250 HANDBOOK OF NATURE STUDY 



Many flies deposit their eggs on old specimens ; a fact which 

 explains why these are always full of maggots. In decay, 

 which is very rapid, they emit an odor like that of putrid 

 meat. 



Many of our common mushrooms are edible, and it is to 

 be regretted that they are so little used. We should, of 

 course, not eat any mushrooms unless we know that they 

 are harmless, because several species are very poisonous. In 

 districts where mushrooms are common, the teacher should 

 make herself and pupils acquainted with the more common 

 edible species. For this purpose, see Peck, " Mushrooms." 



We have learned that the fungi quickly convert decaying 

 wood and leaves into wholesome food for man and animals. 

 Their own tissue decays rapidly, and thus enriches the soil, 

 and furnishes food for other plants. 



53. About a Few Other Fungi. 



MATERIAL : Wheat rust on leaves ; sraut of corn ; black and blue 

 moulds on bread. With the necessary explanations this lesson might 

 be given after the Grains. 

 



Every farmer boy knows that in wet seasons, wheat and 

 other small grain is apt to suffer much from rust. The 

 brown dust which you can shake from the grain forms the 

 spores of a very small plant, which grows in the tissue of 

 green grain and can be seen as brown spots. There are 

 many different kinds of rusts and they affect many differ- 

 ent plants. The black masses of smut are also spores of 

 microscopic plants. Plants that grow in or on the live tis- 

 sue of other plants are called parasitic plants. Eust, smut, 

 blight, on lilac and willows are parasites in the plant world. 

 Do you know of any parasites in the animal world ? Have 

 you ever seen any parasitic plants that bore flowers ? The 

 dodders, which form tangles of yellowish or brown threads 

 on wild sunflowers, wild touch-me-not, and willows are such 



