MUSHROOMS 



Fig. 1. — Ox the Left, Hypholoma incertum. On the Right 



PSILOCYBE FOENISECII. A GrOUP OF LaWN MUSHROOMS. 



exact representation of the arrangement of the gills. This is 

 called a spore-print, and is due to millions of tiny microscopic 

 spores, like globules of dust, which have been produced by the 

 gills. The production of these spores is what gives the gills 

 of the different kinds a different color when the caps are fully 

 expanded. The spores are matured even after the mushrooms 

 are picked, and when ripe fall off on the paper. These spores 

 are believed to be able to grow if they fall on the ground in 

 favorable places where they eventually produce a new crop of 

 mushrooms. Now, if the spores are white, the gills will remain 

 white and the spore-print will be white and will scarcely show 

 on the white paper, so we use black paper to make white spore- 

 prints. 



If we have paints and a brush handy we may set our 

 mushrooms upright, sketch them and try to reproduce them in 

 a colored picture. Most of those w hich grow on the lawns and 

 fields are not so brightly colored as those which grow in the 

 forests, but it is a good plan to begin with those near by. If 

 we have a Kodak we may want to photograph them. Young 

 folks will find it fun to snap-shot the different kinds growing on 

 their lawns in order to make a collection of photos of their 

 mushroom acquaintances. They can be photographed out of 

 doors showing where they grow, as in the photograph shown 

 in Fig. 2. or, if the specimens are not too small, they can be 



