MUSHROOMS: both in their own varieties and by general custom, in this country especially, present a curiously interesting study in contradictions. By the quantities which grow wild, and by the ease with which they may be raised, they would seem to be a food especially useful to the poor—instead, it is chiefly the well-to-do who eat them. They are overlooked or distrusted by country residents who can have them for the picking—yet epicures and Jhe wealthier classes in the cities pay high prices for them and consider them delicious luxuries! The general explanation is, that the majority are afraid of mushrooms because of the poisonous fungi which resemble them—yet many tribes of savages who are certainly not more intelligent in other respects, appreciate them and devour them in great quan tities—the natives of Terra del Fuego, for example, live almost exclusively on mush rooms and fish.
Again, though mushrooms have been cultivated for at least two thousand years, and have been for generations raised in enormous and ever-increasing quantities in France, Italy, Russia, Australia, New Zealand and other countries, for home consumption and export, it is only within recent years that intelligible, information concerning their growth has been generally obtainable here—there existed formerly an air of mystery on the subject, as though mushroom cultivation were a cross between accident and magic ! England has been under a similar blight of misinfor mation and prejudice, though not to quite the same extent as this country.
Eastern countries are the greatest per capita consumers, with Japan and China well in the lead. Japan made an attractive exhibit of many varieties at the Chicago World's Fair, and both Japan and China export dried mushrooms to the United States and Europe.
The general title of "mushrooms" is h ere used, as popularly employed, to cover all kinds of edible fungi except truffles, though they vary considerably in shape, size and color. They are found in nearly all temperate regions and in every part of the
world, growing wild most freely in the spring and autumn—in forests, orchards. vineyards and pastures. Many varieties are agreeable in flavor and rich in food value.
The mushroom is not, as generally understood, the plant or fungus itself—it is the fruit of the growth which produces it and which remains underground—a white or bluish mold called mycelium or "spawn," a network mass of thin thread-like roots or underground stems. The mushroom or "fruit," when mature, diffuses a quantity of the powder or "spores," generally dark in color, by which the fungus extends its propagation. Artificial cultivation of the mushroom by "spores" is slow and uncer tain, so the "spawn," which is sold in both "cake" and "flake" form, is used instead.
Any place is suitable for cultivation which is moderately cool and moist, even in temperature and away from direct sunlight. A cellar is the best ordinary example. but growing on a large scale is generally done in eaves, closed tunnels, abandoned quarries or specially constructed "mushroom houses"—usually wooden buildings partly below and partly above ground. The spawn is planted in beds of mixed manure and earth, with a final covering of the latter. When the crop is well under way, the beds are picked once or twice a day for every mushroom large enough for market, as they are choicer for eating before fully matured and while the "veil" over them is still unbroken—after that time they are generally used for catsup, etc.
The following list briefly describes the principal edible varieties. The Orange, Brick Top, Rodman, Peppery Lactarius, Parasol, Ink Cap. Fairy Club and 0yRter Mushroom are shown on the half-tone page illustration opposite—as also the Ball described under its own heading. The Common Mushroom, Boletus, Cantharellus or Chanterelle, Fairy Ring, Morel and Vegetable Beefsteak are depicted on the accom panying COLOR PAGE.