FUNGI. 



3S7 



rooms, is very remarkable, and may often be seen near decaying 

 /cots. 



Growing in our highly manured ground, we have the curious Peziza 

 vesiculosa (fig. 832). It has the singular property of shooting the spores 

 out of the cup like a puff of smoke, which the engraving illustrates. 



We have other fungi growing in manured ground, of which 

 the Mushroom {Agaricus campestris, fig. 833) is a notable example. It 

 comes up from time to time in different places about our garden, but 

 I believe such developments have invariably an horticultural origin, 

 from some mushroom bed having been thrown into the garden : we 

 obtain the finest flavoured mushrooms from this source. The mush- 



FiG. 832. — Peziza vesiculosa, showing 

 dispersion of spores, and part of the 

 hymenium magnified loo diameters, 

 showing spores emerging from the 

 asci. 



Fig. 834.— Cells of Mushroom 

 magnified. 



Fig. 833. — Mushroom. 



room is composed of a multitude of elongated cells, as is shown under 

 the microscope (fig. 834). The cultivation of the mushroom is so 

 important in a culinary point of view, that no garden can be said to 

 be perfect if it does not yield a constant supply. We have never 

 had sufficient quantity from my garden ; [yet when I attended to it in 

 London we were never without mushrooms. Nothing can be easier than 

 the culture of the mushroom if everything is rightly done, but any 

 deviation from the right course is sure to be followed by signal failure- 

 To grow mushrooms artificially, fresh horse-droppings must be 

 obtained from the stables. This material must be placed in covered 

 airy sheds till thoroughly dry. The dry droppings are then rammed 

 into a solid bed in any convenient outhouse, which will cause the 

 material to heat. If the mass becomes too hot, it will be spoilt ; but 

 if it does not exceed blood-heat, pieces of spawn which contain the 



