September 29, 1870. ] 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



247 



this is very far from being the case — but simply that they are 

 not poisonous; and that is the first and the greatest point 

 which we have to combat. It is unfortunately the ease that 

 some of the most poisonous are the most common ; for, as Dr. 

 Bull observes, " There is scarcely a field, and, perhaps, not a 

 single wood, in the country that does not abound with several 

 varieties of the Copriuus, the Agarieus fascicularis, the beauti- 

 fully coloured Russula emetica, and several others. But, since 

 they are so abundant, it is peculiarly our province to encourage 

 the study of mycology ; and thus lessen the prejudice existing 

 against them all, by clearly showing the means of distinguish- 

 ing which are good and which are bad. This is a matter of 

 some difficulty, for the scientific differences are too minute 

 for ready distinction. We cannot be guided by the place they 

 grow in ; nor can we eat after slugs, as we do after wasps and 

 birds with fruit, for slugs seem to enjoy the most poisonous 

 kinds. Colour gives no distinction, nor is the smell or taste of 

 the Fungus an infallible guide. It is freely acknowledged, 

 therefore, that there are poisonous Mushrooms, and that, un- 

 fortunately, they are exceedingly common ; but this is surely no 

 argument for neglecting the far greater proportion of what may 

 be made wholesome food. We might, on this ground, refuse 

 to eat Potatoes, because that plant belongs to a family con- 

 taining virulent poisons. Parsley, too, which is the most 

 familiar garnish that we have, is not regarded with suspicion 

 because the Fool's Parsley, which grows in many gardens 

 nearly as freely, is poisonous. We eat Horseradish without 

 thinking twice about it, although a year seldom passes without 

 somebody being poisoned by accompanying their roast beef 

 with scraped Aconite root, which is so like Horseradish that it 

 requires a little care to distinguish between the two. 



The question, therefore, resolves itself into this, that — whether 

 it be Horseradish, Parsley, or Fungi — everybody, whether of 

 high or low degree, ought to have that instruction in common 

 things which should make it impossible for such mistakes to 

 happen. While in our public schools we pretend to give in- 

 struction in chemistry and physics, it is inconsistent that we 

 should ignore the study of simple geology and botany, the 

 knowledge of which in strange countries is of incalculable im- 

 portance ; and the value of such elementary knowledge in 

 schools of a lower class can scarcely be overrated. " A little 

 knowledge is a dangerous thing," is a proverb that is often 

 quoted by well-meaning people as a warning against this sort 

 of instruction, as tending to make the recipients thereof smat- 

 terers, conceited, and presumptuous ; but surely to teach a 

 village child what Fungus he may gather for the cottage dinner 

 without danger of being poisoned, is as useful knowledge as the 

 height of the Himalayas or the date of the battle of Navarino. 

 I am aware that there are plenty of facilities for this teaching 

 in the way of cheap illustrations, such as those by Mr. W. G. 

 Smith ; but I cannot find that such teaching is anywhere 

 made compulsory, or indeed is adopted at all, exoept in isolated 

 cases. 



Foreigners are far before us in appreciating the value of the 

 Fungus as a food supply, and notably in France and Italy ; 

 although, with a due regard to the publio safety, Fungi are 

 allowed to be sold only when passed by the inspectors of food : 

 with this regulation we certainly should not quarrel. Mr. 

 Story, in his interesting work " Roba di Roma," tells us that 

 one of the most oommon articles of sale are baskets of Mush- 

 rooms. " There are the grey porcini, the foliated alberetti, and 

 the orange-hued ovole ; some of the latter of enormous size, 

 big enough to shelter a thousand fairies under their smooth 

 and painted domes. In each of them is a cleft stick, bearing a 

 card from the inspector of the market, granting permission to 

 sell them ; for Mushrooms have proved fatal to so many Car- 

 dinals, to say nothing of Popes and other people, that they are 

 naturally looked upon with suspicion, and must be all officially 

 examined to prevent accidents. The Italians are braver than 

 we are in the matter of eating ; and maDy a Fungus which we 

 christen with the foul name of Toadstool, and ignominiously 

 exile from our tables, is here baptised with the Christian appel- 

 lation of Mushroom, and is eagerly sought after aa one of the 

 cheapest and most delicious of vegetables." In Milan, too, the 

 porcini, which in English botanical phrase is the Boletus ednlis ; 

 the ovole, the equivalent of the Agarieus cassareus ; with some 

 few more, are openly sold under inspection. I will conclude 

 this article with a quotation from " The Esculent Funguses of 

 England," by Dr. Badham, one of the most persevering in- 

 quirers, and as audacious an experimenter as this country has 

 ever produced. Describing Mb rambles in 1847 he says, " I 

 have seen this autumn whole hundredweights of rich wholesome 



diet rotting under the trees ; woods teeming with food, and not 

 one hand to gather it ; and this, perhaps, in the midst of 

 Potato blight, poverty, and all manner of privations, and public 

 prayers against famine. I have indeed grieved, when I reflected 

 on the straitened condition of the lower orders, to see unused 

 pounds innumerable of extempore beefsteaks growing on our 

 Oaks in the shape of Fistulina hepatica, with Agarieus fusipeB 

 to pickle, in clusters under them." 



Making allowances for a certain amount of enthusiasm, the 

 question is certainly sufficiently interesting to urge us to do 

 our best towards introducing this new food, at present wasted ; 

 not only by learning to distinguish the good from the bad, but 

 by practically making the trial at our own tables. For it must 

 be remembered that it is all nonsense preaching to the poor to 

 try this and that, unless the rich do it themselves ; for the 

 former are not only more ignorant, but ten times more pre- 

 judiced, and, in many cases, the facility of getting them for 

 nothing would be rather a hindrance than an inducement to 

 make the experiment. 



Still, if a demand should arise for Fungi, and the poor were 

 to find that they were saleable articles, they would very soon 

 begin to try for themselves what they were like ; and in this 

 way, with the most ordinary teaching and care, we might 

 largely supplement the national larder. — Phillips Bevan. — 

 (Food Journal.) 



NOTES AND GLEANINGS. 

 A ccstoii prevails at Easingwold in Yorkshire which we 

 never met with anywhere else. Having occasion lately to 

 visit that now-deserted town, we observed in the churchyard 

 plates and dishes, containing gathered flowers in water, placed 

 on the graves. This, we were informed, was done by the 

 relations of the deoeased. Sheep were grazing within the 

 bounds, and not unfrequently ate up the flowers and broke the 

 plates, but these were, notwithstanding, constantly renewed. 

 Our companion was unable to inform us of the origin or 

 object of this practice, and merely remarked that it was an 

 old custom. 



Two of the best Melons we have met with this season 



are the Victory of Bath, grown by Mr. Gilbert, gardener to 

 the Marquis of Exeter, at Burghley ; and the Golden Gem, 

 raised by and cultivated by Mr. Cox, gardener to Earl Beau- 

 champ, at MadreBfield Court. The former is a green fleBh 

 and the latter a white flesh, and both are of very superior excel- 

 lence. Their size is large, and they are finely and beautifully 

 netted. 



On a visit we lately made to Madresfield Court, Mr. 



Cox, who, by the way, is the fortunate raiser of that exquisite 

 Grape the Madresfield Court Muscat, showed us the superiority 

 of the fruit of Victoria Nectaeine grown against a wall in the 

 open air to that grown under glass in a Peach house. That 

 produced in the open air is very dark-coloured, and with a very 

 rioh and piquant flavour, while that grown under glass is much 

 paler and comparatively flat, being far less rich. In either 

 case the fruit was quite sound, and showed no disposition to 

 crack, as its parent the Stanwiok is so liable to do. In all 

 situations where Nectarines can be grown successfully, we 

 would recommend planters to make use of the Victoria. 



A correspondent writes — " Yesterday I went to Eastnor 



CaBtle and saw the Mistletoe on the Oak. This was the 

 first time that I had ocular confirmation of what I had heard 

 of. There are four large bunches near the top of the tree. 

 This is the only example that is known in the Eastnor large 

 Oak woods." Another correspondent, " Vevey," says, " I 

 noticed that you mention the few cases in which the Mistletoe 

 has been found growing on the Oak. I have seen it more than 

 once growing on that tree in the Canton of Vaud, Switzerland. 

 I have also seen it on the common Norwegian Fir." 



PROPOSED BOILER. 

 As an amateur gardener on a small scale, I have been much 

 interested during the last year or two in the notices of various 

 boilers and hot-water apparatus which have appeared in the 

 Journal and elsewhere, and in the remarks which have been 

 made on conduction, convection, &c. ; also in the question as 

 to the economy of flues or pipes for small houses, the result 

 being the invention of a boiler which in simplicity, efficiency, 

 economy of fuel, facility of setting and management, may be 

 advantageously compared with any other. Having gone to 



