GATHEKING AND MABKETING MUSHHOOMS. 117 



root, and never, if practicable to avoid it, cut them over 

 with a knife. In gathering, take bold of the mush- 

 rooms and give them a shai"p but gentle twist, pressing 

 them down at the same time, and they generally part 

 from the bed without any trouble ; then place them in 

 the baskets, root-end down, so as to keep them perfectly 

 clean and free from grit. Sometimes when several 

 mushrooms are joined together in one root-stock and it 

 is impossible to remove one without disturbing the 

 whole, cut it over rather than pull it out. In the case 

 of clumps of young mushrooms, where one can not be 

 pulled out without displacing some of the others also, 

 cut it out rather than pull it. There is a knack in pull- 

 ing mushrooms, easily attained by practice. And even 

 when they come up in thick bunches and it would ap- 

 pear impossible to pull out the full-grown ones without 

 disturbing the others, a practiced hand will give them a 

 twitch and a pull — they often part from the bed by the 

 gentlest touch — and get them out without unfastening 

 any of the multitude of small buttons that may be grow- 

 ing around them. 



The advantages of pulling over cutting are several : 

 It benefits the bed. If we cut over a mushroom and 

 leave its stump in the ground, in a few days decay sets 

 in and a fluffy or spongy substance grows around the 

 old butt, which destroys many of the little mushrooms 

 around it, as well as every thread of mycelium that 

 comes in contact with it. One should be particular to 

 scoop out these stumps with a knife before this condition 

 takes place, and go over the beds eveiy few days to fill 

 up the holes, made in scooping out the old stumps, with 

 fresh loam. 



Pulled mushrooms always keep fresh longer than do 

 those that have been cut. In the interest of the market 

 grower they have another advantage. Mushrooms are 

 bought and sold by weight, and as the stems are always 



