day, and this is too hot for mushrooms. It is a
very easy matter, by means of covering with hay or boxing over and
covering the boxing with hay or matting, to keep a mushroom bed in a
cool house warm and free from marked changes in temperature; but it is a
difficult matter to keep a mushroom bed in a hothouse cool enough and
prevent sudden rises in temperature.

=On Greenhouse Benches.=--It sometimes happens that the beds are formed
on the greenhouse benches, and the mushrooms occupy the same place that
might be assigned to roses or any other planted-out crop. The beds on
the benches are made one board deep, that is, eight to ten inches of
short, fresh manure, and otherwise as in the case of beds anywhere else.
After the beds are spawned and cased with soil, by covering them over
with a layer of straw litter or hay, sudden drying out of the surface is
prevented, and in order to further prevent this drying it is a good plan
to sprinkle some water over the mulching every day or two, but not
enough to soak through into the bed. About the time the young mushrooms
commence to show themselves, remove the mulching and replace it with a
covering of shutters raised another board's height above the bed, or
with strong calico or plant-protecting cloth hung curtain-fashion over
the beds. The accompanying illustration, Fig. 12, for which I am
indebted to Henry A. Dreer, of Philadelphia, gives an excellent idea of
how mushrooms may be grown and cared for on greenhouse benches. This
illustration, Mr. Dreer writes: "is made from a photograph of a crop
grown on the greenhouse benches at the Model Farm, by Mr. McCaffrey,
gardener to J. E. Kingsley, Esq., of the Continental Hotel.... No
covering of litter is used, but the requisite shading on sunny days is
secured by the use of cotton cloth stretched over the top of the bed, as
shown in the engraving."

[Illustration: FIG. 12. MUSHROOMS GROWN ON GREENHOUSE BENCHES AT MR. J.
E. KINGSLEY'S MODEL FARM.]

My principal objection to mushroom beds on greenhouse benches is their
liability to frequent and marked changes of atmospheric temperature and
moisture, and to drying out. In midwinter they may be all right, but as
spring advances and the sun's brightness and heat increase, the
susceptibility of the beds to become dry also increases.

[Illustration: FIG. 13. WIDE BED WITH PATHWAY ABOVE.]

=In Frames in the Greenhouses.=--Mr. J. G. Gardner has a range of
greenhouses some 900 feet long--t