West Gippsland Gazette (Warragul, Vic. : 1898 - 1930), Tuesday 16 July 1901, page 4


MAKING MUSHROOM SPAWN. If anyone wishes to experiment on mushroom spawn production, he may do so by mixing two bushels of horse-droppings (fresh), half a bushel of cow manure partly dried, half a bushel of sheep or deer dung, half-bushel of loam and three pounds of common salt; mix together, and let the mixture lie in a shed secure from rain for. three or four days, then pack moderately firm in a barrel and place in a cellar where about 55 to 60 deg. Fah. is maintained. In about five or six weeks this should be a white mass, and be what is called spawn, that is, provided the spores of the Agarici were present in the manure at the beginning. The "s-ontaenous production" of mushroom spawn was for a long time regarded as a great mystery, but it is really a very simple affair, "when you know," says "London Farm and Home," like many other things in this mundane sphere. What really happens is this: Mushrooms grow in the meadows, and, if not gathered, will go black or ripe. Each mushroom which has been so left will, it has been computed, shed for the propagation of Its spe-. cies at least 100,000,000 spores; these are so exceedingly minute that when the air is buoyant, or when dews are rising, they float and settle upon the grasses of the field; the animals eat the grasses, either as hay in the stable or as grass (green) upon the land, and the spores ofthe mushroom pass into the stomachs of the animals and are voided in the manure. The stomach of the cow generally causes their destruction, but not so that of the horse; hence horse manure generates mushroom spawn. The spawn used by gardeners is obtained by a special process. Bricks are made of cow and horse manure and loam, dried somewhat, and pieces of spawn or mycelium are inserted into these bricks, and the whole subjected to fermentation until the "bricks" look mouldy all through. These are then dried, and beds are "spawned" with this material. Instead of trying to make these "bricks" it is better to buy them from a nurseryman, break into pieces two inches square, and insert under the grass in November and December, during warm, dry weather, sowing five cwt. salt to the acre at the same time. . Once establish the mushrooms, given avorable seasons, the crop will be more or lees certain aterwards,