The record-union., 1896-06-28

away; it will produce poisonous mush-
room. The flaments must be blush
white-no other color.
| The bricks must not be cut too thick.
Very thin bricks simply waste the
spawn, and produce what is called a
rock The upper layer of mush-
rooms develops quite well, but the
others are suffocated. Several days
afer planting the bricks the filaments
will push to the surface and cover the
mound The entire bed will take on a
blush white appearance a fleuri
sur panne," says the mushroom grower.
THE "GOPTAGE.'
Now is the time to "gopter'' the bed.
This is a slang word used by the mush-
room growers, but there is no other eX-
preston for the process. 1t means Civ
ing the bed cover of 0.19 inch of pre-
pared earth, In the stone quarries the
refuse of the cuttings is sfted and the
finer part is called "bousin." This is
mixed thoroughly with the light earth
in the proportion of one part of earth to
three of the "bousin." This mixture is
sprinkled until it is sufficiently moist
to retain the imprint of the hand.
Then, with the aid of q smooth wooden
shovel, the bed is covered to the depth
of 0.2 meters with this paste, patting it
lightly to make it adhere after which
1t is sprinkled, not soaked. Nothing
more must be done until the day follow
ing, when the bed is again beaten with
the back of the wooden shovel.
The work is now finished. Nothing
more can be done except to watch the
bed and water it If it shows signs Of be-
coming too dry. Forty days after the
'goptage" the first mushrooms will ap-
pear. The action of the "bousin" on
the mushroom is due to the salts Of
inter or saltpeter which furnish the
plant an abundant supply of azote.
Where the "bousin" cannot be had.
powdered plaster will do just as we'll
The "goptage" is matter of the utmost
Importance; the slightest neglect means
| absolute failure
| CULTIVATION ABOVE GROUND.
The cultivation of mushrooms in the
open differs but little from the method
pursued in caves and cellars The prep
aratfon of the bed is precisely the same
as those underground. The bed should,
If possible, be made on light soil. If the
soil is heavy broken plaster should
form its base, say to the depth of 1874
inches After two weeks of fermenta-
tion, the proposed manure may be mold
ed into form as in the Illustrations. Let
it be 2o9S. as before described, and be
perfectly sure that they are dry. The
lst of September is the most propitious
time for above-groun planting. If the
weather be rainy, the bed should be
covered with straw until the time for
| the 'goptage." After the "goptage, -
cover the bed again with the straw If
the straw becomes moldy, it should be
! removed.
| The mushrooms will appear in March
| and continue until May The bed must
not become too dry. but should be
| sprinkled morning and evening, remov-
| irg the straw before each watering
| Gather the mushrooms in the evening
only. filing in the holes and patting the
surface smooth. They should be gath
cred only every two days. The bed will
| be injured by a daily plucking
| MUSHROOMS WITHOUT MANURE.
Careful scientific investigation has
proven that the very life of the mush-
rooms depend upon a good supply of
saltpetr, and, acting on this, growers
| have been able to secure a growth of
| mushrooms at all seasons without the
| use Of manure. The method is as fol-
| lows: Take l meter cube of old plaster
ard break it up into pieces about
| the size of hazelnuts. moisten
the mass and put it in the
cave or cellar. Form an en-
bankment against the wall 25.9S inches
wide at the base and 1852 inches high.
Smooth the surface with the hand.
|
above indicated, the first row beirg
| Isl inches above the base, cover this
with sand from a river or stream O15I
incehs. The sand should be perfectly
| fresh and clean, but not too moist. AS
| inches. The sand should be perfectly
sprinkle it With q solution composed OF
l2o grains of saltpeter to 10 liters of
water; sprinkle lightly At the end OF
! about forty days the crop of mushrooms
will appear.
This method is very inexpensive and
| the production continuous
! ANIMAL AND INSECT ENEMIES
| Rats and mice love mushrooms and
are the betes noire of the growers. All
| sorts of devices have been tried to guard
| against these pests, but without sue
! cess, except, perhaps. by poisoning
them. The great difficulty is that they
| prefer the mushrooms to the poison.
Slugs or black snails are also very
fond of mushrooms, but, happily, they
are more fond of cabbage leaves. and
if the latter be placed about the beds
when traces Of snails are found the
mushrooms will escape damage.
Wood lice eat not only the mush-
rooms, but the beds themselves. There
iS hr,yx 81,
sliced apples about the beds and the
| lice will feast on these. Slaughter the
| lice every morning.
| COleOpteres-the leaves of two !,
sects-which attack the mushrooms and
the peds fam- Lemelilcorues, s. Scar
abeides, and Dermeste tesselIatus)
They attack the bricks and break the
hlaments, causing great loss to the
growers everywhere in France There
Is absolutely no Known remedy against
this pest.
The fumes arising from the beds at
tract millions of gnats which deposit
their eggs in the beds, causing tha
| "goptaGe' to become a mere powder
Several methods have been devised for
their destruction. One is to place in
the cave large tub of water with !.
lighted lamp floating on the surface
The snats are attracted by the light
burn their wings, fall into the water and
are drowned. Another method is to
put tub of soapsuds near the he'd
The odor attracts the gnats and thev
plunge into the suds. | have suggested
combination of these two ideas To
Champlgonnlstes" here. and they have
tried 1t with success, i. e., an open lamp