The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1895-10-11
MUSHROOMS.

pensable ingredient Of which is horse
manure. and in steady temperature.
Any place. such as a cellar. shed,
greenhouse pit. space under green.
house benches. etc. where either
naturally or by the use of artificial
means temperature of from so TO &C
degrees may be had. will answer.
Good drainage must be provided;
hence a shelf or series of shelves OF
benches may readily be employed tc
make beds on
The manure should not be allowed
70 get saturated with rains. but should
be kept fairly dry until it is ready &c
form a bed. and all the long straw or
other litter should be shaken out of 1t.
Manure can be used TO grow them in
only by turning it over repeatedly TO
get rid of its greatest heat Usually
it is preferable to mix from one-fourth
its bulk TO equal its bulk with fresh
loan or good garden soil of course,
sufficient material should be ready be-
fore comme ncing to make the beds
The latter may be of almost any size
or shape desired. but experience proves
that to have them from to 4 feet
wide and about Is 10 20 inches deep
answers the best Where there Is
plenty Of room. il is good plan to
make the beds more or less sloping at
the sides Beds might also he made in
old tubs or in casks sawed in two. by
adopting this latter plan. the vessels
could. after being filed. he carried in.
to the cellars or other parts of
dwelling houses where one would
not like to bring in the manure
in its rough form In forming the beds
the manure and soil should BE- packed
firmly together. layer by layer, with
mallet. or something similar. A Their
mometer should then be placed At
some central point of the bed. its bulb
being kept some three or four inches
below the surface The probability 10
that the temperature in the bed will
rise for few days and then begin to
lower. When it reaches about 30 do
grees the bed is ready 10 spawn.
Spawn can be purchased in bricks of
all seedsmen to make start with, but
when mushroom culture Is once COM
menced plenty OF spawn can be had 1t
all times for planting new beds The
bricks or pieces Of spawn should Do
broken TO half the size of the hand
lengthwise. or less. before inserting in
the bed These pieces should he placed
or : inches deep and 10 to IL inches
apart About ten days after spawning
spread over the surface OF the bed
some to inches of nice. fresh loan,
and then wait for yo1r crop. This
should begin to show few weeks
, later. varying somewhat according &c
the temperature.
sonnet times il is possible 10 dispense
with watering the beds, this being
only necessary when the surface gets
quite dry. Then water carefully, us
| ing water heated to about 100 degrees.
by making up beds at intervals Of
| eight or ten weeks throughout the
year. . continuous supply OF mush'
rooms may tie secured As rule. how.
ever. mushrooms grown in greenhouses
| or other buildings are liable during
the hottest part Of summer or early
fall 20 get spoiled by the maggots OF
| various nies. so that IL may b. AS well
| 20 have m or season. say the
months Of July and August. II II 70
be hoped that the consumption Of this
valuable food article will greatly in
crease in che near future. - Ohjs
6aECker.