CHAPTER I.
MUSHROOM CULTURE IN THE MUSHROOM-HOUSE.
Culture in the mushroom-house being the most practised, and, on the whole, the most important phase of the subject, we will first treat of it. And first of the mushroom-house itself. Its construction is very simple: the conditions to be obtained are equable temperature, secured by thick or hollow walls and by a double roof. [Figure 1] shows a house designed for me by Mr. Ormson, the well-known horticultural builder.
It is situated at the back of the hothouses, where a flow and return pipe can be run through for artificial heat. The shelves for making the beds upon are of slate 1½ in. thick, or of stone 2½ in. thick, built into the walls, and into brick piers built in cement. Upright slates, to slide in grooves, are placed along the front of the shelves to keep the beds in.
The floor may be of paving tiles, or bricks, laid on concrete: a skylight or two may be fixed in the roof, for the purpose of admitting a little light, and air when necessary. The engraving ([fig. 2]), shows a house of this description, 12 feet wide by 20 feet long, inside measure, but, of course, the length may be extended as circumstances may require.
As it is of importance in mushroom-growing that the air of the house should be kept moderately moist, the underside of a slate or tile roof should be lathed and plastered.
