for mushroom beds can be obtained. The carnations are
grown, not in pots, but in a general bed on a bench. In watering the
carnations, care is used in the distribution of the water, and in the
amount used, to prevent a surplus of water dripping through on the
mushrooms below.

=Cellar culture.=--For the cultivation of mushrooms on a small scale,
unoccupied portions of cellars in a dwelling house are often used. The
question is sometimes asked if it is injurious to the health of the
family in a dwelling house when mushrooms are grown in the cellar.
Probably where the materials used in making up the beds are thoroughly
cured before being taken into the cellar, no injurious results would
come from the cultivation of the plant there. In case the manure is
cured in the cellar, that is, is there carried through the process of
heating and fermentation in preparation for the beds, the odors arising
from the fermenting material are very disagreeable to say the least, and
probably are not at all beneficial to one's general health.

[Illustration: FIGURE 229.--View in mushroom house (Wm. Swayne). View
down alley on right hand side. Copyright.]

In the cellar culture of mushrooms the places selected are along the
sides of the cellar in unused portions. Floor beds alone may be made by
using the boards to support one side, while the wall forms the support
on the other side as in the arrangement of beds on the side tiers in the
mushroom houses; or tiers of beds may be arranged in the same way, one
bed on the bottom, and one or two beds above. The number of beds will
vary according to the available space. Sometimes, where it is not
convenient to arrange the larger beds directly on the bottom of the
cellar, or in tiers, boxes three or four feet, or larger, may be used in
place of the beds. These can be put in out of the way places in the
cellar. The use of boxes of this description would be very convenient in
case it was desired to entirely do away with the possibility of odors
during the fermentation of the manure, or in the making up of the bed.
Even though the manure may be cured outside of the cellar, at the time
it is made in the beds the odors released are sometimes considerable,
and for several days might be annoying and disagreeable to the occupants
of the dwelling, until such a time as the temperature of the manure had
dropped to the point where the odors no longer were perceptible. In this
case, with the use of boxes, the ma