108 VEGETABLE GARDENING. 



mushrooms that are edible, but since there are also several 

 poisonous kinds one should be careful about trying unknown 

 sorts. Among the edible kinds are the several sorts known as 

 puff balls (Lycoperdon). When these first appear, they are 

 white balls of a fleshy texture with little or no stalks; as they 

 ripen the flesh turns gradually to a dark brown, and finally 

 the spores are ejected by the ball being crushed or naturally 

 breaking open. They are not fit to eat after the flesh begins 

 to turn brown. The smaller sorts are most common, but the 

 giant puff ball is occasionally met with and is often ten or more 

 inches in diameter. 



Another common native mushroom is shown in figure 45. 



Figure 45. — Native Mushrooms. On the left is shown the giant puff 

 ball (Lycoperdon giganteum) ; on the right Maned Agaric (Coprin- 

 us comatus), in various stages of maturity. 



It has a stem several inches high, but the top does not expand 

 and is one of the most delicious of all the mushroom tribe when 

 young. It is called the Maned Agaric (Coprinus comatus.) It 

 grows in waste and grassy places, lawns and meadows. The 

 gills (layers on the under part of the head) are at first white 

 or pink, melting into an inkj^ fluid-like substance when more 

 mature. 



Little attention has ever been paid in this country to 

 growing our native species. They could undoubtedly be propa* 

 gated by digging up some of the earth where they grow abun- 

 dantly and mixing it with the soil where it is desired to grow 



