The grower would rather pick a pound of mushrooms to each square foot of bed surface at an average price of 25 cents a pound than to pick one-half pound (more often less) at 50 cents a pound, which was the rule years ago. =MUSHROOMS GROWN FOR HOME USE= It is a very easy matter to plant a bed of mushrooms in the cellar or in an outbuilding, for home use, by following instructions and using good spawn. In this case the results are reasonably certain. It is a very great satisfaction to have this luxury during the entire winter season at the very lowest cost. Growing mushrooms on a large scale becomes more complicated, and would require the continuous attention of a competent and interested person. =HOW MANY MUSHROOMS ARE GROWN IN THE UNITED STATES= Conditions vary from year to year, and no accurate estimate is available as to how many pounds of mushrooms are grown in the United States. We manufactured and sold enough spawn last season to grow 2,000,000 pounds of mushrooms, the output of the year having increased by 100,000 bricks over the previous year. This does not mean that new growers have come into the field, but, rather, the discarding of poor or unreliable spawn by old growers has been general. It would therefore be reasonable to conclude that from four to five million pounds of fresh mushrooms (aside from field-grown) are now used annually in the United States. =COST OF GROWING A POUND OF MUSHROOMS= The actual cost of growing mushrooms varies according to the yield per square foot of bed surface. If one pound is picked to every square foot, the cost is much lower than when only one-half pound to the square foot is picked. Growers who are obliged to purchase manure at a distance, pay the freight on it and employ competent men to handle and care for the mushroom-growing plants, estimate the cost of producing mushrooms at 15 to 25 cents per pound. Those who grow mushrooms for pleasure, and have their own stables, or get manure from a neighboring stable, are at very little expense and could grow mushrooms at less than half the above cost. [Illustration: _The above photograph shows a bed of Mushrooms grown from the Brandywine Spawn. This is no better than may be expected when local conditions are right. The entire house in which this photograph was taken averaged more than one and a half pounds of Mushrooms to every square foot of bed surface. They were grown by Edward H. Jacob, West Chester, Pa._] =MARKET PRICES= Users of mushrooms generally pay at the store from 40 to 60 cents a pound for mushrooms, and when these can be delivered from the grower to the user, these prices are not overestimated.