Mushrooms.--Take partially dry horse manure and lay it in a heap
to ferment. Turn and mix it well every few days, and when well and
equally fermented, which will be from ten to fourteen days, make it
into a bed 4 ft. wide and 2 ft. deep, mixing it well together and
beating or treading it firmly. When the temperature of the bed falls
to 75 degrees, or a little under, the spawn may be inserted in pieces
about the size of a walnut, 2 in. deep and 6 in. apart. Now give
a covering of loamy soil, 2 in. deep, and beat it down evenly and
firmly. Finish off with a covering of clean straw or hay about 1 ft.
thick. Water when necessary with lukewarm water; but very little
should be given till the Mushrooms begin to come up, then a plentiful
supply may be given. They may be grown in any warm cellar or shed, and
usually appear in from four to six weeks after planting.
Musk (_Mimulus Moschatus_).--A well-known sweet-scented, half-hardy
perennial, well adapted for pot culture. A moist, shady position is
most congenial to it when placed in the border. Seed sown in autumn
make fine, early-flowering greenhouse plants. For summer blooming
the seed is sown early in spring, under a frame or hand-glass, at a
temperature of from 55 to 60 degrees. It is readily propagated by
division. Height, 6 in.
Mustard and Cress.--For sowing in the open choose a shady border, make
the surface fine and firm, and water it well before putting down the
seed. Let the seed be sown thickly at intervals of seven or fourteen
days from March to September. As the Cress does not germinate so
quickly as the Mustard, the former should be sown four days before
the latter. The seed must not be covered, but simply pressed into the
surface of the soil. Keep the ground moist, and cut the crop when the
second leaf appears. For winter use it is best sown in boxes and grown
in a frame, the seed being covered with flannel kept constantly moist.
This may be removed as soon as the seed germinates. Gardeners mostly
prefer to grow it through coarse flannel, to avoid the possibility of
grit being sent to table. The curled leaf Cress is the best, and the
new Chinese Mustard is larger in leaf than the old variety, and is
very pungent in flavour.
Myosotis (_Forget-me-not_).--The perennial varieties of these
beautiful plants grow best in moist places, such as the edges of ponds
or ditches; but they also do well in pots among Alpine plants. Most of
them may be increased by root division, and all of them by seed. The
annuals like a dry, sandy soil, and are grown from seed sown in March.
They flower in June or July. Height, 6 in.
Myrica Gala (_Candleberry Myrtle_).--This hardy deciduous shrub is
very ornamental, and its foliage is scented like the myrtle. It
will grow in light, rich soil, but thrives best in peat, and may be
increased by seeds or layers. May is its flowering time. Height, 4 ft.
M. Cerifera is treated in precisely the same manner. Height, 6 ft.