon, the doctor, and other neighbors, on the +whole subject of manures and fertilizers; including a chapter +specially written for it by Sir John Bennet Lawes, of +Rothamsted, England. Cloth, 12mo. 1.75 +</div> + +<p><b>Waring's Draining for Profit and Draining for Health.</b></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +This book is a very complete and practical treatise, the +directions in which are plain, and easily followed. The +subject of thorough farm drainage is discussed in all its +bearings, and also that more extensive land drainage by which +the sanitary condition of any district may be greatly +improved, even to the banishment of fever and ague, typhoid +and malarious fever. By Geo. E. Waring, Jr. Illustrated. Cloth +12mo. 1.50 +</div> + +<p><b>The Practical Rabbit-Keeper.</b></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +By Cuniculus. Illustrated. A comprehensive work on keeping and +raising Rabbits for pleasure as well as for profit. The book +is abundantly illustrated with all the various Courts, +Warrens, Hutches, Fencing, etc., and also with excellent +portraits of the most important species of rabbits throughout +the world. 12mo. 1.50 +</div> + +<p><b>Quinby's New Bee-Keeping.</b></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +The Mysteries of Bee-keeping Explained. Combining the results +of Fifty Years' Experience, with the latest discoveries and +inventions, and presenting the most approved methods, forming +a complete work. Cloth, 12mo. 1.50 +</div> + +<p><b>Profits in Poultry.</b></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +Useful and Ornamental Breeds and their Profitable Management. +This excellent work contains the combined experience of a +number of practical men in all departments of poultry raising. +It is profusely illustrated and forms an unique and important +addition to our poultry literature. Cloth, 12mo. 1.00 +</div> + +<p><b>Barn Plans and Outbuildings.</b></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +Two Hundred and Fifty-seven Illustrations. A most Valuable +Work, full of Ideas, Hints, Suggestions, Plans, etc., for the +Construction of Barns and Outbuildings, by Practical writers. +Chapters are devoted, among other subjects, to the Economic +Erection and Use of Barns. Grain Barns, House Barns, Cattle +Barns, Sheep Barns, Corn Houses, Smoke Houses, Ice Houses, Pig +Pens, Granaries, etc. There are likewise chapters upon Bird +Houses, Dog Houses, Tool Sheds, Ventilators, Roofs and +Roofing, Doors and Fastenings, Work Shops, Poultry Houses, +Manure Sheds, Barn Yards, Root Pits, etc. Recently published. +Cloth, 12mo. 1.50 +</div> + +<p><b>Parsons on the Rose.</b></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +By Samuel B. Parsons. A treatise on the propagation, culture, +and history of the rose. New and revised edition. In his work +upon the rose, Mr. Parsons has gathered up the curious legends +concerning the flower, and gives us an idea of the esteem in +which it was held in former times. A simple garden +classification has been adopted, and the leading varieties +under each class enumerated and briefly described. The +chapters on multiplication, cultivation, and training are very +full, and the work is altogether one of the most complete +before the public. Illustrated. Cloth, 12mo. 1.00 +</div> + +<p><b>Heinrich's Window Flower Garden.</b></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +The author is a practical florist, and this enterprising +volume embodies his personal experiences in Window Gardening +during a long period. New and enlarged edition. By Julius J. +Heinrich. Fully Illustrated. Cloth, 12mo. .75 +</div> + +<p><b>Liautard's Chart of the Age of the Domestic Animals.</b></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +Adopted by the United States Army. Enables one to accurately +determine the age of horses, cattle, sheep, dogs, and pigs. .50 +</div> + +<p><b>Pedder's Land Measurer for Farmers.</b></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +A convenient Pocket Companion, showing at once the contents of +any piece of land, when its length and width are known, up to +1,500 feet either way, with various other useful farm tables. +Cloth, 18mo; .60 +</div> + +<p><b>How to Plant and What to Do with the Crops.</b></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +With other valuable hints for the Farm, Garden and Orchard. By +Mark W. Johnson. Illustrated. <span class="smcap">Contents</span>: Times for Sowing +Seeds; Covering Seeds; Field Crops; Garden or Vegetable Seeds, +Sweet Herbs, etc.; Tree Seeds; Flower Seeds; Fruit Trees; +Distances Apart for Fruit Trees and Shrubs; Profitable +Farming; Green or Manuring Crops; Root Crops; Forage Plants; +What to do with the Crops; The Rotation of Crops; Varieties; +Paper Covers, post-paid. .50 +</div> + +<p><b>Your Plants.</b></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +Plain and Practical Directions for the Treatment of Tender and +Hardy Plants in the House and in the Garden. By James Sheehan. +The above title well describes the character of the +work—"Plain and Practical." The author, a commercial florist +and gardener, has endeavored, in this work, to answer the many +questions asked by his customers, as to the proper treatment +of plants. The book shows all through that its author is a +practical man, and he writes as one with a large store of +experience. The work better meets the wants of the amateur who +grows a few plants in the window, or has a small flower +Garden, than a larger treatise intended for those who +cultivate plants upon a more extended-scale. Price, post-paid, +paper covers. .40 +</div> + +<p><b>Husmann's American Grape-Growing and Wine-Making.</b></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +By George Husmann of Talcoa vineyards, Napa, California. New +and enlarged edition. With contributions from well-known +grape-growers, giving a wide range of experience. The author +of this book is a recognized authority on the subject. Cloth, +12mo. 1.50 +</div> + +<p><b>The Scientific Angler.</b></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +A general and instructive work on Artistic Angling, by the +late David Foster. Compiled by his Sons. With an Introductory +Chapter and Copious Foot Notes, by William C. Harris, Editor +of the "American Angler." Cloth, 12mo. 1.50 +</div> + +<p><b>Keeping One Cow.</b></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +A collection of Prize Essays, and selections from a number of +other Essays, with editorial notes, suggestions, etc. This +book gives the latest information, and in a clear and +condensed form, upon the management of a single Milch Cow. +Illustrated with full-page engravings of the most famous dairy +cows. Recently published. Cloth, 12mo. 1.00 +</div> + +<p><b>Law's Veterinary Adviser.</b></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +A Guide to the Prevention and Treatment of Disease in Domestic +Animals. This is one of the best works on this subject, and is +especially designed to supply the need of the busy American +Farmer, who can rarely avail himself of the advice of a +Scientific Veterinarian. It is brought up to date and treats +of the Prevention of Disease, as well as of the Remedies. By +Prof. Jas. Law. Cloth, Crown 8vo. 3.00 +</div> + +<p><b>Guenon's Treatise on Milch Cows.</b></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +A Treatise on the Bovine Species in General. An entirely new +translation of the last edition of this popular and +instructive book. By Thos. J. Hand, Secretary of the American +Jersey Cattle Club. With over 100 Illustrations, especially +engraved for this work. Cloth, 12mo. 1.00 +</div> + +<p><b>The Cider Maker's Handbook.</b></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +A complete guide for making and keeping pure cider. By J. M. +Trowbridge. Fully Illustrated. Cloth, 12mo. 1.00 +</div> + +<p><b>Long's Ornamental Gardening for Americans.</b></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +A treatise on Beautifying Homes, Rural Districts, and +Cemeteries. A plain and practical work at a moderate price, +with numerous illustrations, and instructions so plain that +they may be readily followed. By Elias A. Long. Landscape +Architect. Illustrated. Cloth, 12mo. 2.00 +</div> + +<p><b>The Dogs of Great Britain, America and Other Countries.</b></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +New, enlarged and revised edition. Their breeding training and +management, in health and disease; comprising all the +essential parts of the two standard works on the dog, by +"Stonehenge," thereby furnishing for $2 what once cost $11.25. +Contains Lists of all Premiums given at the last Dog Shows. It +Describes the Best Game and Hunting Grounds in America. +Contains over One Hundred Beautiful Engravings, embracing most +noted Dogs in both Continents, making together, with Chapters +by American Writers, the most Complete Dog Book ever +published. Cloth, 12mo. 2.00 +</div> + +<p><b>Stewart's Feeding Animals.</b></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +By Elliot W. Stewart. A new and valuable practical work upon +the laws of animal growth, specially applied to the rearing +and feeding horses, cattle, diary cows, sheep and swine. +Illustrated. Cloth, 12mo. 2.00 +</div> + +<p><b>How to Co-operate.</b></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +A Manual for Co-operators. By Herbert Myrick. This book +describes the how rather than the wherefore of co-operation. +In other words it tells how to manage a co-operative store, +farm or factory, and co-operative dairying, banking and fire +insurance, and co-operative farmers' and women's exchanges for +both buying and selling. The directions given are based on the +actual experience of successful co-operative enterprises in +all parts of the United States. The character and usefulness +of the book commend it to the attention of all men and women +who desire to better their condition. 12mo. Cloth. 1.50 +</div> + + + + +<p style="font-size:1.2em; margin-top:3em;"><b>Transcriber's Notes:</b></p> + +<p>1. Changed Page 1 to Page 9 in Table of Contents Chapter I.</p> + +<p>2. Asterisks are used in the index to refer to illustrations.</p> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Mushrooms: how to grow them, by William Falconer + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MUSHROOMS: HOW TO GROW THEM *** + +***** This file should be named 24944-h.htm or 24944-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/4/9/4/24944/ + +Produced by Steven Giacomelli, Leonard Johnson and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net +(This file was produced from images produced by Core +Historical Literature in Agriculture (CHLA), Cornell +University) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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b/24944.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6301 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Mushrooms: how to grow them, by William Falconer + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Mushrooms: how to grow them + a practical treatise on mushroom culture for profit and pleasure + +Author: William Falconer + +Release Date: March 29, 2008 [EBook #24944] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MUSHROOMS: HOW TO GROW THEM *** + + + + +Produced by Steven Giacomelli, Leonard Johnson and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net +(This file was produced from images produced by Core +Historical Literature in Agriculture (CHLA), Cornell +University) + + + + + + +MUSHROOMS: +How to Grow Them. + +A PRACTICAL TREATISE +ON +Mushroom Culture for Profit and Pleasure. + + +BY +WILLIAM FALCONER. + +ILLUSTRATED. + + + +NEW YORK, +ORANGE JUDD CO. +1892. + + +Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1891, by the +ORANGE JUDD COMPANY, +In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. + + + + +PREFACE + + +Mushrooms and their extensive and profitable culture should concern +every one. For home consumption they are a healthful and grateful food, +and for market, when successfully grown, they become a most profitable +crop. We can have in America the best market in the world for fresh +mushrooms; the demand for them is increasing, and the supply has always +been inadequate. The price for them here is more than double that paid +in any other country, and we have no fear of foreign competition, for +all attempts, so far, to import fresh mushrooms from Europe have been +unsuccessful. + +In the most prosperous and progressive of all countries, with a +population of nearly seventy millions of people alert to every +profitable, legitimate business, mushroom-growing, one of the simplest +and most remunerative of industries, is almost unknown. The market +grower already engaged in growing mushrooms appreciates his situation +and zealously guards his methods of cultivation from the public. This +only incites interest and inquisitiveness, and the people are becoming +alive to the fact that there is money in mushrooms and an earnest demand +has been created for information about growing them. + +The raising of mushrooms is within the reach of nearly every one. Good +materials to work with and careful attention to all practical details +should give good returns. The industry is one in which women and +children can take part as well as men. It furnishes indoor employment in +winter, and there is very little hard labor attached to it, while it can +be made subsidiary to almost any other business, and even a recreation +as well as a source of profit. + +In this book the endeavor has been, even at the risk of repetition, to +make the best methods as plain as possible. The facts herein presented +are the results of my own practical experience and observation, together +with those obtained by extensive reading, travel and correspondence. + +To Mr. Charles A. Dana, the proprietor of the Dosoris mushroom cellars +and estate, I am greatly indebted for opportunities to prepare this +book. For the past eight years everything has been unstintedly placed at +my disposal by him to grow mushrooms in every way I wished, and to +experiment to my heart's content. + +To Mr. William Robinson, editor of _The Garden_, London, I am especially +indebted for many courtesies--permission to quote from _The Garden_, +"Parks and Gardens of Paris," and his other works, and to illustrate the +chapters in this book on Mushroom-growing in the London market gardens +and the Paris caves, with the original beautiful plates from his own +books. + +The recipes given in the chapter on Cooking Mushrooms, except those +prepared for this work by Mrs. Ammersley, although based on the ones +given by Mr. Robinson, have been considerably modified by me and +repeatedly used in my own family. + +My thanks are also due to Mr. John F. Barter, of London, the largest +grower of mushrooms in England, for information given me regarding his +system of cultivation; to Mr. John G. Gardner, of Jobstown, N. J., one +of the most noted growers for market in this country, for facilities +allowed me to examine his method of raising mushrooms; and to Messrs. A. +H. Withington, Samuel Henshaw, George Grant, John Cullen, and other +successful growers for assistance kindly rendered. + + WILLIAM FALCONER. + + DOSORIS, L. I., 1891. + + + + +TABLE OF CONTENTS + +CHAPTER I.--THOSE WHO SHOULD GROW MUSHROOMS 9 + + Market Gardeners-- Florists-- Private Gardeners-- Village + People and Suburban Residents-- Farmers. + +CHAPTER II.--GROWING MUSHROOMS IN CELLARS 15 + + Underground Cellars-- In Dwelling House-- Mr. Gardner's + Method-- Mr. Denton's Method-- Mr. Van Siclen's Method-- The + Dosoris Mushroom Cellar. + +CHAPTER III.--GROWING MUSHROOMS IN MUSHROOM HOUSES 34 + + Building the House-- Mrs. Osborne's Mushroom House-- Interior + Arrangement of Mushroom Houses-- Mr. Samuel Henshaw's Mushroom + House. + +CHAPTER IV.--GROWING MUSHROOMS IN SHEDS 39 + + The Temperature of Interior of the Bed-- Shelf Beds-- The Use + of the Term Shed. + +CHAPTER V.--GROWING MUSHROOMS IN GREENHOUSES 41 + + Cool Greenhouses-- On Greenhouse Benches-- In Frames in the + Greenhouses-- Orchard Houses-- Under Greenhouse Benches-- + Among Other Plants on Greenhouse Benches-- Growing Mushrooms + in Rose Houses-- Drip from the Benches-- Ammonia Arising. + +CHAPTER VI.--GROWING MUSHROOMS IN THE FIELDS 54 + + Mushrooms often appear Spontaneously-- Wild Mushrooms-- Mr. + Henshaw's Plan-- Brick Spawn in Pastures. + +CHAPTER VII.--MANURE FOR MUSHROOM BEDS 57 + + Horse Manure-- Fresher the Better-- Manure of Mules-- Cellar + Manure-- City Stable Manure-- Baled Manure-- Cow Manure-- + German Peat Moss Stable Manure for Mushroom Beds-- Sawdust + Stable Manure for Mushroom Beds-- Tree Leaves-- Spent Hops. + +CHAPTER VIII.--PREPARATION OF THE MANURE 69 + + Preparing out of Doors-- Warm Sunshine-- Fire-fang-- Guard + Against Over Moistening-- The Proper Condition of the Manure-- + Loam and Manure Mixed. + +CHAPTER IX.--MAKING UP THE MUSHROOM BEDS 74 + + The Thickness of the Beds-- Shape of the Beds-- Bottom-heat + Thermometers-- The Proper Temperature-- Too High + Temperature-- Keep the House at 55 deg.. + +CHAPTER X.--MUSHROOM SPAWN 78 + + What is Mushroom Spawn?-- The Mushroom Plant-- Spawn Obtained + at any Seed Store-- Imported from Europe-- The Great + Mushroom-growing Center of the Country-- English Spawn-- + Mill-track Mushroom Spawn-- Flake or French Spawn-- Virgin + Spawn-- How to Keep Spawn-- New Versus Old Spawn-- How to + Distinguish Good from Poor Spawn-- American-made Spawn-- How to + make Brick Spawn-- How to make French (flake) Spawn-- Making + French Virgin Spawn-- A Second Method-- Third Method-- Relative + Merits of Flake and Brick Spawn. + +CHAPTER XI.--SPAWNING THE BEDS 96 + + Preparing the Spawn-- Steeped Spawn-- Flake Spawn-- + Transplanting Working Spawn. + +CHAPTER XII.--LOAM FOR THE BEDS 100 + + Cavities in the Surface of Beds-- The Best Kind of Loam-- + Common Loam-- Ordinary Garden Soil-- Roadside Dirt-- Sandy + Soil-- Peat Soil or Swamp Muck-- Heavy, Clayey Loam-- Loam + Containing Old Manure. + +CHAPTER XIII.--EARTHING OVER THE BEDS 103 + + Loam is Indispensable-- The Best Soil-- Proper Time to Case + Beds-- Inserting the Spawn-- Sifting the Soil-- Firming the + Soil-- Green Sods. + +CHAPTER XIV.--TOPDRESSING WITH LOAM 107 + + Beds that are in Full Bearing-- Filling up the Holes-- Firming + the Dressing to the Bed-- Beds in which Black Spot has + Appeared. + +CHAPTER XV.--THE PROPER TEMPERATURE 109 + + Covering the Beds with Hay-- A High Temperature-- In a + Temperature of 50 deg.-- In a Temperature of 55 deg.-- Boxing Over the + Bed. + +CHAPTER XVI.--WATERING MUSHROOM BEDS 111 + + Artificially Heated Mushroom Houses-- Sprinkling Water over + Mulching-- Watering Pots-- Manure Water-- Preparing Manure + Water-- Common Salt-- Sprinkling the Floors-- Houses Heated by + Smoke Flues-- Manure Steam for Moistening the Atmosphere. + +CHAPTER XVII.--GATHERING AND MARKETING MUSHROOMS 115 + + When Mushrooms are Fit to Pick-- Picking-- The Advantages of + Pulling over Cutting-- Pulled Mushrooms-- Gathering Field or + Wild Mushrooms-- Marketing Mushrooms. + +CHAPTER XVIII.--RE-INVIGORATING OLD BEDS 120 + + Worn Out Beds-- Spurts of Increased Fertility-- A Spent + Mushroom Bed-- Living Spawn. + +CHAPTER XIX.--INSECT AND OTHER ENEMIES 122 + + Maggots-- Black Spot-- Manure Flies-- Slugs-- "Bullet" or + "Shot" Holes-- Wood Lice-- Mites-- Mice and Rats-- Toads-- + Fogging Off-- Flock-- Cleaning the Mushroom Houses. + +CHAPTER XX.--GROWING MUSHROOMS IN RIDGES OUT OF DOORS + AROUND LONDON 136 + + Ridges in the Open Field-- Bed Making-- Manure Obtained from + City Stables-- The Site for Beds-- Planting the Spawn-- + Drenching Rains-- Russia Mats-- The First Beds-- The First + Cutting-- Watering. + +CHAPTER XXI.--MUSHROOM GROWING IN THE PARIS CAVES 143 + + Caves and Subterranean Passages-- The Manure Used-- + Preparation of the Manure-- Making the Beds-- The Spawn-- + Stratifying the Spawn-- Chips and Powder of Stone-- Earthing + Over the Beds-- Temperature in High-roofed Caves-- When the + Mushrooms are Gathered-- Proper Ventilation. + +CHAPTER XXII.--COOKING MUSHROOMS 150 + + Baked Mushrooms-- Stewed Mushrooms-- Soyer's Breakfast + Mushrooms-- Mushrooms a la Creme-- Curried Mushrooms-- Broiled + Mushrooms-- Mushroom Soup-- Mushroom Stews-- Potted Mushrooms-- + Gilbert's Breakfast Mushrooms-- Baked Mushrooms-- Mushrooms a + la Casse, Tout-- Broiled Beefsteak and Mushrooms-- To Preserve + Mushrooms-- Mushroom Powder-- To Dry Mushrooms-- Dried + Mushrooms-- Mushroom Ketchup-- Pickled Mushrooms. + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + + +Mushroom Cellar under a Barn, 16 +Boxed-up Frame with Straw Covering, 19 +Cross Section of the Dosoris Mushroom Cellar, 27 +Ground Plan of the Dosoris Cellar, 28 +Base-burning Water Heater, 32 +Vertical Section of Base-burning Water Heater, 32 +Mushroom House Built Against a North-facing Wall, 34 +Section of Mrs. Osborne's Mushroom House, 35 +Ground Plan of Mrs. Osborne's Mushroom House, 36 +Interior View of Mr. S. Henshaw's Mushroom House, 38 +Boxed Mushroom Bed under Greenhouse Bench, 41 +Mushrooms Grown on Greenhouse Benches, 43 +Wide Bed with Pathway Above, 44 +Mushrooms on Greenhouse Benches under Tomatoes, 45 +Mr. Wm. Wilson's Mushroom Beds, 51 +Mushroom Bed Built Flat upon the Ground, 52 +Ridged Mushroom Bed, 53 +Banked Bed against a Wall, 53 +Perspective View of the Dosoris Mushroom Cellar, 58 +Bale of German Peat Moss, 66 +Brick Spawn, 80 +Flake, or French Spawn, 82 +Brick Spawn Cut in Pieces for Planting, 97 +A Perfect Mushroom, 116 +Mushrooms Affected with Black Spot, 125 +A Flock-Diseased Mushroom, 133 +The Covered Ridges, 140 +In the Mushroom Caves of Paris, 147 +Gathering Mushrooms in the Paris Caves for Market, 149 + + + + +MUSHROOMS, HOW TO GROW THEM. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +THOSE WHO SHOULD GROW MUSHROOMS. + + +=Market Gardeners.=--The mushroom is a highly prized article of food +which can be as easily grown as many other vegetable products of the +soil--and with as much pleasure and profit. Below it is shown, in +particular, that this peculiar plant is singularly well adapted to the +conditions that surround many classes of persons, and by whom the +mushroom might become a standard crop for home use, the city market, or +both. It is directly in their line of business; is a winter crop, +requiring their care when outdoor operations are at a standstill, and +they can most conveniently attend to growing mushrooms. They have the +manure needed for their other crops, and they may well use it first for +a mushroom crop. After having borne a crop of mushrooms it is thoroughly +rotted and in good condition for early spring crops; and for seed beds +of tomatoes, lettuces, cabbages, cauliflowers, and other vegetables, it +is the best kind of manure. + +Years ago market gardening near New York in winter was carried on in +rather a desultory way, and the supply of salads and other forced +vegetables was limited and mostly raised in hotbeds and other frames, +and prices ran high. But of recent years our markets in winter have +been so liberally supplied from the Southern States, that, in order to +save themselves, our market gardeners have been compelled to take up a +fresh line in their business, and renounce the winter frames in favor of +greenhouses, and grow crops which many of them did not handle before. +These greenhouses are mostly long, wide (eighteen to twenty feet), low, +hip-roofed (30 deg.) structures. In most of them the salad beds are made +upon the floor, and the pathways are sunken a little so as to give +headroom in walking and working. Others of these greenhouses are built a +little higher, and middle and side benches are erected within them, as +in the case of florists' greenhouses, and with the view of growing salad +plants on these benches as florists do carnations, and mushrooms under +the benches. The mushrooms are protected from sunlight by a covering of +light boards, or hay, or the space under the benches is entirely shut +in, cupboard fashion, with wooden shutters. The temperature is very +favorable for mushrooms,--steady and moderately cool, and easily +corrected by the covering-in of the beds; and the moisture of the +atmosphere of a lettuce house is about right for mushrooms. In such a +house the day temperature may run up, with sunshine, to 65 deg. or 70 deg. in +winter, but an artificial night temperature of only 45 deg. to 50 deg. is +maintained. Under these conditions, with the beds about fifteen inches +thick, they should continue to yield a good crop of short-stemmed, stout +mushrooms for two or three months, possibly longer. + +Besides growing the mushrooms in greenhouses our market gardeners are +very much in earnest in cultivating them in cellars. Some of these +cellars are ordinary barn cellars, others--large and commodious--have +been built under barns and greenhouses, purposely for the cultivation of +mushrooms. Several of these mushroom cellars may be found on Long +Island between Jamaica and Woodhaven. + +=Florists.=--In midwinter the cut flower season is at its height and the +florist endeavors to make all the money out of his greenhouses that he +possibly can; every available inch of space exposed to the light is +occupied by growing plants, and under the benches alongside of the +pathways dahlias, cannas, caladiums, and other tubers and bulbs are +stored, also ivies, palms, succulents and the like. In order that the +plants may be more fully exposed to the sunlight, they are grown on +benches raised above the ground so as to bring them near to the glass; +and the greenhouse seems to be full to overflowing. But right here we +have the best kind of a mushroom house. The space under the benches, +which is nearly useless for other purposes, is admirably adapted for +mushroom beds, and the warmth and moisture of the greenhouse are +exceptionally congenial conditions for the cultivation of mushrooms. +Florists need the loam and manure anyway, and these are just as good for +potting purposes--better for young stock--after having been used in the +mushroom beds than they were before, so that the additional expense in +connection with the crop is the labor in making the beds and the price +of the spawn. Mushrooms are not a bulky crop; they require no space or +care in summer, are easily grown, handled, and marketed, and there is +always a demand for them at a good price. If the crop turns out well it +is nearly all profit; if it is a complete failure very little is lost, +and it must be a bad failure that will not yield enough to pay for its +cost. Why should the florist confine himself to one crop at a time in +the greenhouse when he may equally well have two crops in it at the same +time, and both of them profitable? He can have his roses on the benches +and mushrooms under the benches, and neither interferes with the other. +Let us take a very low estimate: In a greenhouse a hundred feet long +make a five foot wide mushroom bed under the main bench; this will give +500 square feet of bed, and half a pound to the foot will give 250 +pounds of mushrooms, which, sold at fifty cents a pound net, brings +$125. This amount the florist would not have realized without growing +the mushrooms. + +=Private Gardeners.=--It is a part of their routine duty, and success in +mushroom growing is as satisfactory to themselves as it is gratifying to +their employers. Fresh mushrooms, like good fruit and handsome flowers, +are a product of the garden that is always acceptable. One of the +principal pleasures in having a large garden and keeping a gardener +consists in being able to give to others a part of the choicest garden +products. + +In most pretentious gardens there is a regular mushroom house, and the +growing of mushrooms is an easy matter; in others there is no such +convenience, and the gardener has to trust to his own ingenuity where +and how he is to grow the mushrooms. But so long as he has an abundance +of fresh manure he can usually find a place in which to make the beds. +In the tool-shed, the potting-shed, the wood-shed, the stoke-hole, the +fruit-room, the vegetable-cellar, or in some other out-building he can +surely find a corner; or, handier still, convenient room under the +greenhouse benches, where he can make some beds. Failing all of these he +can start in August or September and make beds outside, as the London +market gardeners do. + +In fruit-forcing houses, especially early graperies, gardeners have a +prejudice against growing any other plants than the grapevines lest red +spiders, thrips, or mealy bugs are introduced with the plants, but in +the case of mushrooms no such grounds are tenable. As the vines have +yielded their fruit by midsummer and ripened their wood early so as to +be ready for starting into growth again in December or January, the +grapery is kept cool and ventilated in the fall and early winter, but +this need not interfere with the mushroom crop. Box up the beds or make +them in frames inside the grapery; the warm manure will afford the +mushrooms heat enough until it is time to start the vines, when the +increased temperature and moisture of the house will be in favor of the +mushrooms because of the declining heat in the manure beds. The +mushrooms have no deleterious effect whatever upon the vines, nor have +the vines upon the mushrooms. + +=Village People and Suburban Residents.=--Those who keep horses should, +at least, grow mushrooms for their own family use and, if need be, for +market as well. They are so easily raised, and they take up so little +space that they commend themselves particularly to those who have only a +village or suburban lot, and, in fact, only a barn. And they are not a +crop for which we have to make a great preparation and need a large +quantity of manure. No matter how small the bed may be, it will bear +mushrooms; and if we desire we can add to the bed week after week, as +our store of manure increases, and in this way keep up a continuous +succession of mushrooms. A bed may be made in the cow-house or +horse-stable, the carriage-house, barn-cellar, woodshed, or +house-cellar; or if we can not spare much room anywhere, make a bed in a +big box and move it to where it will be least in the way. But the best +place is, perhaps, the cellar. An empty stall in a horse-stable is a +capital place, and not only affords room for a full bed on the floor, +but for rack-beds as well. + +=Farmers.=--No one can grow mushrooms better or more economically than +the farmer. He has already the cellar-room, the fresh manure and the +loam at home, and all he needs is some spawn with which to plant the +beds. Nothing is lost. The manure, after having been used in mushroom +beds, is not exhausted of its fertility, but, instead, is well rotted +and in a better condition to apply to the land than it was before being +prepared for the mushroom crop. The farmer will not feel the little +labor that it takes. There is no secret whatever connected with it, and +skilled labor is unnecessary to make it successful. The commonest farm +hand can do the work, which consists of turning the manure once every +day or two for about three weeks, then building it into a bed and +spawning and molding it. Nearly all the labor for the next ten or twelve +weeks consists in maintaining an even temperature and gathering and +marketing the crop. + +Many women are searching for remunerative and pleasant employment upon +the farm, and what can be more interesting, pleasant and profitable work +for them than mushroom-growing? After the farmer makes up the mushroom +bed his wife or daughter can attend to its management, with scarcely any +tax upon her time, and without interfering with her other domestic +duties. And it is clean work; there is nothing menial about it. No lady +in the land would hesitate to pick the mushrooms in the open fields, how +much less, then, should she hesitate to gather the fresh mushrooms from +the clean beds in her own clean cellar? Mushrooms are a winter crop; +they come when we need them most. The supply of eggs in the winter +season is limited enough, and pin-money often proportionately short; but +with an insatiable market demand for mushrooms all winter long, at good +prices, no farmer's wife need care whether the hens lay eggs at +Christmas or not. When mushroom-growing is intelligently conducted there +is more money in it than in hens, and with less trouble. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +GROWING MUSHROOMS IN CELLARS. + + +=Underground Cellars.=--Mushrooms require a uniform moderately low +temperature and moist atmosphere, and will not thrive where draughts, or +sudden fluctuations of temperature or moisture prevail. Therefore an +underground cellar is the best of all structures in which to grow +mushrooms. The cellar is everybody's mushroom house. + +Cellars are under dwellings, barns, and often under other out-buildings. +These cellars are imperative for domestic purposes, for storing apples, +potatoes and other root crops and perishable produce; and for these uses +we need to make them frost proof and dry. These cellars are ideal +mushroom houses, and any one who has a good cellar can grow mushrooms in +it. In fact, our market gardeners who are making money out of mushrooms +find it pays them to excavate and build cellars expressly for growing +mushrooms. Indeed, some of our market gardeners who have never grown a +mushroom or seen one grown, but who know well that some of their +neighbors are making money out of this business, instinctively feel that +the first step in mushroom-growing is a cellar. It is almost incredible +how secretly the market growers guard everything in connection with +mushroom-growing from the outside world, and even from one another; in +fact, in some cases their next-door neighbors and life-long intimate +friends have never been inside their mushroom cellars. + +If a cellar is to be wholly devoted to mushroom-growing it should be +made as warm as possible with double windows, and double doors, where +the entrance is from the outside, but if from another building single +doors will suffice. A chimney-like shaft or shafts rising from the +ceiling should be used as ventilators in winter, when we can not +ventilate from doors or windows; indeed, side ventilation at anytime +when the beds are in bearing condition is rather precarious. There +should be some indoor way of getting into the cellar, as by a stairway +from the building above it. Also an easy way of getting in fresh +materials for the beds, and removing the exhausted material. This is, +perhaps, best obtained by having a door that opens to the outside, or a +moderately large one from the building above. + +[Illustration: FIG. 1. MUSHROOM CELLAR UNDER A BARN.] + +The interior arrangement of the cellar is a matter of choice with the +grower, but the simplest way is to have beds three or four feet wide +around the inside of the walls, and beds six feet wide, with pathways +two, or two and one-half feet wide between them running parallel along +the middle of the cellar. Above these floor-beds, shelf-beds in tiers of +one, two, or three, according to the height of the cellar, may be +formed, always leaving a space of two and one-half or three feet between +the bottom of one bed and the bottom of the next. This is very +necessary, in order to admit of making and tending the beds and +gathering the crop, and emptying the beds when they are exhausted. + +Provision should also be made for the artificial heating of these +cellars, and room given for the heating pipes wherever they are to run. +But wherever fire heat is used in heating these cellars, if practicable, +the furnace itself should be boxed off, by a thin brick wall, from the +main cellar, and the pipes only introduced. This does away with the dust +and noxious gas, and modifies the parching heat. + +But in a snug, warm cellar, artificial heat is not absolutely necessary. +We can grow capital crops of mushrooms in such a cellar without any +furnace heat, simply by using a larger body of material in making the +beds,--enough to maintain a steady warmth for a long time. But this, +observe, is a waste of material, for no more mushrooms can be grown in a +bed two feet thick than in one a foot thick. In an unheated cellar the +mushrooms grow large and solid, but they do not come so quickly nor in +such large numbers as in a heated one. And a little artificial warmth +has the effect of dispelling that cold, raw, damp air peculiar to a +pent-up cellar in winter, and purifies the atmosphere by assisting +ventilation. + +Instead of using box beds, some growers spread the bed all over the +floor of the cellar, and leave no pathway whatever, stepping-boards or +raised pathways being used instead. Of course, in these instances, no +shelf beds are used. Others make ridge beds all over the cellar floor, +as the Parisians do in the caves. The ridges are two feet wide at +bottom, two feet high, and six or eight inches wide at top, and there +is a foot alley between them. Here, again, no shelf beds are used. + +One of the chief troubles with flat-roofed mushroom cellars is the drip +from the condensed moisture rising from the beds, and this is more +apparent in unheated than in heated cellars,--the wet gathers upon the +ceiling and, having no slope to run off, drips down again. Oiled paper +or calico strung along [Symbol: Inverted V] wise above the upper beds +protects them perfectly; whatever falls upon the passage-ways upon the +floor does no harm. + +In any other outhouse cellar, as well as in one completely given over to +this use, we can make up beds and grow good mushrooms. Mr. James Vick +told me that at his seed farm near Rochester he raises many mushrooms in +winter in his potato cellars; and so can any one in similar places. Mr. +John Cullen, of South Bethlehem, Pa., a very successful cultivator, +tells me that his present mushroom cellar used to be a large underground +cistern, but with a little fixing, and opening a passage-way to it from +a neighboring cellar, he has converted it into an excellent cellar for +mushrooms, and surely the immense crops that I have seen in that cave of +total darkness justify his good opinion of it. + +=In Dwelling House.=--The cellar of a dwelling house is a capital place +for mushroom beds, and can be used in whole or part for this purpose. In +the case of private families who wish to grow a few mushrooms only for +their own use it is not necessary to devote a whole cellar to it; but +partition off a part of it with boards and make the beds in this. Or +make a bed alongside of the wall anywhere and box it in to protect it +from cold and draughts, and mice and rats. You can have shelves above it +for domestic purposes, just as you would in any other part of the +cellar. Bear in mind that mushrooms thrive best in an atmospheric +temperature of from 50 deg. to 60 deg., and if you can give them this in your +house-cellar you ought to get plenty of good mushrooms. But if such a +high temperature can not be maintained without impairing the usefulness +of the cellar for other purposes, box up the beds tightly, and from the +heat of the bed itself, when thus confined, there usually will be warmth +enough for the mushrooms, but if not spread a piece of old carpet or +matting over the boxing. + +The beds may be made upon the floor, and flat, or ridged, or banked +against the wall, ten or twelve inches deep in a warm cellar, and +fifteen to twenty inches or more deep in a cool cellar, and about three +feet wide and any length to suit. + +[Illustration: FIG. 2. BOXED-UP FRAME WITH STRAW COVERING.] + +The boxing may consist of any kind of boards for sides and ends, and be +built about six or ten inches higher than the top of the beds, so as to +give the mushrooms plenty headroom; the top of the boxing may be a lid +hung on hinges or straps, or otherwise arranged, to admit of being +easily raised or removed at will, and made of light lumber, say one-half +inch thick boards. In this way, by opening the lid, the mushrooms are +under observation and can be gathered without any trouble. When the lid +is shut they are secure from cold and vermin. Thus protected the cellars +can be ventilated without interfering with the welfare of the +mushrooms. A light wooden frame covered with calico or oiled paper +would also make a good top for the boxing, only it would not be proof +against much cold, or rats or mice. If desirable, in warm cellars, shelf +beds could be built above the floor beds, but in cool, airy cellars this +would not be advisable. + +Manure beds in the dwelling-house cellar may seem highly improper to +many people, but in truth, when rightly handled, these beds emit no bad +odor. The manure should be prepared away from the house, and when ready +for making into beds it can be spread out thin, so as to become +perfectly cool and free from steam. When it has lain for two days in +this condition it may be brought into the cellar and made into beds. +Having been well sweetened by previous preparation, it is now cool and +free from steam, and almost odorless; after a few days it will warm up a +little, and may then be spawned and earthed over at once. Do not bury +the spawn in the manure, merely set it in the surface of the manure; +this saves the spawn from being destroyed by too great a heat, should +the bed become unduly warm. This, if the manure has been well prepared, +is not likely to occur. The coating of loam prevents the escape of any +further steam or odor from the manure. + +On the 14th of January last, Mr. W. Robinson, editor of the London +_Garden_, in writing to me, mentioned the following very interesting +case of growing mushrooms in the cellar of a dwelling house: "I went out +the other day to see Mr. Horace Cox, the manager of the _Field_ +newspaper, who lives at Harrow, near the famous school. His house is +heated by a hot-water system called Keith's, and the boiler is in a +chamber in the house in the basement. The system interested me and I +went down to see the boiler, which is a very simple one worked with coke +refuse. However, I was pleased to see all the floor of the room not +occupied by the boiler covered with little flat mushroom beds and +bearing a very good crop. Truth to tell, I used to fear growing +mushrooms in dwelling houses might be objectionable in various ways; but +this instance is very interesting, as there is not even the slightest +unpleasant smell in the chamber itself. The beds are small, scarcely a +foot high, and perfectly odorless; so that it is quite clear that one +may cultivate mushrooms in one's house, in such a case as this, without +the slightest offence." + +=Mr. Gardner's Method.=--Mr. J. G. Gardner, of Jobstown, N. J., uses an +ordinary cellar, such as any farmer in the country has, and the little +that has been done to it to darken the windows and make them tight, so +as to render them better for mushrooms, any farmer with a hand-saw, an +ax, a hammer and a few nails and some boards can do. Mr. Gardner is a +market gardener, and has not the amount of fresh manure upon his own +place that he needs for mushroom-growing, but he buys it, common horse +manure, in New York, and it is shipped to him, over seventy miles, by +rail. And this pays; and if it will pay a man to get manure at such a +cost for mushroom-growing, how much more will mushroom-growing pay the +farmer who has the cellar and the manure as well? Mr. Gardner raises +mushrooms, and lots of them. When I visited him last November, instead +of trying to hide anything in their cultivation from me, he took +particular pains to show and explain to me everything about his way of +growing them. And he assures me that by adopting simple means of +preparing the manure and "fixing" for the crop, and avoiding all +complicated methods, one can get good crops and make fair profits. + +His cellar is sixty feet long, twenty-four feet wide, and nine feet high +from floor to ceiling. The floor is an earthen one, but perfectly dry. +It is well supplied with window ventilators and doors, and in the +ceiling in the middle of the cellar opens a tall shaft or chimney-like +ventilator that passes straight up through the roof above. While the +beds are being made full ventilation by doors, windows and shaft is +given, but as soon as there is any sign of the mushrooms appearing all +ventilators except the shaft in the middle are shut and kept closed. + +The bed occupies the whole surface of the cellar floor and was all made +up in one day. As a pathway, a single row of boards is laid on the top +of the bed, running lengthwise along the middle of the cellar from the +door to the farther end, and here and there between this narrow path and +the walls on either side a few pieces of slate are laid down on the bed +to step upon when gathering the mushrooms. Here is the oddest thing +about Mr. Gardner's mushroom-growing. He does not give the manure any +preparatory treatment for the beds. He hauls it from the cars to the +cellar, at once spreads it upon the floor and packs it solid into a bed. +For example, on one occasion the manure arrived at Jobstown, July 8th; +it was hauled home and the bed made up the same day, and the first +mushrooms were gathered from this bed the second week in +September,--just two months from the time the manure left the New York +or Jersey City stables. The bed was fifteen inches thick. In making it +the manure was first shaken up loosely to admit of its being more evenly +spread than if pitched out in heavy forkfuls, and it was then tramped +down firmly with the feet. The bed was then marked off into halves. On +one half (No. 1) a layer of a little over three inches of loam was at +once placed over the manure; on the other half (No. 2) no loam was used +at this time, but the manure on the surface of the bed--about three +inches deep--was forked over loosely. Twelve days after having been put +in the temperature of the bed No. 2, three inches deep, was 90 deg., and +then it was spawned. On the next day the soil from bed No. 1, spawned +four days earlier, was thrown upon bed No. 2, and then part of the soil +that was thrown on No. 1 was thrown back again on No. 2, so that now a +coating of loam an inch and a half deep covered the whole surface of the +bed. When finished the surface was tamped gently with a tamper with a +face of pine plank sixteen inches long by twelve inches wide. Mr. +Gardner does not believe in the alleged advantages of a hard-packed +surface on the mushroom bed, but is inclined to favor a moderately firm +one. + +He uses the English brick spawn, which is sold by our seedsmen. He has +tried making his own spawn, but owing to not having proper means for +drying it, he has had rather indifferent success. + +Almost all growers insert the pieces of spawn about two to three inches +under the surface of the manure, one piece at a time, and at regular +intervals of nine inches or thereabouts apart each way--lengthwise and +crosswise. But here, again, Mr. Gardner displays his individuality. He +breaks up the spawn in the usual way, in pieces one or two inches +square. Of course, in breaking it up there is a good deal of fine +particles besides the lumps. With an angular-pointed hoe he draws drills +eighteen inches apart and two and one-half to three inches deep +lengthwise along the bed, and in the rows he sows the spawn, as if he +were sowing peach stones, or walnuts, or snap beans, and covers it in as +if it were seeds. + +Mr. Gardner regards 57 deg. as the most suitable temperature for a mushroom +house or cellar, and, if possible, maintains that without the aid of +fire-heat. He has hot-water pipes connected with the contiguous +greenhouse heating arrangement in his cellar, but he never uses them for +heating the mushroom cellar except when obliged to. By mulching his bed +with straw he gets along without any fire-heat, but this is very +awkward when gathering the mushrooms. + +After the bed has borne a little while it is top-dressed all over with a +half-inch layer of fine soil. Before using, this soil has been kept in a +close place--pit, frame, shed, or large box--in which there was, at the +same time, a lot of steaming-hot manure, so that it might become +thoroughly charged with mushroom food absorbed from the steam from the +fermenting material. + +Should any portion of the bed get very dry, water of a temperature of +90 deg. is given gently and somewhat sparingly through a fine-spraying +water-pot rose, or syringe. Enough water is never given at any one time +to penetrate through the casing into the manure below or the spawn in +the manure. But rather than make a practice of watering the beds, Mr. +Gardner finds it is better to maintain a moist atmosphere, and thus +lessen the necessity for watering. + +Mr. Gardner firmly believes that the mushrooms derive much nourishment +from the "steam" of fermenting fresh horse manure, and by using this +"steam" in our mushroom houses we can maintain an atmosphere almost +moist enough to be able to dispense with the use of the syringe, and the +mushrooms are fatter and heavier for it. And he practices what he +preaches. In one end of his mushroom cellar he has a very large, deep, +open box, half filled with steaming fresh horse-droppings, and once or +twice a day he tosses these over with a dung-fork, in order to raise a +"steam," which it certainly does. It is also for this purpose that he +introduces the loam so soon when making the beds, so that it may become +charged with food that otherwise would be dissipated in the atmosphere. + +There is a marked difference between the mushrooms raised from the +French flake spawn and those from the English brick spawn, but he has +never observed any distinct varieties from the same kind of spawn. +Sometimes a few mushrooms will appear that are somewhat differently +formed from those of the general crop, but this he regards as the result +of cultural conditions rather than of true varietal differences. + +His last year's bed began bearing early in November, and continued to +bear a good crop until the first of May. After that time, no matter what +the crop may be, the mushrooms become so infested with maggots as to be +perfectly worthless, and they are cleared out. It is on account of the +large body of manure in the bed, and the low, genial, and equable +temperature of the cellar that the beds in this house always continue so +long in good cropping condition. + +Some years ago the mushrooms were not gathered till their heads had +opened out flat, but nowadays the marketmen like to get them when they +are quite young and before the skin of the frill between the cup and the +stem has broken apart. A good market is found in New York, Philadelphia +and Boston. + +=Mr. Denton's Method.=--Mr. W. H. Denton, of Woodhaven, L. I., is an +extensive market gardener about ten miles from New York. During the +summer months he grows outdoor vegetables for the New York and Brooklyn +markets, and in winter mushrooms in cellars. He has no greenhouses. +Under his barns he has two large cellars which he devotes entirely to +mushroom-growing in winter. The cellars are seven and one-half feet high +inside; the beds five feet wide, nine inches deep, two feet apart, and +run parallel to one another the whole length of the cellar. The beds are +three deep, that is, one bed is made upon the floor, and the other two, +rack or shelf fashion, are made above the floor bed, and two and +one-half feet apart from the bottom of the one bed to the bottom of the +one above it. The shelves altogether are temporary structures built of +ordinary rough scantling and hemlock boards, and the beds are all one +board deep. + +A common iron stove and string of sheet iron smoke pipes are used for +heating the cellars. But he tells me the parching effect is very visible +on the beds, it dries them up on the surface very much, and he has to +sprinkle them frequently with water to keep them moist enough. During +the late summer and fall months, on his return trips from the Brooklyn +markets, Mr. Denton hauls home fresh horse manure from the City stables. +All that he can put on a wagon costs him about twenty-five cents; and +this is what he uses for mushrooms. He prepares it in a large open shed +just above the cellar, and when it is fit for use he adds about +one-third of its bulk of loam. The loam is the ordinary field soil from +his market garden. He tells me he has better success with beds made up +in this way than when manure alone is used. We all know how very heavily +market gardeners manure their land, also how vigorously most writers on +mushroom culture denounce the use of manure-fatted loam in mushroom +beds, but here is Mr. Denton, the most successful grower of mushrooms +for market in the neighborhood of New York, practicing the very thing +that is denounced! While he likes good lively manure to begin with he is +very careful not to use it soon enough to run any risk of overheating in +the beds. The loam in the manure counteracts this strong heating +tendency, also with the loam mixture the shelf-beds can be built much +more firmly than with plain manure on the springy boards. When the +temperature falls to 90 deg. he spawns the beds. + +He uses both French and brick spawn, but leans with most favor to the +latter, of which in the fall 1889 he used 400 lbs. He markets from 1700 +to 2500 lbs. of mushrooms a year from these two cellars. Mr. Denton +believes emphatically in cleanliness in the mushroom cellar, and +ascribes his best successes to his most thorough cleaning. Every summer +he cleans out his cellars and limewashes all over. + +=Mr. Van Siclen's Method.=--Mr. Abram Van Siclen, of Jamaica, L. I., +also grows mushrooms very extensively in underground cellars, whose +arrangements do not differ materially from those of Mr. Denton's, except +in his manner of heating. He runs an immense greenhouse +vegetable-growing establishment, as well as a summer truck farm, and +uses hot water heating apparatus, also smoke flues as employed +ordinarily in greenhouses, especially lettuce houses. The sheet iron +pipes, except in squash houses, he does not hold in much favor. + +[Illustration: FIG. 3. CROSS-SECTION OF THE DOSORIS MUSHROOM CELLAR.] + +=The Dosoris Mushroom Cellar.=--This is a subterranean tunnel or cellar +that was excavated and arched some ten years ago, expressly for the +cultivation of mushrooms. It is situated in an open, sunny part of the +garden, and its extreme length from outside of end walls is eighty-three +feet; but of this space nine feet at either end are given up to +entrance pits and a heating apparatus; and the full length of the +mushroom cellar proper inside the inner walls is sixty-three feet. The +walls and arch are of brick, and the top of the arch is two and one-half +feet below the surface of the soil. This tunnel or arch is seven feet +high in the middle and eight feet wide within, but a raised +two-feet-wide pathway along the middle lessens the height to six and +one-half feet. Between this pathway and the sides of the building there +is only an earthen floor, but it is quite dry, as the cellar is +perfectly drained. Three ventilators sixteen feet apart had been built +in the top of the arch, but this was a mistake, as the condensation in +the cellar in winter from these ventilators always keeps the place under +them cold and wet and rather unproductive. One tall wooden chimney-like +shaft would have been a better ventilator than the three ventilating +holes now there, which are covered over with an iron and glass grating. + +[Illustration: FIG. 4. GROUND PLAN OF THE DOSORIS CELLAR.] + +At one end of the house and behind the stairs descending into the pit is +the heating apparatus, from which a four-inch hot-water pipe passes +around inside the house near the wall and only four inches above ground. +A three-feet wide hemlock flooring for the bed to rest on is laid along +each side and about four inches above the pipe, leaving the aperture +between the earth floor and the bottom of the bed along the pathway open +for the escape of the artificial heat. One might think that the hot +water pipe under, and so near the bed, would dry it up and destroy it, +but such is not the case. In a cellar of this kind very little fire heat +is needed to maintain the required temperature, and I do not know where +else the pipes could be put where they would do the work any better and +be more out of the way. + +These beds, for convenience in building them, spawning them, molding +them over, gathering the crop and watering the beds, and removing the +manure after the beds are exhausted, are built against the wall and with +a rounded face, thus giving a three and one-half feet wide surface of +bed in place of one three feet wide, were it built flat. This gain in +superficial area is not so important as it might seem, for the part +immediately next to the edge of the pathway seldom yields very much. +Above these beds a string of shelf beds is arranged which runs the full +length of both sides of the cellar. From the floor of the under bed to +the floor of the top bed is three feet, and the upper beds are just as +wide as the lower ones. The shelves for the beds are temporary affairs, +put up and taken down every year. The cross-bars rest in sockets in the +wall made by cutting out half a brick every four feet along the wall, +and on upright strips or feet one and one-fourth by four inches wide, or +two by three inches, set under the inside ends of the cross-bars and +resting on the cement floor close up against the lower bed. By having +this foot end a quarter of an inch higher than the wall end the heavy +weight of the bed is thrown toward the wall. Loose hemlock boards set +close together form the flooring, for there is no need of nailing any of +them except the one next to the upright face board, which is ten inches +wide, and nailed along the front, by the pathway, to the posts and shelf +board. By tilting the weight to the wall the upright board is firm +enough to hold its place against any pressing out in building the beds. +The supporting legs of the shelves are also nailed to the face board of +the lower bed, and this holds them perfectly solid in place. The shelf +beds are eight inches deep at front, but can be made of any depth +desired against the walls at the back. The cold wall has no injurious +effect upon the bearing of the bed, and many fine mushrooms grow close +against the walls. + +The entrance pits are nine and one-half feet deep from ground level, +three feet eight inches wide, nine feet long, and are covered over with +folding doors on strong hinges, and descended into by means of wooden +movable stairs. These dimensions are needed at the end where the heating +apparatus is placed, but at the other end, although it is convenient in +handling the manure, a space two or three feet less would have answered +just as well. A close door at either end of the mushroom cellar proper +separates it from the end pits. The cellar is divided in the middle by a +partition. This gives, when it is in full working order, eight beds, +each thirty-one and one-half feet long, or a continuous run of 252 feet +or 756 square feet of surface, and as the beds are renewed twice a year +this gives 504 running feet of bed, or 1512 square feet of surface. A +common average crop is three-fifths of a pound of mushrooms to the +square foot of bed, and a good fair average is four-fifths of a pound. +This would give over a thousand pounds of mushrooms a season from this +cellar when it is in full running capacity. But as the aim is to have a +steady supply of mushrooms from October until May, and not a flush at +any one time and a scarcity at another, only two beds are made at a +time, allowing a month to intervene between every two. + +For the two beds, No. 1, preparing the manure begins in July, the beds +are made up in August, and gathering of the crop commences in October; +work on the two beds, No. 2, begins in August, the beds are made up in +September, and the mushrooms gathered in November; preparing for the two +beds, No. 3, begins in September, the beds are made up in October, +gathering commences in December; for the two beds, No. 4, work begins in +October, the beds are made up in November, and the crop is gathered in +January; for the two beds, No. 5 (No. 1 renewed), work begins in +November, the beds are made up in December, and the crop is gathered in +February; for the two beds, No. 6 (No. 2 renewed), work begins in +December, the beds are made up in January, and the crop is gathered in +March; for the two beds, No. 7 (No. 3 renewed), work begins in January, +the beds are made up in February, and the crop is gathered in April; for +the two beds, No. 8 (No. 4 renewed), work begins in February, the beds +are made up in March, and the mushrooms gathered in May. After this time +of year the summer heat renders mushroom-growing uncertain, and the +maggots destroy the mushrooms. This system allows each bed a bearing +period of two months. After yielding a crop for some seven to nine weeks +the beds are pretty well exhausted and hardly worth retaining longer. +They might drag along in a desultory way for weeks, but as soon as they +stop yielding a paying crop we clear them out and start afresh. + +And when the mushroom season is closed we lift out and remove the +manure, clean the boards used in shelving, and give the cellar a +thorough cleaning,--whitewash its walls and paint its woodwork with +kerosene to destroy noxious insects and fungi. + +[Illustration: FIG. 5. BASE-BURNING WATER HEATER.] + +[Illustration: FIG. 6. VERTICAL SECTION.] + +The heating apparatus consists of one of Hitchings' base-burner boilers +with a four-inch hot-water pipe that passes around inside the cellar, +and it deserves special mention because of its economy, efficiency, and +the satisfaction it gives generally. This boiler needs no deep or +spacious stoke-hole. Here it is set under the stairway in a pit four +and one-half feet long, by three feet wide, by eighteen inches deep; it +is not in the way, and there is plenty of room to attend to it. The +heater, like a common parlor stove, has a magazine for the supply of +coal. It has a double casing with the water space between and down to +the bottom of it, so that when set in a shallow pit there is no +difficulty whatever about the circulation of the water in the pipes. The +hot water passes from the boiler to an open iron tank placed two feet +above it, as shown in the engraving, and thence down through a +perpendicular pipe till it reaches and enters the horizontal pipes that +pass around the cellar and, returning, enters the boiler again near its +base. The boiler and pipes are filled from this tank, which should +always be kept at least half full of water, and looked into every day +when in use, so that when the water gets lower than half full it may be +filled up again. About 134 running feet of four-inch pipe are included +inside the cellar (sixty-four feet on each side and six feet across at +further end); this gives 134 square feet of heating surface, or a +proportion of about a square foot of heating surface for every fifteen +cubic feet of air space in the cellar. This proportion is more than +ample in the coldest weather, but beneficial in so far that there is no +need to fire hard to maintain the proper temperature. A three-inch pipe +would have given heat enough, but the heat would not have been so +steady. Both nut and stove coal is used in this heater, and in the +severest winter weather it burns not more than a common hodful in +twenty-four hours. It is so easily regulated that the temperature of the +cellar day or night, or in mild or severe weather, never varies more +than three degrees, namely from 57 deg. to 60 deg.. + +In a close underground cellar where the temperature in midwinter without +any artificial heat does not fall below 40 deg. or 45 deg. it is an easy matter, +with such a heater as this is, to maintain any desired temperature. If +the grates are renewed now and then, the heater should last in good +condition for twenty years. With the ordinary stove there is danger of +fire, of escaping gas and of sudden changes of temperature, and the evil +influence of a dry, parching heat--just what mushrooms most dislike--is +ever present. The first cost of a hot water apparatus may be more than +that of an old stove and sheet iron pipes, but where mushrooms are grown +extensively, as a matter of economy, efficiency, and convenience, the +advantages are altogether on the side of the hot water apparatus. +Furthermore, hot water pipes can be run where it would be unsafe to put +smoke pipes. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +GROWING MUSHROOMS IN MUSHROOM HOUSES. + + +[Illustration: FIG. 7. MUSHROOM HOUSE BUILT AGAINST A NORTH-FACING +WALL.] + +A mushroom house is a building erected purposely for mushroom culture. +It may be wholly or partly above ground, and built of wood, brick, or +stone, and extend to any desired dimensions. But a few general +principles should be borne in mind. Mushrooms in houses are a winter and +not a summer crop, and they are impatient of sudden changes of +temperature and of a hot or arid atmosphere. Therefore, build the houses +where they will be warm and well-sheltered in winter, so as to get the +advantage of the natural warmth, and spare the artificial heat. They +should be entered from an adjoining building, or through a porch on the +south side, so as to guard against cold draughts or blasts in winter +when the door would be opened in going into or coming out of the house. +At the same time, do not lose sight of convenience in handling the +manure, either in bringing it into the house or taking it out, and with +this in view it may be necessary to have a door opening to the outside. +All outside doors should be double and securely packed around in winter. +Side window ventilators are not necessary, at the same time they are +useful in the early part of the season and in summer time; they should +be double and tightly packed in winter. The walls, if made of brick, +should be hollow, if of wood, double; indeed, walls built as if for an +ice house are the very best for a mushroom house, and should be banked +with earth, tree leaves, or strawy manure in winter, to help keep the +interior of the house a little warmer. + +[Illustration: FIG. 8. SECTION OF MRS. C. J. OSBORNE'S MUSHROOM HOUSE.] + +The floor should be perfectly dry; that is, so well drained that water +will not stand upon it, but it is immaterial whether the floor is an +ordinary earthen one or of wood or cement. + +[Illustration: FIG. 9. GROUND PLAN OF MRS. OSBORNE'S MUSHROOM HOUSE.] + +The roof should be double and always sloping,--never flat. The hoar +frost that appears in severe weather inside a single roof is likely to +melt as the heat of the day increases, and this cold drip falling upon +the beds below is very prejudicial to the mushroom crop. A double roof +saves the beds from this drip, and it also renders the house warmer, and +less fire is needed to maintain the requisite temperature. One might +think that a single roof like that of a dwelling house, and then a flat +ceiling under it, would be equivalent to a double sloping roof, but it +is not. The moisture arising from the interior of the house condenses +upon the flat ceiling, and the water, having no way of running off, +drips down upon the beds. With a sloping ceiling or inside roof the +water runs down the ceiling to the walls. A very pointed example of this +may be seen in Mrs. C. J. Osborne's excellent mushroom house at +Mamaroneck, N. Y. It had been built in the most substantial manner, with +a sloping roof and a flat ceiling under the roof, but so much annoyance +was caused by the drip falling from it upon the beds below that her +gardener had the flat ceiling removed and a sloping one built instead, +and now it works splendidly, and a few months ago I saw as fine a crop +of mushrooms in that house as one could wish to look at. + +The interior arrangement of the mushroom house may resemble that of the +mushroom cellar. Beds may be made alongside of the walls and, if there +is room, also along the middle of the house, and shelves erected in the +same way as in the cellar. But in the case of cold, thin outside walls, +the shelf-beds should not be built close against them, but instead boxed +off about two inches from the walls, so as to remove the beds from the +chilling touch of the wall in winter. Economy may suggest the +advisability of high mushroom houses, so that one may be able to build +one shelf above another, until the shelves are two, three, or four deep. +But this is a mistake. The artificial heat required to maintain a +temperature of 55 deg. in midwinter in a house built high above ground would +be too parching and unsteady for the good of the mushrooms; besides, a +second shelf is inconvenient enough, and when it comes to a third or a +fourth the inconvenience would be too great, and overreach any advantage +hoped for in economy of space. An unheated mushroom house must be +regarded as a shed, and treated similarly, as described in the following +chapter. + +In large, well appointed, private gardens, a mushroom house is +considered an almost indispensable adjunct to the glasshouse +establishment, and is generally built against the north-facing wall of a +greenhouse. In this way it gets the benefit of the warm wall, and may be +easily heated by introducing one or two hot-water pipes from the +greenhouse system; besides, in winter the house may be entered from the +glass house or adjacent shed, and in this way be exempted from the +inclement breath of the frosty air that would be admitted in opening the +outside door. + +[Illustration: FIG. 10. INTERIOR VIEW OF MR. S. HENSHAW'S MUSHROOM +HOUSE.] + +=Mr. Samuel Henshaw's Mushroom House.=--Mr. Henshaw has raised +mushrooms several years at his place on Staten Island. His mushroom +house is nine feet wide and sixty feet long. One side is a brick wall +and the other is double boarded. The roof is of tin, in which there are +three sashes each two by five feet, supplying ample light. At each end +is a door giving convenient access to the interior, for carrying in and +removing material without disturbing the bearing beds. In winter the +roof is covered with a coating of salt hay, to preserve an equable +temperature and prevent the moisture from condensing on the ceiling and +falling in drops on the beds. The floor is of earth, which, when well +drained, he thinks preferable to either brick or lumber. The floor is +entirely covered with beds, no shelves or walks being used. This makes +it necessary to step on the beds, but as no covering is employed it is +always easy to avoid stepping on the clusters of young mushrooms, and so +long as they are left uninjured the bed is seldom, if ever, impaired by +the compacting effect of the treading. In order to maintain a necessary +winter temperature of 60 deg. a four-inch hot-water pipe extends the whole +length of the house about two feet from the floor. On the other side of +the brick wall is a greenhouse which, by keeping the wall warm, helps to +keep the mushroom house warm. Mr. Henshaw divides this house into three +equal beds. The part at the further end of the house is made up in the +fall and comes into bearing in December; the middle part a month later +to come in a month later, and the near end still a month later, to +follow as another succession. Then, if need be, and he wishes to renew +the bed at the further end of the house, he clears it out and supplies +fresh material for the new bed. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +GROWING MUSHROOMS IN SHEDS. + + +Any one who has a snug, warm shed, may have a good mushroom house, but +it is imperative that the floor should be dry, and the roof water-tight. +Of course a close shed, as a tool-house or a carriage-house, is better +than an open shed, but even a shed that is open on the south side, if +closely walled on the other sides, can also be made of good use for +mushroom beds. While open sheds are good enough for beds that yield +their crop before Christmas, they are ill-adapted for midwinter beds. +The temperature of the interior of a mushroom bed should be about 60 deg. +during the bearing period, and the temperature of the surface of the bed +45 deg. to 50 deg. at least; if lower than that the mycelium has a tendency to +rest, and the crop stagnates. Now this temperature can not be maintained +in an open shed, in hard frosty weather, without more trouble than the +crop is worth. The beds would have to be boxed up and mulched very +heavily. And even in a close, warm shed, protection in this way would +have to be given, but the bed should not be under the penetrating +influence of piercing winds and draughts. The mushroom beds should +therefore be made in the warmest parts of the warmest sheds. + +The beds should be made upon the floor and as much to one side as +possible, so as to be out of the way, and in form flat on the ground, or +rounded up against the sides of the shed; in the latter case the house +should be well banked around on the outside with litter or tree leaves +or earth, so as to exclude frost from the lower part of the walls, and +thereby prevent the manure in the beds from getting badly chilled. The +beds should be made deeper in a cool shed than in a cellar or warm +mushroom house, so that they may retain their heat for a long time. + +Shelf beds should not be used in unheated sheds, because of the +difficulty in keeping them warm in winter. As a rule, shelf beds are not +made as deep as are those upon the floor; hence they do not hold their +heat so long. When cold weather sets in it is easy to box up and cover +over the lower beds to keep them warm, but in the case of shelf beds, +that are exposed above and below, it is more trouble to protect them +sufficiently against cold than they are worth. + +Generally speaking, the term shed is applied to unheated, simple wooden +structures; for instance, the wood-shed, the tool-shed, a +carriage-house, or a hay-barn. But we often use the name shed to +designate heated buildings, as the potting and packing sheds of +florists. Were it not that these heated sheds are simply workrooms, and +where there is a great deal of going out and in, and, consequently, +draughts and sudden and frequent fluctuations of temperature, the +treatment of mushroom beds made in them would be the same as that +advised for regular mushroom houses; but as the circumstances are +somewhat different the treatment, too, should not be the same. A warm +potting shed is an excellent place for mushroom beds. Here they should +be made under the benches and covered up in front with thick calico, +plant-protecting cloth, or light wooden shutters, to exclude cold +currents and sudden atmospheric changes, and guard against the beds +drying too quickly. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +GROWING MUSHROOMS IN GREENHOUSES. + + +Any one who has a greenhouse can grow mushrooms in it. And it does not +matter what kind of greenhouse it is, whether a fruit house, a flower +house, or a vegetable house, it is available for mushrooms. One of the +advantages of raising mushrooms in a greenhouse is that they grow to +perfection in parts of the greenhouse that are nearly worthless for +other purposes; for instance, under the stages, where nothing else grows +well, although rhubarb and asparagus might be forced there, and a little +chicory and dandelion blanched. + +[Illustration: FIG. 11. BOXED MUSHROOM BED UNDER GREENHOUSE BENCH.] + +Cool greenhouses, in all cases, are better for mushrooms than hothouses. +Cool houses are seldom kept at a lower temperature than 45 deg. or 50 deg. in +winter, while hothouses run from 60 deg. to 70 deg. at night, with a rise of ten +to twenty degrees by day, and this is too hot for mushrooms. It is a +very easy matter, by means of covering with hay or boxing over and +covering the boxing with hay or matting, to keep a mushroom bed in a +cool house warm and free from marked changes in temperature; but it is a +difficult matter to keep a mushroom bed in a hothouse cool enough and +prevent sudden rises in temperature. + +=On Greenhouse Benches.=--It sometimes happens that the beds are formed +on the greenhouse benches, and the mushrooms occupy the same place that +might be assigned to roses or any other planted-out crop. The beds on +the benches are made one board deep, that is, eight to ten inches of +short, fresh manure, and otherwise as in the case of beds anywhere else. +After the beds are spawned and cased with soil, by covering them over +with a layer of straw litter or hay, sudden drying out of the surface is +prevented, and in order to further prevent this drying it is a good plan +to sprinkle some water over the mulching every day or two, but not +enough to soak through into the bed. About the time the young mushrooms +commence to show themselves, remove the mulching and replace it with a +covering of shutters raised another board's height above the bed, or +with strong calico or plant-protecting cloth hung curtain-fashion over +the beds. The accompanying illustration, Fig. 12, for which I am +indebted to Henry A. Dreer, of Philadelphia, gives an excellent idea of +how mushrooms may be grown and cared for on greenhouse benches. This +illustration, Mr. Dreer writes: "is made from a photograph of a crop +grown on the greenhouse benches at the Model Farm, by Mr. McCaffrey, +gardener to J. E. Kingsley, Esq., of the Continental Hotel.... No +covering of litter is used, but the requisite shading on sunny days is +secured by the use of cotton cloth stretched over the top of the bed, as +shown in the engraving." + +[Illustration: FIG. 12. MUSHROOMS GROWN ON GREENHOUSE BENCHES AT MR. J. +E. KINGSLEY'S MODEL FARM.] + +My principal objection to mushroom beds on greenhouse benches is their +liability to frequent and marked changes of atmospheric temperature and +moisture, and to drying out. In midwinter they may be all right, but as +spring advances and the sun's brightness and heat increase, the +susceptibility of the beds to become dry also increases. + +[Illustration: FIG. 13. WIDE BED WITH PATHWAY ABOVE.] + +=In Frames in the Greenhouses.=--Mr. J. G. Gardner has a range of +greenhouses some 900 feet long--the longest unbroken string of +glasshouses that I know of--for the forcing of fruit and vegetables in +winter; grapes, peaches, nectarines, figs, tomatoes, cucumbers, snap +beans, peas, lettuce. This range is divided into several compartments, +to accommodate the different varieties of crops, also so that some can +be run as succession houses. In order to make the most of everything, +market-gardener-like, he doubles up his crops wherever possible, and for +this end he finds no crop more amenable and profitable than mushrooms. +It matters nothing to him whether the house is cold or warm, he can grow +mushrooms in it anyway, and in order to be master of the situation he +makes his mushroom beds in hotbed frames inside the greenhouses. By +attending to ventilating or keeping close, or covering up or leaving +bare, he can properly regulate the temperature of the mushroom bed, no +matter how hot or cold the atmosphere of the greenhouse may be. In the +same way--by shading the panes or unshading them--he governs the light +admitted to the mushrooms. + +The greenhouses in which the mushrooms are grown are orchard houses, +that is, glasshouses in which peach and nectarine trees are grown and +forced. As these trees fruit and finish their growth early, it is +necessary that they be kept as cool and inactive as possible in the fall +and early winter, and started again into growth in late winter. In the +fall, therefore, the fermenting material being confined in frames +retains warmth enough for the proper development of the mushrooms, and +as the winter advances and the heat in the frames begins to wane it +becomes necessary to begin heating the greenhouses in order to start the +trees into bloom and growth, and thus are provided very favorable +conditions for the continued production of the mushroom crop. + +[Illustration: FIG. 14. MUSHROOMS ON GREENHOUSE BENCHES UNDER TOMATOES.] + +The frames used are common hotbed box frames seven feet wide and +carrying three and one-half feet wide sashes. A string of them is run +along the middle of the greenhouses, for greenhouse after greenhouse is +occupied by them. They are flat upon the floor, and in the early part of +the season alone in the greenhouses. But as the winter advances a +temporary staging is erected over these frames, on which spiraeas, peas, +beans, or other flowers or vegetables are to be grown. These love the +light and a position near the glass, whereas the mushrooms grow +perfectly well in the dark quarters of the frames under the stages. If +he did not grow mushrooms under these stages the room would be +unoccupied, hence unproductive; but by occupying it with mushrooms he +not only gets peaches and snap beans at once out of the same greenhouse, +but also a crop of mushrooms, often worth as much as the other two. + +In preparing the beds in the frames they were made up a foot deep, very +firm, and with New York stable manure brought direct from the cars. +There was no preliminary preparation of the manure. A layer of loam one +and one-half inches deep was then spread over the surface and forked +into the bed of manure one and one-half inches deep, so as to form an +earthy mat three inches deep. This was then packed solid with the feet, +and a two-inch layer of loose manure added all over. In about ten days +the temperature three inches below the surface was about 95 deg., and the +beds were then spawned. In spawning, drills were drawn across the beds +about a foot apart and just deep enough to touch but not penetrate the +earthy mat before referred to. The broken spawn was then sown in the +drills and covered with a layer of loam one and one-half to two inches +deep, which was tamped slightly. The sashes were then put on and tilted +up a little to let the moisture escape. By the time the mushrooms +appeared there was very little need of ventilating, as the condensation +of moisture on the glass was scarcely apparent; but ventilation is +easily guided by the appearance of moisture on the glass, the more of +this the more ventilation should be given. To begin with, there was no +attempt at shading the frames; but as soon as the mushrooms began to +appear the beds were shaded, and mostly by the crops of other plants on +the stages above them. These frame beds were made up last October, and +began bearing in December, and on March 14 Mr. Gardner wrote me: "The +mushrooms in my frames have done grandly. I cut large basketfuls to-day +of the finest mushrooms I have ever seen, some of them measuring five +inches in diameter before being fully expanded." + +And further, in submitting the above notes to him for verification, he +adds: "There is one vital point we should impress upon all who grow +mushrooms in frames or under greenhouse benches, namely, that sudden +changes of temperature must be avoided. While light, in my opinion, is +good for mushrooms, it causes a rise of temperature, and this we must +guard against. In order to maintain a uniform temperature all glass +exposed to light or heat in any other way should be covered with some +non-conducting material. Rye straw is the best thing for this purpose +that I know of. Indeed, neglect of this simple matter, in cases where +sunlight and heat from hot-water pipes come in contact with the young +mushrooms or mycelium on the surface of the beds, is the cause of many +failures in growing in frames and greenhouses." + +=Under Greenhouse Benches.=--Open empty spaces under the stages anywhere +are good places for mushroom beds. However, carefully observe a few +points, to wit: A dry floor under the beds is imperative, for a wet +floor soaks and chills the beds, and renders them unhealthy for the +spawn; but the common earth floor is good enough, provided water does +not stand upon it at any time; if it does, the floor to be under the +beds can be rendered dry by raising it a little higher than the general +level, or using a flooring of old boards. Beds should not be built close +up against hot-water pipes, steam pipes, or smoke flues, as the heat +from these when they are in working condition will bake the parts of the +beds next to them and render them unproductive, and also crack and spoil +the caps of the mushrooms that come up within a foot or two of the +pipes. But this injury from hot pipes and flues can be lessened greatly +by boxing the pipes, so as to shut off the heat from the mushroom beds +and allowing it full escape upward; then the beds can be made, with +safety, up to within a foot of the pipes. As a rule, hot-water pipes are +run around under the front benches of a greenhouse, then it would not be +advisable to make beds under those benches. The middle bench is the one +most commonly free from pipes, hence the one best adapted for beds. It +has more headroom, and therefore easier working facilities. Steam-heated +greenhouses generally present the best accommodations for mushroom beds, +because the pipes occupy less room under the benches than do those for +hot water, and they are always kept higher from the ground. + +=Among Other Plants on Greenhouse Benches.=--It sometimes happens that +mushrooms spring up spontaneously among the roses, carnations, violets, +mignonette, and other crops that are grown "planted out" on the benches, +and this is particularly the case where fresh soil had just been used, +in whole or part, for filling the bench beds. These mushrooms come from +natural spawn contained in the loam or manure before they were brought +indoors, and which is apt to be true virgin spawn. The mushrooms are +generally of the common kind, grown from brick spawn, but occasionally a +much larger and heavier sort is produced, and this is the "horse" +mushroom. It is perfectly good to eat, only of coarser quality than the +other. + +A fair and certain crop can be obtained by planting pieces of spawn in +the beds here and there between the plants and where they will be least +likely to be soaked with water. In order to further insure the +development of the spawn, holes about the size of a pint cup should be +scooped out here and there over the bed, and filled up solidly with +quite fresh but dry horse droppings, with the piece of spawn in the +middle, and covered over on top with an inch of loam, so as to leave the +whole surface of the bed level. So small a quantity of dry manure +surrounded with cold earth will not heat perceptibly, and the moisture +of the loam about it will soon moisten it, no matter how dry it may be. +The dry, fresh droppings are the very best material for starting the +mycelium into growth. + +=Growing Mushrooms in Rose Houses.=--George Savage, the head gardener at +Mr. Kimball's greenhouses, Rochester, N. Y., grows mushrooms very +successfully under the benches of the rose houses. When he makes up his +earliest mushroom beds in the fall the rose house is kept cool, and this +is an advantage to the mushroom beds, which get all the warmth they need +from the fermenting manure; but as November advances, and the heat in +the beds begins to wane the rose houses are "started," and this +artificial warmth comes in good season to benefit the growing mushrooms. +The roses, in this case, are planted out on benches, hence there is +scarcely any dripping of water from above upon the mushroom beds below. + +Mr. George Grant, of Mamaroneck, N. Y., who grows mushrooms in the +greenhouse, I called to see last January, and was very much pleased with +his simple and successful method. The beds were then in fine bearing, +very full, and the crop was of the best quality. The beds were made upon +the earthen floor of his tomato-forcing house and under the back bench. +The bed was flat, seven to eight inches deep, with a casing of a +ten-inch-wide hemlock board set on edge at the back, and another of same +size against the front. The bed was made of horse droppings, six inches +deep, and molded over with fresh loam one and one-half inch deep. Over +the whole, and resting on the edges of the hemlock boards, was a light +covering of other boards, with a sprinkling of hay on top of them to +arrest and shed drip, and maintain an equable temperature in the bed. + +Mr. Abram Van Siclen, of Jamaica, Long Island, is one of the largest +mushroom growers for market in the country, as well as one of the most +extensive growers of market-garden truck under glass around New York. He +devotes an immense area under his lettuce-house benches to the +cultivation of mushrooms. The beds are made upon the floor in the usual +way, only for convenience' sake, to admit of plenty of room in making up +the beds and gathering the crop, besides avoiding the necessity for +building higher structures than the ordinary lettuce greenhouses, the +mushroom beds are sunken about eighteen to twenty-four inches under the +level of the pathways. As the lettuces are planted out upon the benches +there is very little drip from them, hence the sunken beds are well +enough. And the temperature of a lettuce house is about right for a +long-lasting mushroom bed. Light is excluded by a simple covering of +salt hay laid over the beds, and sometimes by light wooden shutters set +up against the aperture between the lettuce benches and the floor, in +this way boxing in the mushrooms in total darkness. + +Mr. William Wilson, of Astoria, has an immense greenhouse establishment +near New York. In his greenhouses, under both the side and middle +benches, he grows mushrooms, and when I saw them in January there were +about 300 square yards of beds. The beds were flat, about nine inches +thick, built upon the ground, and protected from strong light by having +muslin tacked over the openings between the benches and the beds +alongside the pathways. But his crop was suffering from drip. Mr. Wilson +told me he could not begin to supply the demand. He says whatever he +makes on mushrooms is mostly clear gain. They occupy space that +otherwise would remain unoccupied, and he needs the manure and the loam +in his florist business, and it is in better condition for potting after +it has been rotted in the mushroom beds than it was before it was used +for this purpose. + +[Illustration: FIG. 15. MR. WM. WILSON'S MUSHROOM BEDS.] + +=Drip from the Benches.=--This must be prevented from the beds above, +else it will soak or chill, and in a large measure kill the spawn. I +have seen many examples of this evil. The beds would be full of drip +holes all over their surface, and although a good many mushrooms here +and there about the bed might perfect themselves, multitudes only reach +the pin-head condition--or possibly the size of peas--and then fogg off +in patches. It is not one or two little mushrooms in a clump that fogg +off, but where one foggs off all of the little ones in that patch go, +for it is not a disease of the individual mushroom, but of the mycelium +or mushroom plant that runs in the bed, and when this is injured or +killed all the little mushrooms arising from this particular patch of +plant are robbed of sustenance and must perish. + +In greenhouses where the benches are occupied with roses, carnations, +bouvardias, violets, or lettuces, "planted out," as commercial florists +and gardeners generally grow them, there is very little drip, because +while the plants on these benches are freely watered, the soil is never +soaked enough for the water to drain from it in dripping streamlets, as +is continually the case in greenhouses where potted plants are grown on +the stages. Under these "planted out" benches, if care is exercised, +mushrooms can be grown in open beds; in fact, it is about the best place +and condition for them in a greenhouse. + +[Illustration: FIG. 16. MUSHROOM BED BUILT FLAT UPON THE GROUND.] + +With stages occupied by plants in pots provision needs to be made to +ward off the drip from the mushroom beds, by erecting over, and +conveniently high above them, a light wooden framework, on which rest +light wooden frames covered with oiled paper, oiled muslin, or +plant-protecting cloth. In fact, three light wooden strips run over the +bed, as shown in Fig. 12, or three strings of stout cord or wire run in +the same manner will answer for small beds, and act as a support for the +oiled muslin or plant-protecting cloth. Building paper is sometimes used +for the same purpose. Mr. J. G. Gardner uses ordinary hotbed frames and +sashes, as described in a previous chapter. Light wooden shutters--made +of one-half inch or five-eighths inch pine--may be used for the same +end, and will last for many years. + +[Illustration: FIG. 17. RIDGED MUSHROOM BED.] + +The beds under the greenhouse benches may be made up in the same way as +are beds anywhere else; that is, flat upon the floor and between two +boards set on edge, as seen in Fig. 16, or in ridges under the high or +middle benches, as in Fig. 17, or in banked beds against the back wall, +as shown in Fig. 18. Generally the flat bed is the most convenient to +make and take care of. + +[Illustration: FIG. 18. BANKED BED AGAINST A WALL.] + +In open, airy greenhouses it is always well to inclose the mushroom beds +in box casings and with sash or shutter coverings, to prevent draughts +and fluctuations of temperature and atmospheric moisture. This can +easily be done by making the sides a board and a half (fifteen inches), +or two boards (twenty inches) high, and covering over with light wooden +shutters, sashes, or muslin or paper-covered light frames. See Fig. 11. + +=Ammonia Arising.=--Ammonia arising from the manure of the mushroom beds +in the greenhouse may be injurious to the other inmates of the +greenhouse. If the manure has been well prepared before it was +introduced into the greenhouse, the ammonia arising from it will not, in +the least degree, injure any other plants or flowers that may be in the +house; but if the manure is fresh, hot, and rank, the opposite will be +the case. Beds in greenhouses should always be made up of manure that +has been well prepared beforehand out of doors or in a shed, and as it +is brought into the greenhouse it should at once be built solidly into +the beds. Then very little steam will arise from the beds; in fact, it +will be imperceptible to sight or smell. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +GROWING MUSHROOMS IN THE FIELDS. + + +Under suitable conditions we can grow mushrooms easily and abundantly in +the open fields, and the planting of the spawn is all the trouble they +will cause us. During the late summer and fall months mushrooms often +appear spontaneously and in great quantity in our open pastures, but in +their natural condition they are an uncertain crop, as in one year they +may occur in the greatest abundance, and in the next perhaps none can be +found in the fields in which they had been so numerous the previous +year. Why this should be so is not very clear. The popular opinion is +that after a dry summer mushrooms abound in the fields, but after a wet +summer they are a very scarce crop; and the inference is that the +moisture has killed the spawn in the ground. This may be true to a +certain extent, but how does it happen--as it certainly often does--that +good spawn planted by hand in the fields in early summer will produce +mushrooms toward fall no matter whether the summer has been wet or dry? +At the same time, it is true that a wet spell immediately succeeding the +planting of the spawn will kill a great deal of it. + +As a rule, wild mushrooms abound most in rich, old, well-drained, +rolling pasture lands, and avoid dry, sandy, or wet places, or the +neighborhood of trees and bushes. In attempting to cultivate them in the +open fields we should endeavor to provide similar conditions. Then the +chief requisite is good spawn, for without this we can not raise +mushrooms. + +About the middle of June take a sharp spade in the pasture, make =V= or +=T=-shaped cuts in the grass sod about four inches deep and raise one +side enough to allow the insertion of a bit of spawn two to three inches +square under it, so that it shall be about two inches below the surface, +then tamp the sod down. By cutting and raising the sod in this way, +without breaking it off, it is not as likely to die of drought in +summer. In this way plant as much or little as may be desired and at +distances of three, four, or more feet apart. During the following +August or September the mushrooms should show themselves, and continue +in bearing for several weeks. + +Mr. Henshaw, of Staten Island, who has been very successful in growing +mushrooms in the fields as well as indoors, writes to me as follows: +"You ask me to give you my plan of growing mushrooms in the fields +during the summer. It is very simple. About the end of June, or as soon +as dry weather sets in, we remove the old beds from our mushroom house, +and if there should be any live spawn in the bottom of our beds we put +it in a wheelbarrow and take it to the field, where we plant it in the +open places, but never under trees. In planting, we lift a sod and put a +shovelful of the manure containing the spawn in the hole, then replace +the sod and beat it down firm; this we do at distances of twelve feet +apart. If we have no live spawn from our indoor beds we take the common +brick spawn, and put about a quarter of a brick into each hole, +returning and beating down the sod as already stated. This is all that +is done. If there comes a dry time after the spawn is put in the pasture +we are sure to have a good supply of mushrooms in the fall." + +A few years ago Carter & Co., seedsmen, London, sent this to one of the +gardening periodicals: "The following mode of growing mushrooms in +meadows by one of our customers may be interesting to your readers: In +March (May would be soon enough here) he begins to collect droppings +from the stables. These, when enough have been gathered together, are +taken into the meadow, where holes dug here and there about one foot or +eighteen inches square are filled with them, the soil removed being +scattered over the surrounding grass. When all the holes have been +filled and made solid he then places two or three pieces of spawn about +one inch square in each hole, treads all down firmly, replaces the turf +and beats it tightly down. Under this system, in August and September +mushrooms appear without fail in abundance and without any further care. +The method is simple and the result certain. Therefore all who happen to +have a meadow, paddock, or grass field, and are fond of mushrooms, +should try the experiment.... In the case in question fresh holes were +spawned every year." + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +MANURE FOR MUSHROOM BEDS. + + +In order to grow mushrooms successfully and profitably a supply of fresh +horse manure is needed, and this should be the very best that is made, +either at home or bought from other stables. The questions of manure and +spawn are the most important that we have to deal with. Very few make +their own spawn, as it is bought and accepted upon its good +looks,--often rather deceptive,--but the manure business is entirely in +our own hands, and success with it depends absolutely upon ourselves. We +can not reasonably expect good results from poor manure nor from +ill-prepared manure. It is only from the very best of horse manure +prepared in the very best fashion that we can hope for the very best +crops of the best mushrooms. + +=Horse Manure.=--There are various kinds of horse manure, differing +materially in their worth for mushroom beds. The kind of manure depends +upon the condition of the horses, how they are housed, fed, and bedded, +and how the manure is taken care of. But while the manure of all healthy +animals is useful for our purpose, there still is a great choice in +horse manure. If we are dependent upon our home supply we may use and +make the best of what we have, but if we have to buy the manure we +should be very particular to select the best kind of manure and accept +of no other. + +The very best manure is that from strong, healthy, hard-worked, +well-kept animals that are liberally fed with hard food, as timothy hay +and grain, and bedded with straw. And if the bedding be pretty well +wetted with urine and trampled under the horses' feet, so much the +better; indeed, this is one reason why manure from farm and teamsters' +stables is better than that from stylish establishments, where +everything is kept so scrupulously dry and clean. + +[Illustration: FIG. 19. PERSPECTIVE VIEW OF THE DOSORIS MUSHROOM +CELLAR.] + +The fresher the manure is the better, still manure that is not perfectly +fresh may also be quite good. Stable manure may accumulate in a cellar +for a couple of months, and still be first rate. After our hotbed season +is over I stack our stable manure high in the yard, and from June until +August, as the manure is taken away from the stable each day, it is +piled on the top of this stack. My object is to keep it so dry that it +can neither heat nor rot. In August the stack is broken down and the +best manure shaken out to one side for mushrooms, and the long straw and +rotted parts thrown to the other side. This short manure, when moistened +with water and thrown into a heap, exposed to the sun for a day or two, +will heat up briskly. The beds illustrated in Fig. 19 were made from +manure prepared in this way in August. + +In the case of quite fresh manure, let it accumulate for a few days, or +a fortnight, even, until there is enough of it to make up a bed, and +then prepare it. Be very particular to prevent, from the first, its +heating violently or "burning" while accumulating in the pile. Beds made +from very fresh manure respond quickly and generously. The crop comes in +heavily to begin with, and continues bearing largely while it lasts, but +its duration is usually shorter than in the case of a bed made up of +less fresh manure. But altogether it yields a better and heavier crop +than a bed that comes in more gradually and lasts longer, and the +mushrooms are of the finest quality. + +Some growers use the droppings only, and reject all of the strawy part, +or as much of it as they can conveniently shake out. This gives them an +excellent manure and perhaps the very best for use on a small scale or +in small beds. When mushrooms are to be grown in boxes, narrow troughs, +half barrels, and other confined quarters, it is well to concentrate the +manure as much as possible--use all the droppings and as little straw as +you can. But droppings alone for large beds would take too much manure +and cost too much, and they would not be any better than with a rougher +manure. + +Always preserve the wet, strawy part of the manure, along with the +droppings, and mix and ferment them together, and in this way not only +add largely to the bulk of the pile, but secure the benefits afforded by +the urine without reducing, in any way, the strength or fermenting +properties of the manure. Shake out all the rank, dry, strawy part of +the manure and lay it aside for other purposes. This may be of further +use as bedding in the stables, covering the mushroom beds after they +have been made up, or for hotbeds; if well wetted with stable drainings, +or even plain water, it forms a ready heating material. + +Many a time when we have been short of home-made manure I have bought +some loads here and there from different stables in the village, and +mixed all together and made it into beds with excellent results. +Sometimes when the manure under preparation had been rather old and +cool, I have added a fifth or tenth part of fresh droppings to it, with +very quickening effect in heating and apparent benefit to the crop. + +It is generally believed that the manure of entire horses is better for +mushrooms than that of other horses, but positive evidence in this +direction has never come under my observation. Some practical men assert +that there is no difference. Mr. John G. Gardner, at the Rancocas Farm, +who has had abundant opportunity to test this matter, tells me that he +has given it a fair trial and been unable to find any difference in the +quality or quantity of mushrooms raised from beds made from the manure +of entire horses and those raised from beds made from the manure of +other equally as well fed animals. But the Parisian growers insist that +there is a difference in favor of entire horses, especially in the case +of hard-worked animals such as are engaged in heavy carting. + +Manure of horses that are largely fed with carrots is emphatically +condemned by most writers on the cultivation of mushrooms; indeed, it is +one of _the_ points in every book on mushrooms which I have read. Let us +look at a few practical facts: There are at Dosoris two shelf beds in +one cellar; each is thirty feet long, three feet wide, and nine inches +deep, and both are bearing a very thick crop of mushrooms. The material +in these beds consists of horse manure three parts and chopped sod loam +one part, which had been mixed and fermented together from the first +preparation. The manure was saved from the stables on the place in +November, '88, the materials prepared in December, the beds built Dec. +17, spawned Dec. 24, molded over Dec. 31, and first mushrooms gathered +Feb. 7, 1889. These beds bore well until the middle of April. The +mushrooms did not average as large as they did on the deeper beds upon +the floor of the cellar, but they ran about three-fourths to one ounce +apiece, and a good many were more than this. It is most always the case, +however, that the crop on thin shelf beds averages less than it does on +thick floor beds, and especially is this noticeable after the first +flush of the crop has been gathered, no matter what kind of fermenting +material had been used. At the time when the manure used for these beds +was being saved at the stable the horses were only very lightly worked, +and to each horse was fed, in addition to hay and some oats and bran, +about a third of a bushel of carrots a day. And this is the manure used +for the late mushroom beds, and yet good crops and good mushrooms are +produced. This is not only the experience of one year's practice but the +regular routine of many. + +Perhaps some one would like to ask: Do you consider the manure of +carrot-fed horses as good as the manure of animals to which no carrots +or other root crops had been fed? My answer is--decidedly not. While +the manure of carrot-fed animals is not the best, at the same time it is +good, and any one having plenty of it can also have plenty of mushrooms. +The complete denunciation of the manure of carrot-fed horses so +emphatically stereotyped upon the minds and pens of horticultural +writers is not always founded on fact. + +=Manure of Mules.=--This is regarded as being next in value to that of +entire horses, and some French growers go so far as to say that it is +quite as good. Mr. John G. Gardner tells me of an extraordinary crop of +mushrooms he once had which astonished that veteran, Samuel Henshaw, and +that it was from beds made of manure from mule stables. Certainly the +heaviest crop of mushrooms I ever did see was at Mr. Wilbur's place at +South Bethlehem, Pa., four years ago, and the beds were of clean mule +droppings from the coal mines. Mule manure can be had in quantity at our +mule stock yards, which are in nearly every large city in the Middle and +Southern States. Getting it from the mines costs more than it is worth, +except as a fancy article; the men will not collect and save it for any +reasonable price. + +=Cellar Manure.=--Many stables have cellars under them into which the +manure and urine are dropped at every day's cleaning. These cellars are +not generally cleaned out before a good deal of manure has accumulated +in them, say a few weeks', or a few months', or a winter's gathering, +and it is commonly pretty well moistened by the urine. If this manure +has not become too dry and "fire-fanged" in the cellar it is splendid +for mushrooms. We buy a good deal of it, but are particular to reject +the very dry and white-burned parts. Sometimes the manure from the +cow-stables, as well as from the horse-stables, is dropped together into +the cellar; then I would give less for the manure, especially if the cow +manure predominated, because in the working it keeps too cold and wet +and pasty; but if there is not cow manure enough to give the mass a +pasty character it will make capital mushroom beds. Pigs often have the +run of the manure-cellar, as is generally the case in farmyards. I would +not use any part of this mixed pig manure. Mycelium evades hog manure; +besides it is impure and malodorous, and a propagating bed for noxious +insect vermin. It matters very little what kind of bedding is used, in +the case of cellar manure, but I would not buy it if sawdust or salt hay +had been used as bedding. Neither of these materials, in limited +quantity, is deleterious to the mushrooms; at the same time, they are +far less desirable than straw, field hay, German peat moss, or corn +stalks, and there are risks enough in mushroom-growing without courting +any that we can as well avoid. + +=City Stable Manure.=--Around New York this can always be had in any +quantity at a reasonable rate, and it is first-rate manure for mushroom +beds. Market gardeners haul in a load of vegetables to market and bring +back a load of manure; others may buy and haul home manure in the same +way, or make arrangements with a teamster to do it for them. But the +whole matter of city manure is now so deftly handled by agents, who make +a special business of it, that we can get any quantity of manure, from a +500 lb bale to an unlimited number of loads, and of most any quality, +delivered near or far, inland or coastwise, at a fairly moderate price. +It is the city stable manure that nearly all our large market growers +use for their mushroom beds. When they get it at the stables and cart it +home themselves they know what they are handling, and should take only +fresh horse dung. In ordering it of an agent be particular to arrange +for the freshest and cleanest, pure horse manure. They will get it for +you. We get several hundreds of loads of this selected manure from them +every year for hotbeds, and find it excellent. We also get 1000 to 2000 +loads of the common New York stable manure a year for our general +outdoor crops, and it also is capital manure in its way, but not so good +as the selected manure for mushrooms. It is mixed a little and smells +very rank, and in mushroom beds usually produces a good deal of spurious +fungi. Most all of our largest mushroom growers, Van Siclen of Jamaica, +Denton of Woodhaven, Connard of Hoboken, and others, live within easy +hauling distance of the city, and are able to select and get the very +choicest manure at a very cheap rate. + +=Baled Manure.=--Within a year or two a good deal of our city horse +manure has been put up in bales and thus shipped and sold. Each bale +contains from 350 to nearly 500 lbs, and is made up, pressed and tied in +about the same way as baled hay. The principal advantages of the bales +are these: Only the cleanest horse manure is put up in this way; cow +manure, offal, spent hops, or other short or soft manures are not +included in the bales, nor, on account of shipping considerations, are +malodorous manures of any sort permitted in them. The railroads allow +baled manure to be put off on their platforms, and closer to their +stations than they would allow loose manure; and it often happens that +an agent will send a carload to a railroad station and dump it off there +so that the people around who have only small garden lots can have an +opportunity of buying one or more bales, just as they need it, and +without, as is generally the case, having to buy a whole load when they +need only half a load. These bales are quite a boon to people who would +like to have a small bed of mushrooms in their cellar and who have no +other manure. Bring home one or more bales, open them, spread out the +manure a little, and when it heats turn it a few times, and it will soon +be ready for use. Or if you do not wish to litter up the place, roll the +bales into the cellar, shed, or wherever else you wish to make use of +them, and mix about one-fourth of their bulk of loam with the manure +and make up the bed at once. + +The Board of Health of New York city is very emphatic in its endeavors +to rid the city of any accumulation of manure and, a year ago, had under +consideration a plan to compel the manure agents, for sanitary reasons, +to bale the stable manure. And perhaps this is the reason why it is so +easily procured, to wit: A New York gentleman, desirous of engaging in +the mushroom-growing business, writes me: "I get my manure from the city +in bales. All it costs me is the freight to my place at White Plains." +Lucky gentleman! With any amount of the best kind of stable manure +gratis, no wonder he wishes to embark in the mushroom ship. + +=Cow Manure.=--This is sometimes used with horse manure in forming the +materials for a mushroom bed, and several European writers are emphatic +in advocating its use. But I have tried it time and time again, and in +various ways, and am satisfied that it has no advantage whatever over +plain horse manure, if, indeed, it is as good. It is not used by the +market growers in this country. + +The best kind of cow manure is said to be the dry chips gathered from +the open pastures; these are brought home, chopped up fine and mixed +with horse manure. The time and expense incurred in collecting and +chopping these "chips" completely overreach any advantages that might be +derived from them, no matter how desirable they may be. The next best +kind of cow manure is that of stall-fed cattle, to which dry food only, +as hay and grain, is fed. This is seldom obtainable except in winter, +and is then available for spring beds only. This I have used freely. +One-third of it to two-thirds of dry horse manure works up very well, +heats moderately, retains its warmth a long time, also its moisture +without any tendency to pastiness; the mycelium travels through it +beautifully, and it bears fine mushrooms. Still, it is no better than +plain horse manure. The poorest kind of cow manure is the fresh manure +of cattle fed with green grass, ensilage, and root crops; indeed, such +manure can not be used alone; it needs to be freely mixed with some +absorbent, as dry loam, German moss, dry horse droppings, and the like, +and even then I have utterly failed to perceive its advantages; it is a +dirty mass to work, and quite cold. + +In the manufacture of spawn, however, cow manure is a requisite +ingredient, and here again the manure of dry fed animals is better than +that of those fed with green and other soft food. But my chief objection +to the use of cow manure in the mushroom beds is that it is a favorite +breeding and feeding place for hosts of pernicious bugs and grubs and +earth worms,--creatures that we had better repel from, rather than +encourage in, our mushroom beds. + +=German Peat Moss Stable Manure for Mushroom Beds.=--Although I have not +yet had an opportunity of trying this material for mushroom beds, Mr. +Gardner, of Jobstown, has great faith in it; so, too, has that prince of +English mushroom growers, Richard Gilbert, of Burghley, who relates his +success with it in growing mushrooms in the English garden papers. This +peat moss is a comparatively new thing in this country, and is used in +place of straw for bedding horses. It is a great absorbent and soaks up +much of the urine that, were straw used instead, would be likely to pass +off into the drains. To this is ascribed its great virtue in mushroom +culture. It should be mixed with loam when used for mushroom beds. + +[Illustration: FIG. 20. BALE OF GERMAN PEAT MOSS.] + +=Sawdust Stable Manure for Mushroom Beds.=--This is the manure obtained +from stables where sawdust has been used for bedding for the horses. It +is a good absorbent and retains considerable of the stable wettings. +Such manure ferments well, makes up nicely into beds, the mycelium runs +well in it, and good mushrooms are produced from it. But if I could get +any other fairly good manure I wouldn't use it. I remember seeing it at +Mr. Henshaw's place some years ago. He had bought a quantity of fresh +stable manure from the Brighton coal yards, where sawdust had been used +for bedding for the horses, and this he used for his mushroom beds. I +went back again in a few months to see the bed in bearing, but it was +not a success. At the same time, some European growers record great +success with sawdust stable manure. George Bolas, Hopton, Wirkeworth, +England, sent specimens of mushrooms that he grew on sawdust manure beds +to the editor of the _Garden_, who pronounced them "in every way +excellent." Mr. Bolas says: "In making up the bed I mixed about +one-third of burnt earth with the sawdust, sand, and droppings. The +mushrooms were longer in coming up than usual, the bed being in a close +shed, without any heat whatever. They have, however, far exceeded my +expectations." + +Richard Gilbert, of Burghley, also wrote to the _Garden_, April 25, +1885: "There is nothing new in growing mushrooms in sawdust. I have done +it here for years past; that is to say, after it had done service as a +bed for horses, and got intermixed with their droppings. I have never +been able to detect the least difference in size or quality between +mushrooms grown in sawdust and those produced in the ordinary way." + +=Tree Leaves.=--Forest tree leaves are often used for mushroom beds, +sometimes alone, instead of manure, but more frequently mixed with horse +manure to increase the bulk of the fermenting material. Oak tree leaves +are the best; quick-rotting leaves, like those of the chestnut, maple, +or linden, are not so good, and those of coniferous trees are of no use +whatever. As the leaves must be in a condition to heat readily they +should be fresh; such are easily secured before winter sets in, but in +spring, after lying out under the winter's snow and rain, their +"vitality" is mostly gone. But we can secure a large lot of dry leaves +in the fall and pile them where they will keep dry until required for +use. As needed we can prepare a part of this pile by wetting the leaves, +taking them under cover to a warm south-facing shed, and otherwise +assisting fermentation just as if we were preparing for a hotbed. While +moistening the leaves with clean water will induce a good fermentation, +wetting them with liquid from the horse-stable urine tanks will cause a +brisk heat, and for mushrooms produce more genial conditions. + +Mushroom beds composed in whole or part of fermenting tree leaves should +be much deeper than would be necessary were horse manure alone used; for +half leaves and half manure, say fifteen inches deep; for all leaves, +say twenty to thirty inches deep. + +While mushroom spawn will run freely in leaf beds and we can get good +mushrooms from them, my experience has satisfied me that we do not get +as fine crops from these beds or any modification of them as from the +ordinary stable manure beds. And we can not wonder much at this, +considering that the wild mushroom is scarcely ever found in the +neighborhood of trees or where leaf mold deposits occur. + +=Spent Hops.=--We can make good use of this in one way. If we are short +of good materials for a mushroom bed, we can first make up the beds +eight or ten inches deep with fermenting spent hops, and above this lay +a four or five inch layer of horse manure, or this and loam mixed. The +hops will keep up the warmth, and the manure affords a congenial home +for the mushroom spawn. But we should never use spent hops alone, nor +so near the surface of the beds that the spawn will have to travel +through it. + +Spent hops can be had for nothing, and our city brewers even pay a +premium to the manure agents to take the hops away. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +PREPARATION OF THE MANURE. + + +Get as good a quality of fresh horse manure as you can, and in +sufficient quantity for the amount of bed or beds you wish to make. Next +get it into suitable condition for making up into beds. This can be done +out of doors or under cover of a shed, but preferably in the shed. Out +of doors the manure is under the drying influence of sun and wind, and +it is also liable to become over-wetted by rain, but under cover we have +full control of its condition. All the manure for beds between July and +the end of October is prepared out of doors on a dry piece of ground, +but what is used after the first of November, all through the winter, is +handled in a shed open to the south. During the autumn months we get +along very well with it out of doors; after every turning cover the heap +with strawy litter to save it from the drying influences of sun and +wind. Remove this covering when next turned, and lay light wooden +shutters on top of it as a precaution against rain. In the shed in +winter the manure is protected against rain and snow and we can always +work it conveniently; when the shed is open to the south--as wagon and +wood-sheds often are--we get the benefit of the warm sunshine in the +daytime in starting fermentation in the manure, but in the event of +dull, cold weather, cover up the pile quite snugly with straw and +shutters to start the heat in it. Altogether, a warm, close shed would +be better. + +It seldom happens that one can get all the manure he wants at one time; +it accumulates by degrees. This is the case with the market grower who +uses many tons, and hauls it home from the city stables a little at a +time; also with the private grower, who uses only a few bushels or half +a cord, and has it accumulate for days or weeks from his own stable. As +the manure accumulates throw it into a pile, straw and all, but not into +such a big pile that it will heat violently; and particularly observe +that it shall not "fire-fang" or "burn" in the heap. If it shows any +tendency to do this, turn it over loosely, sprinkle it freely with +water, spread it out a little, and after a few hours, or when it has +cooled off nicely, throw it up into a pile again and tread it firmly to +keep it moist and from heating hastily. + +When enough manure has accumulated for a bed, prepare it in the +following way: Turn it over, shaking it up loosely and mixing it all +well together. Throw aside the dry, strawy part, also any white "burnt" +manure that may be in it, and all extraneous matter, as sticks, stones, +old tins, bones, leather straps, rags, scraps of iron, or such other +trash as we usually find in manure heaps, but do not throw out any of +the wet straw; indeed, we should aim to retain all the straw that has +been well wetted in the stable. If the manure is too dry do not hesitate +to sprinkle it freely with water, and it will take a good deal of water +to well moisten a heap of dry manure. Then throw it into a compact +oblong pile about three or four feet high, and tread it down a little. +This is to prevent hasty and violent heating and "burning," for firmly +packed manure does not heat up so readily or whiten so quickly as does a +pile loosely thrown together. Leave it undisturbed until fermentation +has started briskly, which in early fall may be in two or three days, +or in winter in six to ten days, then turn it over again, shaking it up +thoroughly and loosely and keeping what was outside before inside now, +and what was inside before toward the outside now; and if there are any +unduly dry parts moisten them as you go along. Trim up the heap into the +same shape as you had before, and again tread it down firmly. This +compacting of the pile at every turning reduces the number of required +turnings. When hot manure is turned and thrown loosely into a pile it +regains its great heat so rapidly that it will need turning again within +twenty-four hours, in order to save it from burning, and all practical +men know that at every turning ammonia is wasted,--the most potent food +of the mushroom. We should therefore endeavor to get along with as few +turnings as possible; at the same time, never allow any part of the +manure to burn, even if we have to turn the heap every day. These +turnings should be continued until the manure has lost its tendency to +heat violently, and its hot, rank smell is gone,--usually in about three +weeks' time. If the manure, or any part of it, is too dry at any +turning, the dry part should be sprinkled with water and kept in the +middle of the heap. Plain water is what is generally used for moistening +the manure, but I sometimes use liquid from the stable tanks, which not +only answers the purpose of wetting the dry materials, but it also is a +powerful stimulant and welcome addition to the manure. But the greatest +vigilance should be observed to guard against overmoistening the manure; +far better fail on the side of dryness than on that of wetness. + +If the manure is too wet to begin with it should be spread out thinly +and loosely and exposed to sun and wind, if practicable, to dry. Drying +by exposure in this way is not as enervating as "burning" in a hot +pile, and better have recourse to any method of drying the manure than +use it wet. If, on account of the weather or lack of convenience for +drying, the manure can not be dried enough, add dry loam, dry sand, dry +half-rotted leaves, dry peat moss, dry chaff, or dry finely cut hay or +straw, and mix together. + +The proper condition of the manure, as regards dryness or moistness, can +readily be known by handling it. Take a handful of the manure and +squeeze it tight; it should be unctuous enough to hold together in a +lump, and so dry that you can not squeeze a drop of water out of it. + +Some private gardeners in England lay particular stress upon collecting +the fresh droppings at the stables every day, and spreading them out +upon a shed or barn floor to dry, and in this way keeping them dry and +from heating until enough has accumulated for a bed, when the bed is +made up entirely of this material, or of part of this and part of loam. +But market gardeners, the ones whose bread and butter depend upon the +crops they raise, never practice this method, and that patriarch in the +business, Richard Gilbert, denounces the practice unstintedly. + +Different growers have different ideas of preparing manure for mushroom +beds, but the aim of all is to get it into the best possible condition +with the least labor and expense, and to guard against depriving it of +any more ammonia than can be helped. See Mr. Gardner's method of +preparing manure, p. 22. + +=Loam and Manure Mixed.=--Mushroom beds are often formed of loam and +manure mixed together, say one-third or one-fourth part of the whole +being loam, and the other two-thirds or three-fourths manure; if a +larger proportion of loam is used it will render the beds rather cold +unless they are made unusually deep. I am not prepared to affirm or deny +that this mixed material has any advantages over plain manure; I use it +considerably every year and with good results; at the same time, I get +as good crops from the plain manure beds. But it has many warm friends +who are excellent growers. + +In preparing this mixed material I use fresh sod loam well chopped up, +and add it to the manure in this way: First select the manure and throw +it into a heap to ferment, as before explained; then after the first +turning cover the heap with a layer of this loam about three or four +inches thick, enough to arrest the steam; at the next turning mix this +casing of loam with the manure, and when the heap is squared off add +another coating of loam of the same thickness in the same way as before, +and so on at each turning until the whole mass is fit for use, and the +full complement of loam, say one-fourth the full bulk, has been added. +In this way much of the ammonia that otherwise would be evaporated from +the manure is arrested and retained. + +Some growers, when they first shake out their fresh manure, add the full +complement of loam to it at once and mix them together. Others, again, +Mr. Denton, of Woodhaven, for instance, prepare the manure in the +ordinary way and when ready for use add the quota of loam. I use good +sod loam for two reasons, namely, because it is the very best that can +be used for the purpose, and, also, after being used in the mushroom +beds it is a capital material, and in fine condition for use in potting +soft-wooded plants. But the loam commonly used to mix with the manure is +ordinary field soil. If the loam is ordinarily moist to begin with, and +also the manure, there is very little likelihood of any of the material +getting too dry during the preparation. And much less preparation is +needed, for the presence of the loam lessens, considerably, the +probability of hasty, violent fermentation. + +Mr. Withington, of South Amboy, N. J., uses rather a stinted amount of +loam in his manure. He writes me: "We made up our beds this year with a +proportion of loam in the manure, say one part loam to eight parts +manure, but have always used clear manure heretofore, and I think the +beds hold out longer than when only manure is used." + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +MAKING UP THE MUSHROOM BEDS. + + +The place in the cellar, shed, house, or elsewhere, where we intend to +grow the mushrooms, should be in readiness as soon as the manure has +been well prepared and is in proper condition for use. The bed or beds +should be made up at once. The thickness of the beds depends a good deal +upon circumstances, such as the quality of the manure,--whether it is +plain horse manure, or manure and loam mixed together,--or whether the +beds are to be made in heated or unheated buildings, and on the floor or +on shelves. Floor beds are generally nine to fifteen inches deep; about +nine inches in the case of manure alone, in warm quarters, and ten to +fourteen inches when manure and loam are used. In cool houses the beds +are made a few inches deeper than this so as to keep up a steady, mild +warmth for a long time. The beds may be made flat, or ridged, or like a +rounded bank against the wall; but the flat form is the commonest, and +the most convenient where shelves are also used in the same building. +Shelf beds are generally nine inches deep; that is, the depth of one +board. + +In making up the beds, bring in the manure and shake it up loosely and +spread it evenly over the bed, beating it down firmly with the back of +the fork as you go along, and continue in this way until the desired +depth is attained. If it is a floor bed and there is no impediment, as +a shelf overhead, tread the manure down firmly and evenly; if the manure +is fairly dry and in good condition it will be pretty firm and still +springy, but if it is too moist and poorly prepared treading will pack +it together like wet rotten dung. + +Now pierce a hole in the bed and insert a thermometer. There are +"ground" or "bottom-heat" thermometers, as gardeners call them, for this +purpose, but any common thermometer will do well enough; and after two +or three days examine this thermometer daily to see what is the +temperature of the manure in the bed. In roomy or airy structures or +where only a small bed has been made it may, in the meantime, be left in +this condition. But in a tight cellar I find that the warm moisture +arising from the bed condenses in the atmosphere and settles on the top +of the manure, making it perfectly wet. In order to counteract this, as +soon as the bed is made up I spread some straw or hay over it loosely; +the moisture settles on the covering and does not reach through to the +manure. Beware of overcovering, as such induces overheating inside the +bed. At spawning time remove this covering. The bed will then have +become so cool (80 deg. or 90 deg.) that there is very little evaporation from +it, consequently little danger of surface-wetting. + +=The Proper Temperature.=--This, in mushroom beds, depends upon the +materials of which they are composed, their thickness, how they are +built, the situation they are in, and other circumstances. If the manure +was good and fresh to begin with, carefully prepared and used as soon as +ready, the bed in a few days will warm up to 125 deg., or a little more or +less, and this is very good. My best beds have always shown a maximum +heat of between 120 deg. and 125 deg.. Had the manure been used a few days too +soon the heat would rise higher, perhaps to 135 deg., but this is too warm; +in this case I would fork over the surface of the bed a few inches deep +to let the heat escape, and after a couple of days compact the bed +again. Boring holes all over the surface of the beds with a crowbar is +the common way of reducing a too high temperature, and when the heat has +subsided sufficiently fill up these holes with finely pulverized dry +loam. With loam we can fill them up perfectly, but we can not do this +with manure, and if left open they remain as wet sweat holes that are +very deleterious to the spreading spawn. + +A too high temperature in the beds should be sedulously guarded against, +for it wastes the substance of the manure, dries up the interior of the +bed, and the mushroom crop must necessarily be starved and short. + +Provided that the manure is fresh and good and has been well prepared, +if the beds, after being made up, do not indicate more than 100 deg. or 110 deg. +no alarm need be felt, for excellent crops will likely be produced by +these beds. The thicker the beds are the higher the heat will probably +rise in them. Firmly built beds warm up more slowly than do loosely +built ones, and they keep their heat longer. If the materials are quite +cool when built solidly into beds they are not apt to become very warm +afterward. But I always like to make up the beds with moderately warm +manure. + +It sometimes happens that circumstances may prevent the making up of the +beds just as soon as the manure is in prime condition, and even after +they are made up the heat does not rise above 75 deg. or 80 deg.. In such a case +if the manure is otherwise in good condition and fresh, it is well +enough and a good crop may be expected. But if the manure, to begin +with, had been a little stale, rotten and inert, I certainly would not +hesitate to at once break up the bed, add some fresh horse droppings to +it, mix thoroughly, then make it up again. Or a fair heat may be started +in such a stale bed by sprinkling it over rather freely with urine from +the barnyard, then forking the surface over two or three inches deep and +afterward compacting it slightly with the back of the fork. Spread a +layer of hay, straw, or strawy stable litter a few inches deep over the +bed till the heat rises. If the manure had been moist enough this +sprinkling should not be resorted to, but the fresh droppings added +instead. When it is applied, however, great care should be taken to +prevent overheating; a lessening or entire removal of the strawy +covering, and again firmly compacting the surface of the bed will reduce +the temperature. Some saltpeter, or nitrate of soda, an ounce to three +gallons of liquid, will encourage the spread of the mycelium after the +spawn is inserted; a much stronger solution of these salts can now be +used than would be safe to apply after the mycelium is running in the +bed. + +When loam and manure mixed together comprise the materials of which the +bed is made, the temperature is not likely to rise so high as when +manure alone is used, but this matters not so long as the materials of +which the bed is composed are sweet and fresh and not over-moist. But if +the materials are cold and stale treat as recommended for a manure bed, +always bearing in mind that it is better to have a cold bed that is +fairly dry than one that is wet, or, indeed, a warm one that is wet. + +Mr. Withington, of South Amboy, has a good word to say for beds of a low +temperature. He writes me: "Our beds kept in good bearing two months, +though they have borne in a desultory way a month longer. Our best bed +this season was one that was kept at an even temperature. The manure +never rose above 75 deg. when made up, and decreased to about 60 deg. soon after +spawning. Kept the house at 55 deg.." + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +MUSHROOM SPAWN. + + +What is mushroom spawn? Is it a seed or a root? Do you plant it or sow +it, or how do you prepare it? are some of the questions asked me now and +again. To the general public there seems to be some great mystery +surrounding this spawn question; in fact, it appears to be the chief +enigma connected with mushroom-growing. Now, the truth is, there is no +mystery at all about the matter. What practical mushroom growers call +spawn, botanists term mycelium. + +The spawn is the true mushroom plant and permeates the ground, manure, +or other material in which it may be growing; and what we know as +mushrooms is the fruit of the mushroom plant. The spawn is represented +by a delicate white mold-like network of whitish threads which traverse +the soil or manure. Under favorable circumstances it grows and spreads +rapidly, and in due time produces fruit, or mushrooms as we call them. +The mushrooms bear myriads of spores which are analogous to seeds, and +these spores become diffused in the atmosphere and fall upon the ground. +It is reasonable to suppose that they are the origin of the spawn which +produces the natural mushrooms in the fields, also the spawn we find in +manure heaps. But we never have been able to produce spawn artificially +from spores, or in other words, mushrooms have never been grown by man, +so far as I can find any authentic record, from "seed." How, then, do we +get the spawn? By propagation by division. We take the mushroom plant or +spawn, as we call it, and break it up into pieces, and plant these +pieces separately in a prepared bed of manure or other material, under +conditions favorable for their growth, and we find that these pieces of +spawn develop into vigorous plants that bear fruit (mushrooms) in about +two months from planting time. When the spawn has borne its full crop of +fruit it dies. + +Well, then, if we can not produce spawn from spores, and the spawn in +the beds that have borne mushrooms has died out, how are we to get the +spawn for our future crops? is a question that may suggest itself to the +inexperienced. By securing it when it is in its most vigorous condition, +which is before it begins to show signs of forming mushrooms, and drying +it, and keeping it dry till required for use. But in order to secure the +spawn we need to take and keep with it the manure to which it adheres or +in which it is spreading. In this way it can be kept in good condition +for several years and without its vitality being perceptibly impaired. +Keeping it dry merely suspends its growth; as soon as it is again +submitted to favorable conditions of moisture and heat its pristine +activity returns. + +Mushroom spawn can be obtained at any seed store. Our seedsmen always +keep it in stock, both the brick (English), and the flake (French) +spawn. It is retailed in quantities of one pound or more, and as the +article is perfectly dry it can be easily sent by mail in small +quantities. + +The seedsmen import it from Europe every year along with their seeds. A +prominent Boston seedsman writes me: "We get our supply through the +London wholesale seedsmen, for the sake of convenience and cheaper ocean +freight, etc. Coming with a shipment of other goods and on same bill of +lading brings the freight charges down. The low price at which mushroom +spawn is sold in quantity can only be maintained with low freight +rates, as there is a duty here of 20% on the article." + +[Illustration: FIG. 21. BRICK SPAWN.] + +By direct inquiry of the leading importers in different cities I find +that we import about 4500 lbs of French or flake spawn, and 4000 +bushels, or 64,000 lbs of English or brick spawn, and that fully a half +of this whole importation is handled by the seedsmen of New York city. +In New York one firm alone, who make a specialty of supplying market +gardeners, has in one year imported 1500 bushels of brick spawn. But the +vicinity of New York is the great mushroom-growing center of the +country, also the best market for mushrooms in the country. One gardener +at Jamaica, L. I., bought 1000 lbs of brick spawn at one time, and a +neighbor of his bought 400 lbs; this shows what a large quantity of +spawn market gardeners require. And the demand this year is +unprecedented; some of our leading importers had sold out their supply +before the first of November. And it is not private growers so much as +market growers who are the cause of this; the market men find there is +money in growing mushrooms and they are going into it. + +Spawn comes in the form of dry, hard, solid manure bricks, and also in +the form of flakes of half rotted strawy manure. These bricks and flakes +are completely permeated with the mushroom mycelium. + +The brick spawn is commonly known as English spawn, and what is imported +into this country is made in England, mostly about London. The bricks +made by the different manufacturers vary a little in size and weight; in +some cases ten bricks go to the bushel, in others fourteen, and in +others sixteen. This last is the commonest sized brick, and weighs +exactly a pound, and measures about eight and one-half inches long, five +and one-fourth inches wide, and one and one-fourth inches thick; it is +what the London spawn makers call a 9x6x2 inch brick, but it shrinks in +drying. In retailing brick spawn in this country it is sold by weight +and not by measure. + +Mill-track mushroom spawn is advertised by some of our seedsmen, but +what they sell under this name is only the ordinary English brick spawn. +One of our prominent seed firms who advertise it write me: "Genuine +mill-track spawn used to be the best in England, but it has been +superseded, although European gardeners still call for English spawn +under the name of 'mill-track.'" The real mill-track spawn is the +natural spawn that has spread through the thoroughly amalgamated horse +droppings in mill-tracks or the cleanings from mill-tracks. It is +usually sold in large, irregular, somewhat soft lumps, and is much +esteemed by spawn makers for impregnating their bricks, but nowadays, +that horses have given place to steam as a motive power in mills, we +have no further supply of mill-track spawn for use in spawning our +mushroom beds. We do not feel this loss, however, as the spawn now +manufactured by our best makers will produce as good a crop of +mushrooms as the old mill-track natural spawn used to do. + +The flake spawn is what is generally known as French spawn, and is +imported into this country from France. But the manufacture of "French" +spawn for sale, however, is not strictly confined to France. It is put +up in two ways, namely, nicely packed in thin wooden boxes, each +containing two or three pounds of spawn, and also loose in bulk when it +is sold by weight or measure. + +[Illustration: FIG. 22. FLAKE OR FRENCH SPAWN.] + +Virgin spawn is what we call natural spawn or wild spawn; that is, the +spawn that occurs naturally in the fields, in manure piles, or +elsewhere, and without any artificial aid. It is supposed to be produced +directly from the mushroom spores, and is not a new growth of surviving +parts of old spawn that may have lived over in the ground. It is far +more vigorous than "made" spawn, and spawn makers always endeavor to get +it to use in spawning the artificial spawn. It is seldom used for +spawning mushroom beds because not easy to obtain. Now and again we come +upon a lot of it in a manure pile; it looks like a netted mass of white +strings traversing the manure. As soon as discovered secure all you can +find, bring it indoors to a loft, shed, or room, and spread it out to +dry; after drying it thoroughly keep it dry and preserve and use it as +you would French spawn, for it is the best kind of flake spawn. In using +virgin spawn for spawning beds I have obtained larger and heavier +mushrooms than from "made" spawn, and the beds lasted longer in good +bearing, but the weight of the whole crop has not been more than from +artificial spawn. + +=How to Keep Spawn.=--Spawn should be kept in a dry, airy place, +somewhat dark, if convenient, and in a temperature between 35 deg. and 65 deg.. +Wherever things will "must," as in a cellar, cupboard against a wall, or +in a close, damp building, is a very poor place for keeping spawn. If +the spawn is perfectly dry and kept in a dry, airy place, and not in +large bulk, and covered, it will bear a high temperature with apparent +impunity, but whenever dampness, even of the atmosphere, is coupled with +heat, the mycelium begins to grow, and this, in the storeroom, is +ruinous to the spawn. Judging from our natural mushroom crops, the spawn +for which must be alive in the ground in winter, one concludes that +frost should not be injurious to the artificial spawn, still my +experience is that hard frost destroys the vitality of both brick and +flake spawn. And this is one reason why I get our full supply of spawn +in the fall and keep it myself rather than submit it to the mercy of the +seed store. + +=New Versus Old Spawn.=--How long spawn may be kept without its vitality +becoming impaired is an unsettled question, but there is no doubt, if +properly kept, it will remain good for several years. But I can not +impress too strongly upon the reader the importance of using fresh +spawn. Do not use any old spawn at any price; do not accept it gratis +and ruin your prospect of success by using it. It takes three months +from the time when the manure is gathered for the beds until the +mushrooms are harvested. Can you, therefore, afford to spend this time, +and undergo the care and trouble and expense, and court a failure by +using old spawn? We have risks enough with new spawn, let alone old +spawn. I do not use any more old spawn, but I have used it often and +long enough to be convinced of its general worthlessness, unless +preserved with the greatest care. + +=How to Distinguish Good from Poor Spawn.=--This is a very difficult +matter, notwithstanding what people may say to the contrary. If we could +positively tell good from bad spawn, we would never use bad spawn, and, +therefore, with ordinary care, have very few failures in +mushroom-growing; for good spawn is the root of success in this +business. Spawn differs very much in its appearance; sometimes the +bricks show very little appearance of the presence of spawn, and still +are perfectly good; and again, we may get bricks that are pretty well +interlaced and clouded with bluish white mold or fine threads, and this, +too, is good. When the bricks are freely pervaded with pronounced white +threads this is no sign that the spawn is bad. Bricks dried as hard as a +board may be perfectly good; so, too, may be those that are +comparatively soft. Mushroom spawn should have a decided smell of +mushrooms, and whatever cobweb-like mold may be apparent should be of a +fresh bluish white color, and the fine threads clear white. Prominent +yellowish threads or veins are a sign that the mycelium had started to +grow and been killed. Distinct white mold patches on the surface of the +bricks indicate the presence of some other fungous parasite on the +mushroom mycelium; the absence of any mushroom smell in the spawn +indicates its worthlessness and that the mycelium is dead. One familiar +with mushroom spawn can tell with considerable certainty "very living" +spawn and "very dead" spawn, but I am far from convinced that any one +can decide unhesitatingly in the case of middling or weak spawn. + +Mr. S. Henshaw, in Henderson's Handbook of Plants, tells us: "The +quality of the spawn may be very easily detected by the mushroom-like +smell, ... and I should have no hesitation in picking out good spawn in +the dark." Sanguine, surely, but I have tried it and found the test +wanting. M. Lachaume says that good spawn shows "an abundance of +bluish-white filaments well fitted together, and giving off a strongly +marked odor of mushrooms. All those portions which show traces of white +or yellow mold or have a floury appearance, should be rejected and +destroyed." Mr. Wright says: "A brick may be a mass of moldiness, and +yet be quite worthless; and if the mold has a spotted appearance, as if +fine white sand had been dredged on and through the mass, it is certain +there is no mushroom-growing power there.... If thick threads pass +through the mass and there are signs of miniature tubercles on them, +then the spawn may be regarded as too far gone.... Clusters of white +specks on the spawn denote sterility." + +Mr. A. D. Cowan, of New York, who has the reputation of being an +excellent judge of mushroom spawn, writes me: "To correctly judge the +quality of brick spawn by its appearance requires experience in handling +it, and a trained eye which enables one quickly to detect good from bad, +fair to middling. As two lots seldom come exactly or nearly alike in +appearance, it is hardly possible to give precise rules to follow, +excepting the never-failing requisite which the spawn must possess to be +good, namely, the moldy appearance on the surface, the more the better, +without showing threads. Too many of these to a given space are a sure +indication of exhausted vitality, arising generally from the bricks +being heaped together when in process of manufacture, before they are +sufficiently dried. Healthy bricks are usually of a dusty brown color, +and of light weight. Black colored spawn is to be avoided, as a rule, +and when the black appearance is very prevalent in a cargo of bricks it +is a strong indication that the spawn has not run its course; and as it +is not expected to do so after it has reached the hands of the retailer +it is economy to cast it aside. Some persons break a brick into several +pieces to see how it looks inside. To the experienced eye this is not +necessary, or even to lay hands upon it, as the outward moldy appearance +is the best of all evidence of its healthy vitality, and this never +exists if the bricks have lost their germinating power, excepting, of +course, where they have been kept damp, and the spawn has spent its +power, which is detected by the white threads appearing in great +quantity." + +=American-made Spawn.=--So far as I have been able to find out by +diligent inquiry, mushroom spawn is not made for sale in this country. +But I am informed that a few growers do save and use their own flake +spawn. Some of our principal growers, Van Siclen, Gardner, and Henshaw, +for instance, in time past attempted to make their own spawn, but with +only partial success, and now they confine themselves to the imported +article. But this state of affairs can not long continue. The demand +here for fresh mushrooms is so great, the industry of mushroom-growing +so important, the price of imported spawn so high, and the quantity of +foreign spawn imported annually into this country is so large, that, +before long, we hope some one will find it to his advantage to make a +specialty of growing mushroom spawn in this country to supply the +American market. There is no practical operation in connection with the +cultivation of mushrooms so little known or understood by the general +grower as the growing (or "making," as it is commonly called) and +preserving of mushroom spawn. General cultivators in England and France +(outside of the Paris caves) do not make their own spawn; it is a +distinct branch of the business, and carried on by specialists who grow +mushrooms for sale in winter, and spawn in summer. + +The time and attention required to produce a small quantity of +first-class spawn are worth more than the cost of the spawn at the seed +store. In order to make spawn profitably we must make it in large +quantity, and we need not attempt to make it unless we have good +materials and conditions for its proper preparation, and will give it +every attention possible for its best development. + +Because spawn may be made in America is no reason whatever why the +American people will buy it. We must produce, at least, as good an +article as the best in Europe before we can find countenance in our home +market. It is not the shape of the manure brick, its size, fine finish, +hardness, softness, or freshness, that counts in this case; it is the +fullness and vitality of the mass of mycelium or mushroom plant that is +contained within it. + + +HOW TO MAKE BRICK SPAWN. + +As the making of brick spawn for sale is not yet an American industry, +but almost entirely confined to England, I think it best to restrict +myself to describing how it is made in England. Mr. John F. Barter, of +Lancefield street, London, is one of the most successful mushroom +growers and spawn makers in Great Britain. He writes me that he confines +himself entirely to the mushroom business; he makes his living by it. He +grows mushrooms in the winter months and makes spawn in the summer +months; he employs men for mushroom bed making from August until March, +then, to keep on the same hands during summer, he makes spawn for sale. +He grows for and sells in the London market about 21,000 pounds of +mushrooms a year, and in summer makes some 10,000 bushels, equal to +160,000 pounds, of brick spawn for sale. The amount of spawn made in a +year by this one manufacturer is about three times as much as the total +annual importation of mushroom spawn of all kinds into this country. And +he is only one maker among several. This fact alone must convince us +that mushroom-growing is carried on to a vastly greater extent in +European countries than it is here, where we have as good facilities as +they have, and an immensely better market. + +The manner of making the spawn differs a little with the different +manufacturers, and no one can become proficient in it without practical +knowledge. I asked Mr. Barter if he thought spawn could be made +profitably in this country, paying, as we do, $1.50 a day for laborers, +and without any certainty of the same men staying with us permanently. +He writes me: "Uncertain labor would be of no use. Of course the wages +you pay would not affect it much, as I pay nearly as much as that for my +leading men. But to begin with, you must have a man that has had some +experience." + +About the simplest and best way of making brick spawn that I find +described is the following from _The Gardeners' Assistant_. I may here +state that Robert Thompson, the author of this work, was for many years +the superintendent of the Royal Horticultural Society's gardens at +Chiswick, near London, and, in his day, was regarded as without a peer +in practical horticulture, and lived in the midst of the market gardens +of London and the principal mushroom-growing district. + +"Fresh horse droppings, cow dung, and a little loam mixed and beaten up +with as much stable drainings as may be necessary to reduce the whole to +the consistence of mortar. It may then be spread on the floor of an open +shed, and when somewhat firm it may be cut into cakes of six inches +square. These should be placed on edge in a dry, airy place, and must +be frequently turned and protected from rain. When half dry make a hole +in the broadside of each, large enough to admit of about an inch square +of good old spawn being inserted so deep as to be a little below the +surface; close it with some moist material the same as used in making +the bricks. When the bricks are nearly dry make, on a dry bottom, a +layer nine inches thick of horse dung prepared as for a hotbed, and on +this pile the bricks rather openly. Cover with litter so that the steam +and heat of the layer of dung may circulate among the bricks. The +temperature, however, should not rise above 60 deg.; therefore, if it is +likely to do so, the covering must be reduced accordingly. The spawn +will soon begin to run through the bricks, which should be frequently +examined whilst the process of spawning is going on, and when, on +breaking, the spawn appears throughout pretty abundantly, like a white +mold, the process has gone far enough. If allowed to proceed the spawn +would form threads and small tubercles, which is a stage too far +advanced for the retention of its vegetative powers. Therefore, when the +spawn is observed to pervade the bricks throughout like a white mold, +and before it assumes the thread-like form, it should be removed and +allowed to dry in order to arrest the further progress of vegetation +till required for use. It ought to be kept in a dark and perfectly dry +place." I would add, do not keep it where it is apt to become musty or +moldy in summer; also keep it in as cool a dry place as possible in +summer, and always above 35 deg. in winter. + +These other recipes are also given: + +"1. Horse droppings one part, cow dung one-fourth, loam one twentieth. + +"2. Fresh horse droppings mixed with short litter one part, cow dung +one-third, and a small portion of loam. + +"3. Equal parts of horse dung, cow dung, and sheep's dung, with the +addition of some rotten leaves or old hotbed dung. + +"4. Horse dung one part, cow dung two parts, sheep's dung one part. + +"5. Horse droppings from the roads one part, cow dung two parts, mixed +with a little loam. + +"6. Horse dung, cow dung, and loam, in equal parts." + +From the above it appears that horse dung and cow dung are the +principals in spawn bricks; the loam is added for the purpose of making +the other materials hold together; it also absorbs the ammonia, which +otherwise would pass off. + +=J. Burton's Method.= From _The Kitchen and Market Garden_.--Make the +spawn in early spring. As cow manure is the principal ingredient used in +making the bricks this should be secured before the animals get any +green food. Store it on the floor of an open, dry, airy shed, and turn +it every few days for a week or two. Then add an equal part of the +following: Fresh horse droppings, a little loam, and chopped straw, +mixed together. "The whole should then be worked well together and then +trodden down, after which it may be allowed to remain for a few days, +when it will be required to be turned two or three times a week. If the +weather be fine and dry the mass will soon be in a fit condition for +molding into bricks, which process can be performed by using a mold in +the same way as the brick makers, or, ... the manure may be spread +evenly on the floor to a thickness of six inches, and then be firmly +trodden and beaten down evenly with the back of the spade. It should +then be lined out to the required size of the bricks, and be cut with a +sharp spade or turfing iron. In a few days the bricks will be +sufficiently dry to handle, when they should be set up edgeways to dry +thoroughly, and if exposed to the sun for two or three days they will +be ready to receive the spawn. In introducing the spawn two holes large +enough to admit a piece of spawn as big as a pigeon's egg should be cut +in each brick at equal distances. This should be well beaten in and the +surface made even with a little manure. The bricks should then be +collected together in a heap and covered with enough short manure to +cause a gentle heat, being careful that there is no rank heat or steam +to kill the spawn. This must be carefully attended to until the spawn is +found to have penetrated through the whole of the bricks, after which +they should be stacked away in any convenient dry place." + + +HOW TO MAKE FRENCH (flake) SPAWN. + +I can not do better than to let a practical Frenchman engaged in the +business tell this story. In Vol. XIII of the London _Garden_ I find an +English translation of M. Lachaume's book, "The Cave Mushroom," and this +comment by the editor: "The most complete account of the cave culture of +mushrooms which has been published by any cultivator on the spot well +acquainted with the subject is that recently published by M. Lachaume." + +Lachaume says: "The best spawn to use is what is called 'virgin spawn'; +that is to say, which has not yet produced mushrooms. In this country +this kind of spawn may be procured of any respectable nurseryman, under +the name of 'French spawn.' It differs from English spawn by being in +the form of small tufty cakes, instead of in compact blocks. Large +mushroom growers, however, always provide themselves with their own +spawn by taking it from a bed which is just about to produce its crop, +or which has already produced a few small mushrooms.... It is true that +by thus 'breeding in and in,' as it were, the mushrooms show a tendency +to deteriorate after a time; new spawn must therefore be obtained as +soon as any signs of deterioration begin to manifest themselves." + +=Making French Virgin Spawn.=--Condensed from Lachaume's book on +mushrooms. Take five or six barrow loads of horse droppings that have +lain in a heap for some time, and lost their heat, and mix them with +one-fourth of their bulk of short stable litter. Then, in April, open a +trench two feet wide, twenty inches deep, and length to suit, at the +foot of, but eight inches distant from, a wall facing north. In the +bottom of the trench spread a layer three to four inches deep of chopped +straw, then an equally thick layer of the prepared manure, all pressed +firmly by treading it down. The two layers must now be gently watered, +and then another double layer of chopped straw and droppings must be +laid, trodden down and watered, and so on until the top of the trench is +reached. The bed ought to rise above the level of the ground and be +rounded off like the top of a trunk. To prevent excessive dampness from +heavy rain cover the mound with a thick layer of stable litter. Three +months after filling the trench it should be opened at the side or end. +If the pieces of manure are well covered with masses of bluish-white +filaments, giving off the odor of mushrooms, the operation has +succeeded, and the spawn is fit for use or for drying to preserve for +future use. But if the threads are only sparingly scattered through the +mass, the trench should be covered up again and left for another month. +In saving the spawn the flakes of manure containing the largest amount +of spawn filaments should be retained, and those showing a brown +appearance rejected. In order to facilitate the drying of the spawn the +flakes should be broken into pieces, weighing from one to two pounds; +they are then placed in a well ventilated shed, but they must not be +piled upon each other. Properly prepared and dried this spawn keeps good +for ten years. + +=A Second Method= (by Lachaume). "This is generally adopted by mushroom +growers. The formation of the spawn is accelerated by adding pieces of +old spawn here and there.... At the beginning of April we must choose a +piece of ground situated at the foot of a wall facing north.... The soil +ought to be very open and light rather than heavy, so as to avoid +dampness. Taking advantage of a fine day, we open a trench sixteen +inches wide and at about eight inches from the foot of the wall, and of +a length adapted to the quantity of spawn we desire to produce. The +earth is thrown out on the side opposite the wall. Manure which has been +prepared for a mushroom bed, and has just come into condition is then +filled into the trench, leaving, however, a space at one end of it about +two feet and six inches in length for the formation of a mushroom bed, +which is made by tossing the manure about and shaking it up with the +hands, after which it is pressed down with the hands and knees. As soon +as the layer of manure reaches six inches in thickness we place along +the edge a number of lumps of spawn at about one foot apart. These lumps +are placed level with the manure on the edge facing the wall. This +portion of the surface of the manure ought to be raised vertically, and +should lean against the earthen wall of the trench. The other half of +the surface ought to slope gently toward the wall, leaving a space of +three or four inches between it and the side of the trench, so that it +may be trimmed. The lumps of spawn on this surface should be placed a +little backward, so that they may not be broken when the bed is trimmed. +The bed is then covered with more manure, until the first lumps of spawn +are buried three or four inches deep. A second row of lumps of spawn is +then inserted, as described in the directions for making the first row, +and the bed is filled up level with the surface of the soil. It is +finished by covering it up with a layer of fine, dry soil three or four +inches thick. The spawn ought to be very dry, otherwise we shall get a +premature crop of mushrooms instead of fresh spawn. At the end of six +weeks or a couple of months the new spawn ought to make its appearance, +a fact which we may learn by opening the bed. One sign, which will save +us the trouble of opening up the beds, is the appearance of young +mushrooms on the surface. The layer of earth is first removed, and then +the cakes of spawn are treated as described in the directions given for +the first method of making spawn." + +=Third Method= (by Lachaume). "By filling in a trench like that +described in the first method, by a series of layers of one-third of +pigeon or fowl guano, and two-thirds of short manure, containing a large +proportion of spent horse droppings, treading it down firmly, watering +it if it is too dry, and finishing up with a layer of soil, as described +already, we may, at the end of a couple of months, or even a little +longer, procure a supply of well-formed cakes of spawn of excellent +quality, which may be used in the ordinary manner." + +From Mr. Robinson's "Mushroom Culture." "This (French) spawn is obtained +by preparing a little bed, as if for mushrooms, in the ordinary way, and +spawning it with morsels of virgin spawn, if that is obtainable; and +then when the spawn has spread through it, the bed is broken up and used +for spawning beds in the caves, or dried and preserved for sale." + +From Mr. Wright's book on mushrooms. "French spawn ... is contained in +flakes of manure. Neither is it virgin spawn, nor derived immediately +from it, ... but is spawn taken from one bed for impregnating another." + +=Relative Merits of Flake and Brick Spawn.=--The flake or French spawn +costs about three times as much as the brick or English spawn, and, as +it is so much whiter with mycelium than is the brick spawn, many +believe that it is more potent and well worth the additional cost. In +spawning the beds I use two pounds of flake spawn to plant the same +space for which I would use five pounds of brick spawn, and this gives a +capital crop, with number of mushrooms a little in favor of the flake +spawn, but on account of the larger size of the mushrooms the weight of +crop is considerably in favor of the brick spawn. And I find more +certainty of a crop in the case of the brick spawn than in the other. + +Regarding the respective merits of brick and flake spawn, Mr. Barter, in +response to my inquiry, writes me: "I have tried them both, and know +brick spawn to be far the best. You see, I do nothing but this mushroom +business for a living, so, of course, would use the best kind of spawn +for my crop. Generally the French spawn produces one-third less +mushrooms than does the brick spawn from the same length of bed, +besides, those from the brick spawn are by far the heaviest and +fleshiest." + +I would here observe that Mr. Barter's remarks apply more to ridge beds +out of doors than beds in the cellar or mushroom house. And it is odd, +but true, that the flake spawn does not produce as good results in +outdoor beds as it does in those under cover. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +SPAWNING THE BEDS. + + +After the mushroom bed is made up it should, within a few days, warm to +a temperature of 110 deg. to 120 deg.. Carefully observe this, and never spawn a +bed when the heat is rising, or when it is warmer than 100 deg., but always +when it is on the decline and under 90 deg.. In this there is perfect +safety. Have a ground thermometer and keep it plunged in the bed; by +pulling it out and looking at it one can know exactly the temperature of +the bed. Have a few straight, smooth stakes, like short walking canes, +and stick the end of these into the bed, twelve to twenty feet apart; by +pulling them out and feeling them with the hand one can tell pretty +closely what the temperature of the bed is. + +All practical mushroom growers know that if the temperature of a twelve +inch thick bed at seven inches from the surface is 100 deg., that within an +inch of the surface of the bed will only be about 95 deg. indoors, and 85 deg. +to 90 deg. out of doors. Also, that when the heat of the manure is on the +decline it falls quite rapidly, five, often ten degrees, a day, till it +reaches about 75 deg., and between that and 65 deg. it may rest for weeks. + +Some years ago I gave considerable attention to this matter of spawning +beds at different temperatures. Spawn planted as soon as the bed was +made (five days after spawning the heat in interior of bed ran up to +123 deg.) yielded no mushrooms, the mycelium being killed. The same was the +case in all beds where the spawn had been planted before the heat in the +beds had attained its maximum (120 deg. or over). Where the heat in the +middle of the bed never reached 115 deg., the spawn put in when the bed was +made, and molded over the same day, yielded a small crop of mushrooms. A +bed in which the heat was declining was spawned at 110 deg.; this bore a +very good crop, and at 100 deg. and under to 65 deg. good crops in every case +were secured, with several days' delay in bearing in the case of the +lowest temperatures. But notwithstanding these facts, my advice to all +beginners in mushroom growing is, wait until the heat of the bed is on +the decline and fallen to at least 90 deg., before inserting the spawn. + +Writing to me about spawning his beds, Mr. Withington, of New Jersey, +says: "I believe a bed spawned at 60 deg. to 70 deg., and kept at 55 deg. after the +mushrooms appear, will give better results than one spawned at a higher +temperature, say 90 deg.." + +[Illustration: FIG. 23. BRICK SPAWN CUT IN PIECES FOR PLANTING.] + +=Preparing the Spawn.=--If brick spawn is used cut up the bricks +(standard size) into ten or twelve pieces with a sharp hatchet, and +avoid, as much as possible, making many crumbs, as is the case generally +when a hammer or mallet is used in breaking the bricks. Extra large +pieces of spawn are apt to produce large clumps of mushrooms, but this +is not always an advantage, as when many mushrooms grow together in a +clump they are apt to be somewhat undersized, and in gathering we can +not pluck them all out clean enough so as not to leave a part of the +"root" in the ground to poison the balance of the clump, in cases where +several or many of them spring from one common base. + +=Inserting the Spawn.=--When brick spawn is used plant the lumps about +an inch deep under the surface of the manure, and about ten inches apart +each way. If the spawn looks very good, and the lumps are large do not +plant them quite so close as when the spawn shows less mycelium in it, +and the lumps are small. Never use a dibber in planting spawn; simply +make a hole in the manure with the fingers, insert the lump and cover it +over at once, and as soon as the bed has been planted firm it well all +over. Although the lumps are buried only an inch deep under the manure, +we have to make a hole three or four inches deep to push the lump into +to get it buried. + +French or flake spawn is inserted in much the same way and at about the +same distance, only, instead of cutting it up into lumps, we merely +break it into flaky pieces about three inches long by an inch thick, and +in planting it in the beds, in place of pushing it into the hole, lay in +the flake on its flat side and at once cover it. + +Many growers plant spawn a good deal deeper than I do, but I have never +found any advantage in deep planting. In moderately warm beds, or beds +that are likely to retain their heat for a considerable time, I am +satisfied that shallow planting is better than deep planting. When we +want to mold over our beds soon after spawning them, shallow planting is +to be recommended. But if the beds are only 75 deg. to 78 deg., before being +spawned; then I think deep planting is better than shallow planting, +because the genial temperature gives the mycelium a better start in life +than would the cooler manure nearer the surface. + +If there is any likelihood of the surface manure getting wet from the +condensed moisture of the atmosphere, I would again cover over the beds +with some hay or straw, and let it remain on until molding time. And if +the bed is a little sluggish,--that is, cool,--this covering will help +in keeping it warm. Outside beds should be molded over in three or four +days after spawning; inside beds in eight to ten days. + +=Steeped Spawn.=--As brick spawn is so hard and dry I have tried the +effect of steeping it in tepid water before planting; some pieces were +merely dipped in the water, and others allowed to soak in the pails +one-half, one, five, and ten hours. The effect was prejudicial in every +instance and ruinous in the case of the long-soaked pieces. + +=Flake Spawn.=--"This is produced by breaking up the brick spawn into +pieces about two inches square and mixing them in a heap of manure that +is fermenting gently. After lying in this heap about three weeks it will +be found one mass of spawn, and just in the right condition for running +vigorously all through the bed in a very short time.... When flake spawn +is used the appearance of the crop is from two to three weeks earlier +than when brick spawn is used."--Mr. Henshaw, in first edition of +"Henderson's Handbook of Plants." I have tried this method and given it +careful attention, but the results were inferior to those obtained where +plain, common brick spawn had been used at once. + +In all my practice I have found that any disturbance of the spawn when +in active growth which would cause a breaking, exposing, or arresting of +the threads of the mycelium has always had a weakening influence upon +it. I have transplanted pieces of working spawn from one bed to another, +as the French growers do, but am satisfied that I get better crops and +larger mushrooms from beds spawned with dry spawn than from beds planted +with working spawn from any other beds. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +LOAM FOR THE BEDS. + + +In growing mushrooms we need loam for casing the beds after they are +spawned, topdressing the bearing beds when they first show signs of +exhaustion, filling up the cavities in the surface of the beds caused by +the removal of the mushroom stumps, and for mixing with manure to form +the beds. The selection of soil depends a good deal on what kind of soil +we have at hand, or can readily obtain. + +The best kind of loam for every purpose in connection with +mushroom-growing is rich, fresh, mellow soil, such as florists eagerly +seek for potting and other greenhouse purposes. In early fall I get +together a pile of fresh sod loam, that is, the top spit from a pasture +field, but do not add any manure to it. Of course, while this contains a +good deal of grassy sod there is much fine soil among it, and this is +what I use for mushrooms. Before using it I break up the sods with a +spade or fork, throw aside the very toughest parts of them, and use the +finer earthy portion, but always in its rough state, and never sifted. +The green, soddy parts that are not too rough are allowed to remain in +the soil, for they do no harm whatever, either in arresting the mycelium +or checking the mushrooms, and there is no danger that the grass would +grow up and smother the mushrooms. + +Common loam from an open, well-drained fallow field is good, and, if the +soil is naturally rich, excellent for any purpose. But do not take it +from the wet parts of the fields. Reject all stones, rough clods, +tussocks, and the like. Such loam may be used at once. + +Ordinary garden soil is used more frequently than any other sort, and +altogether with highly satisfactory results. The greatest objection I +have to it is the amount of insects it is apt to contain on account of +its often repeated heavy manurings. + +Roadside dirt, whether loamy or gritty, may also be used with good +results. If free from weeds, sticks, stones and rough drift, it may be +used at once, but it is much better to stack it in a pile to rot for a +few months before using. + +Sandy soil, such as occurs in the water-shed drifts along the roads and +where it has been washed into the fields, is much inferior to stiffer +and more fibrous earth. + +I have used the rich dark colored soil from slopes and dry hollows in +woods, and, odd though it may appear, as mushrooms do not naturally grow +in woods, with success. But it is not as good as loam from the open +field. + +Peat soil or swamp muck that has been composted for two or three years +has failed to give me good returns. The mushrooms will come up through +it all right, but they do not take kindly to it. + +Heavy, clayey loam is, in one way, excellent, in another, not so good. +So long as we can keep it equably moist without making it muddy it is +all right, but if we let it get a little too dry it cracks, and in this +way breaks the threads of the spawn and ruins the mushrooms that were +fed through them. + +=Loam Containing Old Manure.=--Loam in which there is a good deal of +old, undecomposed manure, such as the rich soil of our vegetable +gardens, is unqualifiedly condemned by some writers because of the +quantity of spurious and noxious fungi it is supposed to produce when +used in mushroom beds. But I can not join in this denunciation because +my experience does not justify it. This earth is the only kind used by +many market gardeners, as they have no other, and certainly without +apparent injurious effect. When I was connected with the London market +gardens, some twenty years ago, Steele, Bagley, Broadbent, and the other +large mushroom growers in the Fulham Fields cased all of their beds with +the common garden soil--perhaps the most manure-filled soil on the face +of the earth--and spurious fungi never troubled them. Indeed, I can not +understand why it should produce baneful crops of toadstools when used +in mushroom beds, and no toadstools when used for other horticultural +purposes, as on our carnation benches in greenhouses, in our lettuce or +cucumber beds, or in the case of potted plants. True, spurious fungi may +appear in the earth on our greenhouse benches or frame beds or mushroom +beds at any time and in more or less quantity, but I am convinced that +the rich earth of the vegetable garden has no more to do with producing +toadstools than has any other good soil, and old manure has far less to +do with it than has fresh manure. + +All practical gardeners know how apt hotbeds, in spring when their heat +is on the decline, are to produce a number of toadstools; and, also, +that when the bed is "spent," that is, when the heat is altogether gone, +the tendency to bear toadstools has gone too. This peculiarity is more +apparent in spring than in fall. All mushroom growers know that spurious +fungi, when they appear at all, are most numerous three to two weeks +before it is time for the mushrooms to come in sight. The same growth +appears in the manure piles out in the yard; a few weeks after the +strong heat of the manure has gone lots of toadstools may be observed on +and about the heaps, but on the piles of well-rotted cold manure we +seldom find toadstools at all. + +The fresh, clean stable manure used in mushroom-growing is not apt to be +charged with the spores of pernicious toadstools; their presence is +always most marked in the case of mixed manures. + +And there is a current idea that mushrooms will not thrive in beds in +which old manure abounds, either in the loam or fermenting material; +that it kills the mycelium. This, too, I must refute. I have seen heavy +crops of spontaneous mushrooms come up in violet and carnation beds in +winter, and where the soil consisted of at least one-fourth of rotted +manure well mixed with the earth. In cucumber and lettuce beds the same +thing has taken place. And in similar beds that have been planted +artificially with spawn, good crops of mushrooms have also been raised, +and the mycelium, instead of evading the lumps of old manure in the soil +often forms a white web right through them. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +EARTHING OVER THE BEDS. + + +This is an important operation in mushroom-growing, and the one for +which loam is indispensable. It consists in covering the manure beds, +after they have been spawned, with a coating, or casing as it is more +commonly called, of loam. The spawn spreads in the manure and rises up +into the casing, where most of the young mushrooms develop, and all find +a firm foothold. The loam also contributes to their sustenance. And it +protects the manure, hence the spawn, from sudden fluctuations of +temperature, and preserves it from undue wetting or drying. + +The best soil to use for this purpose is rich, fibrous, mellow loam, +such as is described, page 100. + +If the manure is fresh and in good condition and the beds are in a snug +cellar or closed mushroom house, I would not case them until the second +week after spawning, say about the eighth or tenth day; but were these +same beds in an open, airy shed or other building I would case them over +some days earlier, say the fourth or fifth day. A fear is often +expressed that when beds are cased within three or four days after being +spawned the close exclusion of the manure from the air is apt to raise +the heat of the manure in the bed, and thereby destroy the spawn; but I +have never known of any truth in this theory, and with well-prepared +manure I am satisfied no brisk reheating takes place, at least the +thermometer does not indicate it. The great danger of early casing is in +killing the spawn by burying it too deep in damp material and before it +has begun to run through the manure. + +I have conducted several experiments in order to satisfy myself +regarding when is the proper time to case the beds, and have found no +difference in results between beds that were cased over as soon as they +were spawned and others that were not cased over until the fourth, +seventh, tenth, or fourteenth day after spawning. The good or bad +results in the time of casing depend on the condition of the manure in +the beds, the depth at which the spawn has been inserted, the openness +or closeness of the place in which the beds are situated, and other +cultural conditions. But to delay casing as late as the fifteenth or +sixteenth day after spawning is injurious to the crop, because in +applying the covering of soil we are sure to break many of the mycelium +threads that have by this time so freely permeated the surface of the +manure. After the fourth week little white knots may be observed here +and there on the spawn threads; these are forming mushrooms, and to +delay casing the bed until this time would smother these little +pinheads, and greatly mar our prospects of a good crop. + +Peter Henderson, in his invaluable work, "Gardening for Profit," has +given rise to a deep seated prejudice against molding over mushroom +beds as soon as they are spawned by telling us that in his first attempt +at mushroom-growing he had labored for two years without being able to +produce a single mushroom, and all because he molded over his beds with +a two-inch casing of loam just as soon as he had spawned them. Then he +changed his tactics, and did not mold over the beds until the tenth or +twelfth day after spawning, and was rewarded with good crops of +mushrooms. Now, notwithstanding Mr. Henderson's experience, it is a fact +that many excellent growers spawn and mold their beds the same day, and +with success. But Mr. H. has done much good in displaying a rock against +which many might be wrecked, so much depends upon other cultural +conditions. The old practice of inserting the spawn three or more inches +deep into the manure bed and then molding it at once with two inches +deep of loam was enough to destroy the most potent spawn; nowadays we +barely cover the spawn with the manure, and this is how molding over at +once is so successful. + +All the preparation necessary is to have the loam in medium dry, mellow +condition, well broken up with the spade or digging fork, and freed from +sticks, stones, big roots, clods, chunks of old manure, and the like. + +Sifting the soil for casing the beds is labor lost. Sifted soil has no +advantage over unsifted earth, except when it is to be used for +topdressing the bearing beds or filling up the holes in their surface. + +The condition of the soil should be mellow but inclined to moist. If wet +it can only be used clumsily and spread with difficulty; if dry it can +be spread easily but not made firm, and on ridge beds can not be put on +evenly. But when moderately moist it can be spread easily and evenly on +flat or rounded surfaces, and made firm and smooth. + +How deep the mold shall be put upon the bed is also an unsettled +question. Some growers recommend three-fourths of an inch, others one, +one and one-half, two, or two and one-half inches, and some of our best +growers of fifty or seventy-five years ago were emphatic in asserting +three inches as the proper depth, but among recent writers I do not find +any who go beyond two and one-half inches. My own experience is in favor +of a heavy covering, say one and one-half to two inches. In the case of +a thin covering the mushrooms come up all right but their texture is not +as solid as it is in the case of a heavy covering, nor do the beds +continue as long in bearing; besides, "fogging off" is much more +prevalent under thinly covered than under heavily covered beds; also, +when the coating of loam is heavy a great many more of the "pinheads" +develop into full sized mushrooms than in the case of thinly molded +beds. + +Opinions differ as to firming the soil. I am in favor of packing the +soil quite firm, and have never seen good mushrooms that could not come +through a well firmed casing of loam, and I never knew of an instance +where firm casing stopped or checked the spreading of the mycelium or +the development of the mushrooms. In the case of flat beds,--for +instance, those made on shelves and floors,--a slightly compacted +coating (and this is all Mr. J. G. Gardner uses) may be all right, but +in the case of alongside-of-walls, ridge, and other rounded beds I much +prefer and always use solidly compacted casings. + +Mr. Henshaw has for several years used green sods about two inches +thick, put all over the bed, grass side down, and beaten firmly. The +advantage of using sods instead of soil, he thinks, is that the young +clusters of mushrooms never damp or "fogg off" as they are apt to do +when soil is used. + +I have given this green sods method repeated and careful trials, and am +satisfied that it has no advantages, in any way, over common fibrous +loam; indeed, it is not as good. No matter how firmly a sod, having its +green side down, may be beaten on to a bed of manure, there is barely +any union between the two; the sod merely rests upon the dung, but so +closely that the mycelium enters it freely. A slight movement or +displacement of the sod after the spawn enters it will break the threads +of mycelium between the manure and the sod, and this will destroy the +immature mushrooms forming in the sod. This gave me a good deal of +trouble. Stepping on the sod would disturb it. A clump of strong +mushrooms formed under it sometimes displaces it in forcing their way to +the surface. + +Sods are only fit for use on flat beds where they can lie solid; on +rounded or ridge beds they are too liable to be disturbed. And the +trouble and expense of procuring sods are too great to warrant their +use, even if they had any advantages. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +TOPDRESSING WITH LOAM. + + +In beds that are in full bearing or a little past their best we often +find multitudes of very small or what we call "pinhead" mushrooms, that +seem to be sitting right on the top of the loam, or clumps that have +been raised a little above the surface by growing in bunches, or what we +term "rocks"; now a topdressing of finely sifted fresh loam, about +one-fourth to one-half inch thick, spread all over the bed, will help +these mushrooms materially without doing any of them harm. But while +this topdressing assists all mushrooms that are visible above ground, no +matter how small they may be when the dressing is applied, I am not +convinced that it induces greater fertility in the spawn, or, in other +words, induces the spawn to spread further and produce more mushrooms +than it would were no topdressing applied. I know that this is contrary +to the opinions and writings of many, at the same time it is according +to my own observation. + +Go over the bed very carefully and pick out every soft or "fogged-off" +mushroom, no matter how small it may be, and root out every bit of old +mushroom stem or tough spongy material formed by it, and in this way get +the bed thoroughly cleaned. Then fill up all the holes caused by pulling +the mushrooms or rooting out the old stumps, and when the whole surface +is level apply the topdressing evenly all over the face of the bed, +avoiding, as much as possible, burying the well advanced mushrooms. +While it would be very well to pack the dressing smoothly over the bed, +it is impracticable; we may press it gently with the back of the hand on +the bare spots between the mushrooms, but we should not even do this +over the mushrooms, no matter how tiny they may be, else many of the +"pinheads" will be injured and cause "fogging off." + +But we can firm the dressing to the bed by watering it, which may be +done over the whole surface of the bed, and without sparing the +mushrooms, large or small. Use clear water and apply it gently through a +water-pot rose. I always do this, and have never known it to injure the +young mushrooms. + +In the case of mushroom beds in which black spot has appeared in the +crop, I have found that a topdressing of fine, fresh earth applied +evenly all over the bed acts, to a certain extent, as a preventive of +further attack, but of course has no effect upon any of the already +affected mushrooms, large or small. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +THE PROPER TEMPERATURE. + + +The best temperature at which to keep the mushroom house or cellar is +55 deg. to 57 deg.. But much depends upon the method of growing the esculent; +the construction of the house or cellar, and other circumstances. +Mushrooms can be successfully grown in buildings in which the +temperature may be as low as 20 deg. or as high as 65 deg.. By covering the beds +well with hay or other protecting material they can be kept warm, even +in sharp frosty weather, as the London market gardeners do with their +outdoor beds in winter; but when the temperature in the structure in +which the mushrooms are grown averages as high as 70 deg. we can not hope +for success; indeed, 65 deg. is too high. + +A high temperature in a close house or cellar is injurious; it hurries +in the crop and forces up the mushrooms weak and thin-fleshed and with +ungainly, long stems; it soon exhausts the bed. The time when its evil +effects are least visible is early in the fall and late in spring when +the outside temperature is high, and when the beds are in somewhat airy +rather than close quarters. In the Dosoris cellars there is a steady +difference of about 5 deg. in the temperature between the end next the +boiler, which is kept at 60 deg. precisely, and that of the farther end, +which registers 55 deg. steadily. There is very little difference in the +weight of crop produced on the beds at either end of these cellars, but +what little there is is in favor of the cooler end. At 60 deg. the crop +begins to come in in six to seven weeks after spawning, lasts for three +to four weeks in heavy bearing and a week or more longer in light +bearing, and then it gradually dwindles. + +In a temperature of 55 deg. it may be seven weeks after spawning before the +mushrooms appear. In a temperature of 50 deg. they may take a few days +longer in appearing, but, as a rule, they are firm, heavy, +short-stemmed, and perhaps a little furry on top and clammy to the +touch, and the beds last in good bearing for two months; indeed, often a +whole winter long. But I have failed to find that the whole crop from a +bed in a 45 deg. to 50 deg. temperature was any greater than that of a like bed +in a 55 deg. to 57 deg. temperature; it is merely a case of getting in six weeks +from the warmer house what it takes ten weeks to get from the cooler +one. + +In a temperature of 50 deg. it is not necessary to cover the beds to +increase their warmth, nor is it needful even in one of 45 deg., if there is +a fair warmth in the body of the bed to keep the spawn working; but if +the warmth of the interior of the bed falls under 57 deg., and the +atmospheric temperature under 45 deg., the bed should be kept warm by +covering with hay, straw, matting, or other material, or better still by +boxing it over and laying this covering on the outside of the boxing. +When cold thicken the covering, when warm lessen it. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +WATERING MUSHROOM BEDS. + + +If the beds get dry they should be watered, for mushrooms will not grow +well in dry beds or in a dry atmosphere. Watering is an operation +requiring much care. In properly-made beds the manure should remain +moist enough from first to last, and whatever dryness is evident should +be in the loam casing of the beds and the atmosphere. In all +artificially heated mushroom houses the beds and atmosphere are apt to +get too dry at one time or another; in underground houses or cellars +this is less apparent than in above-ground structures; in shaded +north-facing houses dryness is less troublesome than in houses more +openly placed. + +Endeavor by all fair means to lessen the necessity for watering the +beds, but when water is needed never hesitate to give it freely. +Mulching the beds and maintaining a moist atmosphere are the best +preventives. After the beds are spawned and molded it is a good plan to +cover them with a light coating of strawy litter or hay to prevent +drying, but this mulching should be removed when it is near time for the +young mushrooms to appear. A light sprinkling of water over this +mulching every few days, but never enough to reach the soil, assists in +preserving enough moisture in the bed under the mulch and also in the +atmosphere of the house. + +Clean, soft water at a temperature of 80 deg. or 90 deg.; a little warmer or a +little colder will not hurt, but do not use water higher than 110 deg., as +it might injure the little pinheads, nor lower than the average +temperature of the house, as it would chill the bed, and this should +always be avoided. + +Use a small or medium-sized watering pot with a long spout and a fine +rose sprinkler. Apply the water in a gentle shower over the bed, +mushrooms and all, but never use enough to allow it to settle in pools +or run off in little streams. Clean water sprinkled over the mushrooms +does not appear to hurt them, but they should never be touched with +manure water, as it stains them. Just as soon as the surface of the bed +shows signs of dryness give it water, the quantity depending upon the +condition of the bed. Never let a bed get very dry before watering it. +To thoroughly moisten a very dry bed requires a heavy watering; so much, +indeed, that the sudden change might injuriously affect the young +mushrooms and spawn. Give enough water at a time to moderately moisten +the soil, not to soak it, but never sufficient to pass through the soil +into the manure. Clean water only should be used until the beds come +into bearing, but after that time manure water may be employed with +advantage; however, this is not at all imperative; indeed, excellent +crops can be and are continually being produced without the aid of +manure water at all. + +In the case of beds in full bearing, manure water is beneficial to the +crop. Apply it from a small watering pot with a long narrow spout but no +rose, and pour the liquid on gently over the surface of the bed, running +it freely between the clumps but never touching any of the mushrooms. +For this reason a rose should not be used. + +I have always used manure water for mushrooms more or less, but during +the past two seasons--'87-'88 and '88-'89--I have experimented with it +continuously and very carefully, using it in some form or other on part +of every bed, and am satisfied that manure water made from fresh horse +droppings is the best, and the dark colored liquid, the drainings from +manure piles, is the poorest; in fact, this latter is not as good as +plain water, for it seems to have a deadening rather than quickening +effect upon the beds. Cow manure and sheep manure make a good liquid +manure, but still I prefer the horse manure, and although having given +hen and pigeon manure and guano fair tests I am not satisfied that they +have benefited the crop, and there is always a risk in their use. Liquid +manure made from the contents of the barnyard tank has not done much +good, but fresh urine from the horse and cow stables diluted twelve to +fifteen times its bulk has given favorable results. + +Mushrooms not only bear with impunity but appear to enjoy a stronger +liquid manure more than do any other cultivated plants, and I am +satisfied that the weak liquids usually recommended for pot and garden +plants would be barely more efficacious than plain water for mushrooms. + +The manure water that has given me most satisfaction is prepared as +follows: Dump two bushels of fresh horse droppings into a forty-five +gallon barrel and fill up with water; stir it up well and let it settle +over night. Drain off the liquid the next day and add a pound of +saltpeter to it. For use, to a pailful of this liquid add a pailful of +warm water. Water of about 80 deg. to 90 deg. is best for mushroom beds. +Saltpeter is an excellent fertilizer for mushrooms. I use it in two +ways, namely: First, powdered and mixed in the soil for casing the beds, +at the rate of two ounces of saltpeter to the bushel of earth. Second, +dissolved in water at the rate of two ounces of saltpeter to eight +gallons of water, and sprinkled over the beds. + +Common salt I use as an insecticide and also as a fertilizer, and am +satisfied that it proves beneficial in both ways. Sometimes I sprinkle +it broadcast on the surface of the beds, always on the bare places, +never touching the mushrooms, and leave it there for a day or two, then +with a fine, gentle sprinkling of water wash it into the soil. This is +to help destroy the anguillulae. As a fertilizer only dissolve four +ounces of salt in ten gallons of water, and with this sprinkle the beds. + +A too dry atmosphere can be remedied by sprinkling the floors, walls, or +litter coverings on the beds with water, not heavily or copiously, but +gently and only enough to wet the surfaces; better moisten in this way +frequently than drench the place at any one time. But I very much +dislike sprinkling the beds in order to moisten the atmosphere. An +experienced man can tell in a moment whether or not the atmosphere of +the mushroom house is too dry. The air in the mushroom house should +always feel moist, at the same time not raw or chilly, and the floor and +wall surfaces should present a slow tendency to dry up, and the earth on +the beds should retain its dark, moist appearance. The least tendency to +dryness should at once be relieved by damping the wall and floor +surfaces. + +In houses heated by smoke flues, or still more by ordinary stoves and +sheet iron pipes, it may be necessary to dampen the floors and walls +once or several times a day to maintain a sufficiently moist atmosphere, +but where hot water pipes are used and the houses are tight enough to +require but little artificial heat, such frequent sprinkling will not be +necessary. In the case of beds in unheated structures the ordinary +atmosphere is generally moist enough. + +=Manure Steam for Moistening the Atmosphere.=--The late James Barnes, of +England, a grand old gardener, writing in the London _Garden_, Vol. III, +page 486, describes his method of growing mushrooms sixty years ago, and +says: "In winter a nice moist heat was maintained by placing hot stable +manure inside, and often turning it over." Mr. John G. Gardner, of +Jobstown, N. J., is one of Mr. Barnes's old pupils and a most successful +mushroom grower, and he now practices this same method of moistening the +atmosphere by hot manure steam. See page 21. + +In damping the floors of the mushroom house, as well as the beds, I use +a medium-sized watering pot and fine rose; but in sprinkling the walls +and other parts not readily accessible by the watering pot I use a +common garden syringe. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +GATHERING AND MARKETING MUSHROOMS. + + +This is an important point in the cultivation of this esculent, and +should be attended to with painstaking discretion. + +When mushrooms are fit to pick depends upon several conditions; for +instance, whether for market or for home use, and if for the latter, +whether they are wanted for soups or stews. For fresh and attractive +appearance and best appreciation in the market, pick them when they are +plump and fresh and just before the frill connecting the cap with the +stem breaks apart. The French mushrooms should always be gathered before +the frill bursts; the English mushrooms also look best when gathered at +this time, but they are admissible if gathered when the frill begins to +burst and before the cap has opened out flat. If the mushrooms display a +tendency to produce long stems pick them somewhat earlier, soon enough +to get them with short shanks, for long stems are disliked in market; +so, too, are dark or discolored or old mushrooms of any sort. Sometimes +we may not have enough mushrooms ready at one gathering to make it +worth while sending them to market, and are tempted to let them stay +ungathered until to-morrow, when they have grown larger and many more +shall have grown big enough to gather. This should never be done. It +will give an unfavored, unequal lot, some big, some little, some old, +some young. Far better pick every one the moment it is ready to gather, +and keep all safe in a cool place and covered until some more are ready +for use, and in this way have a uniform appearing lot of young produce. + +Mushrooms for soups should always be gathered before they burst their +gills; indeed, they are mostly gathered when in a button state; that is, +when they are about the size of marbles. In this condition, when cooked, +they retain their white appearance and do not discolor the soup. +Immature mushrooms are deficient in flavor. + +For home use, for baking, stewing, broiling, or for cooking in any way +in which the tenderness of the flesh and the delicious aroma of the +mushrooms are desirable in their finest condition, let the mushrooms +attain their full size and burst their frills, as seen in Fig. 24, and +gather them before the caps open out flat, or the gills lose any of +their bright pink color. If you let them get old enough for the gills to +turn brown before gathering, the mushrooms will become leathery in +texture, and lose in flavor and darken sadly in cooking. + +[Illustration: FIG. 24. A PERFECT MUSHROOM.] + +In picking, always pull the mushrooms out by the root, and never, if +practicable to avoid it, cut them over with a knife. In gathering, take +hold of the mushrooms and give them a sharp but gentle twist, pressing +them down at the same time, and they generally part from the bed without +any trouble; then place them in the baskets, root-end down, so as to +keep them perfectly clean and free from grit. Sometimes when several +mushrooms are joined together in one root-stock and it is impossible to +remove one without disturbing the whole, cut it over rather than pull it +out. In the case of clumps of young mushrooms, where one can not be +pulled out without displacing some of the others also, cut it out rather +than pull it. There is a knack in pulling mushrooms, easily attained by +practice. And even when they come up in thick bunches and it would +appear impossible to pull out the full-grown ones without disturbing the +others, a practiced hand will give them a twitch and a pull--they often +part from the bed by the gentlest touch--and get them out without +unfastening any of the multitude of small buttons that may be growing +around them. + +The advantages of pulling over cutting are several: It benefits the bed. +If we cut over a mushroom and leave its stump in the ground, in a few +days decay sets in and a fluffy or spongy substance grows around the old +butt, which destroys many of the little mushrooms around it, as well as +every thread of mycelium that comes in contact with it. One should be +particular to scoop out these stumps with a knife before this condition +takes place, and go over the beds every few days to fill up the holes, +made in scooping out the old stumps, with fresh loam. + +Pulled mushrooms always keep fresh longer than do those that have been +cut. In the interest of the market grower they have another advantage. +Mushrooms are bought and sold by weight, and as the stems are always +retained to the caps all are weighed together; if part of the stems had +been cut off the weight would have been reduced, and, in like +proportion, the price; but if the stems are retained entire not only are +the mushrooms benefited, but the weight, and with it the price, is also +increased. + +=Gathering Field or Wild Mushrooms.=--Go in search of them in the +morning before the sunshine gets warm and they become too open or old. +If you wish to gather and preserve them in their most perfect condition +pull them up by the "roots," carefully remove any soil from them, and +then lay them orderly in the basket, the root end down; and by spreading +a stout sheet of paper over the layer, another may be arranged above it +in the same way, and so on until the basket is full. But if you are not +so particular and wish them for immediate use, or for ketchup or drying, +the common way of cutting them off and carrying them home in bulk will +answer well enough. + +=Marketing Mushrooms.=--Most market growers who live immediately around +New York City sell direct, and deliver their mushrooms to hotels, +restaurants, and fancy fruiterers. But some of them, also most of those +who live at a considerable distance from the city, sell their mushrooms +through commission merchants in New York; they, in turn, sell in +quantities to suit customers. + +Mushrooms are sold by the pound, and come into market in boxes made of +strong undressed paper. Some growers have light wooden boxes made that +hold from one to four pounds of mushrooms each, and these make +convenient and strong packages for shipping by express. They may be sent +singly, or, as is the case with the paper boxes, several packed together +in crates or boxes. In sending directly to hotels, cheap baskets, +holding one or several pounds--Mr. Gardner's baskets hold twelve +pounds--are often used, but in sending to commission merchants, who +have to deal them out in quantities to suit customers, mushrooms should +always be packed in one, two, three or four pound boxes or baskets, +preferably one pound. Mushrooms are not like potatoes or apples, that +can be handled, remeasured, and repacked without damaging them. Each +rehandling will certainly discolor and perhaps break a good many of +them, rendering them unsalable, if not worthless. + +The utmost care in gathering and packing of mushrooms for shipping is of +primary importance. Gather them the moment they are in best condition, +no matter whether or not they are to be packed and shipped the same day; +never let them blow open before gathering them; and never cut off short +stems. Long stems have to be shortened, but not until everything is +ready to pack them. With a very soft hair brush dust off any earth that +may stick to the cap of the mushroom, and with a harder brush or the +back of a knife rub the earth off of the root end of the stem. Then sort +the mushrooms,--the big ones by themselves, the middle-sized by +themselves, the small or button-sized ones by themselves, and pack each +kind by itself. Pack very firmly without bruising, and so as to show the +pretty caps to the best advantage. Never pack mushrooms more than two +deep without using plenty of soft paper between the layers, and never +put a heavy bulk of them into one box or basket. They discolor so easily +that, all things considered, about a pound is enough in a box, if we +wish them to carry safely and retain their bright, fresh skin without +tarnishing. + +Mr. Barter, of London, writes me: "The punnets we use for marketing our +mushrooms in are the same that are used for strawberries or peaches. +These hold just one pound, but it is becoming more customary now to have +little boxes made holding from three to five pounds, as these are better +for packing in larger cases for long journeys." + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +RE-INVIGORATING OLD BEDS. + + +There is a wide-spread impression among horticulturists that worn out +beds which have ceased to bear may, by means of watering and certain +stimulants and warming up again, be so re-invigorated as to start into +full bearing, and yield a second and a good crop. I have given this +question much painstaking and practical consideration, and have +absolutely failed to revive a "dead" bed. I have not been able to do it +myself, and any instance of its having been done has never come under my +observation. This may appear heresy anent the multitudinous writings to +the contrary. + +A mushroom bed may keep on bearing in a desultory way for many months, +and now and again show spurts of increased fertility; but this is no +second crop; it is merely a prolonged dribbling of the first crop. A +bed, by reason of cold or dryness, may, as it were, stand still or +partially stop bearing, and soon after it is remoistened, warmed, and +otherwise submitted to congenial conditions, will display renewed +energy; but this is no second crop; it is merely a spurt of the first +crop caused by extra favorable cultural conditions. But to show how +vaguely this question which is so much written about is regarded, let me +quote from a letter to me by Mr. J. Barter, who grows 21,000 lbs of +mushrooms a year for the London market: "You ask me, 'Do you ever get a +second crop?' My beds last in bearing, on an average, each three months, +and that I reckon to be three crops. But whether it be three or six +months, the weight of mushrooms is about the same. As there is in, say +a ton of manure, only so much mushroom-producing power, if you force it +to produce that weight in two months you are a gainer, as you thereby +save in labor; but when that producing-power is exhausted it will +produce no more mushrooms." + +A spent mushroom bed is one that has been kept in bearing condition +under the most favorable circumstances at our command, and it has borne +a good crop, lasted some two months in bearing, and now it has stopped +bearing (except in a meagerly, desultory way) because the spawn or +mycelium has exhausted itself and is dead. Then, without living spawn in +the bed how are we to get mushrooms? Some bits of mycelium are still +alive and yield the desultory few, but every mushroom that they yield is +preying on their vitality, and after a time they too shall die and the +bed be completely barren, for the mycelium is altogether dead, and +without mycelium mushrooms are an impossibility. We can keep mushroom +mycelium in active growth the year round, and year after year, providing +we never let it bear mushrooms. This is done by taking the mycelium, +just before it begins bearing, from one manure bed and plant it in +another, and so on from bed to bed. At every fresh transplanting the +mycelium exerts itself into renewed growth, for it must become a strong +plant before it has strength enough to produce and support a mushroom. +Our utmost efforts have never rendered mycelium in a mushroom-bearing +condition perennial. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +INSECT AND OTHER ENEMIES. + + +The mushroom grower has his full share of insects to contend with, and +in order to overcome them one should acquaint himself with them, and +know what they are, what they do, whence they came, and how to destroy +them. One should study the diseases and mishaps of his crop and endeavor +to know their cause. If we know the cause of failing health in plants, +even in mushrooms, we can probably stop or devise a remedy for the +disease or means to prevent its recurrence, and if we can not benefit +the present subject we are forewarned against future attacks. But there +is a deal of mysterious trouble in this direction in mushroom-growing. +We are likely to know something about the depredations committed by +insects or parasitic molds above ground, but I am sure there is a good +deal of mischief going on under ground of which we know very little, if +anything. The ills to which the mycelium is subject are not at all fully +understood. + +="Maggots."=--This is the common name among practical mushroom growers +for the larvae of a species of fly (Diptera) which from April on through +the warm summer months renders mushroom-growing unprofitable. It is +unavoidable, and so far has proved invincible. It attacks the mushrooms +in deep cellars, above-ground houses, greenhouses, or frames, and is +often quite common in early appearing crops in the open fields. We +sometimes read that it does not occur in unheated cellars, but this is a +mistake, for in our unheated tunnel cellars, where the temperature in +April does not exceed 55 deg., maggots always appear about the end of this +month. But it is true that in the case of cool houses and where the beds +are covered over with hay or straw maggots do not appear as early in the +season as they do in warm houses and open beds. While rigid cleanliness, +and care in keeping the house or cellar closed, no doubt have much to do +in lessening the trouble, I have never been able to overcome it, and +know of no one who has. We simply stop growing mushrooms in summer. + +The maggots or larvae are about three-sixteenths to four-sixteenths of an +inch long, white with black head, and appear in all parts of the +mushroom, but mostly in the cap and at the base of the stem, and +perforate hither and thither leaving behind them a disgusting network of +burrows. The tiny buttons, about as soon as they appear at the surface +of the ground, are infested, but this does not check their growth, and +when they become mushrooms large enough for gathering, unless it be for +a dark looking puncture or tracing now and then visible on the outside +of the caps and stems, there are but few signs to indicate to the +inexperienced eye the presence of maggots. And this is why maggoty +mushrooms are so often found exposed for sale in summer. But in large or +full-grown mushrooms, and especially the white-skinned varieties, their +presence is visible enough. Although very repugnant, however, and +utterly unfit for food, maggoty mushrooms are not poisonous. + +But all the mushrooms of summer crops are not maggoty, only a large +proportion of them; the evil begins in April, and increases as the +summer advances, until August, when it decreases, and in October +completely stops--at least this is my experience. + +A solution of salt, saltpeter, or ammonia sprinkled over the surface of +the beds does not, in this case, do any good as an insecticide, +pyrethrum powder diffused through the atmosphere, and tobacco smoke, +have been ineffectual. Burning a lamp set in a basin of water with a +little kerosene floating on the surface is a most doubtful operation. +Multitudes of flies are destroyed by this lamp trap, but they are the +poor little innocent "manure flies," and the atmosphere of the house is +vitiated and rendered unhealthy for the crop. I have tried these lamp +traps season after season, and never knew of their doing any good; that +is, the maggots seemed just as numerous in the lamp-trapped cellar as in +the other cellar in which no lamp trap had been used. + +Regarding this "maggots" question, Mr. J. F. Barter, of London, writes +me: "During the summer months the outdoor mushrooms get maggoty before +they are big enough to gather, but of course they can be grown in cool +cellars all the year round.... I know of no sure cure for them (the +maggots); of course a slight sprinkling of salt with manure or mold does +prevent, to a certain extent, but it must be used very carefully." Now +my experience is, as I have already said, that it is impossible to grow +mushrooms here in summer, even in cool cellars, without having them more +or less maggoty. As regards the salt and loam preventive, I have tried +it lightly and heavily, but without any apparent good effect. + +=Black Spot.=--All mushroom growers are familiar with this disease, but +unless it appears in pronounced form very little notice is taken of it, +even by market men, for we see spotted mushrooms continually exposed for +sale. It appears as dark brown spots, streaks, or freckles, on the top +of the mushroom caps, and increases in distinctness and breadth with +age. Fig. 25. It is caused by eel worms (_Anguillulae_). These minute +creatures enter the mushrooms when the latter are in their tiniest pin +form and before they emerge from the ground. If a button arises clean it +remains clean, if diseased it continues to be diseased, and it is a +fact that if one mushroom in a clump has black spot we usually find that +every mushroom in the clump has it. But mushrooms growing from the same +bit of spawn and that come up an inch or two away from the spotted ones +may be perfectly clean. Black spot has never occurred with me in new +beds, and seldom in those in vigorous bearing, but it generally appears +in beds that have been in bearing condition for some weeks or are +declining. It does not confine itself to any particular spot or part of +the bed, and sometimes it is much more plentiful than at others. Between +October and March we have very little black spot, but as the spring +opens this disease increases. During the winter season, with careful +attention, perhaps not so much as one per cent will show black spot, but +as the warm weather sets in the per centage increases until in May, when +as many as twenty per cent may be affected by it. + +[Illustration: FIG. 25. MUSHROOM AFFECTED WITH BLACK SPOT.] + +Black spot is a disease, however, that can be controlled. Keep +everything in and about the mushroom houses rigidly clean, and as soon +as a bed has ceased to bear a crop worth picking clear it out, lime-wash +the place it occupied, and make up another bed. Carefully observe that +no old loam or manure is allowed to accumulate anywhere, or green scum +forms upon the boards, paths, or walls; boiling water impregnated with +alum poured over the boards, walls, and other scum-covered surfaces, +will kill the eel worms, but it should not be allowed to touch the +mushroom beds that are in bearing or coming into bearing. Much can be +done to protect the bearing beds from the ravages of this pest: In +gathering the mushrooms remove every vestige of old stump and fogged-off +mushrooms, keep the holes filled up with fresh loam, and when the bed +has been in bearing condition for a fortnight sprinkle it over with a +solution of salt, and next day topdress with a half-inch coating of +finely sifted fresh loam; firm it to the bed with the back of the hand, +for it can not be pressed on with a spade on account of the growing +mushrooms. + +Is black spot unwholesome? I do not think so. I have never known any ill +effects from eating it. The spotted parts are merely flavorless and +tasteless. But it is a very disgusting disease, and no one, I am sure, +would care to eat eel worms with their mushrooms. Until quite recently I +used to regard the black spot as the mark of some parasitic fungus, and, +acting under this impression, sent affected mushrooms to Dr. W. G. +Farlow, Prof. of Cryptogamic Botany at Harvard University, for his +opinion. He wrote me: "I find that the trouble is due to _Anguillulae_, +and I find an abundance of these animals in the brown spots." He advised +me to submit them to an expert in "worms." I then sent samples to my +kind friend, Mr. William Saunders, of Washington, D. C., who submitted +them, for me, to Dr. Thomas Taylor, the microscopist to the U. S. +Department of Agriculture, and who replied: "I recommend that you use a +sprinkling of scalding water thoroughly over the entire surface of the +bed, especially the portion next to the boxing. The scalding water +should be applied before the buttons appear, but not penetrate more than +one-eighth of an inch below the surface. Anguillulae abound wherever +decaying vegetable matter exists.... The green algae on the outside of +flower pots abounds in the anguillulae." + +=Manure Flies.=--This is the name we give to the little flies (a species +of _Sciara_) that appear in large numbers in spring and summer in our +mushroom houses, or, indeed, in hotbeds or structures of any sort where +manure is used, as well as about the manure heaps in the yard. On +account of their habits they are regarded with much ill-favor. They hop +about the house and are continually running over the mushrooms, beds, +and walls, in the most suspicious manner. But, notwithstanding this, I +am inclined to regard them as perfectly harmless so far as injuring the +mushroom crop is concerned, except the fact that they soil the mushrooms +somewhat by their traveling over them with their muddy feet. + +In attempting to get rid of the maggot fly I have destroyed large +numbers of these little innocents, but without any apparent diminution +in their numbers. Lachaume recommends: "These flies may be destroyed by +placing about a number of pans filled with water to which a few drops of +oil of turpentine have been added. The flies are attracted by the odor +and drown themselves. They may also be caught with a floating light, in +which they will burn their wings and fall into the water." I have found +that pure buhach powder dusted into the air or burned on a hot shovel in +the mushroom house has been more effective in destroying these flies +than either the lamp or drowning process. + +=Slugs.=--These are serious pests in the mushroom house, especially in +above-ground structures, and they also occur in annoying numbers in +cellars. Wherever hay or straw is used in covering the beds, or there is +much woodwork about the house, slugs appear to be most numerous. They +are very fond of mushrooms and attack them in all stages, from the tiny +button just emerging from the ground to the fully developed plant. In +the case of the buttons or small mushrooms they usually eat out a piece +on the top or side of the cap, and as the mushroom advances in growth +these wounds spread open and display an ugly scar or disfigurement. They +also bite into the stems. But in the case of fresh, full grown mushrooms +they seem to have a particular liking for the gills, and eat patches +out of them here and there. + +="Bullet" or "Shot" Holes.=--My attention was first called to these by +Mr. A. H. Withington, of New Jersey. They are little holes cut clear +through the mushroom caps, as if perforated by a buckshot, and are +evidently the work of some insect. He had, before then, submitted some +of these perforated mushrooms to Prof. S. Lockwood, who sent them to +Prof. C. V. Riley for his opinion. Prof. Riley replied that: "It is +quite likely that the damage was done by some myriapod, possibly a +Julus, or some of its allies. Only observation on the spot will +determine this point." As I never had any trouble with myriapods +attacking mushrooms and had seen nothing of this "bullet hole" work in +our own beds I was much interested in the question and determined to +look out for it, so I marked off a part of a bed and left that uncared +for. I soon found out the trouble. These holes are the work of slugs +which I have found and watched in the act of eating out the holes. To +find the slugs at work, one has to take his lantern and go out and look +for them at night. And to find out about plant parasites--be they +fungus, or insect--one has to let them alone and watch them. Had we kept +up our unsparing hunt for slugs, probably we should not yet have known +what caused these "bullet holes," for no slug would have been left alive +long enough to eat a hole through a mushroom cap. + +Slugs must be caught and killed. We can find them at night by hunting +for them by lamp-light; their slimy track glistens and reveals their +presence. A few small bits of slate or half rotten boards with a pinch +of bran on them laid here and there about the beds are handy traps; the +slugs gather to eat the bran, hide beneath the rotten wood, and can then +be caught and killed. Fresh lettuce leaves make a capital trap, but +lettuces in January or February are about as scarce as mushrooms +themselves. A dressing of salt is distasteful to slugs, and not +injurious to mushrooms. Strong, fresh lime water may be freely sprinkled +over woodwork, pathways, walls, or elsewhere where slugs might gather +and hide themselves; but this solution should not be used upon the +mushroom beds. Rigid cleanliness, however, about the mushroom house, and +an ever-alert eye for slugs, should keep them under. + +=Wood Lice.=--These are sure to be more or less abundant in every +mushroom house, even in the cellars. They crawl in through doors, +ventilators, or other interstices, and are brought in with the manure, +and find shelter about the woodwork, manure, or any bits of dry litter +that may be around. They attack the pinhead and small button mushrooms +by biting out little patches in their tops and sides; and although these +patches are small to begin with, the blemish spreads as the mushroom +grows, and is an objectionable feature. Trapping and killing the insects +is the chief remedy. Put part of a half boiled potato (for which no salt +had been used) into a little pasteboard box, and cover the potato with +some very dry swamp moss, lay the box on its side, and open at the end +on the bed. The wood lice will gather to eat the potato, and remain +after feasting because the dry moss affords them a cozy hiding place. +Several of these little boxes can be used. Go through the house in the +morning, lift the little traps quickly, and shake out any wood lice that +may be in them into a tin pail (an old lard pail will do), which should +contain a little water and kerosene. These traps may be used for any +length of time, merely observing to change the potato now and again to +have it in appetizing condition. Hot water or strong kerosene emulsion +may be poured about the woodwork, walls, and pathways, to destroy the +wood lice, but should not be allowed to touch the beds. Poisoned sweet +apples, potatoes, and parsnips have been recommended as baits for these +pests, but I must discourage using poisons of any sort in the mushroom +house. Six or eight inch square pieces of half rotten very dry boards +laid in pairs, one above the other, also make capital traps; the wood +lice gather there to hide themselves; these traps should be examined +frequently and the insects shaken into the pail containing water and +kerosene. + +=Mites.=--Two kinds of mites are very common about mushrooms in spring +and summer; one is whitish and smaller than a "red spider" (one of the +commonest insect pests among garden plants), and the other is yellowish +and as large as or larger than a "red spider." But I do not think that +either of these mites is worth considering as a mushroom pest. The +yellow mite (probably _Lyroglyphus infestans_) is extremely common in +strawy litter on the surface of hotbeds, and I have no doubt finds its +way into the mushroom house as manure vermin rather than a mushroom +parasite. They are the effect and not the cause of injury to the crop. +When mushrooms are wounded or cracked, particularly about the stem, the +crevices often become abundantly inhabited with these mites, but they do +no material damage. + +=Mice and Rats.=--These rodents are very fond of mushrooms, and where +they have access to the beds are troublesome and destructive. Both the +common house mouse and the white-bellied fence mouse are mushroom +destroyers, but, so far, the nimble but timid field mouse (among garden, +open air, and frame crops generally) has never yet troubled our +mushrooms, but I can not believe that this immunity is voluntary on its +part. The mice bite a little piece here and there out of the caps of the +young mushrooms, and these bite-marks, as the mushrooms advance in +growth, spread open and become unsightly disfigurements. In the case of +open mushrooms, however, the mice, like slugs, prefer the gills to the +fleshy caps. Rats are far more destructive than mice. Trapping is the +only remedy I use, and would not use poison in the mushroom houses for +these creatures for obvious reasons. But we should make our houses +secure against their inroads. + +=Toads.=--These are recommended as good insect traps to be used in +mushroom houses, but I do not want them there; the cure is as bad as the +disease. The mushroom bed is a little paradise for the toad. He gets +upon it and burrows or elbows out a snug little hole for himself +wherever he wishes, and many of them, too, and cares nothing about +whether, in his efforts to make himself comfortable, he has heaved out +the finest clumps of young mushrooms in the beds. + +=Fogging Off.=--This is one of the commonest ailments peculiar to +cultivated mushrooms. It consists in the softening, shriveling, and +perishing of part of the young mushrooms, which also usually assume a +brownish color. These withered mushrooms do not occur singly here and +there over the face of the bed, but in patches; generally all or nearly +all of the very small mushrooms in a clump will turn brown and soft, and +there is no help for them; they never will recover their plumpness. Some +writers attribute fogging off to unfavorable atmospheric +conditions,--the temperature may be too cold, or too hot, or the +atmosphere too moist, or too dry. I am convinced that fogging off is due +to the destruction of the mycelium threads that supported these +mushrooms; it is a disease of the "root," to use this expression; the +"roots" having been killed, the tops must necessarily perish. If it were +caused by unfavorable conditions above ground we should expect all of +the crop to be more or less injuriously affected; but this does not +occur; the mushrooms in one clump may be withered, and contiguous clumps +perfectly healthy. + +Anything that will kill the spawn or mycelium threads will cause +fogging off to overtake every little mushroom that had been attached to +these mycelium threads. Keeping the bed or part of it continuously wet +or dry will cause fogging off, so will drip; watering with very cold +water is also said to cause it, but this I have not found to be the +case. Unfastening the ground by abruptly pulling up the large mushrooms +will destroy many of the small mushrooms and pinheads attached to the +same clump; and when large mushrooms push up through the soil and +displace some of the earth, all the small mushrooms so displaced will +probably waste away, as the threads of mycelium to which they were +attached for support have been severed. A common reason of fogging off +is caused by cutting off the mushrooms in gathering them and leaving the +stumps in the ground; in a few days' time these stumps develop a white +fluff or flecky substance, which seems to poison every thread of +mycelium leading to it, and all the mushrooms, present and to come, that +are attached to this arrested web of mycelium are affected by the poison +of the decaying old mushroom stump, and fogg off. Any impure matter in +the bed with which the mycelium comes in contact will destroy the spawn +and fogg off the young mushrooms. Lachaume complains about the larvae of +two beetles, namely _Aphodius fimetarius_ and _Dermestes tessellatus_, +which "cause great damage by eating the spawn, thereby breaking up the +reproductive filaments." Damage of this sort by these or any other +insect vermin will cause fogging off. But I have not noticed either of +the above beetles or their larvae about our beds. + +=Flock.=--This is the worst of all mushroom diseases and common wherever +mushrooms are grown artificially. It is not a new disease; I have known +it for twenty-five years, and it was as common then as it is now, and +practical gardeners have always called it _Flock_. I say "worst of all +diseases" because _I know_ that mushrooms affected by it are both +unwholesome and indigestible, and I can readily believe that in +aggravated cases they are poisonous. It is caused by other fungi which +infest the gills and frills of the mushrooms, and render them a hard, +flocky mass; sometimes the affected mushrooms preserve their white skin, +color, and normal form, at other times the cap becomes more or less +distorted. The illustration, Fig. 26, is from life, and a good average +of a flock-infested mushroom. In gathering mushrooms the growers should +insist that every flock-infested mushroom be discarded, and consumers of +mushrooms should familiarize themselves with this disease so as to know +and reject every mushroom showing a trace of it. + +[Illustration: FIG. 26. A FLOCK-DISEASED MUSHROOM.] + +Flock does not affect all the mushrooms in a bed at any time, and I do +not believe it spreads in the bed, or, to use the expression, becomes +contagious. If one spot of mildew appears upon a cucumber, rose, or +grape vine indoors, and is not checked, it soon becomes general all over +the plant or plants, and if one spot of mold occurs in a propagating bed +and is not checked at once it soon spreads over a large space and +destroys every cutting or seedling within its reach, but this is not the +case with flock in a mushroom bed. If one mushroom is affected with +flock every mushroom produced from that piece of spawn is affected, but +not one mushroom produced from the pieces of spawn inserted next to this +one is affected by it; not even if the mycelium from the several lumps +of spawn forms an interlacing web. If the flock is confined to the +mushrooms produced from a certain bit of spawn some may ask, will the +other pieces of spawn broken from the same brick produce flock-infested +mushrooms? No. I have given this point particular attention, have kept +the pieces of each brick close together, and where flock has appeared I +have failed to find that the other pieces of spawn from that brick are +more liable to produce flock-infested mushrooms than are the pieces of +the bricks that, as yet, have not shown any sign of diseased produce. + +How general is this disease? In a bed say three feet wide by thirty feet +long and of two months' bearing one may get as few as five or as many as +fifty flocky mushrooms; one or two may occur to-day, and we may not find +another for a week or two, when we may get a whole clump of them, and so +on. It is not the large number of them that makes them dangerous, for +they never appear in quantity. They sometimes appear among the earliest +mushrooms in the bed, but generally not until after the bed has been in +bearing condition for a week or two. + +What conditions are most favorable or unfavorable to the growth of this +disease I do not know; but it is certainly not caused by debility in the +mushroom itself, as the parasite attacks healthy, robust mushrooms and +debilitated ones indiscriminately. This flocky condition is caused by +one or more saprophytic and parasitic fungi of lowly origin, whose +various parts are reduced to mere threads, simple or branched, and +divided into tubular cells at intervals, or else they are long, +continuous microscopic tubes without any partitions, except at those +occasional points where a branch, destined to produce spores, is given +off. Generally two or more species of these thread-fungi are present at +the same time on the mushroom host, and by the multiplied crossing and +interweaving of their threads and branches produce, through their great +numbers, the whitish, felted mass of "flock"; while as individuals the +threads are so minute as to be scarcely or not at all visible to the +naked eye. Similar thread-fungi may often be found in the woods among +damp leaves, under rotten logs, and on those porous fungi which +project, shelf-like, from the trunks of trees. At present there is no +way known for destroying the "flock," except to take up and destroy +every clump of mushrooms attacked by it. Fortunately the disease is not +very serious if proper precautions are observed; for, in our own +cellars, where mushrooms have been grown year after year for the past +eleven years, we get but few flocky mushrooms in any bed's bearing. The +disease is not more common to-day than it was in any former year. But we +give our cellars a thorough cleaning every summer. + +=Cleaning the Mushroom Houses.=--After the season's cropping is finished +the mushroom houses and cellars should be thoroughly cleaned. Clear out +the old beds, and bring outside all the movable floor and shelf boards, +scrape up every bit of loose litter or dirt in the place and throw it +out, broom down the walls and whatever boarding is left. Whitewash the +walls with hot lime wash, and paint every bit of woodwork liberally with +crude oil or kerosene. This is to destroy anguillulae and other insect +and fungus parasites. If you wish to use again the boards brought +outside, broom them over and paint them copiously with kerosene. And if +your cellar or house has a dirt floor, a heavy sprinkling of very +caustic lime water all over it will do good in ridding it of vermin. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +GROWING MUSHROOMS IN RIDGES OUT OF DOORS AROUND LONDON. + + +In the preface to _Kitchen and Market Gardening_ (London) is the +following: + +"Mr. W. Falconer and Mr. C. W. Shaw made, in connection with the London +_Garden_, what we believe to be the first attempt at long and systematic +observation of the best culture as it is in London market gardens." This +is mentioned to indicate that the writer speaks on this subject from +experience. And although it is now seventeen years since I became +disconnected with the London market gardens, by revisiting them a few +years ago, and by correspondence and the horticultural press, I have +endeavored to keep informed of all changes of methods and improvements +in culture as practiced there. At that time Steele, Bagley, Broadbent, +Dancer, Pocock and Myatt were among the largest and best gardeners +around London, and since then several of these grand old gentlemen have +passed away and their fields have been cut up and built upon. At that +time mushrooms were one of the general crops, as were snap beans or +cauliflower, and in their season were planted as a matter of course. +To-day they have become a specialty, and some gardeners devote their +whole energy to mushroom-growing alone, and make from $2000 to $5000 a +year clear profit from one acre of mushrooms, and that, too, from ridges +in the open field! There is no other field crop that yields such a large +profit. There they get twenty-four to forty-eight cents a pound for +their fresh mushrooms, here we get fifty cents to a dollar a pound for +ours. But as mushroom-growing there is confined to fall, winter and +spring, those gardeners who restrict themselves to mushrooms only devote +the summer months to making mushroom spawn for their own use, and also +for sale. + +Mr. John F. Barter, of Lancefield street, London, the king of London +mushroom growers, writes me under date of Dec. 10, 1888: "I employ men +for mushroom bed-making from August to March; then, in order to keep on +the same staff, I get about 10,000 bushels of brick spawn made up for +sale.... By the sale of spawn I make just half of my living." Now let us +see: 10,000 bushels = 160,000 bricks, and each brick weighs a pound, +thus we have 160,000 pounds. At ten cents a pound (retail price) the +total is $16,000; at five cents a pound (supposed wholesale price) +$8000, or at three and a half cents a pound (supposed manufacturer's +price) $5600. + +The manure is obtained from the city stables and hauled home by the +gardeners on their return trips from market. The manure collected after +midsummer is used for mushrooms, and an effort is made to save the very +best horse manure for this purpose. When enough has accumulated for a +bed the manure is turned and well shaken, removing only the rougher part +of the straw, and thrown into a large pyramidal pile to heat; this shape +is adopted as being better than the flat form for keeping out rain. In +three or four days the manure is again turned, shaken out and piled up +as before; after this it is turned every second day, unless it rains, +until it has been turned six or seven times in all. It should then be +ready for making into ridges. + +The site for the beds should be a warm, well-sheltered piece of ground, +either in the open field or orchard; much pains should be exercised to +protect it from cold winds. Although a great many mushroom ridges are +made under the partial shade of apple and pear trees, I always preferred +making them in the open ground. The land should be dry and of a slightly +elevated or sloping nature, so that no pools of water can possibly +collect on the surface. Having the ground cleared, leveled, and ready, +mark it off into strips two feet wide and six feet wide alternately. The +two feet wide space is for the mushroom bed, the six feet wide one for +the space between the beds; but after the ridges are built, earthed over +and covered with straw, they are almost six feet wide at the base. The +common sizes of ridges are two feet wide by two feet high, and two and +one-half feet wide by two and one-half feet high, and taper to six or +eight inches wide at top. + +The manure being ready and the site for the beds lined off, the manure +is carted to the place and wheeled upon the beds. In making the bed +shake out the manure well and evenly to cause it to hold together, tamp +it with the back of the fork as you go along, and two or three times +before the ridges are completed walk upon and tread the manure down +solidly with the feet, and trim down the sides to turn the rain water. +Two days after the bed is made up some holes should be bored from the +top to nearly the bottom with a small iron bar to let the heat off and +prevent the inside of the bed from becoming too dry. Make them about +nine inches apart all along the center of the bed. The old gardeners did +not use the crowbar. They were very particular not to build their ridges +before the chances of overheating were considered past; but +notwithstanding all their care some of their beds would get overwarm, +when, without a moment's hesitation, they tossed them over, part to the +right and part to the left, and left the manure thus exposed for a day +or two to cool, and then make up the beds again on the same site. + +Brick spawn is always used. Some of those who make a specialty of +mushrooms also make spawn for sale as well as for their own use; but the +majority of the gardeners prefer to buy rather than make their own +spawn. + +When the heat has fallen to between 80 deg. and 90 deg. the ridges are spawned, +the pieces inserted in three rows along each side, leaving about nine +inches between the pieces. A dibber should not be used on any account. +The spawn is put in tightly with the hand and the manure pressed down. +It should be put in level with the face of the bed, so that the mold may +just touch it when the bed is cased. In the event of cold or wet +weather, just as soon as the beds are spawned a slight covering of rank +litter is laid over them. After a few days this is removed and the beds +are molded over with mold from ground to which manure has not been +applied for some time. But the general market gardeners do not make this +distinction; they use the earth from between the ridges, which has been +manured regularly every year for a couple of hundred years or more. The +mold is put on evenly with the spade and is about two inches thick at +the base of the ridge and one inch thick at top, and well firmed by +beating with the back of the spade; indeed, the ridges are now commonly +watered through a water-pot rose, again beaten very firmly and the +surface left smooth and even. This smooth surface readily sheds rain +water, but I question if it has any advantage over a well-firmed +unglazed surface. After molding the beds are covered with litter, that +is, the rankest straw that had been shaken out of the manure, to a depth +of four, six, eight, or ten inches, according to the state of the bed +and weather; if the bed is inclined to be cool or if the weather is +cold, thicken the covering. + +Drenching or long drizzling rains are more injurious to the beds than is +cold, and in order to ward them off old Russia mats and any other sort +of cloth or carpet covering obtainable is laid over the litter on the +beds and weighted down with poles, boards, stones, or anything else that +is convenient. Do not disturb this covering for about four weeks, and +then on a dry day strip it off and shake up the litter loosely so as to +dry it. If there is any white mold on the surface of the soil take a +handful of straw and rub it off. If the bed is rather cold put a layer +of clean, dry hay next the bed, and on top of this replace the littery +covering. + +[Illustration: FIG. 27. THE COVERED RIDGES.] + +The first beds are made in August, and one or more every month after +till March, just as time, convenience and material permit. Summer beds +are not attempted unless in exceptional cases. The bulk of the beds are +generally put in in September and October. In early fall, also in +spring, beds yield mushrooms in about six weeks after spawning; in +winter they take eight or nine weeks or more, much depending on the +weather. + +In cold weather the mushrooms are gathered at noon-day; if the weather +is windy and it is possible to postpone gathering for another day this +is done, as the litter can not be replaced satisfactorily in windy +weather. In gathering the mushrooms one man carefully pulls the straw +down from the top of the bed, rolling it toward him; another gathers the +mushrooms (pulling them out by the roots, never cutting them) into +baskets, and a third man covers up the bed. In this way the three men go +up one side of the ridge and down the other, and the work is done +expeditiously and well, without exposing any part of the bed more than a +minute or two at a time. It is necessary that the uncovering be done by +rolling the straw down from the top of the ridge; if it were rolled up +the covering on the other side of the ridge would be sure to slip down a +little, and break off many small mushrooms. The mushrooms as gathered +are of three grades; the large or wide-spread ones are called +"broilers," the full-sized ones whose neck frill is merely broken about +half an inch wide are "cups," and the small white ones whose frills are +not broken at all are termed "buttons." All of these are kept separate. +They are marketed in different ways, but the growers who make mushrooms +a specialty assort and pack them in chip baskets, boxes, or otherwise, +as the metropolitan and provincial markets demand or suggest. Mr. John +F. Barter, writing to me from London, says: "As to punnetts, we use the +same as for strawberries or peaches" (the abundance of peaches we have +in America is unknown over there), "they hold just one pound. But it is +getting more general now to have little boxes made to hold say three to +five pounds each; these are better for packing in larger cases for long +journeys." + +The first cutting is a light one. After this the bed is cut twice a week +for three weeks in mild weather, or once a week in inclement weather. +The last two or three pickings are thin and only secured once a week. +Altogether ten or eleven good pickings are gathered from each bed. + +I never knew of a single instance in which any attempt was made to +renovate an old or worn-out bed. But when the beds become so dry as to +need watering a small handful of salt is dissolved in a large pailful of +water and with this solution the beds are freely watered over the straw +covering, but never, to my knowledge, under it. + +My old friends, George Steele and Mr. Bagley, of Fulham Fields, used to +run part of their beds east and west, not only for convenience sake so +far as the beds themselves were concerned, but with the view of growing +early tomatoes against the south side of these beds in summer, and here +they got their finest and earliest crops, for the London gardeners can +not grow tomatoes out of doors in the open fields as we can in America. +Other gardeners clear away the manure for use elsewhere in their fields, +and as it is so well rotted it is in capital condition for cauliflower, +lettuces, snap beans, and other crops. But as the mushroom growers who +restrict themselves entirely to mushrooms, and who, after the mushroom +beds have finished bearing, have no further use for the manure in the +spent beds, are always able to dispose of it at one-half the cost price. +It is excellent for garden crops and as a topdressing for lawns, on +account of its fineness and freedom from all rubbish as sticks, stones, +old bottles, old shoes, and the like, is in much demand. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +MUSHROOM GROWING IN THE PARIS CAVES. + + +In caves and subterranean passages underneath the city of Paris and its +environs, thousands of tons of mushrooms are artificially produced every +year. These underground caves and tunnels are abandoned quarries from +which white building stone and plaster have been excavated, and as the +veins of stone permeated through the bowels of the earth, 40 to 125 feet +deep, so were they quarried, and the blocks brought to the surface +through vertical shafts. It is these tunnels, varying in height and +width as the veins of stone varied, that are now used for +mushroom-growing. M. Lachaume, in his book, _The Cave Mushroom_, tells +us: "In the Department of the Seine there are 3000 quarries; those which +have been abandoned and which are situated close to Paris at Montrouge, +Bagneux, Vaugirard, Mery, Chatillon, Vitry, Honilles, and St. Denis, are +used by the 250 mushroom-growers of the Department. There are several of +these quarries with horizontal galleries driven into the calcareous rock +from the level of the road, which are mostly large enough to accommodate +a good sized cart, but the majority can only be entered, like many coal +mines, by vertical shafts 100 to 125 feet deep, down which everything +has to pass. The laborers climb up and down a ladder, and the fresh +manure is shoveled down the shaft from above, the waste stuff and +mushrooms being hauled up in baskets from beneath by means of a +windlass." + +The manure used is obtained from the Paris stables and furnished by +contractors, with whom the mushroom growers make special bargains +because they are very particular about the kind and quality of the +manure they use. Some of these growers use as much as 2000 to 3500 tons +of manure each a year for their mushroom beds. To the caves in the +immediate neighborhood of Paris the manure is hauled out in carts, but +to Mery and other places too far distant to be within easy carting +distance it is sent by rail. The mushroom growers consider that the +manure from animals that are worked hard and abundantly fed on dry, good +food is the best; the droppings from these are always dry and rich in +ammonia, nitrogen and phosphates. The manure from entire horses that are +worked hard they regard as the best, and, next in value, that from +mules. The manure from horses kept for pleasure, such as carriage and +riding horses, is regarded as poor, notwithstanding the high feeding of +these animals, and the manure from horses fed on grass or roots, also +that of cows, as worthless. Stress is laid on the importance of having a +good deal of urine-soaked straw in the manure, and this is another +reason why manure from draught horses is preferred to that from animals +kept for pleasure, as the bedding of the former is not apt to be kept so +clean as that in aristocratic stables. + +The preparation of the manure is conducted near the mouth of the caves +or shafts on a level, dry piece of ground, and altogether out of doors. +As soon as sufficient manure for a pile is obtained it is forked over, +thoroughly shaken up and intermixed, divested of all extraneous matter +such as sticks, stones, bottles, scrap iron, old shoes, and the like we +find in city stable manure, and any dry straw is moistened with water. +It is then squared off into a heap forty inches high and trodden down to +thirty inches high. In this state it is left for about six days, when it +is turned, shaken up loosely, the outside turned to the inside, and all +dry parts watered; the same shallow square form is retained, and it is +again trodden down firm. In about six days more it is again turned, +shaken up, watered, squared off, and trodden as before. In about three +days after this it should be fit for use and may be turned, shaken up +loosely, and dumped down the shaft into the cave and carried to the spot +where the beds are to be formed. Of course these operations must be +modified according to circumstances and the condition of the manure. + +In making the beds the ground is first marked off. The first bed is made +alongside of the wall, and rounded to the front; the other beds run +parallel with this and may be straight, crooked, or wavy, as the +interior of the cave may suggest. The beds are all ridge-shaped, +eighteen to twenty inches wide at the base, eighteen to twenty inches +high in the middle, six inches wide at top, and the sides sloping. +Pathways twelve inches wide run between the beds. The workmen build the +beds by piece-work and receive one-half cent per running foot. A good +workman can make 240 feet a day (_Lachaume_). The beds are built neatly +and firmly and with much nicety as regards size and proportions. But the +workmen do not use a fork or any other tool in the construction of the +beds; they lift, shake up, spread and build the manure with their naked +hands and pack it firm with their knees. + +The spawn is obtained from the working beds and is what the mushroom +growers there call "virgin" spawn, though not at all what we know by +that term. As a succession of beds is kept up all the year round it is +an easy matter for the growers to get their spawn at any time. The best +time to get the spawn is when the young mushrooms are first appearing. A +bed or part of a bed in capital working order is selected and broken up +and the cakes of manure thoroughly matted up with the active mycelium +are selected for spawning the fresh beds. It is asserted that from this +active spawn crops of mushrooms appear in twenty days' less time than if +dry spawn were used. + +The French spawn is used. Somewhere between the seventh and fourteenth +day after making the bed it will be in condition for spawning. Break the +spawn into pieces between two and three inches long, two inches wide, +and three-fourths of an inch thick, and insert these pieces in two rows +along the sides of the ridges; the first row eight inches above the +ground, the second row eight inches above the first, and the pieces put +in quincunx fashion eight inches apart in the row. The manure is firmly +packed in upon the spawn, the surface left smooth and even and without +being further disturbed until earthing time. + +Much stress is laid upon stratifying the spawn before using, when dry +spawn is employed. About eight days before a bed is to be spawned the +dry spawn is spread out in a row on the floor of the cave or cellar so +that it may absorb moisture and the mycelium begin to run. At spawning +time these cakes or flakes are broken up and used in the ordinary way, +and, it is claimed, with a week's difference in favor of the early +appearing of the mushrooms. But no more spawn than is necessary for +immediate use should be stratified, for it will not bear being dried and +damped again. + +The chips and powder of the stone which has been taken out of the quarry +and which can be had in abundance on the floor of the quarry or on the +surface of the ground around the shaft, are sifted, and the finer part +saved and mixed with earth in the proportion of three parts of stone +dust to one of earth, and with this the beds are molded over. The +powdered stone is strongly impregnated with salts, so advantageous to +the mushrooms. + +In seven to nine days after spawning, the beds are ready for earthing +over. This depends upon the condition of the spawn and how well it has +run in the manure. Before being earthed over the outside surface of the +beds should be covered with white filaments radiating in all directions +which give to the beds a bluish appearance. When the bed is in the +proper state for being covered with earth the mold is laid on equally +and firmly over the surface about three-fourths of an inch deep. It is +then thoroughly watered through a fine-rosed watering pot and allowed to +settle until the next day, when it is beaten solid by the back of a +wooden shovel. The bed now needs no further care until the young +mushrooms appear, except a light occasional watering should it get dry. + +[Illustration: FIG. 28. IN THE MUSHROOM CAVES OF PARIS.] + +In spacious, high-roofed caves the mean temperature is about 52 deg. F., +while in narrow, low-roofed ones it is about 68 deg.. Of course this makes a +wide difference in the time of bearing and duration of the beds made in +the different caves; those in the warm caves come into bearing sooner +and stop bearing quicker than do those in the high-roofed caves. On an +average the first mushrooms appear in about forty days after the beds +are spawned, and the beds continue bearing for forty or sixty days, but +toward the end of that time the yield diminishes very rapidly. + +They are gathered once a day, usually about midnight, so that they may +reach the Paris market early in the morning. In size the mushrooms range +from three-fourths to one and five-eighths inches in diameter of top, +and are pure white in color. The workmen always gather the mushrooms by +plucking them out by the roots, and never by cutting them; the gatherers +have two baskets, carried knapsack fashion on their back; one is to +receive the mushrooms as they are picked, the other contains mold with +which to fill in the little holes made by pulling the mushrooms out of +the bed. In some caves one man gathers the mushrooms and leaves them in +little piles on the bed as he goes along, a woman comes after him and +places them in a basket, and a man follows her and fills up the holes +with earth. Before bringing the mushrooms up out of the caves they are +covered over with a cloth to avoid contact with the outer air, which is +apt to turn them brown. They are then placed in baskets that contain +twenty-three to twenty-five pounds and sent to market, where they are +sold at auction as they arrive. Or they may be sent to +preserved-vegetable manufacturers, who contract for them at an all round +price. + +[Illustration: FIG. 29. GATHERING MUSHROOMS IN THE PARIS CAVES FOR +MARKET.] + +Proper ventilation is regarded as being of great importance, not only +for the sake of the workmen, but also for the mushrooms, which will not +thrive in an impure atmosphere. Ventilation is afforded by means of +narrow shafts surmounted by tall wooden chimneys whose upper ends are +cut at an angle so that the beveled side faces north. In order to avoid +sudden changes of temperature and strong draughts, fires, trap doors, +and other means employed in assisting the ventilation of coal mines +are adopted. To stop strong draughts, too, in the passages, tall, +straw-thatched hurdles are set up. In narrow caves the breath of the +workmen, the gases given off by fermentation, and the products of +combustion of the lamps would soon so vitiate the atmosphere as to +render the caves uninhabitable were they not properly ventilated. +Indeed, it frequently occurs that caves in which mushrooms have been +grown continuously for some years have to be abandoned for a year or two +because the crop has ceased to prosper in them. But after they have been +thoroughly cleared of all beds and the surface soil that would have been +likely to be touched or affected by the manure, and ventilated and +rested for a year or two, mushrooms can again be grown in them +successfully. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +COOKING MUSHROOMS. + + +Fresh mushrooms, well cooked and well served, are one of the most +delicious of all vegetables. If we grow our own mushrooms we can gather +them in their finest form, cook them as we please, and enjoy them in +their most delightful condition. If we are dependent upon the fields we +should be careful to gather only such mushrooms as are young, plump, and +fresh, and reject all that are old or discolored, or betray any signs of +the presence of disease or insects. And in the case of store mushrooms, +that is, the ones we get at the fruiterer's or other provision store, we +should examine them critically before using them to see that they are +perfectly free from "flock," "black spot," "maggots," or other ailment, +and discard all that have any symptoms of disease. + +The small, short-stemmed, white-skinned mushrooms offered for sale are +of the variety known as French mushrooms, and on account of their white +appearance are preferred by many; the longer-stemmed, broader-headed, +and darker-colored kind that we also find offered for sale is what is +known as the English mushroom. The French mushrooms are the most +attractive in appearance and preferred in the market, but the English +variety is the best flavored and generally the most liked for home use. + +As soon as the frill around the neck breaks apart the mushroom is fit to +gather; keeping it longer may add to its size a little, but surely will +detract from its tenderness. The gills of the mushrooms will retain +their pink tinge for a day after the frill breaks open, but they soon +grow browner and blacker, until in a few days they are unfit for food. +In gathering, the mushrooms should be pulled and never cut, and kept in +this way until ready to prepare them for cooking. By retaining the stem +uncut the mushroom holds its freshness and plumpness much longer than it +would were the stems removed. Keep them in a cool, dark place, and in an +earthenware vessel with a cover or a thick, damp cloth thrown over it; +this will preserve their plumpness. If the frill is broken wide apart +when the mushrooms are gathered, the caps are apt to open out flat in a +day or two, and the gills darken and spread their spores, just as if the +mushrooms were still unsevered from the ground. + +Carefully inspect the mushrooms before cooking them. If the gills are +black and the mushrooms are too old do not use them; if the cap is +perforated by insects discard it, as it is very likely there are maggots +inside; or if there are dark brown spots ("black spot") on the top of +the caps throw the mushrooms away. Old mushrooms are tough, ill-looking, +bad-tasting and indigestible, and those infested by insects, although +not poisonous, are very repugnant, and should not be used. But the +dangerous mushroom is the one affected by "Flock." + +Mushrooms should be gathered free from grit; if at all gritty they +require washing, which spoils them. All large mushrooms should be peeled +before they are cooked; the skin of the cap parts freely from the flesh, +but the skin of the stem must be rubbed or scraped off. The gills should +not be removed as they are the most delicate meat of the mushroom, but +if the mushrooms are old and intended for soup the gills should be +scraped out with the view of getting rid of their darkening influence in +the soup. In the case of small button mushrooms, which can not be +readily skinned, they should be rubbed over with a soft cloth dipped in +vinegar, so as to remove the outer part of the skin. While the stems may +be retained with the buttons, they should always be removed from the +full-grown mushrooms. + +Mushrooms should always be served hot, and they should be eaten as soon +as cooked. In the case of baked mushrooms and others prepared in a +somewhat similar way they should be covered in the oven by an inverted +dish, soup plate, basin, or the like, and if possible brought to the +table in this way and without the cover removed. Set the tin upon a mat +or cold plate upon the table, then uncover and serve on hot plates. By +this means the delicious aroma is preserved. + +=Baked Mushrooms.=--Peel and stem the mushrooms, rub and sprinkle a +little salt on the gills, and lay the mushrooms, gills up, on a shallow +baking tin and put a small piece of butter on each mushroom. Place an +inverted saucer or deep plate over them in the tin, and put them into a +brisk oven for about twenty minutes. Then take them out and serve upon a +hot plate, without spilling any of the juice that has collected in the +middle of each mushroom. Send to table and eat at once. This is the +common way of cooking mushrooms, and by it is secured the true mushroom +aroma and taste in their perfection. + +=Stewed Mushrooms.=--Peel and stem the mushrooms. Take an enameled +saucepan, put a lump of butter in it and melt it, then put in the +mushrooms, and season with salt and pepper and a small piece of pounded +mace (if you like it), then cover the saucepan tightly and stew the +mushrooms gently until they are tender, which will be in about half an +hour. Have ready some toast, either dry or fried in butter, as +preferred; spread out upon a hot dish, place the mushrooms upon the +toast, with the gills uppermost, pour the juice over them, and serve +hot. Button mushrooms are the ones usually selected for stewing, but +while nicer and whiter they are not so finely flavored as the full sized +ones. + +Another way of preparing stewed mushrooms is to stem and peel them; dip +in water containing lemon juice (this is to prevent their becoming +dark-colored in cooking, or giving a dark color to the stew), and drain +them dry. Put them into a stewpan, with a good-sized lump of butter and +some nice gravy, and let them stew for about ten minutes. Take a little +stock or cream, beat up some flour in it quite smooth, and add a little +lemon juice and grated nutmeg. Add this to the mushrooms and cook +briskly for about ten minutes longer, or until tender. + +=Soyer's Breakfast Mushrooms.=--Place some freshly-made toast, divided, +on a dish, and put the mushrooms, stemmed and peeled, gills upward upon +it; add a little pepper and salt and put a small bit of butter in the +middle of each mushroom. Pour a teaspoonful of cream over each, and add +one clove for the whole dish. Put an inverted basin over the whole. Bake +for twenty or twenty-five minutes, and do not remove the basin until the +dish is brought to the table, so as to preserve the grateful aroma. A +delightful dish. + +=Mushrooms a la Creme.=--Peel and stem the mushrooms, roll a lump of +butter in flour and put it into the saucepan, then add the mushrooms and +some salt, white pepper, a little sugar and finely chopped parsley. Stew +for ten minutes. Take the yolks of two eggs beaten up with two large +spoonfuls of cream, and add the mixture gradually to the stew; cook for +a few minutes longer, and serve hot. This is a delicious dish, but the +fine mushroom flavor is not as pronounced in it as it is in the plain +bake or stew. + +=Curried Mushrooms.=--Peel and stem a pound of mushrooms, sprinkle with +salt, add a little butter, and stew gently for fifteen or twenty minutes +in a little good stock or gravy. Then add four tablespoonfuls of cream +and one teaspoonful of good curry powder previously well mixed with two +teaspoonfuls of wheat flour. Mix carefully and cook for five or ten +minutes longer, and serve on hot toast on hot plates. A capital dish +much enjoyed by those who like curry. + +=Broiled Mushrooms.=--Select large, open, fresh mushrooms, stem and peel +them. Put them on the gridiron, stem side down, over a bright but not +very hot fire, and cook for three minutes. Then turn them and put a +small piece of butter in the middle of each, and broil for about ten +minutes longer. Put them in hot plates, gills upward, and place another +small piece of butter on each mushroom, together with a little pepper +and salt, and flavor with lemon juice or Chili vinegar, and put them +into the oven for a minute or two. Then send them to table. + +=Mushroom Soup.=--Take a quantity of fresh young mushrooms, and peel and +stem them. Stew them with a little butter, pepper and salt, and some +good stock, till tender; take them out and chop them up quite small; +prepare a good stock, as for any other soup, and add it to the mushrooms +and the liquor they have been stewed in. Boil all together, and serve. +If white soup is required use white button mushrooms and a good veal +stock, adding a spoonful of cream or a little milk as the color may +require. This is a nice soup and tastes good. If the mushrooms are very +young they have but little flavor; if they are full grown they darken +the soup, and if they are brown in the gills when used the soup will be +disagreeably dark. If, after preparing, but before cooking the +mushrooms, you pour some boiling water over them and into this drop a +little vinegar or lemon juice, then drain them off through a colander, +you can prevent, to a great extent, their darkening influence on the +soup, but always at the expense of their flavor. + +=Mushroom Stems.=--The stems of young, fresh mushrooms are excellent to +eat, but those of old or stale mushrooms are unfit for food. In the case +of plump, fresh, full-sized mushrooms, the upper part of the stem, that +is, the portion between the frill and the socket in the cap, is used, +but the portion below the frill, that is, the "root" end, is discarded. +Any part of the stem that is discolored or tough or woody should be +rejected, and only the portion that is succulent and brittle and of a +clean white color at any time used. The stems are nearly always retained +in "button" mushrooms when they are cooked, and the upper or succulent +parts of the stems of plump, fresh, full-grown mushrooms are often +cooked along with the caps, but when cooking full-grown mushrooms we +prefer, in all cases, to completely remove the stems from the mushrooms, +and cook both separately. The stems are not so tender or deliciously +flavored as are the caps, but are excellent for ketchup, or flavoring, +or a sauce for eating with boiled fowl. In cooking the stems they should +be peeled by scraping, for they can not be skinned like the caps. + +=Potted Mushrooms.=--Select nice button or unopen mushrooms, and to a +quart of these add three ounces of fresh butter, and stew gently in an +enameled saucepan, shaking them frequently to prevent burning. After a +few minutes dust a little finely powdered salt, a little spice, and a +few grains of cayenne over them, and stew until tender. When cooked turn +them into a colander standing in a basin, and leave them there until +cold; then press them into small potting-jars, and fill up the jars with +warm clarified butter, and cover with paper tied down and brushed over +with melted suet to exclude the air. Keep in a cool, dry place. The +gravy should be retained for flavoring other gravies, sauces, etc. + +=Gilbert's Breakfast Mushrooms.=--Get half grown mushrooms, peel them +and lay them, gills-side upward, on a plate; put to each a small piece +of butter, but only one layer thick; pepper and salt to taste; add two +tablespoonfuls of ketchup and one of water; press round the rim of the +plate a strip of paste, get another plate of the same size pressed +firmly in the paste; put the whole in a brisk oven for twenty-five +minutes. The top plate should be left on until served. + +=Baked Mushrooms.=--(A breakfast, luncheon, or supper dish.) +Ingredients: Sixteen or twenty mushroom flaps, butter, pepper to taste. +Mode. For this mode of cooking the mushroom flaps are better than the +buttons, and should not be too large. Cut off a portion of stalk, peel +the top, and wipe the mushrooms carefully with a piece of flannel and a +little fine salt. Put them into a tin baking dish, with a very small +piece of butter placed on each mushroom; sprinkle over a little pepper, +and let them bake for about twenty minutes, or longer should the +mushrooms be very large. Have ready a very hot dish, pile the mushrooms +high in the center, pour the gravy round, and send them to table quickly +on very hot plates. + +=Broiled Mushrooms.=--(A breakfast, luncheon, or supper dish.) +Ingredients: Mushrooms, pepper and salt to taste, butter, lemon juice. +Mode. Cleanse the mushrooms by wiping them with a piece of flannel and a +little salt; cut off a portion of the stalk and peel the tops; broil +them over a clear fire, turning them once, and arrange them on a very +hot dish. Put a small piece of butter on each mushroom, season with +pepper and salt and squeeze over them a few drops of lemon juice. Place +the dish before the fire, and when the butter is melted serve very hot +and quickly. Moderate sized flaps are better suited to this mode of +cooking than the buttons; the latter are better in stews. + +=Mushrooms a la Casse, Tout.=--Ingredients: Mushrooms, toast, two ounces +of butter, pepper and salt. Mode. Cut a round of bread one-half an inch +thick, and toast it nicely; butter both sides and place it in a clean +baking sheet or tin; cleanse the mushrooms as in preceding recipe, and +place them on the toast, head downwards, lightly pepper and salt them, +and place a piece of butter the size of a nut on each mushroom; cover +them with a finger glass and let them cook close to the fire for ten or +twelve minutes. Slip the toast into a hot dish, but do not remove the +glass cover until they are on the table. All the aroma and flavor of the +mushrooms are preserved by this method. The name of this excellent +recipe need not deter the careful housekeeper from trying it. With +moderate care the glass cover will not crack. In winter it should be +rinsed in warm water before using. + +=Stewed Mushrooms.=--Ingredients. One pint mushroom buttons, three +ounces of fresh butter, white pepper and salt to taste, lemon juice, one +teaspoonful of flour, cream or milk, one-fourth teaspoonful of grated +nutmeg. Mode. Cut off the ends of the stalks and pare neatly a pint of +mushroom buttons; put them into a basin of water with a little lemon +juice as they are done. When all are prepared take them from the water +with the hands, to avoid the sediment, and put them into a stewpan with +the fresh butter, white pepper, salt, and the juice of one-half a lemon; +cover the pan closely and let the mushrooms stew gently from twenty to +twenty-five minutes, then thicken the butter with the above proportion +of flour, add gradually sufficient cream, or cream and milk, to make the +sauce of a proper consistency, and put in the grated nutmeg. If the +mushrooms are not perfectly tender stew them for five minutes longer, +remove every particle of butter which may be floating on the top, and +serve. + +=Broiled Beefsteak and Mushrooms.=--Ingredients: Two or three dozen +small button mushrooms, one ounce of butter, salt and cayenne to taste, +one tablespoonful of mushroom ketchup. Mode. Wipe the mushrooms free +from grit with a piece of flannel, and salt; put them in a stewpan with +the butter, seasoning, and ketchup; stir over the fire until the +mushrooms are quite done. Have the steak nicely broiled, and pour over. +The above is very good with either broiled or stewed steak. + +=To Preserve Mushrooms.=--Ingredients: To each quart of mushrooms allow +three ounces of butter, pepper and salt to taste, the juice of one +lemon, clarified butter. Mode. Peel the mushrooms, put them into cold +water, with a little lemon juice; take them out and dry them very +carefully in a cloth. Put the butter into a stewpan capable of holding +the mushrooms; when it is melted add the mushrooms, lemon juice, and a +seasoning of pepper and salt; draw them down over a slow fire, and let +them remain until their liquor is boiled away and they have become quite +dry, but be careful in not allowing them to stick to the bottom of the +stewpan. When done put them into pots and pour over the top clarified +butter. If wanted for immediate use they will keep good a few days +without being covered over. To rewarm them put the mushrooms into a +stewpan, strain the butter from them, and they will be ready for use. + +=Mushroom Powder.=--(A valuable addition to sauces and gravies when +fresh mushrooms are not obtainable.) Ingredients: One-half peck of large +mushrooms, two onions, twelve cloves, one-fourth ounce of pounded mace, +two teaspoonfuls of white pepper. Mode. Peel the mushrooms, wipe them +perfectly free from grit and dirt, remove the black fur, and reject all +those that are at all worm-eaten; put them into a stewpan with the above +ingredients, but without water; shake them over a clear fire till all +the liquor is dried up, and be careful not to let them burn; arrange +them on tins and dry them in a slow oven; pound them to a fine powder, +which put into small dry bottles; cork well, seal the corks, and keep it +in a dry place. In using this powder, add it to the gravy just before +serving, when it will require one boil up. The flavor imparted by this +means to the gravy ought to be exceedingly good. This should be made in +September, or at the beginning of October, and if the mushroom powder +bottle in which it is stored away is not perfectly dry it will speedily +deteriorate. + +=Mushroom Powder.=--This is for use as a condiment. The finest +full-grown mushrooms--which are the best flavored--should be selected +and prepared for drying, and dried as stated under the heading of "Dried +Mushrooms," except that it is better to dry them in an oven or drying +machine so that they may be dried quickly and become brittle. Grate or +otherwise reduce them to a fine powder, and preserve this in +tightly-corked bottles. + +=To Dry Mushrooms.=--Wipe them clean, take away the brown part and peel +off the skin; lay them on sheets of paper to dry, in a cool oven, when +they will shrivel considerably. Keep them in paper bags, which hang in +a dry place. When wanted for use put them into cold gravy, bring them +gradually to simmer, and it will be found that they will regain nearly +their usual size. + +=Dried Mushrooms.=--In the flush of the pasture-mushroom season gather a +large number of mushrooms of all sizes and see that they are thoroughly +clean; remove and discard the stems and peel the caps. Stir them around +for a few minutes in boiling water to which a little lemon juice or +vinegar has been added to prevent them from turning dark colored. Some +people use plain cold water, or cold water with lemon juice or vinegar +in it. But never use salt in preparing mushrooms for drying, or else the +salted mushrooms will absorb moisture from the atmosphere and spoil. +Take the mushrooms out of the water and drain them on a sieve, then +string them and hang them up to dry and season in an open, airy shed, as +one would strings of drying fruit. They may also be dried in a drying +machine or oven as one would do with apples or peaches. They are used as +a substitute for fresh mushrooms when the latter can not be obtained. In +preparing dried mushrooms for use steep them in tepid water or milk +until they become quite soft and plump, then drain them dry and cook +them in the same way as fresh mushrooms. While they are a good +substitute for the fresh article they are deficient in flavor. + +=Mushroom Ketchup.=--To each peck of mushrooms add one-half pound of +salt; to each quart of mushroom liquor one-half ounce of allspice, +one-half ounce of ginger, two blades of pounded mace, one-fourth ounce +of cayenne. + +Choose full-grown mushroom flaps, and be careful that they are perfectly +fresh-gathered when the weather is tolerably dry; for if they are picked +during rain the ketchup made from them is liable to get musty, and will +not keep long. Put a layer of them in a deep pan, sprinkle salt over +them, then another layer of mushrooms and so on alternately. Let them +remain for a few hours, and break them up with the hand; put them in a +cool place for three days, occasionally stirring and mashing them well +to extract from them as much juice as possible. Measure the quantity +without straining, and to each quart allow the above proportion of +spices, etc. Put all into a stone jar, cover it up very closely, put it +in a saucepan of boiling water, set it over the fire and let it boil for +three hours. Have ready a clean stewpan; turn into it the contents of +the jar, and let the whole simmer very gently for half an hour; pour it +into a pitcher, where it should stand in a cool place until the next +day; then pour it off into another pitcher and strain it into very dry +clean bottles, and do not squeeze the mushrooms. To each pint of ketchup +add a few drops of brandy. Be careful not to shake the contents, but +leave all the sediment behind in the pitcher; cork well, and either seal +or rosin the cork, so as to exclude the air perfectly. When a very +clear, bright ketchup is wanted the liquor must be strained through a +very fine hair sieve or flannel bag after it has been very gently poured +off; if the operation is not successful it must be repeated until you +have quite a clear liquor. It should be examined occasionally, and if it +is spoiling should be reboiled with a few peppercorns. Seasonable from +the beginning of September to the middle of October, when this ketchup +should be made. + +=Mushroom Ketchup.=--This flavoring ingredient, if genuine and well +prepared, is one of the most useful store sauces to the experienced +cook, and no trouble should be spared in its preparation. Double ketchup +is made by reducing the liquor to half the quantity; for example, one +quart must be boiled down to one pint. This goes further than ordinary +ketchup, as so little is required to flavor a good quantity of gravy. +The sediment may also be bottled for immediate use, and will be found +to answer for flavoring thick soups or gravies. + +=Mushroom Ketchup.=--In making ketchup use the very best mushrooms, full +grown but young and fresh, as it is highly important to secure fine +flavor, and this we can not get from inferior mushrooms. Take a measure +of fine fresh mushrooms and see that they are clean and free from grit; +stem and peel them; cut them into very thin slices and place a layer of +these on the bottom of a deep dish or tureen; sprinkle this layer with +fine salt, then put in another layer and sprinkle with salt as before, +and so on until the dish is full. The white succulent part of the stems +may also be used in the ketchup, but never any discolored, tough or +stringy part. On the top of all strew a layer of fresh walnut rind cut +into small pieces. Place the dish in a cool cellar for four or five +days, to allow the contents to macerate. When the whole mass has become +nearly liquid pass it through a colander. Then boil down the strained +liquor to half of its bulk and add its own weight of calf's-foot jelly; +season with allspice or white pepper and boil down to the consistence of +jelly. Pour into stoneware jars and keep in a cool place. + +=Pickled Mushrooms.=--Use sufficient vinegar to cover the mushrooms; to +each quart of mushrooms two blades of pounded mace, one ounce of ground +pepper, salt to taste. Choose young button mushrooms for pickling, and +rub off the skin with a piece of flannel and salt, and cut off the +stalks; if very large take out the red gills and reject the black ones, +as they are too old. Put them in a stewpan, sprinkle salt over them, +with pounded mace and pepper in the above proportion; shake them well +over a clear fire until the liquor flows, and keep them there until it +is all dried up again; then add as much vinegar as will cover them; let +it simmer for one minute, and store it away in stone jars for use. When +cold tie down with bladder and keep in a dry place; they will remain +good for a long time, and are generally considered delicious. Make this +the same time as ketchup, from the beginning of September to the middle +of October. [The above recipes are furnished by Mrs. George Amberley, of +New York City.] + + + + +INDEX. + + +Ammonia Arising, 54 + +Anguillulae, 124 + In Decaying Vegetation, 126 + Scalding Water to Kill, 126 + To Destroy, 114 + +Apparatus, Hot Water, 33 + +Atmosphere, Manure Steam for Moistening, 114 + Remedying a too Dry, 114 + + +Barn Cellars, 10 + +Bedding, Wetted with Urine, 58 + +Beds, 16 + Alongside of Wall, 18 + Banked Against a Wall, 53 + Bearing in November, 25 + Black Spot in the, 108 + Boring Holes in, to Reduce Temperature, 76 + Bottom of, 17 + Box, 17 + Casing, after Spawning, 100 + Casing the, 104 + Earthing Over the, 103 + Experiments as to Proper Time to Case, 104 + Fifteen Inches Thick, 22 + Firmly Built, 76 + Flat, 50 + Flat, Sods fit only for, 107 + Floor, 19 + Flooring for the, 28 + Green Sods, Method of Casing, 106 + Killing the Mycelium in, 96 + Loam for, 100 + Manure, 20 + Maximum Heat of Best, 75 + Midwinter, 39 + Mulching, 23 + Mushroom, 12 + Never Spawn, when Heat is Rising, 96 + Odorless, in Dwelling House Cellars, 21 + Of Low Temperature, 77 + On the Floor, 13 + Outside, 12 + Parching Effect Visible on, 26 + Picking "Fogged-off" Mushrooms from, 108 + Rack, 13 + Re-Invigorating Old, 120 + Renovating Old, in England, 142 + Ridge, 17 + Second Crop from, 120 + Shelf, 16, 29 + Spawned at 66 deg. to 70 deg., 97 + Spawning and Molding, 14 + Spawning the, 96 + Spent Mushroom, 121 + Stale, 76 + Tamping Surface of, 23 + Temperature of a Twelve Inch Thick Bed, 96 + Ten or Twelve Inches Deep, 19 + Tending the, 17 + Three Feet Deep, 25 + To Keep, Warm, 109 + Topdressed, 23 + Under Greenhouse Benches, To make, 53 + Watering, 24 + Watering the, 108 + Watering Mushroom, 111 + When Dry to be Watered, 111 + Wide, With Pathway Above,* 44 + Worn Out, 120 + +Beetles, Larvae of Two, Destroying Mycelium, 132 + +Benches Covered, 40 + +Black Spot, 124 + A Disease, 125 + In Beds in Vigorous Bearing, 125 + In New Beds, 125 + Is Unwholesome, 126 + To Prevent, 125 + +Boards, Stepping, 17 + +Boiler and Pipes, 32 + +Boilers, Hitching's Base-burner, 31 + +Boxing, 19 + Lid for, 19 + Old Carpet or Matting Over, 19 + +"Bullet" or "Shot" Holes in Mushrooms, 128 + +Bugs, Mealy, 12 + + +Calico, 18 + +Caves, 17 + +Caves of Paris, In the,* 147 + Paris, Description of, 143 + French Spawn Used in, 146 + Gathering Mushrooms for Market in the, 149 + Making Beds in the, 145 + Manure Used in the, 144 + Material Used for and Method of Earthing Over in, 146 + Methods of Regulating Draughts in the, 150 + Preparation of Manure for the, 144 + Paris, Spawn Used in the, and How Obtained, 145 + Stratifying Spawn Before Using in the, 146 + Temperature in Spacious, High Roofed, 147 + Ventilation in the, 148 + When and How Mushrooms are Gathered in the, 148 + +Ceiling, Flat, 37 + Sloping, 36 + Wet, 18 + +Cellar, Barn, 13 + Cleanliness in the Mushroom, 26 + Cool, 19 + Cross-section of the Dosoris Mushroom,* 27 + Dosoris Mushroom, 27 + Divided, 30 + Ground Plan of the Dosoris,* 28 + Height of, 17 + House, 13 + Interior Arrangements of, 16 + Mushroom, Under a Barn,* 16 + Of Dwelling House, 18 + Ordinary, 21 + Outhouse, 18 + Pent-up, 17 + Unheated, 17 + Vegetable, 12 + Warm, 19 + Wholly Devoted to Mushroom Growing, 15 + +Cellars, 10 + Artificial Heating, 17 + Cool, Airy, 20 + Flat Roofed Mushroom, 18 + Mushrooms in, 25 + Potato, 18 + Underground, 15, 27 + +Cistern, Large Underground, 18 + +Coal, Nut and Stove, 33 + +Cold and Vermin, 19 + +Cooking Mushrooms, 150 + +Crop, Common Average, 30 + Gathering the, 17 + Marketing the, 14 + Yielding, 31 + +Crops, Capital, 17 + +Cut Flower Season, 11 + + +Dirt, Roadside, 101 + +Doors, Double, 16 + Outside, 35 + Single, 16 + +Drip, Cold, Falling upon Beds, 36 + Crop Suffering From, 51 + From Benches, the Effects of, 51 + In Commercial Greenhouses, 52 + Plan for Warding off, 52 + +Dust and Noxious Gas, 17 + + +Entrance, 16 + +Entrance Pits, 30 + +Economy, False, 37 + + +Families, Private, 18 + +Farmers, 13 + +Flies, Manure, 126 + Manure, Ill-favor of, 126 + Manure Perfectly Harmless, 127 + +Fire, Danger of, 33 + +Flock, 132 + How General is, 134 + The Cause of, 133 + The Habits and Manner of Growth of, 133 + The Worst Mushroom Disease, 132 + What it Looks Like, 134 + What is, 133 + +Floor, A Dry, Necessary, 47 + Common Earth, 47 + Dry, 35, 39 + Earthen, 21 + +Flooring, 29 + +Fogging Off, 106, 131 + Favorable Conditions for, 132 + The Cause of, 131 + +Florists, 11 + +Florists' Greenhouses, 10 + +Frame, Boxed-up with Straw Covering,* 19 + Covered with Calico, 20 + Covered with Oiled Paper, 20 + Common Hotbed Box, 45 + Preparing Beds in the, 46 + Shading the, 47 + Spawning in, 46 + +Frost, Hoar, 35 + To Exclude, 40 + +Fruit Room, 12 + +Furnace, Boxed off, 17 + + +Gardens, Private, 37 + +Grapery, Beds and Frames Inside the, 13 + +Greenhouse Bench, Boxed Mushroom Bed Under,* 41 + +Greenhouse Benches, Among Other Plants on, 48 + +Greenhouse Benches, On, 42 + +Greenhouse Benches, Under, 47 + +Greenhouses, Beds in Open, Airy, 53 + Cool, 41 + Growing Mushrooms in, 41 + In Frames in, 44 + Steam-heated, 48 + +Growers, Parisian, 60 + + +Heat, Artificial not Absolutely Necessary, 17 + Fire, 17 + Parching, 17 + +Heater, Base-burning Water,* 32 + Vertical Section,* 32 + +Heating Apparatus, 28 + +Hoe, Angular-pointed, 23 + +Hops, Spent, 68 + Spent, Cost Nothing, 69 + +Horses, Those who Keep, 13 + +Hotbed Frames, 44 + +House, A Mushroom, 34 + Cow, 13 + Ground Plan of Mrs. Osborne's Mushroom,* 36 + In Dwelling, 18 + Interior Arrangement of Mushroom, 37 + Interior View of Mr. Henshaw's Mushroom,* 33 + Mr. Samuel Henshaw's, 37 + Mushroom, Built Against North-facing Wall,* 34 + Section of Mrs. Osborne's,* 35 + +Houses, Fruit-forcing, 12 + Growing Mushrooms in Rose, 49 + Lettuce, Mushrooms in, 50 + Tomato-forcing, Mushrooms in, 49 + Well-sheltered in Winter, 34 + + +Insecticide, Common Salt as an, 113 + + +Leaves, Condition of, to Heat, 68 + Fermenting, Beds Composed of, 68 + Oak, the Best, 67 + Quick-rotting, 67 + Tree, 67 + +Lettuce House, Moisture of, 10 + +Lice, Wood, 129 + +Loam and Manure, 11 + Mixed, 72 + Mixed, Temperature of, 77 + Mixed, To Prepare, 73 + +Loam, Coating, 20 + Common, for Casing, 100 + Containing Old Manure, 101 + Fibrous, Mellow, Best for Earthing Over, 103 + Fresh Sod, 100 + Heavy, Clayey, 101 + Ordinary Field Soil, 26 + Sod, Reasons for Use of, 73 + Topdressing with, 107 + +Lot, Village or Suburban, 13 + + +Manure, 13 + Baled, 64 + Cellar, 62 + City Stable, 63 + Common Horse, 21 + Cow, 65 + Cow, Necessary in Manufacture of Spawn, 66 + Drying by Exposure, 71 + Fermenting Fresh Horse, 24 + "Fire-fanged," 62 + Firmly Packed, 70 + Flies, 124, 126 + Fresh, 12 + Fresher the Better, 58 + From City Stables, 26 + German Peat Moss Stable, 66 + Handling, 35 + Homemade, 60 + Horse, 57 + Hog, Mycelium Evades, 63 + Liquid, 113 + Liquid, Cow and Sheep, 113 + Of Entire Horses, 60 + Of Horses fed with Carrots, 61 + Of Mules, 62 + Preparation of the, 69 + Preserve the Wet and Strawy Part, 60 + Proper Condition of, 72 + Sawdust Stable, 66 + Selected, 63 + Steaming Hot, 24 + The Best, 57 + To Prevent "fire-fang" in, 70 + Turning the, 14, 71 + Warm, 13 + Well-rotted, 14 + Without Preparatory Treatment, 22 + +Market, A Good, 25 + Gardener, 9, 15 + Gardening near New York, 9 + +Markets, Brooklyn, 26 + In Winter, 10 + +Materials, Exhausted, 16 + For Beds, Fresh, 16 + Waste of, 17 + +Method, Mr. Denton's, 25 + Mr. Gardner's, 21 + Mr. Van Siclen's, 27 + +Methods, Avoiding Complicated, 21 + +Mice and Rats, 130 + Different Kinds of, 130 + Fond of Mushrooms, 130 + +Mice, How they Disfigure Mushrooms, 130 + +Mites not a Mushroom Pest, 130 + The Home of, 130 + Two Kinds of, Common, 130 + +Moisture, Condensation of, 46 + +Mold on Beds, How Deep to Put, 105 + +Money, Pin- 14 + +Mushroom, A Perfect,* 116 + Affected with Black Spot,* 125 + Bed Built Flat on the Ground,* 52 + Bed Five Feet Wide, Profit from, 12 + Bed, Rigid,* 53 + Beds, 11 + Beds in England, How made, 137 + Beds, Making up the, 74 + Beds, Manure-fatted Loam in, 26 + Beds, Manure for, 57 + Beds, Mr. Wilson's,* 51 + Beds on Greenhouse Benches, Objection to, 42 + Beds, Sites for Around London, 137 + Cellar, Perspective View of the Dosoris,* 58 + Crop, 13 + Flock-Diseased,* 133 + Food, 24 + Growing in the Paris Caves, 143 + Growing Out of Doors a Specialty, 136 + Growing, Profit of, Around London, 136 + Growing, Success in, 12 + House, A Regular, 12 + House, Best Kind of, 11 + House, Cellar Everybody's, 15 + House, Damping Floors of, 115 + Houses, Cleaning the, 135 + Houses, Growing Mushrooms in, 34 + Houses, Ideal, 15 + Houses, Whitewashing, 135 + Season Closed, 31 + Spawn, 78 + The "Horse," 48 + A Winter Crop, 14 + Advantages of Pulling over Cutting, 117 + After a Dry Summer, 55 + And Grapevines, 13 + Black Spot in, 124 + Cause of Black Spot in, 124 + English, 115 + Filling Stump Holes with Fresh Loam, 117 + Five Inch Diameter before Expanding, 47 + For Family Use, 13 + For Soups, When to Pick, 116 + Fresh, 12 + From Natural Spawn, 48 + From October Until May, 30 + Gathering and Marketing, 115 + Gathering Field and Wild, 118 + Gathering in Cold Weather, 140 + Good, 19 + Growing in Cellars, 15 + Growing in Fields, 54 + Growing, in Narrow Troughs, 59 + Growing in Ridges Around London, 136 + Growing in Sawdust, 67 + Grown on Greenhouse Benches,* 43 + Growth of from Spawning under Different Temperatures, 110 + Head Room, 19 + Importance of Care in Gathering and Packing for Shipment, 119 + In August and September, 56 + In Crates and Baskets, 118 + In the Fields, Plan of Growing, 55 + Insect and Other Enemies of, 122 + Knack in Pulling, 117 + Maggots in, 122, 124 + "Maggots" in, appear in April, 123 + Maggots, Size of, in, 123 + Marketed in Paper Boxes, 118 + Marketing, 118 + Not a Bulky Crop, 11 + On Greenhouse Bench Under Tomatoes, 45 + Packed in Punnets for London Market, 119 + Picking so as not to Disturb Buttons, 117 + "Pin-Head," 107 + Profit on, Clear Gain, 51 + Proper Manner of Picking, 116 + Pulled, Keeping Qualities of, 117 + Scooping Out the Stumps, 117 + Sold by the Pound, 118 + Sorting and Packing for Market, in England, 141 + Summer Crops of, 123 + Under the Benches, 11 + When Fit to Pick, 115 + Who Should Grow, 9 + Wild, 55 + +Mulching, When to Remove, 42 + +Mycelium, Liquid to Encourage Spread of, 77 + + +Odor, Bad, 20 + +Outbuildings, 12 + + +Paper, Building, 52 + Oiled, 18 + +Passage-ways, 18 + +Pathways, 16 + +Peat Moss, Bale of German, 66 + +Pipes, Heating, 17 + Hot, Injury from, 48 + Hot Water, 23 + Sheet Iron, 27 + Smoke, 33 + +Private Gardeners, 12 + + +Rats, More Destructive than Mice, 131 + +Recipes for Cooking and Preserving Mushrooms, 150 + A la Casse, Tout, 157 + A la Creme, 154 + Baked, 152, 156 + Broiled, 154, 156 + Broiled Beefsteak and, 158 + Cooked, General Directions for Serving, 152 + Cooking, 150 + Cooking, General Preparation of, for, 151 + Curried, 154 + Dried, 160 + Gilbert's Breakfast, 156 + Ketchup, 160, 161, 162 + Kind of, to Select for, 150 + Pickled, 162 + Potted, 155 + Powder, 159 + Soup, 154 + Soyer's Breakfast, 153 + Stems, 155 + Stewed, 153, 157 + To Dry, 159 + To Preserve, 158 + +Ridges, 17 + Casing the, 139 + Covering the, 140 + Covering with Litter, 139 + Drenching Rains Injurious to, 139 + First made in August, 140 + For Growing Mushrooms in Open Field, 138 + Method of Gathering Mushrooms from, 141 + Smoothing the, 139 + The Covered,* 140 + Watering the, 139 + +Roof, 35 + +Roofs water-tight, 39 + Of Tin, 38 + With Coating of Salt Hay, 38 + + +Salad Plants, 10 + +Sashes, 46 + +Secret, No, 14 + +Shading on Sunny Days, 42 + +Shaft, Chimney-like, 16 + +Shaft, Tall, Wooden, 28 + +Shed, Open on South Side, 39 + Potting, 12 + Warm Potting, 40 + The Term Applied, 40 + Tool, 12 + Wood, 12 + +Sheds, Growing Mushrooms in, 39 + Unheated, 40 + +Shelves, Temporary Structures, 25 + +Shutters, Light Wooden, 53 + +Slugs, 127 + Attack Mushrooms in all Stages, 127 + Biting into Stems of Mushrooms, 127 + Fond of Mushrooms, 127 + How to Catch and Kill, 128 + Salt Distasteful to, 128 + The Cause of "Bullet" or "Shot" Holes, 128 + +Soil, Conditions of for Casing, 105 + Firming the, 106 + From Slopes and Dry Hollows in Woods, 101 + Ordinary Garden, 101 + Peat, or Swamp Muck, 101 + Sandy, 101 + Sifting, for Casing, 105 + +Southern States, 10 + +Spawn, 13 + American-made, 86 + Amount of Imported, 80 + Another Method by Lachaume, 94 + Black Colored to be Avoided, 86 + Breaking, 23 + Brick,* 80 + Brick, Cut in Pieces for Planting,* 97 + Brick, How to Make, 87 + Brick, the Best, 95 + Depth to Plant, 98 + Effect of Heat and Moisture Upon, 83 + Effect of Severe Frost Upon, 83 + English, 81 + English Brick, 23 + Flake, 82, 99 + Flake, Does Best under Cover, 95 + Flake or French,* 82 + French, 82 + French Flake, 24 + Homemade Around London, 137 + How to Distinguish Good from Poor, 84 + How to Get, 79 + How to Keep, 83 + How to make French (Flake), 91 + Imported from Europe, 79 + In Leaf Beds, 68 + In Manure, Do not Bury, 10 + Inserting French or Flake, 98 + Inserting more than Three Inches Deep, 105 + Insuring Development of, 49 + Lachaume's Method of Making, 93 + Making, Distinct Branch, 87 + Making French Virgin, 92 + Mill-track, 81 + Mr. J. Burton's Method of Making, 90 + Natural, 81 + New Versus Old, 83 + Never use Dibber in Planting, 98 + Other Recipes for Making, 89 + Planting of in Open Fields, 54 + Preparing the, 97 + Principal American Growers of, 86 + Relative Merits of Flake and Brick, 94 + Signs of Sterility in, 85 + Simplest Way of Making, 88 + Steeped, 99 + The Way in which it Comes, 81 + To tell Quality by Smell of, 85 + Transplanting Pieces of Working, 99 + "Very Dead," 84 + "Very Living," 84 + Virgin, 82, 91 + What is Mushroom, 78 + Where Obtained, 79 + +Spiders, Red, 12 + +Spores, Myriads of, 78 + +Spurious Fungi, 102 + +Stable, Empty Stall in Horse, 13 + +Staging, Erecting Temporary, 46 + +Stairway, 16 + In Pit, 32 + +Standard Crop, 9 + +Stoke-hole, 12 + +Stove, Common Iron, 26 + +Straw, Rye, 47 + +Sunlight, Protection from, 10 + + +Temperature, 10 + At Night, 41 + About 57 deg. Suitable, 23 + Fluctuations of, 15 + From 50 deg. to 60 deg., 18 + High, 19 + In Dosoris Cellars, 109 + In Midwinter, 33 + Low, 15 + Proper, 75, 109 + Sudden Changes to be Avoided, 47 + Too High, Guard Against, 76 + Winter, 60 deg. Necessary, 38 + +Thrips, 12 + +Toads, 131 + Not to be Recommended, 131 + Upheaving Clumps of Mushrooms, 131 + +Toadstools, 102 + On Hotbeds, 102 + On Manure Piles, 102 + +Trapping Rats and Mice, 131 + +Traps for Wood Lice, 129 + +Tunnel, Subterranean, 27 + + +Ventilation, Assisting, 17 + +Ventilator, Chimney-like, 22 + +Ventilators, 16, 28 + Side Window, 35 + Window and Doors, 21 + +Village People and Suburban Residents, 13 + + +Wall, Cold, not Injurious 30 + +Walls 35 + +Warmth, Artificial, 17 + Steady, 17 + +Water, Manure, for Beds in Full Bearing, 112 + Space and Double Casing, 32 + +Watering, Endeavor to Lessen Necessity of, 111 + For, use Clean, Soft Water, 111 + Over Mulching, 111 + Pot, Size to use, 112 + +Wife, Farmer's, 14 + +Windows, 16 + +Winds, Piercing, and Draughts, 39 + +Women Searching for Remunerative Employment, 14 + +Wood Lice, 129 + Abundant in Mushroom Houses, 129 + Eating Potato, 129 + How to Trap, 129 + +Work, Clean, 14 + + + + + A Valuable Periodical for everybody in City, Village, and Country. + + The American Agriculturist. + (ESTABLISHED 1842.) + + _THE LEADING INTERNATIONAL PUBLICATION_ + FOR THE + FARM, GARDEN, AND HOUSEHOLD. + +[Illustration] + + A MONTHLY MAGAZINE of from 48 to 64 pages in each number, +containing in each volume upward of 700 pages and over 1000 original +engravings of typical and prize-winning Horses, Cattle, Sheep, Swine, +and Fowls; New Fruits, Vegetables, and Flowers; House and Barn Plans; +New Implements and Labor-saving Contrivances; and many pleasing and +instructive pictures for young and old. + + THE STANDARD AUTHORITY in all matters pertaining to Agriculture, +Horticulture, and Rural Arts, and the oldest and most ably edited +periodical of its class in the world. + + BEST RURAL PERIODICAL IN THE WORLD. + + The thousands of hints and suggestions given in every volume are +prepared by practical, intelligent farmers, who know what they write +about. + +=The Household Department= is valuable to every housekeeper, affording + very many useful hints and directions calculated to lighten and + facilitate indoor work. + +=The Department for Children and Youth= is prepared with special care, to + furnish not only amusement, but also to inculcate knowledge and + sound moral principles. + + Subscription Terms: $1.50 a year, postage included; + sample copies, 15c. each, + + TRY IT A YEAR! + + Address, + AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, + 52 & 54 Lafayette Place, New York. + + + + + SENT FREE ON APPLICATION. + + DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE + + --: OF :-- + + RURAL BOOKS, + + Containing 116 8vo pages, profusely illustrated, and giving full + descriptions of nearly 600 works on the following subjects: + + Farm And Garden, + Fruits, Flowers, Etc., + Cattle, Sheep, and Swine, + Dogs, Etc., Horses, Riding, Etc., + Poultry, Pigeons, and Bees, + Angling and Fishing, + Boating, Canoeing, and Sailing, + Field Sports and Natural History, + Hunting, Shooting, Etc., + Architecture and Building, + Landscape Gardening, + Household and Miscellaneous. + + + PUBLISHERS AND IMPORTERS. + ORANGE JUDD CO., + 52 & 54 Lafayette Place, New York. + + + + + STANDARD BOOKS. + +=Mushrooms. How to Grow Them.= + + For home use fresh Mushrooms are a delicious, highly + nutritious and wholesome delicacy; and for market they are + less bulky than eggs, and, when properly handled, no crop is + more remunerative. Anyone who has an ordinary house cellar, + woodshed, or barn can grow Mushrooms. This is the most + practical work on the subject ever written, and the only book + on growing Mushrooms ever published in America. The whole + subject is treated in detail, minutely and plainly, as only a + practical man, actively engaged in Mushroom growing, can + handle it. The author describes how he himself grows + Mushrooms, and how they are grown for profit by the leading + market gardeners, and for home use by the most successful + private growers. The book is amply and pointedly illustrated, + with engravings drawn from nature expressly for this work. By + Wm. Falconer. Is nicely printed and bound in cloth. 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The work is characterized by + the same radical common sense that marked the author's + "Gardening for Profit," and it holds a high place in the + estimation of lovers of agriculture. Beautifully illustrated. + New and enlarged edition. Cloth, 12mo. 1.50 + +=Harris's Talks on Manures.= + + By Joseph Harris, M. S., author of "Walks and Talks on the + Farm," "Harris on the Pig." etc. Revised and enlarged by the + author. A series of familiar and practical talks between the + author and the deacon, the doctor, and other neighbors, on the + whole subject of manures and fertilizers; including a chapter + specially written for it by Sir John Bennet Lawes, of + Rothamsted, England. Cloth, 12mo. 1.75 + +=Waring's Draining for Profit and Draining for Health.= + + This book is a very complete and practical treatise, the + directions in which are plain, and easily followed. The + subject of thorough farm drainage is discussed in all its + bearings, and also that more extensive land drainage by which + the sanitary condition of any district may be greatly + improved, even to the banishment of fever and ague, typhoid + and malarious fever. By Geo. E. Waring, Jr. Illustrated. Cloth + 12mo. 1.50 + +=The Practical Rabbit-Keeper.= + + By Cuniculus. Illustrated. A comprehensive work on keeping and + raising Rabbits for pleasure as well as for profit. The book + is abundantly illustrated with all the various Courts, + Warrens, Hutches, Fencing, etc., and also with excellent + portraits of the most important species of rabbits throughout + the world. 12mo. 1.50 + +=Quinby's New Bee-Keeping.= + + The Mysteries of Bee-keeping Explained. Combining the results + of Fifty Years' Experience, with the latest discoveries and + inventions, and presenting the most approved methods, forming + a complete work. Cloth, 12mo. 1.50 + +=Profits in Poultry.= + + Useful and Ornamental Breeds and their Profitable Management. + This excellent work contains the combined experience of a + number of practical men in all departments of poultry raising. + It is profusely illustrated and forms an unique and important + addition to our poultry literature. Cloth, 12mo. 1.00 + +=Barn Plans and Outbuildings.= + + Two Hundred and Fifty-seven Illustrations. A most Valuable + Work, full of Ideas, Hints, Suggestions, Plans, etc., for the + Construction of Barns and Outbuildings, by Practical writers. + Chapters are devoted, among other subjects, to the Economic + Erection and Use of Barns. Grain Barns, House Barns, Cattle + Barns, Sheep Barns, Corn Houses, Smoke Houses, Ice Houses, Pig + Pens, Granaries, etc. There are likewise chapters upon Bird + Houses, Dog Houses, Tool Sheds, Ventilators, Roofs and + Roofing, Doors and Fastenings, Work Shops, Poultry Houses, + Manure Sheds, Barn Yards, Root Pits, etc. Recently published. + Cloth, 12mo. 1.50 + +=Parsons on the Rose.= + + By Samuel B. Parsons. A treatise on the propagation, culture, + and history of the rose. New and revised edition. In his work + upon the rose, Mr. Parsons has gathered up the curious legends + concerning the flower, and gives us an idea of the esteem in + which it was held in former times. A simple garden + classification has been adopted, and the leading varieties + under each class enumerated and briefly described. The + chapters on multiplication, cultivation, and training are very + full, and the work is altogether one of the most complete + before the public. Illustrated. Cloth, 12mo. 1.00 + +=Heinrich's Window Flower Garden.= + + The author is a practical florist, and this enterprising + volume embodies his personal experiences in Window Gardening + during a long period. New and enlarged edition. By Julius J. + Heinrich. Fully Illustrated. Cloth, 12mo. .75 + +=Liautard's Chart of the Age of the Domestic Animals.= + + Adopted by the United States Army. Enables one to accurately + determine the age of horses, cattle, sheep, dogs, and pigs. + .50 + +=Pedder's Land Measurer for Farmers.= + + A convenient Pocket Companion, showing at once the contents of + any piece of land, when its length and width are known, up to + 1,500 feet either way, with various other useful farm tables. + Cloth, 18mo; .60 + +=How to Plant and What to Do with the Crops.= + + With other valuable hints for the Farm, Garden and Orchard. By + Mark W. Johnson. Illustrated. CONTENTS: Times for Sowing + Seeds; Covering Seeds; Field Crops; Garden or Vegetable Seeds, + Sweet Herbs, etc.; Tree Seeds; Flower Seeds; Fruit Trees; + Distances Apart for Fruit Trees and Shrubs; Profitable + Farming; Green or Manuring Crops; Root Crops; Forage Plants; + What to do with the Crops; The Rotation of Crops; Varieties; + Paper Covers, post-paid. .50 + +=Your Plants.= + + Plain and Practical Directions for the Treatment of Tender and + Hardy Plants in the House and in the Garden. By James Sheehan. + The above title well describes the character of the + work--"Plain and Practical." The author, a commercial florist + and gardener, has endeavored, in this work, to answer the many + questions asked by his customers, as to the proper treatment + of plants. The book shows all through that its author is a + practical man, and he writes as one with a large store of + experience. The work better meets the wants of the amateur who + grows a few plants in the window, or has a small flower + Garden, than a larger treatise intended for those who + cultivate plants upon a more extended-scale. Price, post-paid, + paper covers. .40 + +=Husmann's American Grape-Growing and Wine-Making.= + + By George Husmann of Talcoa vineyards, Napa, California. New + and enlarged edition. With contributions from well-known + grape-growers, giving a wide range of experience. The author + of this book is a recognized authority on the subject. Cloth, + 12mo. 1.50 + +=The Scientific Angler.= + + A general and instructive work on Artistic Angling, by the + late David Foster. Compiled by his Sons. With an Introductory + Chapter and Copious Foot Notes, by William C. Harris, Editor + of the "American Angler." Cloth, 12mo. 1.50 + +=Keeping One Cow.= + + A collection of Prize Essays, and selections from a number of + other Essays, with editorial notes, suggestions, etc. This + book gives the latest information, and in a clear and + condensed form, upon the management of a single Milch Cow. + Illustrated with full-page engravings of the most famous dairy + cows. Recently published. Cloth, 12mo. 1.00 + +=Law's Veterinary Adviser.= + + A Guide to the Prevention and Treatment of Disease in Domestic + Animals. This is one of the best works on this subject, and is + especially designed to supply the need of the busy American + Farmer, who can rarely avail himself of the advice of a + Scientific Veterinarian. It is brought up to date and treats + of the Prevention of Disease, as well as of the Remedies. By + Prof. Jas. Law. Cloth, Crown 8vo. 3.00 + +=Guenon's Treatise on Milch Cows.= + + A Treatise on the Bovine Species in General. An entirely new + translation of the last edition of this popular and + instructive book. By Thos. J. Hand, Secretary of the American + Jersey Cattle Club. With over 100 Illustrations, especially + engraved for this work. Cloth, 12mo. 1.00 + +=The Cider Maker's Handbook.= + + A complete guide for making and keeping pure cider. By J. M. + Trowbridge. Fully Illustrated. Cloth, 12mo. 1.00 + +=Long's Ornamental Gardening for Americans.= + + A treatise on Beautifying Homes, Rural Districts, and + Cemeteries. A plain and practical work at a moderate price, + with numerous illustrations, and instructions so plain that + they may be readily followed. By Elias A. Long. Landscape + Architect. Illustrated. Cloth, 12mo. 2.00 + +=The Dogs of Great Britain, America and Other Countries.= + + New, enlarged and revised edition. Their breeding training and + management, in health and disease; comprising all the + essential parts of the two standard works on the dog, by + "Stonehenge," thereby furnishing for $2 what once cost $11.25. + Contains Lists of all Premiums given at the last Dog Shows. It + Describes the Best Game and Hunting Grounds in America. + Contains over One Hundred Beautiful Engravings, embracing most + noted Dogs in both Continents, making together, with Chapters + by American Writers, the most Complete Dog Book ever + published. Cloth, 12mo. 2.00 + +=Stewart's Feeding Animals.= + + By Elliot W. Stewart. A new and valuable practical work upon + the laws of animal growth, specially applied to the rearing + and feeding horses, cattle, diary cows, sheep and swine. + Illustrated. Cloth, 12mo. 2.00 + +=How to Co-operate.= + + A Manual for Co-operators. By Herbert Myrick. This book + describes the how rather than the wherefore of co-operation. + In other words it tells how to manage a co-operative store, + farm or factory, and co-operative dairying, banking and fire + insurance, and co-operative farmers' and women's exchanges for + both buying and selling. The directions given are based on the + actual experience of successful co-operative enterprises in + all parts of the United States. The character and usefulness + of the book commend it to the attention of all men and women + who desire to better their condition. 12mo. Cloth. 1.50 + + + + +Transcriber's Notes: + +1. Changed Page 1 to Page 9 in Table of Contents Chapter I. + +2. Asterisks are used in the index to refer to illustrations. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Mushrooms: how to grow them, by William Falconer + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MUSHROOMS: HOW TO GROW THEM *** + +***** This file should be named 24944.txt or 24944.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/4/9/4/24944/ + +Produced by Steven Giacomelli, Leonard Johnson and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net +(This file was produced from images produced by Core +Historical Literature in Agriculture (CHLA), Cornell +University) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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