Mushroom Culture: Its Extension and ImprovementRobinson, W. (William)
Science
Mushroom Culture: Its Extension and Improvement
Robinson, W. (William)
Mushroom culture; Mushrooms
The floor may be of paving tiles, or bricks, laid on concrete: a
skylight or two may be fixed in the roof, for the purpose of admitting a
little light, and air when necessary. The engraving (fig. 2), shows a
house of this description, 12 feet wide by 20 feet long, inside measure,
but, of course, the length may be extended as circumstances may
require.
As it is of importance in mushroom-growing that the air of the house
should be kept moderately moist, the underside of a slate or tile roof
should be lathed and plastered.
[Illustration: Fig. 3. View of unheated mushroom-house.]
[Illustration: Fig. 4. Section of preceding figure.]
Figure 3 represents a mushroom-house suitable for people of small means,
or those who cannot adopt plan No. 1. It is designed with a view to
growing mushrooms during the greater part of the year, without the aid
of artificial heat. To this end it is constructed in such a way as not
to be affected by changes of the external temperature, as will be seen
by the engraving. The walls are hollow, and banked round with the soil
excavated from the interior. The roof is thatched with reeds, and the
ends stud-work, lined inside with boards, and outside with split larch
poles: the cavity to be filled with sawdust or cut straw; a small
diamond-shaped ventilator, hung on pivots, to be fixed in each end. The
floor may be of concrete, or burnt clay well rammed; and the beds are
retained in their place by boards nailed to good oak posts. Care should
be taken to put in efficient drains, so that no stagnant damp may exist
about the building.
[Illustration: Fig. 5. Section of mushroom-house at Frogmore.]
Though the preceding cuts show how we may best attain our object, a few
more illustrations of mushroom-houses are desirable here. Figures 5 and
6 exhibit the plan of the mushroom-houses at Frogmore, obligingly
communicated by Mr. Rose.
[Illustration: Fig. 6. Ground-plan of mushroom-house at Frogmore.]
It need hardly be said that in such large mushroom-houses rhubarb and
sea-kale may be easily forced, and barbe de capucin, endive, &c.
blanched.
A small hot-water apparatus, with a 3-inch flow and return pipe, affords
the best means of heating a mushroom-house which is not so situated that
it may be heated from the boilers of adjacent hothouses. The best
position for the mushroom-house is against a north wall. The usual
precautions for guarding against damp walls and floor should be adopted
in the case of the mushroom-house, and the walls should be hollow.
Forsyth’s mushroom-house is described by the designer in Loudon’s
_Gardener’s Magazine_. Fig. 7 is a transverse section, showing the
arches under and over the beds, the thoroughfare _a_ is the middle, and
the position of the hot-water pipes, _c_; _b_ is an open shed and
general workshop, the receptacle of everything requiring protection, and
too clumsy to be otherwise housed.
[Illustration: Fig. 7. Mushroom-house under shed.]
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