Some growers follow the method of giving the spawn some little preparation before putting it into the bed. This preparation varies with different operators. Its object, however, is to slightly moisten the dry spawn, and perhaps, also, to very slightly start the growth. To accomplish this, some will cover the bricks, before breaking them, with fresh horse manure, and allow this to remain several days, so that the warmth and moisture generated here penetrate the material and soften somewhat the brick. Some pile it in a room or compartment where there is little moisture, until the bricks are permeated to some extent with the moisture, so that they are a little easier broken. They should not, under any circumstances, be wet or soft in the sense of having absorbed an excess of water, nor should they be stored for any length of time where they will be damp. Still others break the bricks into the desired pieces and place these directly on the top of the bed, at the place where they wish to plant the piece of spawn. They are left here for two or three days on the surface of the beds. These pieces absorb some moisture and take up some warmth from the bed. Then they are planted in the ordinary way. =Spawning with Flake Spawn, or Natural Spawn.=--In the use of the flake or natural spawn, the planting is accomplished in a similar way, but larger pieces of the spawn are used, two or three times the size of the pieces of brick employed. Some use a large handful. In some few cases, the growers use a flake spawn from their own crop. That is, each year a few beds are spawned from material which has been kept over from the previous season. This is often kept in boxes, in cool places, where it does not thoroughly dry out. In this way, the spawn is used over and over again, until it becomes much less vigorous than natural spawn, or a spawn which is only one or only a few generations distant from the natural spawn. This is seen in the less certainty with which the spawn runs through the bed, in the smaller crop of mushrooms, and their gradual deterioration in size. Some few practice the method of breaking down the bed after the crop has been nearly gathered, using this weak spawn to inoculate fresh beds. This practice is objectionable for the same reason that long cultivated spawn is objectionable.