VARIOUS OBSERVATIONS 91 



begun to bear in July, and it was still producing fruit-bodies when 

 I saw it in October. Five baskets full (14 x 7-5 x 5 inches) had 

 already been gathered during the season. Altogether, the four crops 



|^" 





FIG. 30. Marasmius oreades. Vertical sections through four fruit-bodies grown 

 from spawn in a manure bed at Winnipeg. (1) The fruit-body on the right 

 is most like a normal wild fruit-body, but its stipe is abnormally thickened 

 and its gills but poorly developed. (2) The fruit-body on the left has a long 

 much-thickened stipe, a relatively small pileus, and extremely reduced gills. 

 (3) The two middle fruit-bodies are stunted and their gills but feebly developed, 

 but their pilei and stipes are extraordinarily fleshy. No such fleshy fruit - 

 bodies ever occur under normal conditions. Natural size. 



gathered in the four seasons, 1910-1913 inclusive, had filled twenty 

 baskets. The bed had therefore proved to be a distinct success. 



On looking at the bed in October, 1913, I was astonished by 

 the large size and fantastic appearance of many of the fruit-bodies. 

 At first I could scarcely believe that the fungus in cultivation was 

 really the Fairy-Ring Fungus ; but all doubt about this was soon 



