ely rests upon the dung, but so
closely that the mycelium enters it freely. A slight movement or
displacement of the sod after the spawn enters it will break the threads
of mycelium between the manure and the sod, and this will destroy the
immature mushrooms forming in the sod. This gave me a good deal of
trouble. Stepping on the sod would disturb it. A clump of strong
mushrooms formed under it sometimes displaces it in forcing their way to
the surface.

Sods are only fit for use on flat beds where they can lie solid; on
rounded or ridge beds they are too liable to be disturbed. And the
trouble and expense of procuring sods are too great to warrant their
use, even if they had any advantages.

CHAPTER XIV.

TOPDRESSING WITH LOAM.

In beds that are in full bearing or a little past their best we often
find multitudes of very small or what we call "pinhead" mushrooms, that
seem to be sitting right on the top of the loam, or clumps that have
been raised a little above the surface by growing in bunches, or what we
term "rocks"; now a topdressing of finely sifted fresh loam, about
one-fourth to one-half inch thick, spread all over the bed, will help
these mushrooms materially without doing any of them harm. But while
this topdressing assists all mushrooms that are visible above ground, no
matter how small they may be when the dressing is applied, I am not
convinced that it induces greater fertility in the spawn, or, in other
words, induces the spawn to spread further and produce more mushrooms
than it would were no topdressing applied. I know that this is contrary
to the opinions and writings of many, at the same time it is according
to my own observation.

Go over the bed very carefully and pick out every soft or "fogged-off"
mushroom, no matter how small it may be, and root out every bit of old
mushroom stem or tough spongy material formed by it, and in this way get
the bed thoroughly cleaned. Then fill up all the holes caused by pulling
the mushrooms or rooting out the old stumps, and when the whole surface
is level apply the topdressing evenly all over the face of the bed,
avoiding, as much as possible, burying the well advanced mushrooms.
While it would be very well to pack the dressing smoothly over the bed,
it is impracticable; we may press it gently with the back of the hand on
the bare spots between the mushrooms, but we should not even do this
over the mushrooms, no matter how tiny they may be, else man