200 GARDENING. 



the suggestion ; s nee, on analysis, it is found that 

 the product of the mushroom is almost altogether 

 animal ; whence it is that those botanists, who are 

 tenacious of what is called the natural order, make 

 it the first vegetable link in the chain, as zoologists 

 make the polypus the last in the animal series. 



Another suggestion, of more practical importance, 

 is that, whether animal or vegetable, the mushroom 

 is ofteu poisonous ; either from some quality inhe- 

 rent in itself, or from some adventitious matter (such 

 as the larvaB of insects) being imbibed and held by 

 its spongy surface. On this head there has been no 

 want either of inquiry or of admonition. Natural- 

 ists, in succession, from Pliny to Parmentier, have 

 investigated the subject, and come to nearly the 

 same conclusion, viz., " that many species of the 

 mushrooms are active poisons,* and that the best 

 are dangerous, as well from the total want of any 

 general rule for distinguishing between the good and 

 the bad,f as from the tendency of all to produce in- 

 digestion."! In despite, however, of these sage dis- 

 coveries and councils, the mushroom continues to 

 be eaten, and even to be a favourite ; for, not con- 

 tented with the abundance of the article provided 

 by nature at a particular season, means are employ- 

 ed to have it at all seasons, and it is of this culture 

 we have now to speak. 



Prepare a bed early in October, either in a corner 

 of the hothouse, if you have one, or of a dry and 

 warm cellar. The width of the bed at the bottom 

 should not be less than four feet, and its length pro- 



* Geoffroi, Paulet, and others. 



f " It has been said that the mushroom which it is safe to 

 eat is distinguished from the bad by a membrane which sur- 

 rounds the footstalk. This sign is, however, the less sure, as 

 this membrane is found to belong to a species the most danger 

 ous." Phytalogie Universelle, vol. ii., p. 161. 



t Parmentier on Poisonous Mushrooms. Strong vinegar and 

 emetics are the surest remedies against the effects of these. 



