﻿80 
  ' 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  STATE 
  MUSEUM 
  

  

  branches 
  have 
  been 
  weighed 
  down 
  by 
  their 
  loads 
  of 
  fruit. 
  And 
  this 
  

   great 
  and 
  unusual 
  productiveness 
  has 
  been 
  seen 
  in 
  some 
  of 
  our 
  

   agarics. 
  The 
  common 
  mushroom, 
  Agaricus 
  campester, 
  was 
  never 
  

   before 
  known 
  by 
  me 
  to 
  be 
  more 
  plentiful 
  in 
  our 
  State. 
  It 
  began 
  to 
  

   make 
  its 
  appearance 
  earlier 
  than 
  usual, 
  generous 
  crops 
  being 
  found 
  

   early 
  in 
  August, 
  and 
  it 
  continued 
  to 
  appear 
  in 
  great 
  abundance 
  until 
  

   cold 
  weather 
  stopped 
  its 
  growth. 
  Even 
  moderate 
  frost 
  does 
  not 
  

   stop 
  its 
  development, 
  for 
  sometimes, 
  as 
  during 
  the 
  autumn 
  of 
  1895, 
  

   and 
  also 
  of 
  1896, 
  plentiful 
  gatherings 
  of 
  it 
  were 
  made 
  after 
  the 
  ground 
  

   had 
  been 
  white 
  with 
  frost. 
  The 
  markets 
  of 
  Albany 
  have 
  recently 
  

   been 
  supplied 
  with 
  an 
  unusual 
  abundance 
  of 
  them. 
  They 
  have 
  been 
  

   exposed 
  for 
  sale 
  by 
  dealers 
  on 
  whose 
  stands 
  they 
  have 
  rarely 
  if 
  ever 
  

   before 
  been 
  seen. 
  They 
  have 
  been 
  peddled 
  about 
  the 
  streets 
  and 
  

   offered 
  for 
  sale 
  at 
  the 
  low 
  price 
  of 
  fifteen 
  cents 
  a 
  quart. 
  Farmers 
  in 
  

   the 
  vicinity 
  of 
  our 
  large 
  cities 
  have 
  found 
  in 
  them 
  a 
  volunteer 
  crop 
  of 
  

   their 
  pastures 
  that 
  has 
  added 
  no 
  insignificarft 
  amount 
  to 
  their 
  in- 
  

   comes. 
  A 
  correspondent 
  writing 
  from 
  Utica 
  says 
  that 
  the 
  crop 
  of 
  

   the 
  common 
  mushroom 
  in 
  Oneida 
  county 
  was 
  of 
  extraordinary 
  

   abundance 
  and 
  that 
  the 
  mushrooms 
  were 
  sold 
  in 
  Utica 
  by 
  farmers 
  

   and 
  peddlers 
  at 
  twenty 
  cents 
  a 
  quart 
  and 
  that 
  he 
  never 
  before 
  knew 
  

   them 
  to 
  be 
  plentiful 
  enough 
  to 
  be 
  sold 
  at 
  retail 
  in 
  this 
  way. 
  

  

  Another 
  correspondent, 
  who 
  resides 
  in 
  an 
  adjoining 
  State, 
  and 
  

   who 
  is 
  an 
  enthusiastic 
  mycophagist, 
  writes 
  that 
  he 
  has 
  at 
  last 
  had 
  a 
  

   sufficiency 
  of 
  mushrooms, 
  and 
  that 
  they 
  have 
  been 
  offered 
  for 
  sale 
  

   at 
  his 
  door 
  in 
  such 
  quantity 
  that 
  he 
  has 
  been 
  obliged 
  to 
  decline 
  to 
  

   purchase 
  them 
  even 
  at 
  the 
  extremely 
  low 
  price 
  of 
  five 
  cents 
  a 
  quart. 
  

   A 
  newspaper 
  report 
  affirms 
  that 
  in 
  a 
  village 
  in 
  the 
  western 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  

   State 
  mushrooms 
  were 
  sold 
  in 
  lots 
  of 
  ten 
  quarts 
  for 
  twenty-five 
  cents, 
  

   a 
  rate 
  of 
  two 
  and 
  a 
  half 
  cents 
  a 
  quart. 
  This 
  is 
  a 
  good 
  illustration 
  of 
  

   the 
  effect 
  of 
  a 
  bountiful 
  supply 
  upon 
  the 
  price 
  of 
  an 
  article. 
  

  

  