126 MUSHROOMS, HOW TO GROW THEM. 



up with fresh loam, and when the bed has been in bear- 

 ing condition for a fortnight sprinkle it over with a 

 solution of salt, and next day topdress with a half-inch 

 coating of finely sifted fresh loam ; firm it to the bed 

 with the back of the hand, for it can not be pressed on 

 with a spade on account of the growing mushrooms. 



Is black spot unwholesome ? I do not think so. I 

 have never known any ill effects from eating it. The 

 spotted parts are merely flavorless and tasteless. But it 

 is a very disgusting disease, and no one, I am sure, 

 would care to eat eel worms with their mushrooms. 

 Until quite recently I used to regard the black spot as 

 the mark of some parasitic fungus, and, acting under 

 this impression, sent affected mushrooms to Dr. W. G. 

 Farlow, Prof, of Cryptogamic Botany at Harvard Uni- 

 versity, for his opinion. He wrote me: "I find that 

 the trouble is due to Anguillulm, and I find an abun- 

 dance of these animals in the brown spots." He advised 

 me to submit, them to an expert in "worms." I then 

 sent samples to my kind friend, Mr. William Saunders, 

 of Washington, D. C, who submitted them, for me, to 

 Dr. Thomas Taylor, the microscopist to the U. S. 

 Department of Agriculture, and who replied: "I rec- 

 ommend that you use a sprinkling of scalding water 

 thoroughly over the entire surface of the bed, especially 

 the portion next to the boxing. The scalding water 

 should be applied before the buttons appear, but not 

 penetrate more than one-eighth of an inch below the 

 surface. Anguillulae abound wherever decaying vegeta- 

 ble matter exists. . . . Tlie green algae on the out- 

 side of flower pots abounds in the anguillulae." 



Manure Flies. — This is the name we give to the lit- 

 tle flies (a species of Sciara) that appear in large num- 

 bers in spring and summer in our mushroom houses, or, 

 indeed, in hotbeds or structures of any sort where ma- 

 nure is used, as well as about the manure heaps in the 



