MUSHROOMS AND TOADSTOOLS. 



595 



of an extinct mushroom-bed that still show 

 a white, thread-like vine closely interlacing 

 through the compost, will give the best re- 

 sults. If this can be procured in abundance, 

 it should be inserted in the mushroom-bed 

 (when the latter stands at a temperature of 

 90 Fahr.) in large masses, six to twelve inches 

 square, the top nearly at a level with the sur- 

 face of the bed. There should be a distance 

 of about two feet between these masses of 

 s^pawn. But if economy is a necessity, or 

 brick-spawn is used, the spawn may be evenly 

 distributed (when the temperature of the com- 

 post has fallen to about 78 Fahr.) by inserting 

 it in pieces the size of a large apple, in holes 

 about three inches in depth and eight inches 

 apart. After thus spawning the required space, 

 cover it to the depth of about two inches with 

 lightly laid damp loam ; then leave it undisturbed 

 for about six weeks, when the mushrooms ought 

 ^o appear on the surface. Mushroom-beds do 

 not give a continuous harvest ; therefore, if the 

 whole surface is at once utilized, only one crop 

 of any volume will result. To avoid such event, 

 one week after placing material on one seventh 

 the space, another and an equal division should 

 be subjected to the same treatment, and thus 

 the whole bed should be followed to its extreme 

 section. By the time the cultivator begins the 

 preparation of the last seventh, six weeks will 

 have elapsed, and the first division should be 

 in bearing, and this section can be broken up 

 and used for spawn as soon as number two be- 

 gins to produce. Thus only can consecutive 

 crops of mushrooms be insured. Further, the 

 fact that latent heat and steaming manure are 

 always present at no great distance from the 

 running spawn, will favor fructification. 



With all these precautions, the attempt to 

 produce artificial substitutes for morning dew 

 and dog-day atmosphere, results often in naught 

 but failure. Ordinary waterings, congenial 

 to other plants, are worse than useless. A 

 successful result was obtained by making the 

 mushroom-bed on a platform at the apex of 

 a triangularly roofed apartment. Steam was 

 then admitted at intervals into the closed room 

 and allowed to condense at the top ; an abun- 

 dant harvest was the result. With modern fa- 

 cilities for making and conducting steam there 

 should be no difficulty in arranging for its con- 

 fined condensation over and around the mush- 

 room-bed, and thus overcoming the greatest 

 difficulty in mushroom-culture. 



In their wild and normal state, the Agaricus 

 campestris (pasture-mushroom), Agaricus ar- 

 vensis (horse-mushroom), Marasmius oreades 

 (fairy-ring champignon), Coprinus comatus 

 (maned-mushroom), and perhaps some others, 

 produce semi-annnally. A spot that has given 

 a liberal harvest in the autumn will produce 

 a lighter and inferior crop in the first warm, 

 moist days of spring. Mushrooms may doubt- 

 less be cultivated in the open air, but the con- 

 tingencies of drought or drenching rain, either 

 of which would ruin the spawn at some stages, 



are so probable that no one could afford the ex- 

 periment. In partially sheltered houses, how- 

 ever, a good crop might be expected if the plan 

 were made so as to mature in the month of 

 August. The reason for this advice is evident: 

 Nature then supplies the conditions of fertility 

 which by man are only imperfectly known. 

 No species of fungus ordinarily appears in op- 

 position to its own condition of growth. This 

 fact explains the absence of hybrids among 

 fungi ; even although in a limited square of 

 earth the spawn of many species will be found 

 apparently interlaced, yet each mushroom will 

 there produce after its own kind. This is the 

 ignorant cultivator's safety, for the question 

 might well be asked, if other varieties besides 

 the common mushroom may not appear in the 

 carefully made bed. Certain fragile dung-fungi 

 may occasionally appear ; but such could de- 

 ceive no person that had ever seen an edible 

 mushroom. An apparent hybrid between 

 Agaricus campestris and Cortinarius has been 

 found in a mushroom-bed. It was thought to 

 be a true Cortinarius by some who examined it. 

 Although it might, from its form, be mistak- 

 en for a pasture-mushroom, the difference was 

 very evident when it was tasted ; and further, 

 its whole family does not contain, in all proba- 

 bility, a single dangerous species. Instances 

 have been known where other species, foreign 

 to the bed, have taken possession of it, but 

 they are very rare. The current traditions re- 

 garding these plants are not worthy of notice. 

 No species once safely eaten can ever become 

 poisonous. An amateur may doubtless err by 

 gathering a diiferent mushroom from the one 

 he had formerly recognized. For this reason, 

 it is advised to discard all the recipes given in 

 books for cooking mushrooms with spices, hot 

 herbs, and condiments, and simply to broil, 

 stew, fry, or roast them, adding, as the method 

 chosen requires, only salt, pepper, butter, and 

 milk. It is further advised to proceed dili- 

 gently to the study of species, as the examina- 

 tion necessary for classification will very soon 

 make a mistake in identity as rare as such an 

 occurrence in the use of other vegetables. 



Bibliography. For popular use the following 

 works are recommended : " Mushrooms and 

 Toadstools," with two colored charts showing 

 the edible and poisonous species, by Worthing- 

 ton G. Smith (London, 1867); "A Plain and 

 Easy Account of the British Fungi," by M. 0. 

 Cooke (London, 1871) ; "Mushrooms of Amer- 

 ica, Edible and Poisonous," by Julius A. Palm- 

 er, Jr. (Boston, 1885); "Les Champignons," 

 par F. 8. Cordier, orn< de Vignettes et de 60 

 Chromolithographies (Paris, 1876). The last- 

 mentioned is invaluable to the fungus-eater, 

 provided that he is well acquainted with 

 French. Students acquainted with French are 

 also advised to read the Orfila prize essay, ' k Des 

 Champignons, par M. Emile Boudier " (Paris, 

 1866). For a general text-book, or manual for 

 the study and classification of fungi, is recom- 

 mended " Hand-Book of British Fungi," by M. 



