Figure 228.—View in mushroom house (Wm. Swayne), showing upper bed in left hand tier. Copyright.
The size of the beds is governed by convenience in making the beds and handling the crop. The beds on the side tiers, therefore, are often three to three and one-half feet in width, affording a convenient reaching distance from the alley. The beds of the center tier have access from the alley on either side and are usually seven feet in width. The width of the alley varies according to the mind of the owner, from two to three or three and one-half feet. The narrow alley economizes space in the structure of a house; the wide alley, while slightly increasing the cost of the structure, makes it much more convenient in handling the material, and in moving about the house. The beds are constructed of one-inch boards. Various kinds of lumber are used, the hemlock spruce, the oak, Georgia pine, and so on. The beds are supported on framework constructed of upright scantling and cross stringers upon which the bottom boards are laid. These occur at intervals of three to four feet. The board on the side of each bed is 10 to 12 inches in width. The bottom bed, of course, is made on the ground. The upper beds in the tier are situated so that the distance is about three feet from the bottom of one bed to the bottom of the next above. Figs. [228] to [231] show the general structure of the beds.
Heating.—One portion of the house is set apart for the boiler room, where a small hot water heater is located. The position of the heater in one of these houses is shown in Fig. [227]. In other cases, where the plant is quite a large one, a small separate or connecting boiler apartment is often constructed. In other cases, where the house is connected with or adjoining a system of greenhouses devoted to hothouse vegetables, the water pipes may run from the general boiler house which supplies the heat for all the houses. The water pipes in the mushroom houses are sometimes run beneath the boards or the walk in the alley, or in other cases are run just beneath the roof of the building.
Cultivation of mushrooms under benches in greenhouses.—This method is practiced to quite a large extent by some growers. In the house of Mr. William Swayne, Kennett Square, Pa., a number of large houses, devoted through the winter to the growing of carnations, are also used for the cultivation of mushrooms, a single long bed being made up underneath the beds of carnations. In these houses the water pipes providing heat for the building run along the sides of the building underneath the carnation beds at this point. Under these beds, where the water pipes run, no mushroom beds are made, since the heat would be too great, but under the three middle rows of beds in the house, mushroom beds are located. In this way, in a number of houses, several thousand square feet of surface for mushroom beds can be obtained. The carnations are grown, not in pots, but in a general bed on a bench. In watering the carnations, care is used in the distribution of the water, and in the amount used, to prevent a surplus of water dripping through on the mushrooms below.
Cellar culture.—For the cultivation of mushrooms on a small scale, unoccupied portions of cellars in a dwelling house are often used. The question is sometimes asked if it is injurious to the health of the family in a dwelling house when mushrooms are grown in the cellar. Probably where the materials used in making up the beds are thoroughly cured before being taken into the cellar, no injurious results would come from the cultivation of the plant there. In case the manure is cured in the cellar, that is, is there carried through the process of heating and fermentation in preparation for the beds, the odors arising from the fermenting material are very disagreeable to say the least, and probably are not at all beneficial to one's general health.
Figure 229.—View in mushroom house (Wm. Swayne). View down alley on right hand side. Copyright.