Mushrooms: how to grow them

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,

ouses 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 wal

inue 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 manu

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 ove

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

t, for it wastes the substance of the manure, dries up the interior of

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 the

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

t 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 r

g 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