[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
trying this material for mushroom beds, Mr. Gardner, of Jobstown, has great faith in it; so, too, has that prince
of English mushroom growers, Richard Gilbert, of Burghley, who relates his success with it in growing
mushrooms in the English garden papers. This peat moss is a comparatively new thing in this country, and is
used in place of straw for bedding horses. It is a great absorbent and soaks up much of the urine that, were
straw used instead, would be likely to pass off into the drains. To this is ascribed its great virtue in mushroom
culture. It should be mixed with loam when used for mushroom beds.
[Illustration: FIG. 20. BALE OF GERMAN PEAT MOSS.]
=Sawdust Stable Manure for Mushroom Beds.=--This is the manure obtained from stables where sawdust has
been used for bedding for the horses. It is a good absorbent and retains considerable of the stable wettings.
Such manure ferments well, makes up nicely into beds, the mycelium runs well in it, and good mushrooms are
produced from it. But if I could get any other fairly good manure I wouldn't use it. I remember seeing it at Mr.
Henshaw's place some years ago. He had bought a quantity of fresh stable manure from the Brighton coal
yards, where sawdust had been used for bedding for the horses, and this he used for his mushroom beds. I
went back again in a few months to see the bed in bearing, but it was not a success. At the same time, some
European growers record great success with sawdust stable manure. George Bolas, Hopton, Wirkeworth,
England, sent specimens of mushrooms that he grew on sawdust manure beds to the editor of the Garden, who
pronounced them "in every way excellent." Mr. Bolas says: "In making up the bed I mixed about one-third of
burnt earth with the sawdust, sand, and droppings. The mushrooms were longer in coming up than usual, the
bed being in a close shed, without any heat whatever. They have, however, far exceeded my expectations."
Richard Gilbert, of Burghley, also wrote to the Garden, April 25, 1885: "There is nothing new in growing
mushrooms in sawdust. I have done it here for years past; that is to say, after it had done service as a bed for
CHAPTER VII. 49
horses, and got intermixed with their droppings. I have never been able to detect the least difference in size or
quality between mushrooms grown in sawdust and those produced in the ordinary way."
=Tree Leaves.=--Forest tree leaves are often used for mushroom beds, sometimes alone, instead of manure,
but more frequently mixed with horse manure to increase the bulk of the fermenting material. Oak tree leaves
are the best; quick-rotting leaves, like those of the chestnut, maple, or linden, are not so good, and those of
coniferous trees are of no use whatever. As the leaves must be in a condition to heat readily they should be
fresh; such are easily secured before winter sets in, but in spring, after lying out under the winter's snow and
rain, their "vitality" is mostly gone. But we can secure a large lot of dry leaves in the fall and pile them where
they will keep dry until required for use. As needed we can prepare a part of this pile by wetting the leaves,
taking them under cover to a warm south-facing shed, and otherwise assisting fermentation just as if we were
preparing for a hotbed. While moistening the leaves with clean water will induce a good fermentation, wetting
them with liquid from the horse-stable urine tanks will cause a brisk heat, and for mushrooms produce more
genial conditions.
Mushroom beds composed in whole or part of fermenting tree leaves should be much deeper than would be
necessary were horse manure alone used; for half leaves and half manure, say fifteen inches deep; for all
leaves, say twenty to thirty inches deep.
While mushroom spawn will run freely in leaf beds and we can get good mushrooms from them, my
experience has satisfied me that we do not get as fine crops from these beds or any modification of them as
from the ordinary stable manure beds. And we can not wonder much at this, considering that the wild
mushroom is scarcely ever found in the neighborhood of trees or where leaf mold deposits occur.
=Spent Hops.=--We can make good use of this in one way. If we are short of good materials for a mushroom
bed, we can first make up the beds eight or ten inches deep with fermenting spent hops, and above this lay a
four or five inch layer of horse manure, or this and loam mixed. The hops will keep up the warmth, and the
manure affords a congenial home for the mushroom spawn. But we should never use spent hops alone, nor so
near the surface of the beds that the spawn will have to travel through it.
Spent hops can be had for nothing, and our city brewers even pay a premium to the manure agents to take the
hops away.
CHAPTER VIII. 50
CHAPTER VIII.
PREPARATION OF THE MANURE.
Get as good a quality of fresh horse manure as you can, and in sufficient quantity for the amount of bed or
beds you wish to make. Next get it into suitable condition for making up into beds. This can be done out of
doors or under cover of a shed, but preferably in the shed. Out of doors the manure is under the drying
influence of sun and wind, and it is also liable to become over-wetted by rain, but under cover we have full
control of its condition. All the manure for beds between July and the end of October is prepared out of doors
on a dry piece of ground, but what is used after the first of November, all through the winter, is handled in a
shed open to the south. During the autumn months we get along very well with it out of doors; after every
turning cover the heap with strawy litter to save it from the drying influences of sun and wind. Remove this
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]