Page 153 - One Thousand Ways to Make $1000

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HEN Laz Lewin made up his mind to start a business of his own he decided
to do something different. Learning that mushrooms may be profitably grown
in cellars, sheds, barns or garages, Lewin bought a small quantity of
mushroom spawn, rigged up a mushroom bed in his cellar, and started to
raise mushrooms. This wasn’t a new idea. Home cultivation of mushrooms
has been attempted for many years, but during the past few years new
methods have been developed which greatly increase the profits in this
business. It was a new idea in Memphis, Tennessee, Lewin’s home town,
however, and his venture won quick approval from local storekeepers,
restaurants, cafes and similar establishments.
“I never saw a mushroom grow before I started raising mushrooms,”

admitted Lewin. “I was somewhat surprised at the suddenness of their
growth, and realized the meaning of the old ‘saw’—‘grows like a
mushroom.’ I started with a mushroom bed one hundred feet in area. It cost
me two dollars to make this bed, ten feet by ten. Then I ordered the seed, or
‘spawn’ as it is called by mushroom growers. When it reached me, it looked
like a mass of tangled white threads. I planted it, carefully following
instructions, and two weeks later a white substance, appearing like cobwebs,
covered the bed. Over this I spread ordinary back-yard dirt, and waited for
another three weeks. One morning, upon going into the cellar to look at this
bed, I was amazed to see it covered with baby mushrooms. This was a
surprise, for nothing had been there the night before. ,I wondered how long it
would take to develop these baby mushrooms for market, but the next day,
when I saw the mushrooms had increased in size ten times, I picked them. I
averaged a little over two and one-half pounds per square foot for the one
hundred square feet in the bed and sold this entire crop to local markets at an
average price of forty-five cents a pound.

“My investment in spawn was slightly over eight dollars which, with the two
dollars for making the bed, comprised my total cost. I received approximately
$110 for my crops.

“It was then I fully realized what a profit there could be in raising