Procure not less than a cartload of clean, fresh stable manure. Place it under cover, to protect it from rain and drain water, mix well and heap up the whole ma.s.s into a mound three feet high then beat the mound firmly down to prevent undue heating. Repeat this operation every other day until its rank smell is gone, taking care that on each turning the outside dry manure is placed in the centre of the mound. By this means the stable odor is dissipated while its heating properties are equally distributed. Add to this from one-fourth to one-fifth of clean, rich garden mould. Mix well. After this careful handling, the ma.s.s may be considered fit for bedding purposes. When placed in the beds the ma.s.s should be compacted again by beating with the back of a spade or trowel.
The bed surface should appear moist but not wet, smooth and of firm consistence. From day to day it will be necessary to test its general temperature by means of a thermometer. To this end make at various places at different depths openings sufficiently large to admit the use of a thermometer. It will be found that the temperature is highest nearest the bottom. Test at various points. At first the temperature will run high; 105 to 120 Fahrenheit is probably as high as it will reach, but in a few days it will fall to 85 or 80 Fahrenheit. At this point sp.a.w.n the bed. For this purpose make holes in the top of the bed about six inches apart and two inches deep with a blunt dibble or broom handle. Place in these holes or openings a piece of brick sp.a.w.n about the size of a hen"s egg, and cover the holes with manure; finish by packing the same, keeping the surface of the bed smooth and moist. The sp.a.w.n should be slightly moistened before using. Should the surface of the bed become dry, use water from a fine sprinkling pan. The temperature of the cellar or house in which the bed may be placed should range between 55 and 75, and should not be lower than 50. If the sp.a.w.n is good and all conditions attended to, the white filaments should appear spreading through the bed within eight or ten days after sp.a.w.ning. When the white sp.a.w.n is observed on or near the surface, cover the whole surface with from one to two inches of garden loam well pulverized. A good general rule for sp.a.w.ning the bed is to wait until the heat of the bed is on the decline and has fallen to at least 90 Fahrenheit. If the heat in the middle of the bed runs too high the sp.a.w.n is killed. The experience of a number of growers has shown that a bed sp.a.w.ned at 60 to 80 and kept at 55 after the mushrooms appear gives better results than one sp.a.w.ned at 90.
The quality of the manure makes some difference in its temperature. That obtained from stables where horses are gra.s.s fed will be of lower normal temperature and will chill quicker than that obtained from corn or oat fed stock.
A solution of saltpeter in proportion of about fifteen grains to a quart of water, occasionally spread over the bed with a fine hose, helps to accelerate the growth of the mushrooms.
The proper condition of the manure as regards dryness or moistness can be readily ascertained by squeezing it in the hand; it should be unctuous enough to hold together in a lump, and so dry that you cannot squeeze a drop of water out of it. Excessive moisture in the manure has been often a cause of failure. It should be remembered also that when the heat of the manure is on the decline it falls rapidly, five, often ten degrees a day, till it reaches about 75, and between that and 65 it may rest for weeks.
One of the princ.i.p.al causes of the failure of mushroom culture in this country is the use of old or poor sp.a.w.n. Good sp.a.w.n should have a fresh, mushroomy odor, and a bluish-white appearance on the surface. In buying sp.a.w.n one should always go to reliable seedsmen.
COMPOST FOR MUSHROOM BEDS.
Sawdust has been used in England for mushroom beds, after having been used for stable bedding, with very good results. It has also been used successfully in the District of Columbia. In fact, the very large models of cultivated mushrooms exhibited by the Division of Microscopy of the Department of Agriculture at the World"s Fair in Chicago were moulded from mushrooms which were grown on the writer"s premises, in a composition of sawdust stable bedding, combined with about one-fourth garden mould, but I am confident, at the same time, that much depends on the kind of timber the sawdust is made from. In this case the sawdust came from spruce.
MUSHROOM CULTURE IN CANADA.
A Canadian correspondent informs me that he, with others, has been very successful in growing mushrooms in the open air during the summer months in Canada, and gives the following directions for preparing the beds in the colder lat.i.tudes:
Place under a shed such amount of clean stable manure as may be required for the beds, turning it over and over until all free ammonia has escaped and the tendency of undue fermentation and evolution of high temperature has greatly modified. To effect this, it is necessary to heap up the manure each time in a mound, say three feet high after turning, and beat it firmly down (the exclusion of free air prevents overheating). To put the manure in proper condition for use in the beds, from two to four weeks" treatment may be required, but much depends on the quality of the manure and temperature of the atmosphere. Before making the beds, and several days after the last turning, test the internal temperature of the mound in the following manner: Make a hole with a broomstick through the mound from top to bottom, and suspend a thermometer half way down in the hole for, say, an hour. The temperature may be as high as 150 F. After the lapse of the time stated, beat the mound more firmly down to prevent rise of temperature. Test again two days after in the same manner. If the temperature has risen several degrees the mound must be again taken down, turned over, and remade. If, on the other hand, the temperature has fallen to 100 F., the permanent bed may be made. If indoor growth is desired, such as a cellar, outbuilding, or cave, the atmosphere must not fall below 50 F., nor be over 80 F. Air drafts cannot be permitted. The floor must be dry and the atmosphere moist. The cellar may be dark, or moderately light.
Growers differ in opinion in this respect. Growers generally add to the manure about one-fourth or one-fifth garden soil, but success has been attained without the use of garden soil, except as surface dressing after sp.a.w.ning the bed; an excessive use of loam, in any case, tends to lower the temperature too rapidly. Having prepared a box or frame-work for the bed twelve inches deep, fill it up to within two inches of the top; beat gently down with a board, or a brick, until it is even and compact. On the following day make holes in the bed, with a dibble, ten inches deep, in which suspend a thermometer half way down for an hour.
Should the temperature have fallen to 90 F., cover lightly with straw and test on the following day. Should the temperature prove to be going down, say to 80 F., or 85 F., it is safe to plant the sp.a.w.n; but should the temperature be on the rise, wait until it is falling. One grower has stated that his greatest success has been when the sp.a.w.n was planted at the temperature of 75 F. Should the temperature fall too quickly and the surface be too dry, sprinkle with water at blood heat, using a very fine hose, and cover the bed with straw.
The sp.a.w.n brick should be cut into pieces, about the size of an egg, and planted in holes made in the bed, about two inches deep and about six inches apart. The holes are then filled up and about two inches of garden soil sifted over the surface of the bed. Tamp the bed surface gently with the back of a spade. Mushrooms may be expected for table use in about six or seven weeks, provided the sp.a.w.n is good and the temperature has not fallen below 50 F. In outdoor culture the beds must be well covered with straw or canvas, and had better be under a shed roof with southern exposure.
The sp.a.w.n used by this grower is the "brick" sp.a.w.n, imported from Carter & Holborn, London, England.
CULTIVATION OF MUSHROOMS IN j.a.pAN.
The j.a.panese are very successful in cultivating a mushroom which they call "Shiitake" or "Lepiota shiitake." China also produces the same mushroom, but of an inferior quality. The Chinese therefore prefer the mushroom cultivated by the j.a.panese, which they import from j.a.pan in large quant.i.ties. It is cultivated on a variety of trees, but is said to grow best on the "Shiinoki," a species of oak (Quercus cuspidata).
There are three varieties of "Shiitake," the spring, summer, and autumn crops differing somewhat in quality. The method of growing the "Shiitake" is given by the j.a.panese Commissioner of Agriculture as follows:
"Trees of from twenty to fifty years" growth are cut down at the approach of winter when the sap has ceased to run, and after the lapse of twenty or thirty days, according to the condition of the drying of the wood, are sawed into logs of 4 or 5 feet in length. Into each of these logs incisions are made with a hatchet, at intervals of about 6 inches, and they are piled regularly upon a frame-work erected at a height of about 1 foot above the ground, under the trees. The location of the ground selected for piling the logs should be the slopes of a forest, facing southeast or southwest. After keeping the logs as above described for from two to three years, they are immersed in water for twenty-four hours in the middle of November, and again laid one upon another for about four days; if it is in a cold district, the pile is covered with straw or mats. At the expiration of the fourth day the logs are obliquely tilted against poles fixed horizontally to the trees at a height of about 4 feet in a well-ventilated and sunny situation. The mushrooms soon appear in quant.i.ty, and, after twenty or thirty days"
growth, are ready for harvesting."
Recent reports of the j.a.panese Agricultural Department show the total value of the annual export of "Shiitake" to be nearly five hundred thousand "yen" (silver).
MANUFACTURE OF Sp.a.w.n.
As many tons of artificial sp.a.w.n are yearly imported into this country, it would seem that the manufacture of sp.a.w.n in the United States might prove a profitable form of investment.
"BRICK Sp.a.w.n."
For commercial purposes the English method of making the sp.a.w.n into bricks has some advantages over the French "flake" process. Its compact and uniform shape makes the brick more convenient for storage and general handling, and greatly facilitates its transportation to long distances. Brick sp.a.w.n is made in the following manner: Clean horse droppings, cow manure, loam, and road sweepings are beaten up in a mortar-like consistency and then formed into bricks, moulds being used, slightly differing in shape with different makers, but usually thinner and wider than common building bricks. The following proportions are given: (1) Horse droppings the chief part; one-fourth cow dung; remainder loam. (2) Fresh horse droppings mixed with short litter for the greater part; cow dung, one third; and the rest mould or loam. (3) Horse dung, cow dung, and loam, in equal parts. When about half dry, depressions are made in the bricks, sometimes in the centre, and sometimes in each corner, and small pieces of good sp.a.w.n are placed in these depressions, and plastered over with the material of the brick.
The cakes are then laid out to dry, standing on their edges, and when nearly dry are piled in pairs with the sp.a.w.n-larded surfaces face to face. The bricks are then stacked away, and covered with sweet fermenting litter, sufficiently to cause a heat of 60 F. It should not be over 70 F. One sp.a.w.n manufacturer says that the most rapid and successful growth of the mycelium is attained when the temperature is from 63 F. to 67 F. The bricks are examined frequently during the process, and when the mycelium of the old sp.a.w.n has permeated the whole ma.s.s like a fine white mould, the bricks are taken out and dried in a well-ventilated dark place. They are then placed in a cool, dark storehouse, where they are not subject to dampness and where the temperature is about 50 F., not over 65 or below 35 F. Slight ventilation is necessary, but not enough to make the bricks dust-dry.
Keeping the sp.a.w.n dry merely suspends its growth; as soon as it is again submitted to favorable conditions of moisture and heat, its pristine activity returns. Dampness, combined with heat, stimulates the growth of mycelium; frost also destroys the vitality of the sp.a.w.n. It is evident, therefore, that these conditions should not exist in the store-room.
One manufacturer advocates piling the bricks, after sp.a.w.ning, on a clay floor, packing closely four bricks deep, and covering them with sifted loam. By this method it is claimed that danger of "fire fang" will be avoided, as the bricks will be kept at a perfectly uniform temperature of about 60 or 66, which causes the sp.a.w.n to run quickly and uniformly. In from four to six weeks they are ready to take out and dry for use or storage.
The French or "Flake" sp.a.w.n comes in light ma.s.ses of loose, dry litter.
It is obtained in the following way: A bed is made up as if for mushrooms in the ordinary way, and sp.a.w.ned with "virgin" sp.a.w.n, and when the bed is thoroughly impregnated with sp.a.w.n, it is broken up and set aside to dry. This sp.a.w.n is usually sold in small boxes, containing from two to five pounds, but it also can be obtained in bulk when it is purchased by weight. The French or "flake" sp.a.w.n is much more expensive than the English or "brick" sp.a.w.n. It is claimed by some very successful growers, who have tried both, that the brick sp.a.w.n produces heavier and fleshier mushrooms than the French "flake."
"MILL TRACK" Sp.a.w.n.
"Mill track" sp.a.w.n was formerly considered the best in England, but since horse power has given place to steam power in the mills there is now no further supply of mill track, and it is practically superseded by the "brick" sp.a.w.n. The real "mill track" is the natural sp.a.w.n that has spread through the thoroughly amalgamated horse droppings in mill tracks, or the sweepings from mill tracks.
Sp.a.w.n PRODUCED IN A MANURE HEAP.
During the past year I have made some experiments in the pine and oak woods of Hynesboro" Park, Maryland, with relation to sp.a.w.n culture, an account of which may prove of interest to students in this line of investigation. Several loads of stable manure and oak-leaf bedding were well mixed and formed into a mound about three feet in height, having a diameter of six feet, and tapering to about four inches in depth at the outer edge. The ma.s.s was quite moist and slightly tamped to give it general consistency. It was exposed to the open air, without protection, during the months of September, October, and November. In the meantime, frequent rains occurred. On examination it was found that the rains did not penetrate to a depth of more than four inches. On opening up the centre of the mound, it was observed that the portion thus exposed consisted of highly decomposed leaves, and presented a white ma.s.s of matted, "burned" mycelium. It was evident that the temperature at that point had risen considerably above 100 Fahr. The mycelium was, doubtless, produced in abundance before the temperature reached 100 Fahr. and became scorched as the temperature increased. On examining the outer edges, where the depth was only twelve inches, I found an abundance of mycelium which did not show any appearance of having been scorched by undue temperature. Since no mycelium had been added to the mound, it is evident that the spores which produced it must have been present, although un.o.bserved, and awaiting only the proper conditions for development, _i. e._, for budding and the production of mycelium. At the end of the third month, groups of the common meadow mushroom, Agaricus campestris, together with some fine examples of Tricholoma terreum, an edible mushroom, common to these woods, appeared on the edges of the mound.
APPENDIX A.
CONTINUATION OF GLOSSARY OF TERMS USED IN DESCRIBING MUSHROOMS.
_Maculate_, spotted.
_Marginate_, having a distinct border.
_Matrix_, the substance upon which a mushroom grows.
_Medial_, at the middle; of the ring of a mushroom which is between superior or near the apex of the stem, and distant or far removed from the apex.
_Merismoid_, having a branched or laciniate pileus.
_Moniliform_, contracted at intervals in the length, like a string of beads.
_Multifid_, having many divisions.
_Multipart.i.te_, divided into many parts.
_Mycelium_, the delicate threads proceeding from the germinating spores, usually white and popularly termed sp.a.w.n.
_Narrow_, of very slight vertical width.
_Netted_, covered with projecting reticulated lines.