Then there is a brave show in the greengrocers’ windows for a brief period, followed by entire dearth for weeks, and perhaps months.  Obviously, therefore, the demand, large as it already is, might be immensely augmented by a commensurate supply.  Yet it is not only possible but quite easy to grow Mushrooms for the greater part of the year in very small gardens, even when such gardens are entirely destitute of the appliances usually considered necessary for the higher flights of horticulture.  The idea that Mushroom-growing is somewhat of a mystery, forbidden to all but the strictly initiated, has happily been dispelled.  If we examine the conditions under which Mushrooms grow freely in pastures, it is surprising how few and simple are the elements of success.  The crop generally appears in September, when temperature is genial and fairly equable, with sufficient but not superabundant moisture.  The artificial production of Mushrooms in the garden needs only reliable spawn, a sweet fertile bed, and some means of maintaining a steady temperature under varying atmospheric conditions.  When the principles of Mushroom culture are thoroughly mastered, they may be successfully applied in many different ways, and they render the practical work easy and tolerably certain.

==The Spawn.==—­Although the Mushroom may be grown from seed, it is seldom done except for strictly scientific purposes.  The seeds are, however, largely disseminated by Nature, and, having found a suitable home, they germinate and produce an underground growth which at a hasty glance resembles mildew.  It really consists of white gossamer-like films, which increase in number and distinctness as they develop, until they push their way towards the surface, and give rise to the growth above ground of the Mushroom.  It follows that if we do not begin the cultivation with seeds or spores, we must resort to the white films or ‘mycelium,’ that the growth of the plant may begin in Nature’s own way below ground.  What is called ‘Mushroom Spawn’ consists of certain materials from the stable and the field, mixed and prepared in such a manner as to favour the development of the mycelium of the Mushroom.  When dried, the cakes have the appearance of an unburnt brick.  The preparation of the spawn, though a very simple matter, demands the skill and care of experienced operators.  If the work is not well done, the spawn will be of poor quality, and will yield a meagre crop, or perhaps fail to produce a single Mushroom.  Whether the cakes or bricks are impregnated in the manner long practised in this country, or direct from the tissue of the Mushroom, the culture remains the same.  Provided that the spawn is good, it has but to be broken into lumps of a suitable size, and inserted in the bed, to impregnate the entire mass with the necessary white films.  These will take their time to collect from the soil the alkalies and phosphates of which Mushrooms principally consist, and this part of their work being done, the fruits