Mushroom Culture Part 1

Mushroom Culture.

by W. Robinson.

PREFACE.

MY reasons for writing this book are: First, that Mushroom Culture is but little practised in this country compared to the extent to which it ought to be, considering the abundance of the necessary materials in all parts of these islands, both in town and country, and the high estimation in which the Mushroom is held. I now refer to ordinary Mushroom Culture as practised in our best private gardens. I believe it possible and desirable to extend this, the only phase of the Culture that can be called popular, in a tenfold degree, and that every place in which a gardener and horses are kept should be abundantly supplied with Mushrooms throughout the greater part of the year. Secondly, that although Mushroom Culture as usually practised is perfectly well known to good cultivators, a simpler and fuller account of it than has yet appeared in any English book on the subject is desirable for the unpractised amateur and cultivator. Thirdly, that Mushroom Culture is at present confined to a too narrow groove; and a belief that the general gardening public should have a broad and clear idea of the several ways in which they may procure abundance of excellent Mushrooms with very trifling expense. Even many of the best private growers never think of it except as ill.u.s.trated on their comparatively small beds in small houses. I believe that if the knowledge of how easily and in how many ways they may be grown, apart from the usual mode, were sufficiently spread, it would lead to the production of many times our present supply. Fourthly, a desire to introduce to this and other countries the system of Mushroom Culture on a very large scale carried on in caverns beneath the environs of Paris, which caverns I visited in 1868.

To these reasons I might add a wish to call attention to the waste of money for Mushroom-sp.a.w.n that now occurs in nearly every garden. There is not the slightest necessity for this. In every garden where Mushrooms are grown abundance of sp.a.w.n may be made. Mr. W. P. AYRES writes lately to tell me that in a great midland garden where the sp.a.w.n bill used to amount to 18_l._ or 19_l._ a year, by saving the sp.a.w.n as the Parisian growers do, all expense for this article is abolished.

I do not attempt to praise or even duly weigh the merits of the Mushroom--that could only be adequately done by the immortal BRILLAT-SAVARIN. He, however, seems to have somewhat neglected this most precious of _legumes_. None but his serious soul could have approached the subject with the necessary solemnity. n.o.body but he who first saw the deep dangers of hurried, thoughtless, and irreverent feeding, could have done justice to its exquisite flavour when in the best condition, or could have explained how deliciously it combined the virtues of herb and flesh, unspeakably superior to either. Let us, in pa.s.sing, quote one of his aphorisms, contributed to form the _base eternelle a la science_: "_La decouverte d'un mets nouveau fait plus pour le bonheur du genre humain que la decouverte d'une etoile!_"

Now, I do not hesitate to say that the introduction of the Mushroom into our domestic economy in as great a degree as we have it in our power to produce it, would practically be the addition of a new agent in our _cuisine_, second to none for its delicacy, and unsurpa.s.sed for utility.

It is true the Mushroom is plentiful in its season, but it is with us, at all seasons when it is not to be gathered in the open air, a luxury to numbers of owners of gardens who have means to grow it. As for the much larger cla.s.s who ought to be supplied from our markets, they seldom see or taste a Mushroom except when these occur in profusion in our fields, though every cart of stable-manure produced in this great horse-keeping country may, on its way towards decomposition and replenishing the earth, be made a nidus for furnishing many dishes of them.

The ill.u.s.trations showing the cave-culture of mushrooms are from my "Parks, Promenades, and Gardens of Paris." And the frontispiece is after two large cuts of the mushroom caves of Paris, which appeared in the _Ill.u.s.trated London News_ some time after the appearance of my work. The ill.u.s.trations of edible fungi are by Mr. WORTHINGTON G. SMITH, who knows and draws these interesting subjects so thoroughly well; and the other figures are by Mr. HODGKIN.

WHERE MUSHROOMS MAY BE GROWN.

THE places in which mushrooms can be grown may be roughly grouped as follows:--1. In the mushroom-house proper. 2. In sheds, cellars, out-houses, stables, railway-arches, &c. 3. In deep caves, like those near Paris, described further on. 4. In the open air, in gardens or fields, on prepared beds. 5. In gardens, among various crops, without any preparation beyond inserting the sp.a.w.n. 6. In pastures where the mushroom is not already established.

To these I might add another group, ill.u.s.trated by the case of a Belgian cook who grew a dish of mushrooms in a pair of old wooden shoes; but practically we can treat of nearly every possible mode of growing the mushroom under the above headings.

CHAPTER I.

MUSHROOM CULTURE IN THE MUSHROOM-HOUSE.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 1. Mushroom-house at back of hothouses.]

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 1 in. thick, or of stone 2 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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 2. Ground-plan of preceding.]

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 circ.u.mstances 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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 3. View of unheated mushroom-house.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 4. Section of preceding figure.]

Figure 3 represents a mushroom-house suitable for people of small means, or those who cannot adopt plan No. 1. It is designed with a view to growing mushrooms during the greater part of the year, without the aid of artificial heat. To this end it is constructed in such a way as not to be affected by changes of the external temperature, as will be seen by the engraving. The walls are hollow, and banked round with the soil excavated from the interior. The roof is thatched with reeds, and the ends stud-work, lined inside with boards, and outside with split larch poles: the cavity to be filled with sawdust or cut straw; a small diamond-shaped ventilator, hung on pivots, to be fixed in each end. The floor may be of concrete, or burnt clay well rammed; and the beds are retained in their place by boards nailed to good oak posts. Care should be taken to put in efficient drains, so that no stagnant damp may exist about the building.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 5. Section of mushroom-house at Frogmore.]

Though the preceding cuts show how we may best attain our object, a few more ill.u.s.trations of mushroom-houses are desirable here. Figures 5 and 6 exhibit the plan of the mushroom-houses at Frogmore, obligingly communicated by Mr. Rose.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 6. Ground-plan of mushroom-house at Frogmore.]

It need hardly be said that in such large mushroom-houses rhubarb and sea-kale may be easily forced, and barbe de capucin, endive, &c.

blanched.

A small hot-water apparatus, with a 3-inch flow and return pipe, affords the best means of heating a mushroom-house which is not so situated that it may be heated from the boilers of adjacent hothouses. The best position for the mushroom-house is against a north wall. The usual precautions for guarding against damp walls and floor should be adopted in the case of the mushroom-house, and the walls should be hollow.

Forsyth's mushroom-house is described by the designer in Loudon's _Gardener's Magazine_. Fig. 7 is a transverse section, showing the arches under and over the beds, the thoroughfare _a_ is the middle, and the position of the hot-water pipes, _c_; _b_ is an open shed and general workshop, the receptacle of everything requiring protection, and too clumsy to be otherwise housed.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 7. Mushroom-house under shed.]

A shed of this description is an indispensable adjunct to every well-ordered garden, and in the present case it serves as a roof to the mushroom-house. In the centre of each vault, shown in fig. 7, a circular ventilator, _d_, 9 in. in diameter, should be made, having a stone and cast-iron stopper, with a folding ring. The whole roof of the mushroom-house is covered over with pavement, which at the same time forms the floor of the shed above. Mr. Forsyth objects to cast-iron shelves "on account of the rust, and to slate shelves, as being cold and damp, and therefore not suitable to the purpose;" but he knows of no objection to shelves built of bricks and mortar, kerbed with hewn stone 3 in. wide, and clamped together with lead.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 8. Mushroom-house at Stoke Place.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 9.]

The annexed diagrams (figs. 8 and 9) exhibit the mushroom-houses used at Stoke Place, both for summer and winter use, as described by Macintosh in the "Book of the Garden." "Of course the former is not heated; the latter is, by 4-inch hot-water pipes, which are brought from a boiler constructed to heat at the same time a range of pits for pines, melons, &c., 89 feet long and 7 feet wide. The shelves are close-bottomed to prevent the beds from drying too rapidly, and to require less watering, which Mr. Patrick thinks a very important precaution in mushroom culture. Ventilation is effected by a slide in the door, and a wooden trunk up through the arch and roof, with a slide in it also. We do not exactly see the motive of Mr. Patrick, whom we have long known and esteemed as one of the best gardeners in England, in adopting the span roof over this house, as, from its situation behind the garden wall, a lean-to roof would have been cheaper and carried off the rain-water better. It is rather a novel, but still a good plan, to have the inner roof constructed of a brick arch, as it will of course save the outer one from decay, to which all mushroom-house roofs are liable more than any other kind of garden building. This house struck us at first sight as very complete, excepting in breadth. We should increase it to 9 feet--that is, 3 feet for the breadth of the beds on each side, and the same for the footpath, which at present is inconveniently narrow."

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 10. Russian mushroom-house.]

The Russian mushroom-house (fig. 10) is thus described by Mr. Oldacre, in the _Horticultural Society's Transactions_, vol. ii. first series.

"The outside walls should be 8 feet high for four heights of beds, and 6 for three heights, and 10 feet wide inside the walls. This is the most convenient width, as it admits of shelves 3 feet wide on each side, and affords a s.p.a.ce through the middle of the house 3 feet wide, for a double flue and a walk upon it." Hot-water pipes were not in use when this house was erected. "The walls should be 9 inches thick, and the length of the house as may be judged necessary. When the outside of the house is built, place a ceiling over it (as high as the top of the walls) of boards 1 inch thick, and plaster it on the upper side with road sand well wrought together, 1 inch thick, (this will be found superior to lime), leaving square trunks, _f_, in the ceiling 9 inches in width, up the middle of the house, at 6 feet distance from each other, with slides, _s_, under them, to admit and take off air when necessary. This being done, erect two single-brick walls, _v v_, each five bricks high, at the distance of 3 feet from the outside walls, to hold up the sides of the lower beds, _a a_, and form one side of the air-flue, _t u t u_, leaving 3 feet up the middle, _t x t_, of the house for the floor. Upon these walls, _v v_, lay planks, _t u_, 4 inches wide and 3 inches thick, in which to mortise the standards, _t k_, which support the shelves. These standards should be 3 inches square, and placed 4 feet 6 inches asunder, and fastened at the top to the ceiling joists. When the standards are set up, fix the cross-bearers, _i n i n_, that are to support the shelves, _o o_, mortising one end of each into the standards, _n_, the other into the walls, _i_. The first set of bearers should be 2 feet from the floor, and each succeeding set 2 feet from that below it. Having thus fixed the uprights, _t k_, and bearers, _i n_, at such a height as the building will admit, proceed to form the shelves, _o o_, with boards 1 inches thick, observing to place a board, _d d_, 8 inches broad and 1 inch thick, in the front of each shelf, to support the front of the beds. Fasten this board on the outside standards, that the width of the beds may not be diminished. The shelves being completed, the next thing to be done is the construction of the flue (_p_ in section), which should commence at the end of the house next to the door, run parallel to the shelves all the length of the house, and return back to the fireplace, where the chimney should be built; the sides of the flue inside to be of the height of four bricks laid flatways, and 6 inches wide, which will make the width of the flues 15 inches from outside to outside, and leave a cavity, _t u_, on each side betwixt the flue and the walls that are under the shelves, and one, _x y_, up the middle, betwixt the flues, 2 inches wide, to admit the heat into the house from the sides of the flues." The introduction of this form of house by Mr. Oldacre has led to much improvement in our mushroom culture. The first house of this kind erected in England, was built at Shipley, near Derby, in the garden of E. M. Mundy, Esq., by the father of Mr. W. P. Ayres, whose name will be found frequently mentioned in this work. There brick arches were formed for the shelves, and though built more than half a century ago, the house is still in good condition.

Although slate is generally used for the shelves, the adoption of cast-iron gratings for this purpose is well worth a trial, as by this means we may be enabled to cut mushrooms from the under as well as the upper side of the bed.

CHAPTER II

THE PREPARATION OF THE MATERIALS, ETC.

BEFORE we deal with the various ways of growing the mushroom, we will speak of the preparation of the material. As stable manure not only furnishes the nutriment, but forms the very soil in which mushrooms are produced artificially, and also supplies the heat which enables us to grow them to perfection at all seasons, by far the most important point connected with their culture is the management of this. It is very simple, but frequently, even by excellent gardeners, considered to require much more trouble and nicety than is really necessary. For example, it is quite common in good gardens to see the droppings collected carefully in some shed, or in the mushroom-house, and turned over almost as tenderly and carefully as the contents of the fruit-room.

Good mushrooms are well worth this trouble; but, as it is quite unnecessary, it should not be done except in special cases.

To show the diversity of opinion among excellent mushroom-growers as to the preparation of the manure, I will quote a few of our most trustworthy authorities on the subject. Mr. W. Early, in "How to Grow Mushrooms," lays great stress on the importance of gathering the droppings in a dry state. "Every advantage should be taken of opportunities of securing and placing them in any open shed, or other similar position, where they can be effectually sheltered from rains. In such a place, whilst the process of collecting is going on, every portion should be spread loosely over the floor, in moderate sized ridges, or in any other manner that will allow the air to get amongst it to a.s.sist in drying. It should also be tossed over or turned, and lightened up daily for the same purpose, until a sufficiency is gathered together for immediate use."

This may be taken as a sample of the practice very extensively followed in this country. Happily, we have excellent mushroom growers who succeed without all this trouble, as the following remarks of Mr. J. Barnes will show:--"For the last thirty years I have made my beds entirely on the floor in sheds, wheeling in the stable dung as it is brought fresh from the stable, adding a fourth, or a little more than a fourth, of good friable loam, mixing both well together, pressing firmly down, and letting it remain about a week or so untouched. At the end of that time we turn it over, and if we consider it in too strong a state of fermentation we add a little more soil, and then tread down firmly.

Very soon the bed is ready to be sp.a.w.ned, and encased in a couple of inches of soil; and in this way we get the finest crops of mushrooms, the beds remaining a long time in bearing. After the beds have been some time, say from six to twelve weeks, in bearing, and begin to get dry, and cease to bear well, we water them thoroughly with very clear liquid manure, made from sheep or deer or cow manure, which seems to start them again into bearing, and then we manage to keep some of the beds in bearing for many months at a time." In the _Field_, Dec. 22, 1868, I stated that the manure for the mushroom-beds in the Royal Gardens, Frogmore, was not prepared in any elaborate way, but simply taken from a great heap fermenting in the yard, any parts of it that had become white from heat being moistened with water, and the whole being mixed with about a fourth part of loam. Mr. Cuthill, an authority on mushroom culture, tells us how the London market gardeners manage with their manure. As the material is brought home from the London stables, the short part is taken out of it, and the long litter is kept for the purpose of covering, as well as for forming the interior of ridges; for all mushroom-beds out of doors are made into ridges. The manure is not allowed to heat before it is put into the beds, if that can be prevented; for previously heated material does not produce such fine mushrooms. The fresher the horse-dung is, the longer the crop will last and every gardener who makes up beds with unheated droppings knows how superior they are to fermented manure.