But no one need expect to do this unless he is willing to give the bees the attention which they will require.  To neglect them once means often a total loss.  Most of the work will have to be done during the swarming season in May, June, and July.  There has been so much written on the subject and so many inventions and improvements made in the hives that bee-keeping more than any other branch of similar employment has been reduced to a science, and any one can thoroughly master it in two or three years.  It is because its possibilities are not generally recognized that so few are now engaged in it.

The fear of stings will always deter many from entering this business and so check competition from forcing prices down.

The price of honey makes it a luxury, and there will be an unlimited opportunity in the crop as long as the price does not get near the cost of producing, which is far below the present prices.

To use land directly is to open almost infinite opportunities.  Department of Agriculture, Farmers’ Bulletin 204, says:  “In the United States the term ‘mushroom’ refers commercially to but a single species (Agaricus Campestris) of the fleshly fungi, a plant common throughout most of the temperate regions of the world, and one everywhere recognized as edible.”

It is unfortunate that the commercial use of the term “mushroom” restricts it to a single species.  There are about twenty-five common varieties of edible fungi in the Northern states.

The successful cultivation of mushrooms in America has not been so general as in most European countries.  It is in France and in England that the mushroom industry has been best developed.  France is the home of the industry.  Unusual interest has been shown in the United States in the growth of mushrooms within the past few years, and it is to be hoped and expected that within the next ten years the industry will develop to the fullest limit of the market demands.  The demand will, of course, be stimulated by the increasing popular appreciation of this product.  In some cities and towns there is already a good market for mushrooms, while in others they may be sold directly to special customers.  This should be borne in mind by prospective growers.

While many American growers have been successful, a much larger number have failed.  In most cases their failures have been due to one or more of the following causes: 

(1) Poor spawn, or spawn which has been killed by improper storage.

(2) Spawning at a temperature injuriously high.

(3) Too much water either at the time of spawning or later.

(4) Unfavorable temperature during the growing period.  It is therefore important to the prospective grower that careful attention be given to the general discussion of conditions which follow.