Mushrooms

by William Falconer

CHAPTER XIII.

EARTHING OVER THE BEDS.

This is an important operation in mushroom-growing, and the one for which loam is indispensable. It consists in covering the manure beds, after they have been spawned, with a coating, or casing as it is more commonly called, of loam. The spawn spreads in the manure and rises up into the casing, where most of the young mushrooms develop, and all find a firm foothold. The loam also contributes to their sustenance. And it protects the manure, hence the spawn, from sudden fluctuations of temperature, and preserves it from undue wetting or drying.

The best soil to use for this purpose is rich, fibrous, mellow loam, such as is described, page 100.

If the manure is fresh and in good condition and the beds are in a snug cellar or closed mushroom house, I would not case them until the second week after spawning, say about the eighth or tenth day; but were these same beds in an open, airy shed or other building I would case them over some days earlier, say the fourth or fifth day. A fear is often expressed that when beds are cased within three or four days after being spawned the close exclusion of the manure from the air is apt to raise the heat of the manure in the bed, and thereby destroy the spawn; but I have never known of any truth in this theory, and with well-prepared manure I am satisfied no brisk reheating takes place, at least the thermometer does not indicate it. The great danger of early casing is in killing the spawn by burying it too deep in damp material and before it has begun to run through the manure.

I have conducted several experiments in order to satisfy myself regarding when is the proper time to case the beds, and have found no difference in results between beds that were cased over as soon as they were spawned and others that were not cased over until the fourth, seventh, tenth, or fourteenth day after spawning. The good or bad results in the time of casing depend on the condition of the manure in the beds, the depth at which the spawn has been inserted, the openness or closeness of the place in which the beds are situated, and other cultural conditions. But to delay casing as late as the fifteenth or sixteenth day after spawning is injurious to the crop, because in applying the covering of soil we are sure to break many of the mycelium threads that have by this time so freely permeated the surface of the manure. After the fourth week little white knots may be observed here and there on the spawn threads; these are forming mushrooms, and to delay casing the bed until this time would smother these little pinheads, and greatly mar our prospects of a good crop.

Peter Henderson, in his invaluable work, "Gardening for Profit," has given rise to a deep seated prejudice against molding over mushroom beds as soon as they are spawned by telling us that in his first attempt at mushroom-growing he had labored for two years without being able to produce a single mushroom, and all because he molded over his beds with a two-inch casing of loam just as soon as he had spawned them. Then he changed his tactics, and did not mold over the beds until the tenth or twelfth day after spawning, and was rewarded with good crops of mushrooms. Now, notwithstanding Mr. Henderson's experience, it is a fact that many excellent growers spawn and mold their beds the same day, and with success. But Mr. H. has done much good in displaying a rock against which many might be wrecked, so much depends upon other cultural conditions. The old practice of inserting the spawn three or more inches deep into the manure bed and then molding it at once with two inches deep of loam was enough to destroy the most potent spawn; nowadays we barely cover the spawn with the manure, and this is how molding over at once is so successful.

All the preparation necessary is to have the loam in medium dry, mellow condition, well broken up with the spade or digging fork, and freed from sticks, stones, big roots, clods, chunks of old manure, and the like.

Sifting the soil for casing the beds is labor lost. Sifted soil has no advantage over unsifted earth, except when it is to be used for topdressing the bearing beds or filling up the holes in their surface.

The condition of the soil should be mellow but inclined to moist. If wet it can only be used clumsily and spread with difficulty; if dry it can be spread easily but not made firm, and on ridge beds can not be put on evenly. But when moderately moist it can be spread easily and evenly on flat or rounded surfaces, and made firm and smooth.