No. 133.J 245 



prejudice, one of the most delicious dishes. He and his Italian 

 cook ate them and died. 



The principal difficulty is in obtaining cheaply enough the white 

 of the mushroom of good quality. We can always get the white 

 naturally contained in good dung of the horse, ass, or mule, and 

 to get abundance of excellent mushrooms. When you have 

 established a good bed of them — take great care in picking them. 

 Take hold of the stem gently, and turn if round, and so separate 

 it from its root, and then other plants will grow from it. Mush- 

 room beds require very little humidity, and a temperature as 

 even as possible, at not more than 12° nor less than 10*^ centi- 

 grade, or 50 to 55 Fahrenheit. The dung must be taken after 

 dry feeding of winter — green food destroys it. 



One mode is to take the dung of cattle 2 parts, of sheep 1 part, 

 and of horse 1 ; mix them well and even, pass the mixture 

 through a hurdle. The white thus obtained is better than that 

 gathered from wild mushrooms, or irom old beds. 



Beds for growing them should be made of one half of light 

 soil, making the beds from one foot to one and a half feet thick, 

 without putting any of the white in them, the beds themselves 

 will be transformed into an entire mass of white. From dung of 

 animals fed with green food, no mushrooms can be got. MacPhail 

 made his mnshroom bricks out of a mixture of cattle dung, sheep, 

 and horse dung, in equal parts, and a portion of fern leaves 

 bruised, — water is added to make it capable of being moulded 

 into the shape of a brick. He then makes a hole in the centre 

 of each brick, and puts into it a small fragment of the white, and 

 then put over it the piece of brick taken out in making the hole. 

 The bricks are then put into a heap, in such a way as to leave 

 room enough about them all, for a free circulation of air. In a 

 little time each brick will become a mass of white — which may 

 be immediately used to furnish beds. Although this singular 

 substance is of so delicate a nature, yet it may be preserved for 

 many years in its productive energy, provided it is^in a very dry 

 place. The mushroom flourishes best in obscure cellars, in caves, 

 old quarries free from humidity- -from wind, and quiet places. 



