51 



ditions, good materials, interest in the business, intelligent man- 

 agement, and persistent application." 



The Shaggy=Mane Mushroom. 



(Coprinus comatus) Plate III. 



This handsome and peculiar mushroom must have fallen under 

 the observation of many persons, growing as it does, in our state, 

 along the railroad tracks, cuts and embankments, wherever there 

 is sufficient moisture supplied, from September to November. In 

 and near the city of Moscow hundreds of pounds of this fine 

 mushroom go to waste with scarcely a person to gather it. As I 

 have never seen this species growing in any other localities save 

 those mentioned, it seems as if the Shaggy-Mane must have been 

 introduced through the rolling stock of rail roads and their con- 

 tents. This may be found to be an error later, and that the plant 

 is indigenous in many localities. It certainly is a conspicuous 

 object when it reaches full proportions on some moist, soft clay 

 bank, with its long white cap looking like a much torn and closed 

 umbrella. The plant when cooked is somewhat stronger than 

 the Field Agaric, but for this very reason is preferred by some 

 persons. The whole plant is whitish or with a little brown dis- 

 coloration at the top of the cap. The cap is almost cylindrical, 

 rounded at top, and shaggy with scales which are often, especial- 

 ly in their early condition, brown at tip. The gills are long, 

 light colored, and altogether free from the hollow stem, being at- 

 tached to the underside of the cap. In the "button" stage the 

 cap is connected to the stem by a "veil", which is later ruptured 

 by the elongation of the cap and stem, but differs from the Field 

 Agaric in this: While in that species the "ring" remains at-' 

 tached either wholly or in fragments to the stem, in the Shaggy- 

 Mane the ring is freed from both the cap and stem, and forms 

 a true ring, dropping to the ground as the smooth white stem 

 lengthens. Very soon a change or disintegration begins to show 



