VEGETABLES DESCRIPTION AND CULTURE. 361 



tion of sugar and spices. That it is wholesome is proved 

 by its constant use while in season as an article of food 

 among the people of Southern Europe. The muskmelon 

 contains but a trifle more water than the beet, and is 

 quite as nourishing. It contains albumen, casein, dextrin 

 and sugar, which, combined with citric, malic and tartaric 

 acid, give its peculiar rich flavor. The green fruit may be 

 cooked like the egg-plant, and is also made into mangoes. 

 Marketing. — The smaller varieties are packed in vege- 

 table crates and the larger in barrel crates. It is advisible 

 to assort the melons and ship each variety in crates to 

 itself. 



MUSHROOM. 



In writing the following description of the mushrooms 

 the author has made liberal use of the Farmers' Bulletin 

 No. 53, issued by the United States Department of Agri- 

 culture, prepared by William Falconer; Circular No. 13, 

 issued by the Division of Botany by Frederick V. Coville, 

 and Bulletins Nos. 138 and 168 issued by the Cornell 

 University Experiment Station, by Professor George F. 

 Atkinson. 



The portion of the mushroom used for food is not the 

 plant, but the fruit, which is developed from the white or 

 bluish white mold, called the mycelium, or spawn, which 

 is the plant proper. In its young condition this mycelium 

 is a network of small threads running through the decay- 

 ing organic matter, and from the joints of this thread- 

 like form the mushroom springs and pushes to the light. 

 Sufficient food and moisture must be given to these 

 spawns to cause them to develop rapidly, and the mush- 

 rooms will come forth in abundance. Plate 4 exhibits 

 the mycelium, or the thread-like spawns as they appear 

 when the earth is washed away. 



The mushrooms are very common in our forests and 

 fields, some of which are poisonous, a number are edible, 



