yringe. Enough water is never given at any one time
to penetrate through the casing into the manure below or the spawn in
the manure. But rather than make a practice of watering the beds, Mr.
Gardner finds it is better to maintain a moist atmosphere, and thus
lessen the necessity for watering.

Mr. Gardner firmly believes that the mushrooms derive much nourishment
from the "steam" of fermenting fresh horse manure, and by using this
"steam" in our mushroom houses we can maintain an atmosphere almost
moist enough to be able to dispense with the use of the syringe, and the
mushrooms are fatter and heavier for it. And he practices what he
preaches. In one end of his mushroom cellar he has a very large, deep,
open box, half filled with steaming fresh horse-droppings, and once or
twice a day he tosses these over with a dung-fork, in order to raise a
"steam," which it certainly does. It is also for this purpose that he
introduces the loam so soon when making the beds, so that it may become
charged with food that otherwise would be dissipated in the atmosphere.

There is a marked difference between the mushrooms raised from the
French flake spawn and those from the English brick spawn, but he has
never observed any distinct varieties from the same kind of spawn.
Sometimes a few mushrooms will appear that are somewhat differently
formed from those of the general crop, but this he regards as the result
of cultural conditions rather than of true varietal differences.

His last year's bed began bearing early in November, and continued to
bear a good crop until the first of May. After that time, no matter what
the crop may be, the mushrooms become so infested with maggots as to be
perfectly worthless, and they are cleared out. It is on account of the
large body of manure in the bed, and the low, genial, and equable
temperature of the cellar that the beds in this house always continue so
long in good cropping condition.

Some years ago the mushrooms were not gathered till their heads had
opened out flat, but nowadays the marketmen like to get them when they
are quite young and before the skin of the frill between the cup and the
stem has broken apart. A good market is found in New York, Philadelphia
and Boston.

=Mr. Denton's Method.=--Mr. W. H. Denton, of Woodhaven, L. I., is an
extensive market gardener about ten miles from New York. During the
summer months he grows outdoor vegetables for the New York and Brooklyn
markets, an