339 



edible species occurring in that state. There is no reason 

 why most of the same species and perhaps others should not 

 occur within our limits. We can only give at present notes 

 on a lew species that are common and have come under our 

 direct observation during the past season. 



Mushrooms, as we are familiar with, them, are seemingly 

 of rapid growth and appear most frequent, soon after a warm 

 rain, though at the latitude of the central portion of Alabama 

 they may be looked for during almost any season of the 

 year. Certain species have a somewhat definite period in 

 which to develop and do not vary far from their season year 

 after year. Other species seem to appear at all seasons of the 

 year whenever the conditions of heat and moisture are favor- 

 able for their growth. The real growing or vegetative parts 

 of the mushroom are rarely seen ; they consist of slender 

 interlacing threads called mycdium, which penetrate the soil 

 or other subtratum on which the mushroom grows, and 

 often extend to great distances and thus draw nourishment 

 from a wide area. The mushroom having no green coloring- 

 matter {cldoroplujll) like ordinary vegetation, is unable to 

 produce starch from inorganic materials, so must depend 

 for its food on materials that have been already organized ; 

 these are found in decaying vegetable matter of , various 

 kinds scattered through the soil. The portion of the mush- 

 room which we know as such is simply the spore-producing 

 part of the plant. Many people cultivate mushrooms in 

 stables or cellars or even in special pits prepared for the 

 purpose. These mushroom beds are sown with the so-called 

 "spawn," sold by dealers in garden seeds, which consists 

 merely of masses of this mycelium grown among the frag- 

 ments of a mixture of stable manure and muck. The species 

 most commonly grown is one that is more or less common 

 in a wild state throughout the United States and is known as 



The Field Agaeic of Field Mushroom {Agaricus campestris). 



[Figure 1]. 



This is a typical umbrella-shaped mushroom, of which 

 form we have many species. The plant consists of a cap or 



