temperature gives the mycelium a better start in life
than would the cooler manure nearer the surface.

If there is any likelihood of the surface manure getting wet from the
condensed moisture of the atmosphere, I would again cover over the beds
with some hay or straw, and let it remain on until molding time. And if
the bed is a little sluggish,--that is, cool,--this covering will help
in keeping it warm. Outside beds should be molded over in three or four
days after spawning; inside beds in eight to ten days.

=Steeped Spawn.=--As brick spawn is so hard and dry I have tried the
effect of steeping it in tepid water before planting; some pieces were
merely dipped in the water, and others allowed to soak in the pails
one-half, one, five, and ten hours. The effect was prejudicial in every
instance and ruinous in the case of the long-soaked pieces.

=Flake Spawn.=--"This is produced by breaking up the brick spawn into
pieces about two inches square and mixing them in a heap of manure that
is fermenting gently. After lying in this heap about three weeks it will
be found one mass of spawn, and just in the right condition for running
vigorously all through the bed in a very short time.... When flake spawn
is used the appearance of the crop is from two to three weeks earlier
than when brick spawn is used."--Mr. Henshaw, in first edition of
"Henderson's Handbook of Plants." I have tried this method and given it
careful attention, but the results were inferior to those obtained where
plain, common brick spawn had been used at once.

In all my practice I have found that any disturbance of the spawn when
in active growth which would cause a breaking, exposing, or arresting of
the threads of the mycelium has always had a weakening influence upon
it. I have transplanted pieces of working spawn from one bed to another,
as the French growers do, but am satisfied that I get better crops and
larger mushrooms from beds spawned with dry spawn than from beds planted
with working spawn from any other beds.

CHAPTER XII.

LOAM FOR THE BEDS.

In growing mushrooms we need loam for casing the beds after they are
spawned, topdressing the bearing beds when they first show signs of
exhaustion, filling up the cavities in the surface of the beds caused by
the removal of the mushroom stumps, and for mixing with manure to form
the beds. The selection of soil depends a good deal on what kind of soil
we have at hand, or can readily obtain.