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 many of the “pinheads”
will be injured and cause “fogging off.”
But we can firm the dressing to the
bed by watering it, which may be done over the whole
surface of the bed, and without sparing the mushrooms,
large or small. Use clear water and apply it gently
through a water-pot rose. I always do this, and
have never known it to injure the young mushrooms.
In the case of mushroom beds in which
black spot has appeared in the crop, I have found
that a topdressing of fine, fresh earth applied evenly
all over the bed acts, to a certain extent, as a preventive
of further attack, but of course has no effect upon
any of the already affected mushrooms, large or small.