148 MUSHROOM CULTURE. 



a very agreeable aftertaste upon the palate,, fully equal to 

 that of almonds. This is the thing I sent you some years 

 since for cultivation, but which failed to grow. I very much 

 wish it might be propagated in England, so that we might 

 ascertain whether it would undergo any change of qualities 

 in a different soil and climate. I have for some time 

 been entertaining the suspicion that such is the case with 

 many of our species. Thus, in European books the Morel 

 is described as possessing a peculiar flavour, that has 

 given its name to the Morello cherry. I can detect no- 

 thing of the sort in our morel. You speak of A. C&sareus 

 (in Introd. Crypt. Bot.) as being ' perhaps the most de- 

 licious of all fungi/ This grows in great quantities in 

 our oak -forests, and may be obtained by the cartload in its 

 season ; but to my taste, and that of all my family, it is 

 the most unpalatable of all our fungi, nor can I find 

 many of our most passionate mycophagists who will a\ r ow 

 that they like it. I have tried it in almost every mode of 

 cookery, but without success. There is a disagreeable 

 saline flavour that we cannot remove nor overlay. 



" In the Tricholoma section, in which are several species 

 long known as edible, I did not hesitate to experiment 

 upon any that had the odour and taste of fresh flour. I 

 began with A. frumentaceus, not learning from books 

 whether it had been eaten in Europe. To this I sub- 

 sequently added three new American species belonging to 

 the same group. All are excellent when stewed, and are 



