Hoolbope Naturalists’ Field Club. 
OcToBER 5TH, 1882. 
THE FUNGUS FORAY ON CREDENHILL OAMP. 
Tue fourteenth annual meeting of Mycologists in Hereford has just been held 
with much success. The weather was happily fine during the whole week, and 
very interesting ‘‘ forays” took place at the Whitcliff and Mary Knoll Woods, 
Ludlow, at Dinedor Camp, and at Haywood Forest, in addition to the one it is 
now our pleasure to record, and to which the whole of the members of the Club 
had been invited. The season for funguses is a very bad one. The cold, wet, 
ungenial weather in June, July, and August, was very unfavourable for mycelial 
growth, and thus the underground cells, from which mushrooms spring, were too 
weak to bear much fruit. The markets have been destitute of this favourite 
morsel, and the public deserve and receive the compassionate consideration of 
those learned mycologists who know where to find the delicate mushroom relish 
in funguses of all seasons, though ordinary mushrooms may fail people in general. 
The members of the Club met in goodly numbers at the Free Library on 
Thursday morning, and four carriages well laden, started to make a ‘Foray 
among the Funguses” on Credenhill Camp. The hunting ground was known to 
be rich, for that curious agaric, Gomphidium viscosum, had been gathered there 
some ten days before, with a head nine inches across it, instead of the three or four 
which is its usual size ; and the rare agaric, Lactarius uvidus, whose milk turns of 
a beautiful but evanescent lilac colour, took the size of a cheese plate. The en- 
thusiasm created by these facts, however, could not be appreciated by everybody, 
so some bravely essayed to meet the many syllables of fungus names by talking 
learnedly of the vallum, the agger, and the fosse; whilst others babbled of tessere, 
hypocausts, coins, and Roman bricks, for history was in the field, and the air too 
was full of archeological anticipations. 
On reaching Credenhill Court, Mr. and Mrs. Ecroyd received the Club very 
pleasantly, on hospitable thoughts intent, but no! firmly resisting all such tempt- 
ations, the cry of ‘‘ Forward” was quickly given, and the storm of the Camp 
began. The way was taken up the orchard beside the ‘‘ covered way,” which 
was soon crossed and the hill ascended obliquely, to the ‘“‘ five seats.” Here the 
views of the surrounding country began to open out, and the climbers were glad 
to get their breath in admiring them, before separating into parties to follow 
their own inclinations. Mr. Ecroyd escorted one section and Miss Ecroyd guided 
another through the trees to the agger, whilst the fungus hunters disappeared 
in small parties, and some were last seen exulting over a fine group of the rare 
