The daily morning journal and courier., 1897-09-17

taught me that if person desires to grow mushrooms successfully, he should first experiment with the vege- table In moderate way; that Is, the amateur cultivator should contine his attention to the formation of small bed. Then, if he succeeds, larger bed or beds may be formed the next year, and so on until he Is sure of good re- suits.
 The outlay for making a bed twelve feet long by four wide is trifiing. Such a bed will require two loads of horse manure at one dollar per load, one load Tor soil costing fifty cents, and three pounds of the best mushroom spawn, which may be bought at twelve cents per pound at any seedsman's. The to- tai cost of these materials is S2.S6, Then if the bed has been carefully pre- pared 1t will yield at least fifty pounds of mushrooms The lowest wholesale price for this vegetable is fifty cents per pound, and fifty pounds of mush- rooms at fifty cents a pound is twenty five dollars, which is certainly good profit for the producers investment.
 Mushrooms may be forced at any season, providing the temperature of
 
 can be kept up to sixty degrees They are however more profitable in the winter, and the best time to begin forming the beds for an early crop is in 1 September, as at that season the tenn perature is high enough to cause the spawn to germinate freely. Beds made in September give the first crop early in 1 December.
 | The vegetable may be cultivated either in house specially built for the purpose, in out-houses, sheds, under l greenhouse stages and tables, or in I house cellars. The cellar is really the best place, because 1t is usually dark, dry and frost-proof, and the vegetable lrequires no light, but moderately cool atmosphere, free from draughts and sudden changes of heat and cold If there Is a furnace in the cellar it should be partitioned off from the part where the mushrooms are to be grown. | But wherever the mushrooms are to be grown, the location must in all cases be rather dry than damp. A cement floor is not essential, but the floor of the cellar or house where the vegetable is to be grown successfully must be hard, and not soggy. Should the cellar be thought too cold for producing mush- rooms during the winter months. a small hot-water boiler, with a run of three-inch pipe, will be found most eff lfective, and not costly, for heating pur- lposes.
 Having chosen the place in which you desire to cultivate mushrooms, the next thing to consider is the formation of the beds. Here it is well to bear in mind that the careful preparation of the bed has more to do with the final result than even the spawn; for a bed reclslessly made will certainly produce poor mushrooms, while the reverse will bring firm and handsome ones. The most important part to attend to is the see that the manure used Is fresh. Old or partly decayed stuff, that has lain In pit or been exposed to the rain for weeks is practically of no use, It's fer menting powers being exhausted, while a properly made bed, mainly composed of fresh horse manure, maintains tol- erably even temperature of sixty de- grees, from four to six weeks. More over, in selecting manure, do not allow anybody to persuade you to use any thing but clean horse manure, free from straw and litter. Such manure will not dry or burn up, and when thoroughly mixed with an equal part of light soil from pasture it makes the only really reliable compost in which mushrooms can be forced sii'
 When you have obtained and mixed sufficient manure and soil for your bed or beds, keep the compost under cover for two or three days, taking care to turn 1t thoroughly once day, with a fork, to prevent excessive heating Meanwhile procure some rough boards and with these build against the walls of the cellar a bin or bins to hold the compost A bin may be made any length desired, but it should never be more than four feet wide and nine inch es deep. Then as soon as the heat in the compost has subsided to eighty de- grees, 1t may be put into the bin and your bed is formed
 The compost in a bed should be made in layers. Pack each layer as firmly as possible with the back of a spade and be careful that your bed is not more nor less than eight inches deep. More will cause the mass to heat too violently, while less is hardly enough for forcing purposes. In a day or two after the bed has been formed the compost will heat up to one hun dred degrees or more The bed mus
 now be left to cool off for a day or two While it is cooling, make several holes three or four inches deep, in the com post with a dibble or sharp pointed stick, to let off the superabundant heat |, Then when you find, by inserting a thermometer in one or two of the holes that the temperature has declined tc , eighty degrees, prepare to plant youl spawn.
 Before planting spawn it is advisa ble to see that it Is fresh and of good quality. In this country English brick i spawn is used almost exclusively. It is cheaper than the French flake spaWr and quite as good. But whatever spawn is used, it must be fresh anc well made. That is to say, the bricks must be fully charged with the mush. room mycilium in the proper state oi suspension to commence active growth as soon as inserted into the bed few days before planting spawn it is alst advisable to expose it to a moderately
 warm moisture. which will insure 2 safer and more rapid growth
 For planting, cake of spawr should be cut or broken into eight ol , ten pieces about the size of hens egg