larger  wze  tlian  At  the  so-called  true 
ISIushroom.  They  are  equally  good  iu  flavor,  and 
equally  wholesome. 
In  several  Wjka  certain  general  rules  are 
given  for  ascertaining  at  once  whether  a  Fungus 
may  bo  eaten  or  not :  they  are  so  absurd,  how¬ 
ever,  that  those  who  know  better  never  think  of 
refuting  them.  It  is  not  exactly  easy  to  see 
whether  these  rules  are  intended  for  the  discrim¬ 
ination  of  the  Mushroom  from  other  Fmigi,  or 
edible  from  poisonous  species  generally.  Per¬ 
haps  the  roost  important  of  these  jeanons  is  that 
edible  species  never  change  color  when  cut  or 
bruised.  We  have  scon  how  .4.  arcetisis  com¬ 
ports  itself  under  such  conditions.  But  there  is 
a  variety  of  A.  campL-flrh  (ruhesrfni.'i.  Berk) 
which  heconies  brilliantly  pink  at  the  seat  of  in¬ 
jury  ;  juid  tliis  plant  is  one  of  the  most  savory 
fonns  of  the  Mushroom  with  which  we  are  ac¬ 
quainted.  A.  assumes,  as  its  name 
implies,  a  reddish  tint,  especially  where  it  has 
been  injured  by  insects.  JAiclanis  (h’lu'iosus 
turns  from  bright  orange  to  a  dirty  green,  and 
this  alone  is  Buflicient  to  distinguish  it  from  all 
its  compoers.  The  mere  fact  of  a  Fungus 
changing  to  blue  cannot  bo  rcgarde<l  as  an  abso¬ 
lute  proof  of  its  toxic  qhahties,  for  a  friend  of 
mine  has  eaten  chryBmkTon  before  ho 
knew  acciroately  71.  edulis,  and  during  my  novi¬ 
ciate  I  several  times  partook  of  71.  IxiriUuB  with¬ 
out  any  ill  cfTocts  whatever  accruing.  Another 
rule  very  commonly  relied  on  is  lliat  If  a  Fungus 
he  pleasant  to  the  taste,  and  its  odor  not  offen- 
sivo.  it  may  lx»  eaten ;  hut  this  is  not  only  a  fal¬ 
lacious,  but  an  exceedingly  dangerous  guide.  It 
is  quite  true  some  Fi^ngi  arc  intensely  am-id,  and 
are  irritant  i>olsmra,  but  upon  the  other  Iiand 
jMelanis  MUrinsuB,  one  of  the  very  best  of 
our  British  species,  as  its  namo  implies,  when 
eaten  raw  causes  a  very  unpleasant  amount  of 
tingling  of  the  month  and  tongue.  Far  more 
important,  however,  is  it  to  rememher  that  a 
Fungns  may  have  a  pleasant  odor  and  taste,  and 
yet  be  roost  virulently  poisonous.  Mr.  W.  (1. 
Hniith  was  poisoned  by  eating  loss  than  }^'  oz.  of 
A.fertiliB,  wbicli  has  anything  but  a  disagree¬ 
able  taste.  Again  .4.  inuBcariuB  lias  no  acridity, 
jihalloidis  or  A.  Mapfia;  and 
fiend  me  a  few  white  Canterbury  Boll  eccds  and 
Double  'Wall-flowers.  Address  Mrs.  E.  C.  Ross, 
WaitBhurg,  Malta  Walla  Co,,  M'ash.  Ter. 
Please  publish  the  following  under  your 
Flower  Seed  Exchange : 
Wanted  to  exchange  seeds  of  Agiralum 
canmn  —  Pansy,  mixed  varieties  —  Fortnlaca, 
mixed  colors,  and  Vick’s  Japan  Cockscomb,  for  a 
few  Potato  tiood  balls,  two  or  three  varieties 
prefon-cd.— CrJSTOx  Hiqi.ey.  WmUimn,  Port¬ 
age  Go.,  Ohio. 
MISCELLANEA 
perhaps,  as  it  gratified  them.  'J'ho  taste  for 
floral  occupations  knows  no  miserable  jiartisau- 
sbip.  It  is  gi-egarions  and  benevolent,  socking 
kindred  spiritfi,  as  “  birds  of  a  feather  flock  to¬ 
gether,”  and  while  a  coiiuncn<'lablo  emulation 
inspii'cs  one  to  eclipse  a  neighbor  or  a  friend, 
ho  will  assist  him  in  every  way,  and  be  happy 
rather  in  rendering  his  rival  formidable  than 
in  depriving  him  of  any  meana  of  attaining  su¬ 
perior  results.  Such  victories  are  as  “  Roses 
withou  t  t  horns.”  The  victor  and  the  vanquished 
are  both  pleased ;  the  hitter  that  he  has  done  to 
much,  the  former  that  he  has  done  yet  more. 
If  flowers  work  a  tithe  of  the  good  with  which 
they  are  credited,  tliose  who  arc  possessed  of 
original  information  and  make  a  secret  of  it  are 
not  unlike  a  minister  wlio,  having  devised  a  new 
metliod  of  doing  good,  oontlnos  its  operation  to 
the  members  of  his  rnvu  family. 
Communications  from  om’  friends  are  always 
read  with  all  due  attention.  Wc  arc  happy  to 
hoar  from  them  on  all  .’matters  appertaining  to 
rtoi'iculluro,  whether  with  or  without  a  view  to 
publication. 
Prunikolia. — We  have  been  trying  to 
think,  for  a  week  or  so  past,  to  call  our  readers' 
attention  to  tlic  foliage  of  Spinm  pmutf  iHa. 
It  is  not  too  late.  The  gloHsincss  which  charac¬ 
terizes  its  leaves  while  they  arc  green  still  con¬ 
tinues  now  they  are  rod,  having  changed  from 
green  to  their  present  color  through  several 
distinct  and  j'loasing  shades.  As  wo  have  no¬ 
ticed  the  fall  tints  of  many  trees  and  shrubs  of 
the  woods,  field*  and  gardens  about  ns,  there  is 
not  one  other,  it  aoems  to  us,  that  changes  so 
beautifully,  so  brightly,  and  yet  holds  its  foliage 
80  persistently.  Now,  indeed  (Oct.  20),  most  of 
the  loaves  of  fithor  plants  have  fallen,  while  for 
the  most  part  those  tliat  remain  have  finled  to 
the  color  of  fallen  rather  than  of  Full  leaves. 
In  a  garden  500  feet  away,  wo  see  among  the 
slmibs  only  this,  so  striking  is  its  foliage  anioug 
the  hair-leatloHS  branches  of  those  aliont  it. 
The  hoantios  of  Autumn  Leaves  have  been  well 
sung,  though  not.  possibly,  over-sutig.  But 
while  the  Oak,  Maple,  Liquidamber,  Tulip,  Su¬ 
mach,  etc.,  liave  constituted  the  subjects  of 
those  gongs,  prunifulia  wo  have  never  seen 
mentioned,  tliougb,  unless  this  aeason  has  been 
one  to  cause  an  exceptional  deposition  of  c-ry- 
thropbyllino  (whatever  that  is),  it  is  as  an  Au¬ 
tumn  plant  the  brightest  and  most  enduring  of 
them  all.  This  shrub  possesses  several  rare 
claims  upon  om  regards,  to  which  wo  have  re¬ 
ferred  in  other  numbers.  We  should  select  it 
as  one  of  the  very  few  that  may  he  seen  iu  every 
garden  without  being  considered  too  common  to 
be  worthy  of  a  dignified  position. 
Gakde.v  Paths.— Tnr.  UcJi.vT.  New-Yokkeu 
recommends  walks  about  the  promises  iu  winter 
^ciciitifit  ant)  alsfful 
ojiiiiion  of  your  subscribers  as  to  the  changing 
of  the  color  of  Hydrangeas.  Here  is  mine: 
Seven  years  ago  I  planted  a  Hydrangea  on  the 
north  side  of  my  house.  To-day  it  is  a  hush 
seven  feet  high,  six  across,  and  covered  every 
summer  with  hundreds  of  blossoms.  The  first 
fom-  years  tho  flowers  wore  roso-colored.  Tlie 
fifth  year,  to  my  groat  surprise,  the  flowers  wore 
a  clear  sky-hlno— a  color  which  they  still  assume. 
Now,  my  theory  about  this  change  Is  tliis  :  My 
soil  is  a  moldy  sand,  ton  or  12  inehes  deep,  un- 
derlaiu  by  a  ycllow-rcddi.sh  clay.  As  long  ns  the 
roots  of  "the  bush  drew  their  sustonance  from 
the  surface  soil,  the  hlossoms  remained  pinkish. 
When  tho  bush  grew  older  and  pushed  its  roots 
into  the  rod  subsoil,  the  flowers  changed  to  blue. 
If  T  raise  cuttings  from  this  hush,  they  bloom 
pink  again.  |  This  change  of  color  has  usually 
boon  observed  when  tlie  jilants  have  beta  re¬ 
moved  from  one  situatiou  to  another,  in  the  floil 
of  which  iron  was  supposed  to  ahoiitid.  In  tho 
above  instanoo,  the  roots  penetrate*!  an  iron 
subsoil,  producing  tlio  same  effect.— Ei>.| 
If  1  wore  a  belter  hand  at  -writing,  I  would 
like  to  eommunicate  somothiugof  my  exporicuco 
in  raising  fruits  and  flowers  here  in  Texas.  1 
should  write  you  about  budding  Walnuts  (not 
gni fling),  Avhich  ficems  to  ho  a  lost  art,  and 
which  I  practiced  successfully  when  I  was  a 
small  boy,  aliout  twenty  years  ago,  in  my 
fatbor’s  nursery  in  Switzerland.  This  is  effected 
by  a  little  devialioJi  of  the  time  and  method 
prai'ticed  in  hmldiug  fruit  trees.  I  should  also 
write  as  to  some  facts  which  I  have  observed, 
viz.,  Uiat,  ill  grafting,  the  stock  has  a  m.Hrked 
iiilliieuce  on  the  fruit  of  the  oion,  notwithstand¬ 
ing  the  denial  of  many  horticuHiirists.  1  would 
say  to  Mr.  Miner  that  1  liavo  his  *'suppose<l” 
Grape  vinca.  Nos.  1  and  2,  in  notarn,  not  ten  yards 
apart,  same  variety,  and  bulb  seven  years  old- 
ouo,  never  touched  with  a  knife,  given  tlie  free 
range  of  a  big  Oak ;  the  other  kojit  regularly 
pruned,  summer  primed,  pinched  aud  trained  on 
a  small  ti-ellis  four  feet  square.  Tlie  comparison 
of  the  result  has  left  me  a  close  prunist. 
With  this  I  take  occasion  to  send  yon  a  few 
seeds  of  a  very  pi  etly  Texas  flower,  ratlier  rare, 
called  bore  I’rairie-tiilip.  With  my  limited  bo¬ 
tanical  knowledge,  1  trace  it  to  the  genus  Gtn- 
tiana,  but  cannot  find  the  species  described.  It 
is  a  perennial,  has  a  rich,  dark-blue  flower,  quite 
substantial  and  lasting,  ^hout  three  inches  in 
diameter.  It  blooms  through  tho  summer 
months,  incliirug  to  sport  to  Avhite  when  culti¬ 
vated.  It  is  preferable  to  many  ari  exotic  and 
in  every  way  worthy  a  place  in.  tlio  flower  gar¬ 
den.  J  hopo  you  Avill  deem  it  worth  a  b'ial  in 
the  Rural  gromids.  |  We  certainly  shall.— Eu.J 
A  Co.NTRAST.— I>ook  on  this  and  tbon  on  that : 
- ,  Conn. 
Bear  Sir :  On  returning  from  a  visit,  I  read 
voiir  •*  Little  Aanounoenicnt  ”  in  Rural  of  7th 
EDIBLE  AND  POISONOUS  MUSHROOMS, 
neither  has  .1 
whatever  may  be  the  character  of  the  two  latter, 
tlio  poisonous  properties  of  tho  former  are  well- 
known.  It  must  ho  romombered  Unit  J''nrigi  may 
he  irritant,  narcotic,  or  narcotie-uritiint  poisons, 
and  while  it  is  possible  to  recognize  an  irritant 
by  tho  taste,  a  uai’cotic  may  l>o  nearly  tasteless. 
There  is  one  ivay,  aud  only  one,  by  wliich.  ac¬ 
cording  to  Mr.  Blowright  in  "Kcionco  Gossip,” 
edible  Fungi  can  be  discrimmatod  from  poison¬ 
ous  ones  with  ab.soluto  certainty,  and  that  is,  by 
a  knowledge  of  the  individuai  species.  As  well 
might  a  code  of  rales  bo  laid  down  for  the  dis- 
crimiuatiou  of  wliolesomo  from  poisonous  fruits 
or  vegetables  as  fur  Fungi.  People  do  occasion¬ 
ally  mistako  Aconite  roots  for  Horseradish,  or 
Fool's-parsley  for  Parsley  properly  so  called,  but 
Ave  have  no  general  rules  drawn  up  iu  this  case, 
neither  do  people  become  panic-stricken  and 
eschew  tlie  whole  race  of  condiraeuts  because  of 
these  unfortunate  accidents.  But  if  any  misad¬ 
venture  occurs  fromeaUng  Fungi,  tlie  .whole  race 
arc  scouted  and  branded  as  the  harbingers  of 
death.  Li  this  country  Fungus-eating  is  re¬ 
served  for  tho  few,  but  it  by  no  means  follows 
that  these  few  ai-e  experimentalists :  far  from  it, 
for  the  species  thtw  eat  have  been  known  to  be 
edible,  aud  have  been  eaten  by  the  initiated  from 
time  immemorial  in  other  lauds  if  not  in  this. 
Like  other  kinds  of  food,  they  vary  much  iu 
flavor,  in  the  facihty  Avith  which  they  can  be  di¬ 
gested,  aud  in  their  nntritious  qualities.  Certain 
excellent  species  cannot  be  too  widely  knovA-n, 
and  every  hooseAvife  should  he  able  to  discern 
them,  especially  as  they  have  all  well-marked 
characters. 
Occasionally  we  hear  vegetarians  say  they  live 
uiAon  some  fabulously  small  sum— a  fcAv  pence 
per  diem ;  and  although  very  fmv  people  indeed 
would  care  to  debar  themselves  of  Avholesome, 
nutritious  food  for  the  sake  of  a  mere  theory, 
yet  it  cannot  be  OA’Crlookcd  that  the  continued 
and  eoutinuing  increase  of  the  population  will 
eventually  demand  a  full  dcA*elopmcnt  of  the 
resources  of  tho  country. 
There  cannot  bo  a 
doubt  that  the  esculent  siiecies  of  Fungi  aa'UI  in 
the  future  occupy  a  most  important  place  in  the 
dietary  of  the  nation,  not  simply  because  of  their 
cheapness,  but  rather  by  reason  of  their  nutri¬ 
tious  qualities  aud  the  large  proportion  of  nitro¬ 
genous  compounds  Avhich  they  contain. 
letters  tliat  prefer  the  latter  view.  Wo  may  say,, 
however,  that  Avhei-e  Ave  receive  one  of  “that,” 
Ave  receive  fifty  of  “  this.” 
To  Tue  “Rural”  FLOUt<’Ui.TrKisTS.— We 
wish  that  all  our  lloricultural  friends  Avould 
Avrite  us  of  the  plants  that  through  this  summer 
have  lAleased  thorn  most of  tho  single  plants, 
of  tho  bedding  plants,  of  the  vines,  shnibs,  aud 
of  the  trees,  too.  Arbitrary  distinctions  are 
made  between  trees  and  more  loAvly- growing 
tilings  Avhich  are  called  plants  or  shrubs.  There 
is  in  fact  no  place  to  di-SAV  a  lino.  All  plants 
Lave  floAvers  and  fruits,  and  the  Apple  tree  or 
llorsechestout  is  just  as  much  a  “flower”  as 
the  Pelargonium  or  Hyacinth.  Write  us,  then, 
all  of  you  who  love  flowers  Avell  enough  to  have 
■w  orUed  among  them  the  past  season  and  to  have 
obserA'od  Avliat  seemed  to  you  most  wortliy  of 
your  time  and  labors.  Tell  us  Avhat  you  have 
ADULTERATING  OILS 
EXCHANGE 
