In the cellar culture of mushrooms the places selected are along the sides of the cellar in unused portions. Floor beds alone may be made by using the boards to support one side, while the wall forms the support on the other side as in the arrangement of beds on the side tiers in the mushroom houses; or tiers of beds may be arranged in the same way, one bed on the bottom, and one or two beds above. The number of beds will vary according to the available space. Sometimes, where it is not convenient to arrange the larger beds directly on the bottom of the cellar, or in tiers, boxes three or four feet, or larger, may be used in place of the beds. These can be put in out of the way places in the cellar. The use of boxes of this description would be very convenient in case it was desired to entirely do away with the possibility of odors during the fermentation of the manure, or in the making up of the bed. Even though the manure may be cured outside of the cellar, at the time it is made in the beds the odors released are sometimes considerable, and for several days might be annoying and disagreeable to the occupants of the dwelling, until such a time as the temperature of the manure had dropped to the point where the odors no longer were perceptible. In this case, with the use of boxes, the manure can be cured outside, made into beds in the boxes and taken into the cellar after the temperature is down to a point suitable for spawning, and very little odor will be released. If there is a furnace in the cellar it should be partitioned off from the portion devoted to mushroom culture.
Cultivation in sheds or out of the way places.—It is possible to grow mushrooms in a number of places not used for other purposes. In sheds where the beds may be well protected from the rain and from changing currents of air, they may be grown. In open sheds the beds could be covered with a board door, the sides of the bed being high enough to hold the door well above the mushrooms. In the basements of barns, or even in stables where room can be secured on one side for a bed, or tier of beds, they are often grown successfully.
Garden and field culture of mushrooms.—In Europe, in some cases, mushrooms are often grown in the garden, ridge beds being made up in the spring and spawned, and then covered with litter, or with some material similar to burlaps, to prevent the complete drying out of the surface of the beds. Sometimes they are cultivated along with garden crops. Field culture is also practiced to some extent. In the field culture rich and well drained pastures are selected, and spawned sometime during the month of May. The portions of spawn are inserted in the ground in little T-shaped openings made by two strokes of the spade. The spade is set into the ground once, lifted, and then inserted again so that this first slit is on one side of the middle of the spade and perpendicular to it. The spade is inserted here and then bent backwards partly so as to lift open the sod in the letter T. In this opening the block of spawn is inserted, then closed by pressure with the foot. The spawn is planted in this way at distances of 6 to 8 feet. It runs through the summer, and then in the autumn a good crop often appears.
[CURING THE MANURE.]
Selection of manure.—Horse manure is the material which is most generally used, though sometimes a small percentage of other manures, as sheep manure, is added. In the selection of the manure it is desirable to obtain that which is as fresh as possible, which has not passed through the stage of fermentation, and which contains some straw, usually as litter, but not too large a percentage of straw. Where there is a very large percentage of straw the manure is usually shaken out with a fork, and the coarser portion removed. If there is not too much of this coarse material the latter is often cured in a separate pile and used for the bottom of the beds, the finer portions of the manure, which have been separated, are used for the finishing and for the bulk of the bed.
Figure 230.—View in mushroom house (L. S. Bigony). View on top of fourth bed, middle tier. Copyright.
Where manure is obtained on a large scale for the cultivation in houses or in caves, it is usually obtained by the carload from liveries in large cities. It is possible to contract for manure of certain livery stables so that it may be obtained in a practically fresh condition, and handled by the liverymen according to directions, which will keep it in the best possible condition for the purpose. In the cave culture of mushrooms the manure is usually taken directly into the caves, and cured in some portion of the cave. In the house cultivation of mushrooms there is usually a shed constructed with an opening on one or two sides, at the end of the house connected with the beds, where the manure may be cured. In curing it, it is placed in piles, the size of which will depend upon the amount of manure to be cured, and upon the method employed by the operator. The usual size, where considerable manure is used, is about three feet in depth by ten or twelve feet wide, and fifteen to twenty feet long. The manure is laid in these piles to heat, and is changed or turned whenever desirable to prevent the temperature from rising too high. The object of turning is to prevent the burning of the material, which results at high degrees of temperature in fermentation. It is usually turned when the temperature rises to about 130° F. At each turning the outside portions are brought to the center of the pile. The process is continued until the manure is well fermented and the temperature does not rise above 100 to 120 degrees, and then it is ready for making into beds.
There are several methods used in the process of curing, and it does not seem necessary that any one method should be strictly adhered to. The most important things to be observed are to prevent the temperature from rising too high during the process of fermentation, to secure a thorough fermentation, and to prevent the material from drying out, or burning, or becoming too wet. The way in which the material is piled influences the rapidity of fermentation, or the increase of temperature. Where the material is rather loosely piled it ferments more rapidly, and the temperature rises quickly. Watering the manure tends to increase the rapidity of fermentation and the elevation of the temperature. It is necessary, though, sometimes to water the material if the heat has reached such a point that it is becoming too dry, or if there is a tendency for it to burn. The material is then turned, and watered some, but care should be used not to make it too wet, since the spawn will not run in wet material.