«« Its real nature being unsettled it is not easy to give a name. About fifty years ago Schwkinitz 
•called it Lycoperdon solidum , which is solid puff-ball, and afterwards he called it Pachyvia cocos. 
If your Maryland friend finds it and can get specimens in the young state, he will do good sen-ice 
to science, as it does not seem just the thing to have a native vegetable production turning up 
every now and then, about which “ nobody don’t know nothing.” 
In response to a good friend of Carmel, Ind., we must say it is impossible to give a list and 
description of all the edible fungi, nor do we think we can give one by which the poisonous vari- 
ties might be easily known. No one should eat varieties with which they are not acquainted. 
In answer to an inquiry published in a previous number for the best method of cooking 
Mushrooms, among others we have received 
the following: 
To Cook Mushrooms. — Peel both tops and stems, 
put in a stew-pan, with one ounce of butter and a pinch 
of salt to each pound; cover with water and stew 
gently, after once coming to a boil, ten minutes, then 
put in three tablespoonfuls of milk or one of cream to 
each pound, and serve up hot. This is a dish for fish, 
flesh and fowl, fit for a king. Season to suit, with 
more salt, red or black pepper. Mushrooms fully 
opened, but still flesh-colored underneath, are best. 
They are also excellent broiled on toast. 
To Fry Mushrooms. — Peel, then dip in egg and 
roll in cracker crumbs. Season with pepper and fry 
as oysters. 
Mushroom Pie. — Line a deep dish with pie¬ 
crust. Then fill with small Mushrooms, and nearly 
cover with milk. Add pepper, salt, and butter, and a handful of cracker-crumbs, rolled very fine. Cover with 
crust and bake till done. 
Since the above was in type we have received not much less than a score of communications 
— all in praise of the Morel, which is no doubt one of the most delicious fungi known. Our 
correspondent of Null’s Mills, Indiana, who first called our attention to this excellent Mushroom, 
and whose communication was published in Number 3 of last year, sends a long and interesting 
■communication, from which we make the following extracts: 
James Vick — Dear Sir: — Your Guide, No. 3 for 1875, is received. I did not expect you to give my little 
Mushroom, Puff-ball, Toad-stool, or whatever it is, the honor of an illustration, but I am glad to say, and my 
neighbors agree with me, that you have given a very excellent representation of what we call the Mushroom. 
Your engraving looks so much like it that any one not acquainted with the fungi could not mistake it, if hunting 
for it with the picture before him. In my description, which was hurriedly written, I should have said that it is 
generally of a yellowish color — it varies from a bluish brown to yellow, owing, I think, to the place it grows in ; if 
growing in a shady place, the color is darker ; if exposed to the sun, yellow. We find them growing principally in 
-open woodland, where it has been sometime partly cleared and set with grass, or in old orchards. The mode of 
■cooking with which I am acquainted is as follows : Slice the Mushroom length-wise, soak in salt and cold water 
over night. Roll in flour or pulverized crackers, and fry in butter same as oysters. When done they resem¬ 
ble in appearancee and the flavor is much like oysters, but they have a “ palatable lusciousness,” if I maybe 
allowed the expression, far superior to oysters. Another mode of cooking, a neighbor informs me, is to serve them 
up with “ gravy," and that they are excellent in this way. We find this Mushroom in April and May, alter a few 
■warm showers. — H. C. Mcl. 
To Mrs. C. R. Peddle, of Terre Haute, Indiana, and R. T. Woliston, of Springfield, Ohio, 
we are indebted for interesting articles on the Morel , with several fine specimens. E. Locke, of 
Los Angelos, California, was reminded by our previous article on this subject of his first introduc¬ 
tion to the Morel, in 1846, when traveling near Old P'ort Defiance, on the Maumee River, and 
what a glorious feast he had when camping out, on what he thought, until informed better, were 
only Toad-stools. 
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