GATHERING AND MARKETING MUSHROOMS. 115 
turning it over.” Mr. John G. Gardner, of Jobstown, 
X. J., is one of Mr. Barnes’s old pupils and a most suc¬ 
cessful mushroom grower, and he now practices this 
same method of moistening the atmosphere by hot ma¬ 
nure steam. See page 21. 
In damping the floors of the mushroom house, as well 
as the beds, I use a medium-sized watering pot and fine 
rose; but in sprinkling the walls and other parts not 
readily accessible by the watering pot I use a common 
garden syringe. 
CHAPTER XVII. 
GATHERING AND MARKETING MUSHROOMS. 
This is an important point in the cultivation of this 
esculent, and should be attended to with painstaking 
discretion. 
When mushrooms are fit to pick depends upon several 
conditions; for instance, whether for market or for 
home use, and if for the latter, whether they are wanted 
for soups or stews. For fresh and attractive appearance 
and best appreciation in the market, pick them when 
they are plump and fresh and just before the frill con¬ 
necting the cap with the stem breaks apart. The French 
mushrooms should always be gathered before the frill 
bursts; the English mushrooms also look best when 
gathered at this time, but they are admissible if gath¬ 
ered when the frill begins to burst and before the cap 
has opened out flat. If the mushrooms display a ten¬ 
dency to produce long stems pick them somewhat earlier, 
soon enough to get them with short shanks, for long 
stems are disliked in market; so, too, are dark or dis¬ 
colored or old mushrooms of any sort. Sometimes we 
