MUSHROOHS OR TOADSTOOLS: 



A NATURAL FOOD PRODUCT. 



BY L,. F. HENDERSON, 



I. 



Mushrooms or Toadstools in their various forms are natural 

 food products laid at our very doors by a bountiful nature, and yet 

 they are generally overlooked, or if observed are in the main 

 avoided with a shudder. It will be the object of this bulletin to 

 acquaint the people of our State with the common species, to show 

 that the majority of them are not only not injurious but of great 

 culinary value, to give a brief sketch of their growth, their kinds, 

 the methods to be used in their collecting and in preparing them 

 for the cook, and lastly a few recipes showing the best ways to 

 prepare them for the table. 



The ignorance which prevails in this country in respect to mush- 

 rooms is much greater than in most of the states of Europe, and 

 even in some of the parts of Asia, notablv Japan and China. In 

 these various countries the population is so much denser 

 the number of the poor is so much larger, and the cultivable 

 land is so restricted in comparison with the numbers concern- 

 ed, that more attention to these natural products of the soil has 

 been given, or even forced upon them, with the result that mush- 

 rooms are collected in immense quantities and varieties, and are 

 dried for home consumption or offered in the markets as regularly 

 as are the common vegetables. In many provinces in Europe 



