MUSHROOM ENEMIES 



eral form of the species. Cap, stipe and 

 gills may all exhibit enlargements or tuber- 

 cles, and the gills in particular show a 

 flaky surface and sometimes considerable re- 

 duction in depth. Commonly the mush- 

 rooms are more or less invested with a 

 mold-like coating, but this may not be ap- 

 parent if the disease occurs in very mild 

 form. This stage of the disease, through 

 more seriously deformed specimens, grades 

 into the second or puff-ball type, in which 

 the stem is greatly enlarged, irregularly at 

 times, and the cap poorly, if at all, devel- 

 oped. The mushrooms in this type are soft 

 in texture and frequently decay before they 

 have reached half the size of a normal un- 

 opened button. On the other hand giant 

 forms of these abnormal structures occur. 



The extent of the injury in France was es- 

 timated in 1897 to be about $200,000 an- 

 nually. It is difficult to determine what 

 the loss may be in the United States, but it 

 has been very serious at times in the more 

 important centers of production. The 



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