MUSHROOMS

Dominion, Volume 30, Issue 42, 13 November 1936, Page 16

MUSHROOMS

How to Grow Them Although the mushroom season is limited to a few weeks in the year when grown in the wild state, it is possible for the gardener to have this delicious vegetable almost the whole year round. The art of successful cultivation is very largely a matter of the proper manure and the right kind of bed. The method of making the bed is the same whether the mushrooms are to grown in the open or under cover. Secure sufficient stable manure to build up the bed required, and make sure that the manure does not contain any foreign substances, such as disinfectants. Fresh manure almost free from litter is the most suitable. Expose it for a few days before using, turning occasionally until steam is no longer present, and it is neither too moist nor too dry. The manure is then made into a bed twelve inches deep, the length and width depending on the quantity of spawn to be sown. When making the bed shake the manure well and put it down in layers about an inch in thickness. Beat each layer down firmly before adding the next. Continue the process until the required depth has been obtained. Place a thermometer into the centre of the bed, and when the temperature remains for a day or so at between seventy-five and eighty-live degrees, break the spawn into pieces about one inch square and press them firmly into the bed, allowing about nine inches between each piece. A week later, cover the bed with two inches of sifted, fairly moist, heavy loam, beat it down firmly and cover the whole bed with a light dressing of hay. Mushrooms begin to appear about six weeks from the time the spawn is planted, and crops can be gathered for a period of about two months. After a rest of two months, during which time the bed is kept dry, it can be brought into production again by the application of warm (not hot) water. When beds are made up in the open they must be covered to keep out rain 'and light, and to prevent unnecessary evaporation. It is, therefore, generally more satisfactory to set the bed in a cellar or poorly-lighted shed—"N.Z. Flower Grower.”