MULBEHRY.— MUSHROOM. 



205 



four feet wide, allowing a path two feet broad. New beds 

 should be made every three years. 



Gathering the crop^ and use. — Mint should be cut for 

 drying," says Philips, "just when it is in flower, and on a 

 fine day; for if cut in damp weather, the leaves will turn 

 black. It should be tied in small bunches, and dried in a 

 shady place, out of the wind ; but, to retain its natural virtues 

 more effectually, it has been found better to place the mint 

 in a screen, and to dry it quickly before a fire, so that it 

 may be powdered and immediately put into glass bottles, 

 and kept well stopped. Parsley, thyme, sage, and other 

 herbs, retain their full fragrance when thus prepared, and 

 are by this mode secured from dust, and always ready to 

 the hand of the cook. 



" A conserve made of mint is grateful, and the dis- 

 tilled waters, both simple and spirituous, are much esteem- 

 ed. The juice of spearmint, drank in vinegar, often 

 stops the hiccup. Lewis observes, what has before been 

 observed by Pliny, that mint prevents the coagulation of 

 milk, and hence it is recommended in milk diets." 



MULBEWRY.—Morus.—See Silk. 



MUSHROOM. — Agariciis. — This is a genus of plants 

 comprising a great many species, of which, according to 

 some authors, three hundred are natives of Great Britain. 

 The kind cultivated in gardens is the Agaricus campestrisj 

 which is thus described by M^Mahon : — ''The gills of this 

 are loose, of a pinky red, changing to liver colour, in contact, 

 but not united with the stem ; very thick set, some forked 

 next the stem, some next the edge of the cap, some at both 

 ends, and generally, in that case, excluding the intermediate 

 smaller gills. Cop, white, changing to brown when old, 

 and becoming scurfy, fleshy, and regularly convex, but with 

 age flat, and liquefying in decay ; flesh white ; diameter 

 commonly from one inch to three, or sometimes four or 

 more. Stem solid, one to three inches high, and about 

 half an inch in diameter." 



Loudon says, " The mushroom is a well known native 

 vegetable, springing up in open pastures in August and Sep- 

 tember. It is most readily distinguished, when of middle 

 size, by its fine pink or flesh-coloured gills, and pleasant 

 smell ; in a more advanced stage, the gills become of a 

 chocolate colour, and it is then more apt to be confounded 

 with other kinds of dubious quality ; but that species 

 which most nearly resembles it, is slimy to the touch, and 

 destitute of the fine odour, having rather a disagi^eable 

 13 



