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Abstract: Commercial mushroom growing of Agaricus campestris var. bisporus has been practiced since 1700 using horse manure as the basic nutrient. In recent years substitutes for horse manure made from straw, hay, corn cobs and other fibrous materials combined with organic and inorganic fertilizers have been successfully introduced into the industry Edwards (2, 3), Demoion et al. (1), Hein (8, 9), Lambert (10, 11), Sinden (15, 16), Stoller (19) and Yoder and Sinden (21). All mushroom growing has, however, depended on a composted material. Although the time and nature of the composting process has been modified, no one has been successful in eliminating it from the preparation of a suitable medium for the mushroom bed, Flegg (4), Lambert (12), Rasmussen (13) and Sinden and Häuser (17, 18). Research has centered on additions of nutrients to the piles at the beginning or during the composting to build up the nutrient value and increase the yield of mushrooms obtainable. This paper presents the results of one phase of a long, exploratory investigation into the supplementation of the finished compost with various concentrated nutrients begun in 1957. The object has been to study the nutrition of the fungus as well as to increase the yield obtainable per unit of compost. During the course of the research the role of nitrogen as a nutrient has had especial attention as previous study of the compost itself had led to the conclusion that deficiency of N often limits the yield.
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