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Abstract: In my lecture about "Cropping" I was asked to include a few brief minutes on the following two aspects: "Where have we come from?" and "What is in the future for us, the growers?". The first subject is easy to describe. The name of the French botanist Tournefort is usually quoted on this occasion. In 1707 he described for the first time in a scientific way the cultivation of Agaricus bisporus. There is no doubt that cultivation of the mushroom started in France, probably near Paris. There is some evidence that Agaricus bisporus was esteemed as dietary food from very early times, but its cultivation from spawn did not take place until the beginning of the seventeenth century. An English dictionary on Husbandry and Gardening, published in 1779 in Bath, gives the following description: "The true Champignon, or mushroom, is, by many persons, supposed to be produced from the putrefication of the dung, earth, etc. in which they are found, but notwithstanding this notion is pretty generally received amongst the unthinking part of mankind, yet by the curious naturalists they are esteemed perfect plants, tho' their flowers and seeds have not as yet been perfectly discovered". There is also a description of what has to be done in order to cultivate them, where and when to find the spawn and how to make the beds - in England mainly outdoors in the garden. And the final remark: "Sometimes it happens, that beds thus made do not produce any mushrooms till they have lain five or six months, so that these beds should not be destroyed though they should not at first answer expectation; for we have frequently known these to have produced great quantities of mushrooms afterward, and have continued a long time in perfection". But in the meantime, development in France continued. Around 1900 Paris was "the seat of one of the most extensive and intensive mushroom growing industries in the world. The industry is carried out in disused quarries and mines, from which stone was formerly extracted. There are, in the Department of the Seine, about 3000 of these excavations ... which ... are occupied by the two hundred and fifty to three hundred mushroom growers of the Department". The working conditions were far from ideal: "The interiors of the excavations consist of a number of winding corridors, varying much in size, particularly as to height, which generally ranges from about 2 ft 6 in to 6 ft. 6 in. ... It is quite often the case that manure has to be wheeled a distance of several hundred yards from the shaft, or entrance, and this becomes an irksome task when the roof is low, and the workman has to proceed in a bent position or even on his knees, guided by a lamp fixed in front of his barrow" {Rolfe and Rolfe, 1925). Like in England, horse manure was used and ridge beds prepared. "The surface of the bed is covered to a depth of about one inch with a layer of fine white stony soil. By keeping moist with water, mushrooms are obtained about 6 weeks after sowing, and the beds remain in bearing for a period of six to eight months. ... The daily production of Paris, prior to the war (i.e. the First World War), was about 25,000 kg. Thus not only could the needs of Paris herself by supplied, but enormous quantities were exported all over Europe." In the U.S.A. mushroom cultivation was started by English and French gardeners. Already by 1880, there were a few large growers around New York City, particularly on Long Island. Mushrooms were grown outdoors, like in England, but also in sheds, barns, cellars and greenhouses. By about 1885, greenhouse men in the Kennett Square area started to grow mushrooms under their benches.
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