100 REPORT OF THE COilMISSIONEE OF AGRICULTURE. 



GENERAL NOTES. 



Oleomargarine, wlieu made under tlie formula of the French patent, 

 is comi)osed mostly of beef fat churned with milk and colored with an- 

 natto. 



Butteriue is said to be composed of the proportion of lard, 4 i)ounds ; 

 tallow, 4 pounds, and creamery butter, 2 pounds. A lower grade is 

 made as follows : Cottou-seed oil, 4 pounds ; tallow, 4 pounds ; low 

 grade of butter, 2 pounds. 



It will be seen, from the two compositions of butterine above given, 

 that the sulphuric-acid test would act differently in each case. I there- 

 fore advise the polariscopic test as the most effective for these comi)o- 

 sitions. 



EDIBLE MUSHROOMS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



For several years past, the microscopic division of the Department of 

 Agriculture has been in receipt of numerous letters from its regular 

 correspondents and others, from which it appears that, in various locali- 

 ties representing almost every section and climate of the Union, there 

 are found large quantities of edible mushrooms and other allied fungi, 

 few of which are, however, utilized, owing to the inability of the great 

 majority of the people to distinguish the edible species from the poison- 

 ous ones. To obtain some clear and trustworthy criteria by which to 

 make this essential distinction, has been the object of the various com- 

 munications received, and in view of the highly nutritious properties of 

 this class of esculents, and of the great possible value of their aggregate 

 product as indicated by the vast quantities produced in countries where 

 attention is given to their cultivation, the importance of a satisfactory 

 answer to these inquiries will be readily appreciated. 



FOOD VALUE OF MUSHROOMS. 



Eohllrausch and Siegel, who claim to have made exhaustive investi- 

 gations into the food values of mushrooms, state that "many species 

 deserve to be placed beside meat as sources of nitrogenous nutriment," 

 and their analysis, if correct, fully bears out the statement. They find 

 in 100 parts of dried MorcJiella esculenta 35.18 per cent, of protein ; in 

 HelvcUa esculenta 2G.31 per cent, of protein, from 46 to 49 per cent, of 

 potassium, salts, and phosphoric acid, 2,3 per cent, of fatty matter, and 

 a considerable quantity of sugar. The Boletus eclulis the}' represent as 

 containing in 100 parts of the dried substance 22.82 per cent, of protein. 

 The nitrogenous values of different foods as compared v.'ith the mush- 

 room are stated as follows : Protein substance calculated for 100 parts 

 of bread, 8.03; of oatmeal, 9.74; of barley-bread, 0,39; of leguminous 

 fruits, 27.05 ; of potatoes, 4.85 ; of mushrooms, 33.0. A much larger pro- 

 portion of the various kinds of mushrooms are edible than is generally 

 supposed, but a prejudice has grown up concerning them in this coun- 

 try which will take some time to eradicate ; nevertheless, they con- 

 tribute so considerable a portion of the food product of the world that 

 we may be sure their value will not be permanently overlooked, espec- 

 ially when we consider our large accessions of population from coun- 

 tries in which the mushroom is a familiar and much-prized edible. 



In France mushrooms form a very large article of consumption and 

 are widely cultivated. The mushroom beds cultivated in the caves are 

 frequently miles in extent. A cave at Mcry is mentioned as containing, 



