the size and lower the quality
of the crop.

==Manure.==--In the management of the manure two essentials must be borne
in mind. Not only is nourishment for the plant required, but warmth
also. Probably a large proportion of the failures to grow Mushrooms
might, if all the facts were known, be traced to some defect in the
manure employed, or to some fault in its preparation. It must be rich in
the properties which encourage and support the development of Mushrooms,
absolutely free from the least objectionable odour, for the plant is
most fastidious in its demand for sweetness, although it can dispense
with light; and there must remain in the manure when made into a bed a
sufficient reserve of fermentation to insure prolonged heat, no matter
what the temperature of the atmosphere may be. Of course, the duration
of the heat will depend very much on the care with which it is conserved
by suitable covering and management. These requirements, formidable as
they may seem, can be insured with extreme ease; indeed, the work is
apparently far more difficult and complicated on paper than it proves to
be in practice.

==Preparation of the Bed.==--The manure should come from stables occupied
by horses in good health, fed exclusively on hard food. The most
suitable store is the floor of a dry shed, or under some protection
which will prevent the loss of vital forces. Ammonia, for example, is
readily dissipated in the atmosphere or washed away by rain. The manure
should neither be allowed to become dust dry, nor to waste its power in
premature fermentation. Operations may be commenced with three or four
loads. A smaller quantity increases the difficulty of maintaining the
requisite temperature when fermentation begins to flag. The first
procedure is to make the manure into a high oblong heap well trodden
down. If the stuff be somewhat dry, a sprinkling of water over every
layer will be necessary. In a few days fermentation will make the heap
hot all through, and then it must be taken to pieces and remade, putting
all the outside portions into the interior, with the object of insuring
equal fermentation of the entire bulk. This process will have to be
repeated several times at intervals of three or four days until the
manure has not only been fermented but sweetened. When ready it will be
of a dark colour, soft, damp enough to be cohesive under pressure, but
not sufficiently damp to part with any of its moisture, and almost
odourles