MUSHROOMS 



423 



though the latter price is seldom received. A gross return 

 of 30 cents a pound is probably about the average. 



Food value. There is an erroneous impression among 

 many people that the mushroom possesses very high 

 nutritive value. Some believe that it is equal to beef in 

 its ability to form muscle or to impart energy. But this 

 assumption is far from the truth, for round beefsteak 

 contains 18.7 per cent protein while the common mush- 

 room, Agaricus campestris, contains only 3.6 per cent pro- 

 tein, about the same amount that is possessed by the potato 

 and the cabbage. Both cabbage and potatoes contain a larger 

 percentage of carbohy- 

 drates, and when ex- 

 pressed in calories the 

 potato possesses more 

 than double the nutri- 

 tive value of the mush- 

 room. But these 

 figures are not given 

 with the idea of mini- 

 mizing the importance 

 of the mushroom as an 

 article of food. There 

 is a difference between 

 nutritive value and 

 food value. The mush- 

 room, when properly 

 cooked and served, 

 possesses such a deli- 

 cious flavor and pleas- 

 ant odor that it ranks 

 very high as a food, 

 though it is properly 

 termed a luxury. 



Value of manure from mushroom beds. In most sec- 

 tions of the country the manure from mushroom houses 



Fig. 156. A wagon load of mushrooms en- 

 route to shipping station. 



