EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETINS. 197 



they are formed in minute closed sacks known as asci. In most cases 

 only certain limited portions of the fungus take part in this process of 

 producing spores, these parts being covered with a thin layer of tissue 

 called the hymenium or spore-bearing layer. This hymenium, therefore, 

 is made up partly of basidia or of asci. This depending upon whether 

 the species belongs to the first or to the second of the two classes 

 mentioned. 



The Basidiomycetes are further subdivided into the Hymenomycetes, 

 in which the hymenium is on some exposed part of the fungus, and the 

 Gastromycetes in which the hymenium lines the interior of irregular 

 cavities in the body of the fungus. 



The shape of the hymenium-bearing part is made use of in subdividing 

 each class and group. Thus, in the Ascomycetes the hymenium is found 

 covering the outside of clubs, wrinkles or ridges, spreading over flat 

 surfaces and lining the interior of cups. While in the Hymenomycetes 

 various forms of spines, clubs, gills and pores furnish a foundation for 

 the spore-bearing layer. 



METHODS OF LEARNING TO RECOGNIZE EDIBLE FUNGI. 



There are three principal ways by which the beginner, who wishes to 

 collect fungi for eating, may learn to know the edible kinds. First, the 

 personal physiological test suggested in Wm. Hamilton's book on edibje 

 fungi. This consists of chewing a very small piece of the fungus, whose 

 edible properties we wish to determine, and then ejecting it without 

 swallowing the juice. If no unpleasant symptoms arise within the next 

 twenty-four hours, another very small piece is to be chewed and a little 

 of the juice swallowed. Should no indications of poisonous qualities 

 appear after another period of waiting, a slightly larger piece may be 

 chewed and swallowed. If the piece used is not larger than a small pea 

 no harm will result even if a poisonous species were being tested. In 

 this way a person may learn to recognize certain kinds as edible and to 

 enlarge his list of such species gradually. While this method may be 

 followed with safety by a careful person, it is not especially recommended 

 to persons who are not willing to make a physiological laboratory of their 

 stomachs. 



The second method consists of learning the characters of edible species 

 from some person already familiar with them, and while this is the best 

 way in which to study the subject, only a few persons in the state are apt 

 to have the benefit of a personal instructor who is at all competent to 

 give reliable instruction along this line. 



Therefore, the majority of persons who wish to know some of the edible 

 fungi will probably rely on the third method which consists of the study 

 of carefully prepared figures and descriptions in books and bulletins. 



The writer recommends that the novice become familiar with a few of 

 the commonest and most easily recognized kinds of mushrooms and that 

 he gradually widen his acquaintance with these plants, thoroughly learn- 

 ing the structural characters and habits of each until they can be readily 

 distinguished. Do not be in too great a hurry to know all the edible species 

 which grow in your neighborhood. The gardener does not learn to recog- 

 nize all the varieties of vegetables in one season. However, a few 

 new acquaintances may be gained each season if one has books and 



