626 
Journal of Agricultural Research 
Vol. XXX, No. 7 
open. The whole mass penetrated 
by these mycelia assumed a character¬ 
istic yellow color. 
The tops of piles about 3 to 4 weeks 
old often showed an abundant crop 
of agarics, mostly a species of Psilocybe, 
but including occasionally Hypholomas 
and Coprini. Myxomycetes were seen 
fruiting on the sides and even on the 
tops of the piles, without giving evi¬ 
dence or suggestion of extensive par¬ 
ticipation in the fermentation observed. 
Cultures of the plasmodia of one very 
common form upon ground bagasse 
produced no changes comparable to 
those observed in the piles. Nema¬ 
todes also were abundant, but their 
effect upon the mass was not 
determined. 
The two conspicuous features of the 
fermentation were the heating process 
and the yellow fermentation. 
Further study by the writers has 
been limited to the cause of the yellow¬ 
ing process. The preliminary survey 
had suggested that the mycelium 
belonged to some hymenomycete. 
Strands and streamers of hyphae 
were traceable up through the bales 
of bagasse, almost to the base of the 
agarics seen upon the surface. 
Cultures from samples taken from 
many places in these piles yielded 
Monilia sitophila, Trichoderma, mucors, 
Aspergillus fumigatus, A. terreus, A. 
niger , A. flavus, Fusarium, and an occa¬ 
sional Penicillium, with nematodes as a 
common contaminant. White mycelia, 
producing coiled masses of microspores, 
were occasionally obtained, but they 
were not recognized at this stage of the 
study. Such a variety of species in 
culture was clearly foreshadowed by the 
abundance of microorganisms on the 
surface of the mass. The air was so 
full of spores that everything handled 
was excessively contaminated. 
Tubes and flasks of the original 
material were prepared with the addi¬ 
tion of various quantities of water. In 
certain of these tubes of bagasse a few 
fruits of the mushroom type were ob¬ 
tained. Following the technique de¬ 
vised by Duggar for Agaricus campes- 
tris, the developing caps were dissected, 
and the pieces were distributed in 
tubes of Czapek solution agar, wort 
agar, bagasse, and various stock media 
used for bacteriological work. 
From tubes of wort and Czapek agar, 
pure cultures were obtained, from 
which caps identifiable as Psilocybe 
were eventually grown. The myce¬ 
lium of this agaric proved to be white 
and to produce microspores in enor¬ 
mous numbers in masses produced by 
the coiling of conidia-producing 
branches from hyphae near the surface 
of the substratum. In this way 
whole areas became powdery with mi¬ 
crospores in culture and reproduced 
extensive areas seen in the piles. 
Transfers from these pure cultures 
back to tubes of ground bagasse devel¬ 
oped the yellow color of the original 
fermentation. 
Cultures of this organism have 
fruited freely in the laboratory during 
February, March, April, and May at 
18° to 30° C. Mycelium developed 
rather slowly at 37° C. without fruit¬ 
ing. The structure of the fruit bodies 
differed markedly with the nature and 
density of the substratum. Loose 
masses of bagasse in cotton-stoppered 
wide-mouth flasks were well overgrown 
with hyphae and powdery with masses of 
microspores, but they produced no 
caps. Wort agar slants were first cov¬ 
ered with white mycelium with abun¬ 
dant microspores; then they occasionally 
produced clusters of very small caps. 
On such media little buds, densely 
crowded along the stipes of the larger 
caps, appeared occasionally and pro¬ 
duced pilei 3 to 4 mm. in diameter. 
Upon masses of bagasse and agar so 
wet as to be jelly like the mycelium re¬ 
mained on the surface and the pilei 
produced were borne upon delicate 
stipes almost free from surface fibrils. 
These pilei were thin, bell-shaped, and 
Psathyrella-like in appearance and 
texture, although the lamellae were 
adnexed or decurrent by a tooth as in 
typical forms. All sorts of monstrous 
forms occur upon these wet media. 
Globose or subglobose masses which 
never opened up as pilei were observed 
in wet agar cultures. When broken 
open, these often showed fully formed 
gills and ripe spores. On dry, closely- 
packed fiber, the fruits tend to be soli¬ 
tary and resemble fairly closely those 
gathered in the field. 
Search of the literature of Psilocybe 
and related genera for the identifica¬ 
tion of this form involves many diffi¬ 
culties. In general, the material avail¬ 
able is unsatisfactory because of the 
changes due to drying in this group and 
the lack of notes upon large numbers 
of fresh specimens. In the herbarium 
of the New York Botanical Garden, 
however, a packet of specimens collect¬ 
ed by Earle at Auburn, Ala., was found 
accompanied by long-hand descriptions 
which tally with the writers’ observa¬ 
tions. Comparison of the spores under 
the microscope pointed toward the iden¬ 
tity of the writers’ material with Earle’s, 
which had been designated a new 
