AGARICS 85 



unopened specimen, we find them to be of a pallid 

 flesh tint. In the more advanced state they become 

 decidedly pinkish, with age and expansion gradually 

 deepening to purplish, purple-brown, and finally brown- 

 ish black. The gills are of unequal lengths, as shown 

 in the section. The stem is creamy white and of solid 

 substance, and always shows the remains of the veil 

 in a persistent frill or ring just beneath the cap. 



Doubtless a sufficient and satisfactory reason for 



the universal dignity which this species has acquired 



as " the mushroom " may be found in 



Cultivation the fact that it is the only species 

 ofmustirooms prominently under cultivation, and al- 

 most the only one which is sure to 

 respond to the artificial cultivation of its spawn in 

 the so-called "mushroom bed." The "spawn" of 

 the Campestris has thus become a mercantile com- 

 modity, duly advertised in the seedsmen's catalogues. 



This so-called spawn is in truth nothing but the 



mycelium, or subterranean vine of the mushroom (see 



Plate 2), taken from the beds in which 



Mushroom the mushrooms have been grown, or 

 "spawn" bed in which the mycelium has been culti- 

 vated. The cultivator simply prepares 

 a " bed " to receive it — duplicating as far as possible 

 the soil conditions from which it was taken, whether 

 from foreign cultivation or his old manure-bed or 

 stable-yard — a rich, warm compost of loam and horse- 

 manure, this latter ingredient being a most important 

 consideration, as the fungus in its several varieties, 

 notably the larger, Agaricus arvensis, known as the 

 "horse-mushroom," has followed the track of the horse 



6 



