ly known as French spawn, and is
imported into this country from France. But the manufacture of "French"
spawn for sale, however, is not strictly confined to France. It is put
up in two ways, namely, nicely packed in thin wooden boxes, each
containing two or three pounds of spawn, and also loose in bulk when it
is sold by weight or measure.

[Illustration: FIG. 22. FLAKE OR FRENCH SPAWN.]

Virgin spawn is what we call natural spawn or wild spawn; that is, the
spawn that occurs naturally in the fields, in manure piles, or
elsewhere, and without any artificial aid. It is supposed to be produced
directly from the mushroom spores, and is not a new growth of surviving
parts of old spawn that may have lived over in the ground. It is far
more vigorous than "made" spawn, and spawn makers always endeavor to get
it to use in spawning the artificial spawn. It is seldom used for
spawning mushroom beds because not easy to obtain. Now and again we come
upon a lot of it in a manure pile; it looks like a netted mass of white
strings traversing the manure. As soon as discovered secure all you can
find, bring it indoors to a loft, shed, or room, and spread it out to
dry; after drying it thoroughly keep it dry and preserve and use it as
you would French spawn, for it is the best kind of flake spawn. In using
virgin spawn for spawning beds I have obtained larger and heavier
mushrooms than from "made" spawn, and the beds lasted longer in good
bearing, but the weight of the whole crop has not been more than from
artificial spawn.

=How to Keep Spawn.=--Spawn should be kept in a dry, airy place,
somewhat dark, if convenient, and in a temperature between 35 deg. and 65 deg..
Wherever things will "must," as in a cellar, cupboard against a wall, or
in a close, damp building, is a very poor place for keeping spawn. If
the spawn is perfectly dry and kept in a dry, airy place, and not in
large bulk, and covered, it will bear a high temperature with apparent
impunity, but whenever dampness, even of the atmosphere, is coupled with
heat, the mycelium begins to grow, and this, in the storeroom, is
ruinous to the spawn. Judging from our natural mushroom crops, the spawn
for which must be alive in the ground in winter, one concludes that
frost should not be injurious to the artificial spawn, still my
experience is that hard frost destroys the vitality of both brick and
flake spawn. And this is one reason why I get our full supply of spawn
in the fall