HUSHBOOM SPAWH. 
85 
Mr. S. Henshaw, in Henderson’s Hand-book of Plants, 
tells us : “The quality of the spawn may be very easily 
detected by the mushroom-like smell, . . . and I 
should have no hesitation in picking out good spawn in 
the dark.” Sanguine, surely, but I have tried it and 
found the test wanting. M. Lachaume says that good 
spawn shows “an abundance of bluish-white filaments 
well fitted together, and giving off a strongly marked 
odor of mushrooms. All those portions which show 
traces of white or yellow mold or have a floury appear¬ 
ance, should be rejected and destroyed.” Mr. Wright 
says: “A brick may be a mass of moldiness, and yet 
be quite worthless; and if the mold has a spotted ap¬ 
pearance, as if fine white sand had been dredged on and 
through the macs, it is certain there is no mushroom¬ 
growing power there. ... If thick threads pass 
through the mass and there are signs of miniature tuber¬ 
cles on them, then the spawrn may be regarded as too far 
gone. . . . Clusters of white specks on the spawn 
denote sterility.” 
Mr. A. D. Cowan, of New York, who has the reputa¬ 
tion of being an excellent judge of mushroom spawn, 
writes me: “To correctly judge the quality of brick 
spawn by its appearance requires experience in handling 
it, and a trained eye which enables one quickly to detect 
good from bad, fair to middling. As two lots seldom 
come exactly or nearly alike in appearance, it is hardly 
possible to give precise rules to follow, excepting the 
never-failing requisite which the spawn must possess to 
be good, namely, the moldy appearance on the surface, 
the more the better, without showing threads. Too 
many of these to a given space are a sure indication of 
exhausted vitality, arising generally from the bricks 
being heaped together when in process of manufacture, 
before they are sufficiently dried. Healthy bricks are 
usually of a dusty brown color, and of light weight. 
