years, and it is to be, hoped and expected that within the next ten 

 years the industry will develop to the fullest limit of the market 

 demands. The latter will, of course, be stimulated and developed 

 by the increasing popular appreciation of this product. In some 

 cities and towns there is already a good market demand for mush- 

 rooms, while in others they may be sold only directly to special 

 customers. This should be borne in mind by prospective growers. 



In the vicinity of Paris the mushroom industry has been remark- 

 ably developed during the past eight or ten years. The total prod- 

 uct sqjd through the central market of Paris in 1898 was nearly 

 4,000,000 pounds; the quantity for 1900 is given as approximately 

 8,500,000 pounds, and for 1901 nearly 10,000,000 pounds. 

 These figures show most convincingly the present status of the 

 mushroom industry in France. It may be safely assumed that more 

 than one-third of this quantity is consumed in a fresh state in and 

 about the city. The growth of the canning industry during this 

 period has also been remarkable. In 1898 about 1,800,000 pounds 

 were preserved, while in 1901 the canned product amounted to 

 nearly 6,200,000 pounds. During 19D1 the approximate monthly 

 production of mushrooms ranged from 651,000 pounds to ^85,000 

 pounds, from which it is evident that these caves yield heavily 

 throughout the year. In some instances growers are able to get a 

 crop every four or five months. 



It is extremely difficult to estimate the quantity of mushrooms 

 • grown in the United States. It is certain, however, that the pro- 

 duction has increased very greatly, and particularly within the last 

 four or five years. In the vicinity of several of our larger cities 

 there are today individual growers who produce more than the 

 total commercial output in the neighborhood of those cities ten 

 years ago. 



There is now a very good open market for fresh mushrooms in 

 a few of the larger cities, although many large growers continue 

 to sell entirely by contract or by special orders to hotels and res- 

 taurants. With such an enormous comparative consumption of the 

 canned product, there is every reason to believe that fresh mush- 

 rooms can be sold in much greater quantity as soon as this prodtict 

 becomes a certain factor in the niarket. 



3. General Considerations 



In the United States fresh mushrooms have only recently been 

 of any importance commercially, although florists and gardeners 

 of English and French training have long been successful growers 

 on a small scale. Nevertheless, during the past decade or so, the 

 record of failures has been most conspicuous, and it is certain that 

 of the many who attempted this work, only a few, relatively, were 

 uniformly successful. 



