Teacher's Leaflet. 



1 107 



(7). Cut off the stem of a freshly opened mushroom even with the 

 cap and set the cap, gills down, on white paper ; cover with a tumbler 

 or other dish to exclude draught ; leave it for twenty-four hours and 

 then remove the cover, lift the cap carefuly and examine the paper. 

 What color is the imprint? What is its shape? Touch it gently with 

 a pencil and see what makes the imprint. Can you tell by the form 

 where this fine dust came from? Examine the dust with a lens. This 

 dust is made up of mushroom spores, which are not true seeds, but 

 which do for mushrooms 

 what seeds do for plants. 

 How do you think the 

 spores are scattered? Do 

 you know that one little 

 grain of this spore dust 

 would start a new growth 

 of mushrooms? 



(8). Look at the stem. 

 What is its length? Its 

 color? Is it slender or 

 stocky? Is its surface 

 shiny, sticky, smooth, 

 scaly, striate or dotted? 

 Has it a collar or ring 

 around it near the top? 

 What is the appearance 

 of this ring? Is it fast- 

 ened to the stem or will • 

 it slide up and down? Is ^ ^^°^^ ^^'"^ ^''^'" '^'^ common edible mushroom. 



the stem solid or hollow? Is it swollen at its base? Is its base set 

 in a sac or cup or is it covered with a membrane which scales off? Do 

 you know that the most poisonous of mushrooms have the sac or the 

 scaly covering at the base of the stem ? 



(9). Examine with a lens the material on which the mushroom was 

 growing; do you see any threads in it that look like mold? Find if 

 you can what these threads do for the mushroom. If you were to go 

 into the mushroom business what would you buy to start your beds? 

 What is mushroom spawn? 



(10). If you can find where the common edible mushrooms grow 

 plentifully, or if you know of any place where they are grown for the 

 market, get some of the young mushrooms when they are not larger 

 than a pea and others that are larger and older. These young mush- 



