1881. ] 
MUSHROOMS. 
1G5 
after a voyage of seventeen days. I, being 
busy at the time, forgot them for another fort¬ 
night, after which I took them out, parched 
indeed, and cut off the tips, and struck them 
in the ordinary manner in a box in a warm 
frame. They all struck in two weeks ; I only 
lost four, out of four and a half dozen. Thev 
have been in flower ever since early June, and 
it seems to me a most interesting experience.— 
Edward H. Allen, F.R.H.S., St. Johns , 
Putney Hill , S. TEA 
MUSHROOMS. 
F all the plants we cultivate, whether 
for use or ornament, there are none 
so mysterious as the Mushroom, for 
whilst other plants require light and air, this 
grows in the dark, and needs no ventilation. 
Moreover, in an ordinary Mushroom house of 
the Oldacre type, with shelves, the Mushrooms 
may be seen growing head downwards, as well 
as heads up. But the strangest part of the cul¬ 
ture of this plant consists in its having no 
apparent roots, at least none at all equal to the 
task of yielding a crop of Mushrooms. A mouldy 
medium of loam and stable-dung is all the 
available earthy bed required for the crop. 
The smell of the Mushroom itself is one of 
the safest guides to its culture, in order to deter¬ 
mine those which are eatable from those which 
are not. Here I would remark that house Mush¬ 
rooms, as a rule, are always safe, whereas those 
from the meadows may be of various kinds, re¬ 
quiring skilful overhauling to ensure safet}\ 
Agarics abound about decaying wood, and should 
never be trusted in unskilful hands, bearing in 
mind the ravages of the dry-rot, which, mean 
and contemptible though it be, is able to bring 
down beams of oak, and render them brittle 
as a carrot, and that, too, in a very short space 
of time. Some Agarics have been known to 
raise the flagstones in the street. It is little 
less than a miracle to see the soft tissues 
of a Mushroom mastering the mas on-work, 
to get room to expand ; but where, I would 
ask, does this bulk of Agaric come from, for it 
has nothing under-ground to supply materials 
such as we see in turnips, parsnips, potatos, 
&c. When we dig up a “ Fairy Ring, - ’ we 
find a few white threads, and this is all the 
* Wc shall be "lad to hear what the Cingalese Carnation 
seed produces.—E d. 
bank of earth that the Agaric had to draw 
upon. Salt has the peculiar characteristic of 
taking the damp or dryness, just as the weather 
changes; and this is just the way that Agarics 
do best, whether for good or evil, and so we 
have in salt something not unlike manure for 
Mushrooms. 
I should have stated that Mushrooms require 
no water, like other plants, but succeed admir¬ 
ably in a house full of steam; and when well 
managed, this is by far the best way to growthem, 
since they come clean and white, and as close 
as one can stand beside another ; and whether as 
buttons to bottle, or larger specimens to stew, 
they are under control. The fairy ring illus¬ 
trates the growth of these Agarics, showing 
exactly where spawn has been running, 
and where, under favourable circumstances, 
Mushrooms may be found. The Mushroom is 
not the plant, but the fruit of the mouldy 
spawn that pervades the maiden loam in the 
meadow, just as the dry-rot pervades the 
timber, and of the fairy rings, all that can be 
seen is a few white threads. This, indeed, 
is all that the botanist can exhibit, for, barring 
the fruit of the agaric, they have no place, for 
they come in a night, as if they were some 
modern manna sent to feed the poor and the 
destitute, direct from Heaven. If roast-beef 
be excellent—and no one doubts it—mush¬ 
rooms well cooked are still more savoury, and 
always tender. 
When Mushrooms are gathered, they should 
be kept the right side up, which is as they 
grow, in order to keep the sand and earth from 
getting to the gills, where washing could be of 
no service. Where meadows have been salted 
to kill the moss, it has sometimes killed the 
grass as well, and the effect has been a heavy 
crop of mushrooms, generated, no doubt, from 
latent spawn enlivened by the salt, and by the 
damp state which the salt would maintain. 
I have been asked why people do not grow 
a crop of mushrooms in their cellars; but it is 
never desirable to have manure blue-moulded 
in one’s house, or in any part of it, though 
there are sheds and idle pens for cattle that 
might well serve for growing mushrooms. For 
this purpose, stable-dung should be prepared 
by fermenting and repeatedly turning it until 
it looks blue, and is what gardeners call 
tl burnt,” and the maiden loam required should 
