EECKEATIVE SCIEN"CE. 



65 



COLLECTING AND PRESEEVING FUNGI. 



COLtBCTINa FOE THE TABLE. 



EiEST procure an. oblong flat-bottomed 

 wicker basket, about from four to six inches 

 deep, but with no lid, such as is commonly- 

 used by butter salesmen in country markets. 

 Have a clean cloth large enough to line 

 the whole of the basket, and form two folds 

 over the top. Also procure a sharp knife and 

 a house-painter's brush. Select dry weather, 

 if possible, and go out as early in the morn- 

 ing as you can conveniently. When you reach 

 your collecting-ground avoid most carefully 

 all fungi that have been broken by cattle or 

 other causes, also all which from their shri- 

 velled appearance, change of colour, or other- 

 wise, indicate they have passed their prime, 



selecting only those which are still attached 

 to the earth or other substances, and are still 

 living and in a growing state ; collect each 

 separately ; first clean away with the brush 

 all dirt, dust, grass, or foreign substances, 

 especially flies ; next, cut ofi" the root a good 

 inch from the extremity, and throw away 

 with it the attached mould. You will now 

 readily see, by the porousness of the stems, 

 which are attacked by maggots. Such will 

 always be the oldest, and had better be kept 

 in a corner of the basket by themselves. 

 The cloth should be constantly kept covered 

 over the fungi, both whUe collecting and re- 

 turning home, to prevent the attack of flies, 

 etc., which are always on the look-out ; in 



fact, where they are in any abundance it is 

 well to collect and prepare them in heaps on 

 the ground and put them all in the basket at 

 once, as by constantly opening you may truly 

 shut in instead of out many of your greatest 

 enemies. 



The above directions will stand good 

 for most of the agarics, helvellas, morells, 

 boleti, lycoperdons, etc. ; there are a few ex- 

 ceptions, however, as Agaricus atramentari- 

 ous and cornatus, which are of such a juicy or 

 deliquescent nature that in a few hours or less 

 a large portion of the fungus turns to liquid, 

 and would make a miserable mess and con- 

 fusion in a basket with other species. They 

 should, therefore, be collected in a large pie- 

 dish or some other earthen vessel. 



The truffle will require a very difi*erent 

 process in collecting, the task being gene- 

 rally left to dogs trained for the purpose, and 

 known as truffle-dogs. The truffle-hunters 

 in Hampshire (where they are rather com- 

 mon on the chalk, and especially under beech- 

 trees) are furnished with a stout ash stick, 

 about the size of an ordinary broom-handle, 

 and tapered at one end to a rather stout, 

 blunt point ; this point, for about three inches, 

 is iron, in the form of an extinguisher, and 

 firmly fitted on the wood. "With this, when 

 the dogs have indicated the whereabouts by 

 scratching, the collector grubs them up. As 

 they are of a solid nature, and in form and 

 size somewhat resembling potatoes, of a dark 

 colour, with an irregular, warty surface, they 

 may be collected in a bag, basket, or what- 

 ever is most convenient. Having now col- 

 lected and conveyed home our specimens, our 

 next aim is either to preserve or prepare 

 them for the table. Of course, I now allude 

 to the thirty species which, with proper 

 treatment, are known to be wholesome, and 

 which are natives of our land and compara- 

 tively common. 



