For the past few years the writer has been giving some attention to the

different methods of the cultivation of mushrooms in America, and in

response to the growing interest for information concerning the

artificial cultivation of these plants, it has seemed well to add this

chapter on the cultivation of mushrooms to the second edition of the

present work. The cultivation as practiced in America exists under a

great variety of conditions. All of these conditions have not been

thoroughly investigated, and yet a sufficient number of them have been

rather carefully studied to warrant the preparation of this chapter. The

illustrations which have been made from time to time, by flash light, of

the cave culture of mushrooms in America, as well as of the house

culture, will serve to illustrate graphically some of the stages in the

progress of the work. For present purposes we will consider, first, the

conditions under which the cultivation is carried on, followed by a

discussion of the principles involved in the selection and preparation

of the material, the selection and planting of the spawn, as well as the

harvesting of the crop.

THE CAVE CULTURE OF MUSHROOMS IN AMERICA.

[Illustration: FIGURE 224.--View in Akron "tunnel," N. Y. Mushroom Co.

Beds beginning to bear. Copyright.]

This has been practiced for a number of years in different parts of the

Eastern United States, but perhaps only a small portion of the available

caves or tunnels are at present used for this purpose. These

subterranean mushroom farms are usually established in some abandoned

mine where, the rock having been removed, the space is readily adapted

to this purpose, if portions of the mine are not wet from the dripping

water. The most extensive one which I have visited is located at Akron,

New York, and is operated by the New York Mushroom Company. In a single

abandoned cement mine there are 12 to 15 acres of available space; about

3 to 5 acres of this area are used in the operations of the culture and

handling of materials. The dry portions of the mine are selected, and

flat beds are made upon the bottom rock, with the use of hemlock

boards, making the beds usually 16 feet long by 4 feet wide, the boards

being 10 inches wide. In this case, the beds, after soiling or

finishing, are 9 inches deep, the material resting directly upon the

rock, the boards being used only to hold the material on the edges in

position. Figures 223 and 224 illustrate the position of the beds and

their relation to each other, as well as showing the general structural

features of the mine. The pillars of rock are those which were left at

the time of mining, as supports for the rock roof above, while

additional wood props are used in places. In this mine all of the beds

are constructed upon a single plan.

[Illustration: FIGURE 225.--View in Wheatland cave, showing ridge beds,

and one flat bed. Copyright.]

At another place, Wheatland, New York, where the Wheatland Cave

Mushrooms are grown, beds of two different styles are used, the flat

beds supported by boards as described in the previous case, and the

ridge beds, where the material, without any lateral support, is arranged

in parallel ridges as shown in Fig. 225. This is the method largely, if

not wholly employed in the celebrated mushroom caves at Paris, and is

also used in some cases in the outdoor cultivation of mushrooms. As to

the advantage of one system of bed over the other, one must consider the

conditions involved. Some believe a larger crop of mushrooms is obtained

where there is an opportunity, as in the ridge beds, for the mushrooms

to appear on the sides as well as on the upper surface of the beds. In

the flat beds the mushrooms can appear only at the upper surface,

though occasionally single ones crop out in the crevice between the side

board and the rock below.

[Illustration: FIGURE 226.--Single mushroom house (Wm. Swayne, Kennett

Square, Pa.), "curing" shed at left. This house is heated in connection

with other hothouses.]

Probably at Paris, and perhaps also at some other places where the

system of ridge beds is used, the question of the cost of the lumber is

an important one, and the system of ridge beds avoids the expense of

this item of lumber. In other cases, where the flat beds are used with

the board supports, the cost of lumber is considered a small item when

compared with the additional labor involved in making the ridge bed. The

flat beds are very quickly made, and the material in some cases is not

more than 7 inches deep, allowing a large surface area compared with the

amount of food material, for the growth of the mushrooms. It may be

possible, with the flat, shallow bed system, that as many or more

mushrooms are obtained from the same amount of manure, as in the case of

the ridge beds. When we consider the cost of the manure in some places,

this item is one which is well worth considering.

THE HOUSE CULTURE OF MUSHROOMS.

Where this method of cultivation is employed, as the main issue, houses

are constructed especially for the purpose. In general the houses are of

two kinds. Those which are largely above the ground, and those where a

greater or lesser pit is excavated so that the larger part of the house

is below ground. Between these extremes all gradations exist. Probably

it is easier to maintain an equable temperature when the house is

largely below ground. Where it is largely above ground, however, the

equability of the temperature can be controlled to a certain extent by

the structure of the house. In some cases a wall air space is maintained

around the sides and also over the roof of the building. And in some

cases even a double air space of a foot or 18 inches each is maintained

over the roof. In some cases, instead of an air space, the space is

filled with sawdust, single on the sides of the house, and also a 12 or

18-inch space over the roof. The sides of the house are often banked

with earth, or the walls are built of stone or brick.

[Illustration: FIGURE 227.--Double mushroom house (L. S. Bigony's

Mushroom Plant.) Packing room at left, "curing" shed at right, next to

this is boiler room.]

All of these houses, no matter what the type of construction, require

ventilation. This is provided for by protected openings or exits through

the roof. In some cases the ventilators are along the side of the roof,

when there would be two rows of ventilators upon the single gable roof.

In other cases a row of ventilators is placed at the peak, when a single

row answers. These ventilators are provided with shut-offs, so that the

ventilation can be controlled at will. The size of the house varies, of

course, according to the extent of the operations which the grower has

in mind.

The usual type of house is long and rather narrow, varying from 50 to

150 feet long by 18 to 21 or 24 feet wide. In some cases the single

house is constructed upon these proportions, as shown by Fig. 226, with

a gable roof. If it is desired to double the capacity of a house, two

such houses are built parallel, the intercepting wall supporting the

adjacent roof of the two houses, as shown in Fig. 227. A still further

increase in the capacity of the house is often effected by increasing

the number of these houses side by side. This results in a series of 8

or 10 houses forming one consolidated block of houses, each with its

independent ridge roof and system of ventilation. The separating walls

between the several houses of such a block are probably maintained for

the purpose of better controlling the temperature conditions and

ventilation in various houses. If desired, communication from one house

to another can be had by doors.

=Interior structure and position of the beds.=--The beds are usually

arranged in tiers, one above the other, though in some houses the beds

are confined only to the floor space. Where they are arranged in tiers

in a house of the proportions given above, there are three tiers of

beds. There is one tier on either side, and a tier through the middle;

the middle tier, on account of the peak of the roof at this point, has

one more bed than the tiers on the side. The number of beds in a tier

will depend on the height of the house. Usually the house is constructed

of a height which permits three beds in the side tier and four in the

center tier, with an alley on either side of the center tier of beds,

giving communication to all. If the house is very long and it is

desirable, for convenience in passing from one house to another, to have

cross alley-ways, they can be arranged, but the fewer cross alleys the

larger surface area there is for beds.

[Illustration: FIGURE 228.--View in mushroom house (Wm. Swayne), showing

upper bed in left hand tier. Copyright.]

The size of the beds is governed by convenience in making the beds and

handling the crop. The beds on the side tiers, therefore, are often

three to three and one-half feet in width, affording a convenient

reaching distance from the alley. The beds of the center tier have

access from the alley on either side and are usually seven feet in

width. The width of the alley varies according to the mind of the owner,

from two to three or three and one-half feet. The narrow alley

economizes space in the structure of a house; the wide alley, while

slightly increasing the cost of the structure, makes it much more

convenient in handling the material, and in moving about the house. The

beds are constructed of one-inch boards. Various kinds of lumber are

used, the hemlock spruce, the oak, Georgia pine, and so on. The beds are

supported on framework constructed of upright scantling and cross

stringers upon which the bottom boards are laid. These occur at

intervals of three to four feet. The board on the side of each bed is 10

to 12 inches in width. The bottom bed, of course, is made on the ground.

The upper beds in the tier are situated so that the distance is about

three feet from the bottom of one bed to the bottom of the next above.

Figs. 228 to 231 show the general structure of the beds.

=Heating.=--One portion of the house is set apart for the boiler room,

where a small hot water heater is located. The position of the heater in

one of these houses is shown in Fig. 227. In other cases, where the

plant is quite a large one, a small separate or connecting boiler

apartment is often constructed. In other cases, where the house is

connected with or adjoining a system of greenhouses devoted to hothouse

vegetables, the water pipes may run from the general boiler house which

supplies the heat for all the houses. The water pipes in the mushroom

houses are sometimes run beneath the boards or the walk in the alley, or

in other cases are run just beneath the roof of the building.

=Cultivation of mushrooms under benches in greenhouses.=--This method is

practiced to quite a large extent by some growers. In the house of Mr.

William Swayne, Kennett Square, Pa., a number of large houses, devoted

through the winter to the growing of carnations, are also used for the

cultivation of mushrooms, a single long bed being made up underneath the

beds of carnations. In these houses the water pipes providing heat for

the building run along the sides of the building underneath the

carnation beds at this point. Under these beds, where the water pipes

run, no mushroom beds are made, since the heat would be too great, but

under the three middle rows of beds in the house, mushroom beds are

located. In this way, in a number of houses, several thousand square

feet of surface for mushroom beds can be obtained. The carnations are

grown, not in pots, but in a general bed on a bench. In watering the

carnations, care is used in the distribution of the water, and in the

amount used, to prevent a surplus of water dripping through on the

mushrooms below.

=Cellar culture.=--For the cultivation of mushrooms on a small scale,

unoccupied portions of cellars in a dwelling house are often used. The

question is sometimes asked if it is injurious to the health of the

family in a dwelling house when mushrooms are grown in the cellar.

Probably where the materials used in making up the beds are thoroughly

cured before being taken into the cellar, no injurious results would

come from the cultivation of the plant there. In case the manure is

cured in the cellar, that is, is there carried through the process of

heating and fermentation in preparation for the beds, the odors arising

from the fermenting material are very disagreeable to say the least, and

probably are not at all beneficial to one's general health.

[Illustration: FIGURE 229.--View in mushroom house (Wm. Swayne). View

down alley on right hand side. Copyright.]

In the cellar culture of mushrooms the places selected are along the

sides of the cellar in unused portions. Floor beds alone may be made by

using the boards to support one side, while the wall forms the support

on the other side as in the arrangement of beds on the side tiers in the

mushroom houses; or tiers of beds may be arranged in the same way, one

bed on the bottom, and one or two beds above. The number of beds will

vary according to the available space. Sometimes, where it is not

convenient to arrange the larger beds directly on the bottom of the

cellar, or in tiers, boxes three or four feet, or larger, may be used in

place of the beds. These can be put in out of the way places in the

cellar. The use of boxes of this description would be very convenient in

case it was desired to entirely do away with the possibility of odors

during the fermentation of the manure, or in the making up of the bed.

Even though the manure may be cured outside of the cellar, at the time

it is made in the beds the odors released are sometimes considerable,

and for several days might be annoying and disagreeable to the occupants

of the dwelling, until such a time as the temperature of the manure had

dropped to the point where the odors no longer were perceptible. In this

case, with the use of boxes, the manure can be cured outside, made into

beds in the boxes and taken into the cellar after the temperature is

down to a point suitable for spawning, and very little odor will be

released. If there is a furnace in the cellar it should be partitioned

off from the portion devoted to mushroom culture.

=Cultivation in sheds or out of the way places.=--It is possible to grow

mushrooms in a number of places not used for other purposes. In sheds

where the beds may be well protected from the rain and from changing

currents of air, they may be grown. In open sheds the beds could be

covered with a board door, the sides of the bed being high enough to

hold the door well above the mushrooms. In the basements of barns, or

even in stables where room can be secured on one side for a bed, or tier

of beds, they are often grown successfully.

=Garden and field culture of mushrooms.=--In Europe, in some cases,

mushrooms are often grown in the garden, ridge beds being made up in the

spring and spawned, and then covered with litter, or with some material

similar to burlaps, to prevent the complete drying out of the surface of

the beds. Sometimes they are cultivated along with garden crops. Field

culture is also practiced to some extent. In the field culture rich and

well drained pastures are selected, and spawned sometime during the

month of May. The portions of spawn are inserted in the ground in little

T-shaped openings made by two strokes of the spade. The spade is set

into the ground once, lifted, and then inserted again so that this first

slit is on one side of the middle of the spade and perpendicular to it.

The spade is inserted here and then bent backwards partly so as to lift

open the sod in the letter T. In this opening the block of spawn is

inserted, then closed by pressure with the foot. The spawn is planted in

this way at distances of 6 to 8 feet. It runs through the summer, and

then in the autumn a good crop often appears.

CURING THE MANURE.

=Selection of manure.=--Horse manure is the material which is most

generally used, though sometimes a small percentage of other manures, as

sheep manure, is added. In the selection of the manure it is desirable

to obtain that which is as fresh as possible, which has not passed

through the stage of fermentation, and which contains some straw,

usually as litter, but not too large a percentage of straw. Where there

is a very large percentage of straw the manure is usually shaken out

with a fork, and the coarser portion removed. If there is not too much

of this coarse material the latter is often cured in a separate pile and

used for the bottom of the beds, the finer portions of the manure, which

have been separated, are used for the finishing and for the bulk of the

bed.

[Illustration: FIGURE 230.--View in mushroom house (L. S. Bigony). View

on top of fourth bed, middle tier. Copyright.]

Where manure is obtained on a large scale for the cultivation in houses

or in caves, it is usually obtained by the carload from liveries in

large cities. It is possible to contract for manure of certain livery

stables so that it may be obtained in a practically fresh condition, and

handled by the liverymen according to directions, which will keep it in

the best possible condition for the purpose. In the cave culture of

mushrooms the manure is usually taken directly into the caves, and cured

in some portion of the cave. In the house cultivation of mushrooms there

is usually a shed constructed with an opening on one or two sides, at

the end of the house connected with the beds, where the manure may be

cured. In curing it, it is placed in piles, the size of which will

depend upon the amount of manure to be cured, and upon the method

employed by the operator. The usual size, where considerable manure is

used, is about three feet in depth by ten or twelve feet wide, and

fifteen to twenty feet long. The manure is laid in these piles to heat,

and is changed or turned whenever desirable to prevent the temperature

from rising too high. The object of turning is to prevent the burning of

the material, which results at high degrees of temperature in

fermentation. It is usually turned when the temperature rises to about

130° F. At each turning the outside portions are brought to the center

of the pile. The process is continued until the manure is well fermented

and the temperature does not rise above 100 to 120 degrees, and then it

is ready for making into beds.

There are several methods used in the process of curing, and it does not

seem necessary that any one method should be strictly adhered to. The

most important things to be observed are to prevent the temperature from

rising too high during the process of fermentation, to secure a thorough

fermentation, and to prevent the material from drying out, or burning,

or becoming too wet. The way in which the material is piled influences

the rapidity of fermentation, or the increase of temperature. Where the

material is rather loosely piled it ferments more rapidly, and the

temperature rises quickly. Watering the manure tends to increase the

rapidity of fermentation and the elevation of the temperature. It is

necessary, though, sometimes to water the material if the heat has

reached such a point that it is becoming too dry, or if there is a

tendency for it to burn. The material is then turned, and watered some,

but care should be used not to make it too wet, since the spawn will not

run in wet material.

In general we might speak of three different methods in the curing of

the manure. _First, the slow process of curing._ According to this

method, which is practiced by some, the time of fermentation may extend

from four to five weeks. In this case the manure is piled in such a way

that the temperature does not rise rapidly. During the four or five

weeks the manure is turned four or five times. The turning occurs when

the temperature has arisen to such a point as to require it.

_Another method, used by some, might be called a rapid process of

curing._ According to this, the time for curing the manure extends over

a period of about a week, or five to ten days. The material is piled in

such a way as to cause rapid fermentation and rapid rising of

temperature, the material sometimes requiring to be turned every day or

two, sometimes twice a day, in order to lower the temperature and

prevent the material from burning or drying out. Between this rapid

process of curing, and the slow process of curing, the practice may

extend so that, according to the method of different operators, the

period of curing extends from one week to a month or five weeks.

[Illustration: FIGURE 231.--View in mushroom house (L. S. Bigony's

Mushroom Plant, Lansdale, Pa.), showing alley and side tier of beds.

Copyright.]

_The third method of curing_ consists in putting the material at once

into the beds before curing, and mixing in with the manure, as it is

placed in the bed, about one part of loam or garden soil to four or five

parts of the fresh manure. The material is then left in this condition

to cure without changing or turning, the temperature rising perhaps not

above 130° F. With some experience in determining the firmness with

which the bed should be made to prevent a too high rise of temperature,

this practice might prove to be successful, and would certainly save

considerable labor and expense in the making of the beds. Mr. William

Swayne of Kennett Square, Pa., in the winter of 1900--1901, made up a

portion of one of his beds in this way, and no difference could be seen

in the results of the crop, the crop from the beds made in this way

being as good as that of the adjoining beds, and he intends the

following year to make up all of his beds in the same way.

=Mixing soil with the manure at the time of fermentation.=--While in the

cave culture of mushrooms the manure is usually fermented and used

without the admixture of soil, usually in the house or cellar culture

rich loam soil, or rotted sod, is mixed with the manure at the time of

turning it, during the process of fermentation. At the time of the first

turning, soil is mixed in, a layer of the manure being spread out on the

ground, and then a sprinkling of soil over this. Then another layer of

the manure is added with another sprinkling of soil, and so on as the

new pile is built up. In the first turning of the manure, about one part

of soil is used to eight or nine parts of manure. Then at the last

turning another mixture of soil is added, so that there is about

one-fifth part soil in the mixture. The soil aids somewhat in lowering

the temperature, and also adds some to the bulk, so that more beds can

be made up with the same amount of manure.

=Horse droppings free from straw.=--For growing mushrooms on a small

scale, as in cellars or boxes, some prefer to select the horse droppings

free from straw.

MAKING UP THE BEDS.

=Making up beds without the addition of soil.=--In the cave culture of

mushrooms the beds are usually made from manure alone, there being no

addition of soil. This is perhaps partly due to the expense of getting

the soil in and out from the caves as well as to the low temperature

prevailing there. It is believed by many that the results are equally as

good in beds from the manure alone as in those which contain an

admixture of soil. The method of making the beds in the Akron cave, or

"tunnel," is as follows: The manure, immediately after it has passed

through the process of fermentation and curing in the pile, is carted to

the district in the mine where the beds are to be made and is dumped in

a long windrow on the ground. The length of the windrow depends of

course upon the amount of material which is ready, as well as upon the

amount necessary for making up the beds for that distance. Two hemlock

boards, sixteen feet long and ten inches wide, and two, four feet long

and the same width, are then hastily nailed into the form of a

rectangular frame. This is placed upon the rock bottom at one end of the

row of material, perpendicular to it usually.

[Illustration: FIGURE 232.--View in Akron "tunnel," N. Y. Mushroom Co.

Making up the beds. Copyright.]

The workmen then, with forks, distribute the material in this frame. If

there is coarser material which has been separated from the finer

material, this is placed in the bottom of the bed and the finer material

is then filled on top. A layer of material is distributed over the

bottom and then tamped down by striking with the back of the fork, as

shown in Fig. 232. In this figure the material is shown to be off at one

end of the bed. This was in a section of the mine where it was not

convenient to follow the beds in the direction of the pile of manure, so

that the material is distributed on from the end of the bed instead of

from the side, as is the usual method. After several inches have been

distributed in this way and tamped down with the back of the fork, the

operator tramps over the material with his feet and presses it down more

firmly. Another layer of material is distributed over this, and tamped

and tramped down in a similar manner. The operation is repeated until

the depth of the manure after tramping down is about seven inches. It is

then left for the completion of the curing process and for the lowering

of the temperature to the desired point. Usually, after making the bed

in this way, there is a rise in the temperature for several days,

gradually lowering until finally it reaches the point favorable for

planting the spawn.

Where the beds are made successively, one after another, following the

windrow of manure, the material used for the first bed removes from the

windrow a sufficient amount to make room for the second bed, and in like

manner room for the successive beds is provided for as the material is

taken for each one, so that the frames are put together and the beds are

formed rapidly and easily.

=Making ridge beds in caves.=--In the making of the ridge beds in caves

there are two methods which might be spoken of. One method is the well

known one practiced in certain of the caves near Paris, where the

material is taken by workmen in large baskets and distributed in rows.

The ridge is gradually formed into shape by walking astride of it, as

additional material is emptied on from the baskets, the workmen packing

and shaping the ridge by pressure from their limbs as they stand astride

of the row. In this way the ridges are made as high or somewhat higher

than their breadth at the base, and quite near together, so that there

is just room in many cases to walk between the beds. In one cave in

America, where the ridge system is used to some extent, the ridges are

made with the aid of a board frame the length of the bed and the width

of the base of the ridge. The long boards of this frame are slanting so

that they are more or less the shape of the ridge, but not equal to its

height. This frame is placed on the rock bottom, filled with manure and

tramped on by the workmen. Then the frame is lifted on the ridge and

more material is added and tramped on in like manner, until the bulk of

the ridge bed is built up in this way and compressed into shape.

=Beds in Houses Constructed for the Purpose of Growing

Mushrooms.=--Where only the floor of the house is used, a middle bed and

two side beds are sometimes formed in the same manner as described in

the construction of the house for the tiers of beds, with an alley on

either side of the large center bed, giving access to all. In some cases

the entire surface of the bottom is covered with material, but divided

into sections of large beds by framework of boards, but with no alleys

between. Access to these beds is obtained by placing planks on the top

of the boards which make the frame, thus forming walks directly over

portions of the bed. In some cases ridge beds, as described for cave

cultivation, are made on the floor of these houses. The beds are filled

in the same way as described for the cave culture of mushrooms, but

usually, in the beds made in houses built for the purpose of growing

mushrooms, a percentage of soil is mixed in with the manure, the soil

being usually mixed in at the time of turning the manure during the

process of fermentation. Garden soil or rich loam is added, say at the

first time the manure is turned while it is fermenting. Then, some time

later during the process of fermenting, another admixture of soil is

added. The total amount of soil added is usually equal to about

one-fifth of the bulk of the manure.

As this material, formed of the manure with an admixture of soil, is

placed in the beds it is distributed much in the same manner as

described for the making of flat beds in caves or tunnels. Usually,

however, if there is coarse material which was separated from the manure

at the first sorting, this without any mixture of soil is placed in the

bottom of the bed, and then the manure and soil is used for the bulk of

the bed above. This coarser material, however, is not always at hand,

and in such cases the beds are built up from the bottom with the mixture

of manure and soil. The depth of the material in the beds in these

houses varies according to the experience of the operator. Some make the

beds about eighteen inches in depth, while others do not make the beds

more than eight or ten or twelve inches in depth. Where there are tiers

of beds, that is, one bed above the other, very often the lowest bed,

the one which rests directly upon the ground, is made deeper than the

others.

While it is the general custom to use material consisting of an

admixture of manure and soil in the proportions described, this custom

is not always followed. In the case of the beds which are made up in the

summer for the fall and early winter crop, soil, being easily obtained

at that season of the year, is mixed with the manure. Some growers,

however, in making the beds in midwinter for the spring crop, do not use

any soil since it is more difficult to obtain it at that season. In such

cases the beds are made up of manure alone. The experience in some cases

shows that the crop resulting from this method is equally as good as

that grown where soil has been added. In the experience of some other

growers a bin of soil is collected during the summer or autumn which can

be used in the winter for mixing in with the manure and making the beds

for the spring crop. Where sod is used this is collected in pastures or

fence rows in June, piled, and allowed to rot during the summer.

In distributing the material in the beds, the methods of packing it vary

according to the wishes or experience of the grower. It is often

recommended to pack the material very firmly. The feeling that this must

be packed very thinly has led to the disuse of beds in tiers by some,

because it is rather difficult to pack the material down very firmly

where one bed lies so closely above another. Where the practice is

followed of packing the material very firmly in the bed, some

instrument in the form of a maul is used to tamp it down. Where there

are tiers of beds an instrument of this kind cannot well be used. Here a

brick or a similar heavy and small instrument is used in the hand, and

the bed is thus pounded down firmly. This is a tedious and laborious

operation. Many growers do not regard it as essential that the beds

should be very firmly packed. In such cases the material is distributed

on the beds and the successive layers are tamped down as firmly as can

well be done with the back of a fork or an ordinary potato digger, which

can be wielded with the two hands in between the beds. In the experience

of these growers the results seem to be just as good as where the beds

are more firmly packed down.

It is the practice in some cases where the bed lies against the side of

the house to build up the material of the bed at the rear, that is, at

the side of the house, much deeper than at the front, so that the depth

of the bed at the back may be eighteen to twenty inches or two feet,

while the front is eight to ten or twelve inches. This provides a

slightly increased surface because of the obliquity of the upper surface

of the bed, but it consumes probably a greater amount of material. It

probably is not advantageous where the operations are carried on on a

large scale, where abundant room is available, where the material for

making the beds is expensive, and it is desirable to obtain from the

material all that can be drawn in a single crop. The same practice is

sometimes recommended and followed in the case of the beds made in

cellars.

In the making of beds with fresh material, that is, with unfermented

manure, as was done by Mr. William Swayne of Kennett Square, Pa., one

season, the coarser material is put in the bottom of the bed, and then

as the manure is distributed in the bed the soil is sprinkled on also,

so that finally when the bed is completed the proportions of soil and

manure are the same as when it is mixed in at the time of fermentation.

In making the beds in this way, should any one be led to attempt it, it

would be necessary to guard against a too high temperature in the

fermentation of this fresh material; the temperature should not run

above 130 degrees. It would also require a longer time from the making

of the bed to planting the spawn than in the case of those beds where

the manure is fermented and cured before being made up. Probably the

total amount of time from the beginning to the completion of the

preparation of the bed for spawning would not be greater, if it would be

so great.

The beds all having been made, they are left until they are in a

suitable condition for spawning. The determination of this point, that

is, the point when the beds are ready for planting the spawn, seems to

be one of the most important and critical features of the business. The

material must be of a suitable temperature, preferably not above 90° F.,

and not below 70°. The most favorable temperature, according to some,

other conditions being congenial, ranges from 80° to 85° F., while many

prefer to spawn at 70° to 75°. Many of the very successful growers,

however, do not lay so much stress upon the temperature of the bed for

the time of spawning as they do upon the ripeness, or the cured

condition, of the material in the bed. This is a matter which it is very

difficult to describe to one not familiar with the subject, and it is

one which it is very difficult to properly appreciate unless one has

learned it by experience. Some judge more by the odor, or the "smell,"

as they say, of the manure. It must have lost the fresh manure "smell,"

or the "sour smell," and possess, as they say, a "sweet smell."

Sometimes the odor is something like that of manure when spawn has

partly run through it. It sometimes has a sweetish smell, or a smell

suggestive of mushrooms even when no spawn has run through it.

Another important condition of the material is its state of dryness or

moisture. It must not be too dry or the spawn will not run. In such

cases there is not a sufficient amount of moisture to provide the water

necessary for the growth of the mycelium. On the other hand, it must not

be too wet, especially at the time of spawning and for a few weeks

after. Some test the material for moisture in this way. Take a handful

of the material and squeeze it. If on releasing the hold it falls to

pieces, it is too dry. By squeezing a handful near the ear, if there is

an indication of running water, even though no water may be expressed

from the material, it is too wet. If on pressure of the material there

is not that sense of the movement of water in it on holding it to the

ear, and if on releasing the pressure of the hand the material remains

in the form into which it has been squeezed, or expands slightly, it is

considered to be in a proper condition so far as moisture is concerned

for planting the spawn.

WHAT SPAWN IS.

The spawn of the mushroom is the popular word used in speaking of the

mycelium of the mushroom. The term is commonly used in a commercial

sense of material in which the mycelium is growing. This material is

horse manure, or a mixture of one or two kinds of manure with some soil,

and with the threads of the mycelium growing in it. The mycelium, as is

well known, is the growing or vegetative part of the mushroom.

Sometimes the word "fiber" is used by the mushroom growers in referring

to the mycelium which appears in the spawn, or in the mushroom bed. The

mycelium is that portion of the plant which, in the case of the wild

varieties, grows in the soil, or in the leaf mold, in the tree trunk or

other material from which the mushroom derives its food. The threads of

mycelium, as we know, first originated from the spore of the mushroom.

The spore germinates and produces delicate threads, which branch and

increase by growth in extent, and form the mycelium. So the term spawn

is rarely applied to the pure mycelium, but is applied to the substratum

or material in which spawn is growing; that is, the substratum and

mycelium together constitute the spawn.

=Natural spawn or virgin spawn.=--This is termed natural spawn because

it occurs under natural conditions of environment. The original natural

spawn was to be found in the fields. In the early history of mushroom

culture the spawn from the pastures and meadows where mushrooms grew was

one of the sources of the spawn used in planting. The earth containing

the spawn underneath clumps of mushrooms was collected and used.

It occurs more abundantly, however, in piles of horse manure which have

stood for some time in barn yards, or very often in stalls where the

manure is allowed to accumulate, has been thoroughly tramped down and

then has been left in this condition for some time. It occurs also in

composts, hothouse beds, or wherever accumulations of horse manure are

likely to occur, if other conditions are congenial. The origin of the

natural spawn under these conditions of environment is probably

accounted for in many cases by the presence of the spores which have

been in the food eaten by the horse, have passed through the alimentary

canal and are thus distributed through the dung.

The spores present in the food of the horse may be due to various

conditions. Horses which go out to pasture are likely to take in with

the food obtained in grazing the spores scattered around on the grass,

and in the upper part of the sod, coming from mushrooms which grew in

the field. In other cases, the spores may be present in the hay, having

been carried by the wind from adjacent fields, if not from those which

have grown in the meadow. In like manner they may be present in the oats

which have been fed to the horse. In the case of stable-fed animals, the

inoculation of the manure in this way may not always be certain or very

free. But in the case of pasture-fed horses which are stalled at night

probably the inoculation is very certain and very abundant, so that a

large number of spores would be present in the manure from horses fed in

this way.

The natural spawn also may originate from spores which are carried by

the wind from the pasture or meadow mushrooms upon manure piles, or

especially from spores which may lodge in the dust of the highways or

street. Many of these spores would cling to the hoofs of the horses and

at night, or at times of feeding, would be left with the manure in the

stall. At other times horse droppings may be gathered from roads or

streets where spores may be present in the dust. The piles of the

droppings accumulated in this way, if left a sufficient time, may

provide natural spawn by this accidental inoculation from the spores.

Probably few attempts have been made to grow the natural spawn with

certainty in this country, though it does not appear to be an

impracticable thing to do, since formerly this was one source of the

virgin spawn in Europe. It is usually obtained by search through stables

and barn yards or other places where piles of horse manure have

accumulated and have remained for several months. In some cases the

growers keep men employed through the summer season searching the yards

and stables over a considerable area for the purpose of finding and

gathering this natural spawn. It is probably termed virgin spawn because

of its origin under these natural conditions, and never having been

propagated artificially.

The natural spawn, as indicated above, is employed for a variety of

purposes. It is used for inoculating the bricks in the manufacture of

brick spawn. It is used for propagating once or twice in the mushroom

beds, for the purpose of multiplying it, either in the manufacture of

brick spawn, or for flake spawn, which is planted directly in the beds

to be used for the crop. In some places in America it is collected on a

large scale and relied on as the chief source of spawn for planting

beds. In such cases the natural or virgin spawn is used directly and is

of the first and most vigorous generation. It is believed by growers who

employ it in this way that the results in the quality and quantity of

the crop exceed those produced from the market spawn. But even these

growers would not always depend on the natural spawn, for the reason,

that collecting it under these conditions, the quantity is certain to

vary from year to year. This is due probably to varying conditions of

the season and also to the varying conditions which bring about the

chance inoculation, or the accumulation of the material in the yard for

a sufficient amount of time to provide the mycelium.

It would be interesting, and it might also prove to be profitable to

growers, if some attempt were made to grow natural spawn under

conditions which would perhaps more certainly produce a supply. This

might be attempted in several different ways. Stall-fed horses might be

fed a ripe mushroom every day or two. Or from the cap of ripe mushrooms

the spores might be caught, then mixed with oats and fed to the horse.

Again, the manure piles might be inoculated by spores caught from a

number of mushrooms. Manure might also be collected during the summer

months from the highways and aside from the probable natural inoculation

which this material would probably have from the spores blown from the

meadow and pasture mushrooms, additional inoculation might be made. The

manure obtained in this way could be piled under sheds, packed down

thoroughly, and not allowed to heat above 100° F. These piles could then

be left for several months, care being used that the material should

have the proper moisture content, not too dry nor too wet. This is given

only as a suggestion and it is hoped that some practical grower will

test it upon a small scale. In all cases the temperature should be kept

low during the fermentation of these piles, else the spawn will be

killed.

One of the methods of obtaining natural spawn recommended by Cuthill

("Treatise on the Cultivation of the Mushroom") is to collect horse

droppings all along the highways during the summer, mixing it with some

road sand and piling it in a dry shed. Here it is packed down firmly to

prevent the heat rising too high. A "trial" stick is kept in the pile.

When this is pulled out, if it is so hot as to "burn the hand," the heat

is too great and would kill the spawn. In several months an abundance of

the spawn is generated here.

=Mill-track spawn.=--"Mill-track" spawn originated from the spawn found

in covered roadways at mills or along tram-car tracks where horses were

used. The accumulation of manure trodden down in these places and

sometimes mixed with sawdust or earth, provided a congenial place for

the growth of the mycelium. The spawn was likely introduced here through

spores taken in with the food of the horse, or brought there from

highways, if they were not already in the soil from mushrooms grown

there. It would be then multiplied by the growth of the spawn, and from

spores of mushrooms which might appear and ripen. The well tramped

material in which the mycelium grew here, when broken up, formed

convenient blocks of spawn for storage and transportation, and probably

led to the manufacture of brick spawn.

=Manufactured spawn.=--The manufactured spawn, on the other hand, is

that which is propagated artificially by the special preparation of the

substratum or material in which the mycelium is to grow. This material

is inoculated either with a piece of natural spawn, or with pieces of

previously manufactured spawn. It is put upon the market in two

different forms; the brick spawn, and the flake spawn. The latter is

sometimes known as the French spawn, while the former, being largely

manufactured in England, is sometimes spoken of as the English spawn.

[Illustration: FIGURE 233.--Brick spawn. Three "bricks," one marked to

show into how many pieces one brick may be broken.]

=Brick spawn.=--The brick spawn is so called because the material in

which the mycelium is present is in the form of bricks. These bricks are

about 5 by 8 inches by 1-1/2 inches in thickness, and weigh about 1-1/4

pounds each when dried. The proportions of different kinds of material

used in the manufacture of brick spawn probably vary with different

manufacturers, since there is a difference in the size and texture of

bricks from different sources. One method of making the brick spawn is

as follows: Equal parts of horse dung, and cow dung, and loam soil are

thoroughly mixed together to a consistency of mortar. This is pressed

into the form of bricks and stood on edge to dry. When partly dry, a

piece of spawn about an inch in diameter is pressed into one side of

each brick. The bricks are then stood up again until thoroughly dried.

They are then piled upon a layer of fresh horse manure about 8 inches

deep, the pile of bricks being about 3 feet high. This pile is then

covered over loosely with fresh horse manure, a sufficient amount to

produce, when heating, a temperature of about 100° F. They are left in

this condition until the mycelium or "fiber" has thoroughly permeated

the bricks. The spawn is now completed, and the bricks are allowed to

dry. In this condition they are put upon the market. The bricks made

with a very high percentage of soil often have the appearance of dried

soil, with a slight admixture of vegetable matter.

Brick spawn from other sources presents a very different texture and

contains probably a much larger percentage of horse manure, or, at

least, a much smaller percentage of soil. The appearance of the brick is

not that of soil with a slight admixture of vegetable materials, but has

much the appearance of a dried and compressed mixture of horse dung and

cow dung, with an abundance of the "fiber" or mycelium, "the greyish

moldy, or thready matter," which constitutes the vital part of the

spawn. In the selection of spawn this is an important item, that is, the

presence of an abundance of "fiber" or mycelium. It can be seen on the

surface, usually showing an abundance of these whitish threads or

sheets, or a distinct moldy appearance is presented. On breaking the

brick the great abundance of the "fiber" or whitish mycelium is seen all

through it. This indicates that the brick possesses a high percentage of

the "fiber," an important part of the spawn.

One not accustomed to the quality of spawn can therefore judge to a

certain extent by the appearance of the bricks as to the quality, at

least they can judge as to the presence of an abundance or a scanty

quantity of the "fiber." Since the spawn remains in good condition for

several years, there is usually no danger in the use of spawn which may

be one or two years old. But it does deteriorate to some extent with

age, and young spawn is therefore to be preferred to old spawn, provided

the other desirable qualities are equal. Those who attempt to cultivate

mushrooms, and depend on commercial or manufactured spawn, should see to

it that the spawn purchased possesses these desirable qualities of

texture, and the presence of an abundance of the mycelium. That which

appears devoid of an abundance of mycelium should be rejected, and good

spawn should be called for. There is no more reason why a grower should

accept a worthless spawn from his seedsman than that he should accept

"addled" eggs from his grocer. In this business, that is, the

manufacture and sale of spawn, poor material is apt to be thrown on the

market just as in the case of seeds, poor material may find its way upon

the market. Sometimes this occurs through unscrupulous dealers, at other

times through their ignorance, or through their failure to know the

quality of the product they are handling.

There are some brands of spawn, that is, those manufactured by certain

houses, which rank very high among those who know the qualities and the

value of good spawn. Some large growers send direct to the manufacturer

for their spawn, and where it is to be obtained in large quantities this

is a desirable thing to do, since the cost is much less. Where obtained

from seedsmen in large quantities, the prices are much lower than where

small quantities are purchased. One of these brands of spawn, the Barter

spawn, is for sale by several different dealers, by Mr. H. E. Hicks,

Kennett Square, Pa., by Henry F. Michell, 1018 Market street,

Philadelphia, and by Henry Dreer, 724 Chestnut street, Philadelphia.

Another brick spawn, known as "Watson Prolific," is for sale by George

C. Watson, Juniper and Walnut streets, Philadelphia. James Vicks Sons,

Rochester, N. Y., and Peter Henderson & Co., New York City, have their

spawn manufactured expressly for their trade.

The Barter spawn is said to be made fresh every year, or every other

year. Instead of the "continued culture" of spawn, that is, inoculating

the bricks each succeeding year from the same line of spawn, which is,

as it were, used over and over again, a return is made each year, or in

the alternate years, to the natural or virgin spawn, which is obtained

from old manure heaps. In this way, the Barter spawn[D] is within two to

three, or four, generations of the natural spawn. The number of

generations distant the brick is from the natural spawn, depends upon

the number of times it may have been multiplied before it is inoculated

into the bricks. That is, the natural spawn is probably first grown in

large beds in order to multiply, to produce a sufficiently large

quantity for the inoculation of the immense number of bricks to be

manufactured. For it is likely that a sufficient amount of natural spawn

could not be obtained to inoculate all the bricks manufactured in one

year. If a sufficient amount of the natural or virgin spawn could be

obtained to inoculate all the bricks of one year's manufacture, this

would produce a spawn removed only one generation from that of natural

spawn.

If the natural spawn were first grown in beds, and from here inoculated

into bricks, this particular brick spawn would be removed two

generations from the natural spawn. So the number of times that

successive inoculations are made to multiply the spawn, the manufactured

products are removed that many generations from the natural spawn. Where

recourse is had to the natural, or virgin spawn only once in two years,

the second year's product would then be further removed from the natural

spawn than the first year's product. Where we know that it is removed

but one or a few generations from the natural spawn, it is a more

desirable kind. For the nearer it is to the natural spawn, other things

being equal, the more vigorous the mycelium, and the finer will be the

mushrooms produced.

The brick spawn is sometimes manufactured in this country by growers for

their own use, but at present it is manufactured on such a large scale

in England that little or no saving is effected by an attempt to

manufacture one's own brick spawn in this country.

=Flake Spawn.=--The flake spawn, or "flakes," is commonly known as the

French spawn, because it is so extensively manufactured in France. It is

made by breaking down beds through which the mycelium has run, and

before the crop of mushrooms appears. That is, the bed is spawned in the

ordinary way. When the mycelium has thoroughly permeated the bed, it is

taken down and broken into irregular pieces, six to eight inches in

diameter. Thus, the French spawn, where the beds are made entirely of

horse manure, with no admixture of soil, consist merely of the fermented

and cured manure, through which the mycelium has run, the material, of

course, being thoroughly dried. This spawn may be removed one or several

generations from the natural spawn.

[Illustration: FIGURE 234.--French spawn, or "flakes," ready to plant.]

The French growers depend on natural spawn much more than American

growers do. The natural spawn is collected from old manure heaps. Beds

made up in the ordinary way for the cultivation of mushrooms are planted

with this. The mycelium is allowed to run until it has thoroughly

permeated the manure. These beds are broken down and used to spawn the

beds for the crop. In this case the crop would be grown from spawn only

one generation removed from the virgin spawn. If a sufficient amount of

natural spawn could not be obtained, to provide the amount required one

generation old, it might be run through the second generation before

being used. From the appearance of any spawn, of course, the purchaser

cannot tell how many generations it is removed from the natural spawn.

For this quality of the spawn one must depend upon the knowledge which

we may have of the methods practiced by the different producers of

spawn, if it is possible even to determine this.

SPAWNING THE BEDS.

The beds for growing the mushrooms having been made up, the spawn having

been selected, the beds are ready for planting whenever the temperature

has been sufficiently reduced and the material is properly cured. It is

quite easy to determine the temperature of the beds, but it is a more

difficult problem for the inexperienced to determine the best stage in

the curing of the material for the reception of the spawn. Some growers

rely more on the state of curing of the manure than they do upon the

temperature. They would prefer to spawn it at quite a low temperature,

rather than to spawn at what is usually considered an optimum

temperature, if the material is not properly cured. The temperature at

which different treatises and growers recommend that the bed should be

spawned varies from 70° to 90° F. Ninety degrees F. is considered by

many rather high, while 70° F. is considered by others to be rather low;

80° to 85° is considered by many to be the most favorable temperature,

provided of course the other conditions of the bed are congenial. But

some, so far as temperature is concerned, would prefer to spawn the bed

at 75° F. rather than at 90°, while many recommend spawning at 70° to

75°. In some cases, I have known the growers to allow the temperature of

the beds to fall as low as 60° before spawning, because the material was

not, until that time, at the proper state of curing. Yet an experienced

grower, who understands the kind of spawn to plant in such a bed, can

allow the temperature to go down to 60° without any very great risk.

Fresh spawn in an active state, that is, spawn which is in a growing

condition, as may be obtained by tearing up a bed, or a portion of one,

through which the spawn has run, is better to plant in a bed of such low

temperature. Or, a bed of such low temperature, after spawning, might be

"warmed up," by piling fresh horse manure over it loosely for a week or

ten days, sufficient to raise the temperature to 80° or 90°.

[Illustration: FIGURE 235.--Pieces of brick spawn ready to plant.]

When the brick spawn is used, the method of planting varies, of course,

with the methods of different operators. Some break the bricks into the

desired size and plant the pieces directly in the bed, without any

special preparation. The brick is broken into pieces about two or three

inches in diameter. Some recommend breaking the brick of the ordinary

size into about twelve pieces, some into nine pieces, so the custom

varies with different operators. These pieces are planted from seven to

nine inches apart in the bed. For example, if they are to be planted

nine inches apart in the bed, holes are made, either with the hand or

with some instrument, by pressing the material to one side sufficiently

to admit of the piece of spawn being pressed in tightly. These openings

are made, say, the first row on one side of the bed, about four and

one-half inches from the side, and nine inches apart in the row. The

second row is made nine inches from the first row, and so on. The pieces

of spawn are inserted in the opening in the bed, and at a slight

distance, two to three inches, below the surface. Some, however, insert

the piece of spawn just at the level of the bed, the opening being such

that the piece of spawn pressed into the opening is crowded below in

place, and the surrounding material fits snugly on the sides. Thus, when

the bed is spawned, the pieces may be a slight distance below the top of

the bed when they can be covered by some material, or in other cases,

where the operator varies the method, they would lie just at the surface

of the bed.

The bed is now firmed down according to the custom of the operator,

either tamped down with some instrument very firmly, or by others, with

the back of the fork or other similar instrument, the bed is made firm,

but not quite so hard. The object in firming it down after spawning is

to make the surface of the bed level, and also to bring the material in

the bed very closely in touch on all sides with the spawn with which it

is impregnated.

[Illustration: FIGURE 236.

Piece of Natural Spawn.

Piece of French Spawn.

"Flakes" many generations old, "running out."]

Some growers follow the method of giving the spawn some little

preparation before putting it into the bed. This preparation varies with

different operators. Its object, however, is to slightly moisten the dry

spawn, and perhaps, also, to very slightly start the growth. To

accomplish this, some will cover the bricks, before breaking them, with

fresh horse manure, and allow this to remain several days, so that the

warmth and moisture generated here penetrate the material and soften

somewhat the brick. Some pile it in a room or compartment where there is

little moisture, until the bricks are permeated to some extent with the

moisture, so that they are a little easier broken. They should not,

under any circumstances, be wet or soft in the sense of having absorbed

an excess of water, nor should they be stored for any length of time

where they will be damp. Still others break the bricks into the desired

pieces and place these directly on the top of the bed, at the place

where they wish to plant the piece of spawn. They are left here for two

or three days on the surface of the beds. These pieces absorb some

moisture and take up some warmth from the bed. Then they are planted in

the ordinary way.

=Spawning with Flake Spawn, or Natural Spawn.=--In the use of the flake

or natural spawn, the planting is accomplished in a similar way, but

larger pieces of the spawn are used, two or three times the size of the

pieces of brick employed. Some use a large handful. In some few cases,

the growers use a flake spawn from their own crop. That is, each year a

few beds are spawned from material which has been kept over from the

previous season. This is often kept in boxes, in cool places, where it

does not thoroughly dry out. In this way, the spawn is used over and

over again, until it becomes much less vigorous than natural spawn, or a

spawn which is only one or only a few generations distant from the

natural spawn. This is seen in the less certainty with which the spawn

runs through the bed, in the smaller crop of mushrooms, and their

gradual deterioration in size. Some few practice the method of breaking

down the bed after the crop has been nearly gathered, using this weak

spawn to inoculate fresh beds. This practice is objectionable for the

same reason that long cultivated spawn is objectionable.

=Soiling the Beds.=--After the beds have been planted with the spawn,

the next thing is to soil them. That is, the manure in the bed is

covered with a layer of loam soil, or garden soil, to the depth of two

inches, then spread evenly over the bed, leveled off, and tamped down,

though not packed too hard, and the surface is smoothed off. The time at

which the soiling is done, varies also with different operators. Some

soil immediately after planting the spawn. Others believe that the spawn

will most certainly fail to run if the beds are soiled immediately after

planting. These operators wait two or three weeks after the spawn has

been planted to soil it. Others wait until the temperature of the bed

has fallen from 80° or 85° at the time of spawning, to 70° or 60° F.

Soiling at this temperature, that is, at 60° or 70° F., probably

prevents the rapid cooling down of the bed, and it is desirable to soil,

at least at this temperature, for that purpose. When the beds are

soiled, they are then left until the crop is ready to gather. Some

operators give no further attention to the beds after soiling, other

than to water the beds, if that becomes necessary. It is desirable to

avoid watering, if the bed can be kept at the right state of moisture

without. In watering the beds while the spawn is running, there is

danger of killing the young spawn with the water. Wherever it is

necessary, however, if the material in the bed becomes too dry,

lukewarm water should be used, and it should be applied through a fine

rose of a watering pot.

While some operators after soiling the bed give no further care to it

until the bed is bearing, others cover the beds with some litter, in the

form of straw or excelsior. This is done for the purpose of conserving

the moisture in the bed, and especially the moisture on the surface of

the bed. Sometimes where there is a tendency for the material in the bed

to become too dry, this litter on the surface retards the loss of

moisture. Also, the litter itself may be moistened and the bed can

absorb some moisture in this way, if it is desirable to increase the

moisture content of the bed slightly.

When the spawn has once run well through the bed, watering can be

accomplished with less danger of injury, yet great care must be used

even now. The spawn will run through a bed with a somewhat less moisture

content in the material than is necessary for drawing off the crop of

mushrooms, though, of course, the spawn will not run if the bed is too

dry. The only way to see if the spawn has run satisfactorily is to open

up the bed at one or two points to examine the material, opening it up

slightly. If the spawn has run well, a very delicate white "fiber," the

mycelium, can be seen penetrating all through the material. This handful

can be replaced in the bed, packed down, and the soil covered over and

firmed again at this point.

When the mushrooms begin to appear, if the bed is a little dry, it

should be watered from time to time through the fine rose of a watering

pot. Lukewarm water should be used. Nearly all growers water the beds

during the picking of the crop, or during the period of gathering the

crop. At the first few waterings, water should not be sprinkled on the

beds to wet them entirely through. Enough water is applied to diffuse a

short distance only through the upper surface of the bed. At the next

watering, several days later, the moisture is carried further down in

the bed, and so on, through the several weeks, or months, over which the

harvesting season extends. The object of thus gradually moistening the

bed from above, is to draw the crop from the spawn at the surface of the

bed first, and then, as the moisture extends downward, to gradually

bring on the crop from the "fiber" below.

=Gathering the Mushrooms.=--In artificial cultivation, the mushrooms

usually formed are very near, or on, the surface of the bed. In the case

of the meadow or pasture mushrooms, they are formed further below the

surface. This is probably due to the fact that the conditions under

which the mushrooms grow in cultivation are such that the surface of the

bed is more moist, and is less subject to variations in the content of

moisture, than is the surface of the ground in pastures. Although there

may be abundant rains in the fields, the currents of air over the

surface of the ground, at other times, quickly dries out the upper

layers of the soil. But indoors the mycelium often runs to the surface

of the bed, and there forms the numerous pinheads which are the

beginnings of the mushrooms. The beds at this stage often present

numerous clusters of the mycelium and these minute pinheads crowded very

closely together. Hundreds or perhaps thousands of these minute

beginnings of mushrooms occur within a small space. There are very few

of these, however, that reach the point of the mature mushroom. Few only

of the pinheads grow to form the button, and the others abort, or cease

to grow. Others are torn out while the larger ones are being picked.

The time at which the mushrooms are picked varies within certain limits,

with the different growers. Most cultivators, especially those who grow

the mushrooms in houses, consider 60° F. the desirable temperature for

the growth of mushrooms, that is, at a room temperature of 60° (while

some recommend 57°). The temperature of the beds themselves will be

slightly above this. Under these conditions, that is, where the

mushrooms are grown at a room temperature of about 60°, they open very

quickly. It is necessary here to gather the mushrooms before they open,

that is, before the veil on the under surface breaks to expose the gill

surface. This practice is followed, of course, within certain limits. It

is not possible in all cases, to pick every mushroom before the veil

breaks. They are collected once a day usually. At the time of collection

all are taken which are of suitable size. Many of them may not yet have

opened. But in the case of some of the older or more rapidly growing

ones, the veil may have broken, although they have not expanded very

much.

Some follow the method of having the fireman, on his round at night,

when he looks after the fires in the heating room, gather the mushrooms.

He passes through all parts of the house and picks the mushrooms which

are of suitable size. These are gathered by grasping a single mushroom

by the cap, or where there is a cluster of mushrooms close together,

several are taken in the hand. The plant is twisted slightly to free the

stem from the soil, without tearing it up to any great extent. They are

thrown in this condition into baskets. The collector then takes them to

the packing room, and the following morning the plants are trimmed,

that is, the part of the stems to which the earth is attached is cut

away, the plants are weighed, put in baskets, and prepared for the

markets. In other cases, the mushrooms are gathered early in the

morning, in the same way, taken to the packing room, where the lower

part of the stem is cut away, the plants are weighed, placed into the

baskets and shipped to market.

[Illustration: FIGURE 237.--View in Packing Room (H. E. Hicks' Mushroom

House, Kennett Square, Pa.) Copyright.]

In some of the caves, or abandoned mines, which I have visited, where

the mushrooms are grown on a large scale, the practice in picking the

mushrooms varies somewhat from that just described. In the first place,

the mushrooms are allowed to stand on the bed longer, before they are

picked. They are rarely, if ever, picked before they open. Mushrooms may

be quite large, but if they have not opened, they are not picked. Very

frequently, the plant may open, but, the operator says, it is not open

enough. It will grow more yet. The object of the grower, in this case,

is to allow the mushrooms to grow as long as it is possible, before

picking, for the larger the mushroom, the more water it will take from

the bed, and the more it weighs. This may seem an unprofessional thing

for a grower to do, and yet it must be remembered that a large water

content of the mushroom is necessary. The mushrooms grown in these mines

are very firm and solid, qualities which are desired, not only by the

consumer, but are desirable for shipment. These mushrooms are much

thicker through the center of the cap than those usually grown in houses

at a room temperature of 60° F. For this reason, the mushrooms in these

caves spread out more, and the edges do not turn up so soon. Since the

cap is so thick and firm at the center, it continues to grow and expand

for some little time after having opened, without turning up on the

edges, and without becoming black and unsightly underneath. These large

and firm mushrooms are not only desirable for their shipping qualities,

but also, if they are not too large, they are prized because they are of

such a nice size for broiling.

It is quite likely that one of the important conditions in producing

mushrooms of this character is the low temperature of the mine. The

temperature here, in July and August, rises not higher than 58° F., that

is, the room temperature of the mines; while in the winter it falls not

lower than 52°. The growth of mushrooms, under these conditions, may not

be quite so rapid as in a house maintaining a room temperature of 60°.

The operator may not be able to grow so many crops from the same area,

during the same length of time; but the very fact that this low

temperature condition retards the growth of the mushrooms is perhaps an

important item in producing the firm and more marketable product, which

can be allowed to grow longer before it is picked. It is possible, also,

that another condition has something to do with the firmness and other

desirable qualities of these mushrooms. It is, perhaps, to be found in

the fact that natural spawn is largely used in planting the beds, so

that the spawn is more vigorous than that which is ordinarily used in

planting, which is several or many generations distant from the virgin

condition.

The methods of picking in this mine differ, also, from those usually

employed by growers of mushrooms. The mushrooms are pulled from the bed

in the same way, but the operator carries with him two baskets and a

knife. As fast as the mushrooms are pulled, and while they are still in

hand, before the dirt can sift upon the other mushrooms, or fall in upon

the gills of those which are open, the lower part of the stem is cut

off. This stem end is then placed in one basket, while the mushrooms

which have been trimmed are placed in another basket. In cutting off the

stems, just enough is cut to remove the soil, so that the length of the

stem of the mushroom varies. The mushrooms are then taken to the packing

room in the cleanest possible condition, with no soil scattering

therefrom or falling down among the gills, as occurs to a greater or

lesser extent where the mushrooms are picked and thrown

indiscriminately into baskets.

=Packing the Mushrooms.=--In the packing room the mushrooms are prepared

for shipment to market. The method at present usually employed is to

ship them in baskets. The baskets vary in size, according to the market

to which the mushrooms are to be shipped. They hold from three, to four,

five, six, or ten pounds each. The larger baskets are only used where

the mushrooms are shipped directly to the consumers. When the customer

requires a large number of mushrooms, they can be shipped in these

larger baskets. Where they are shipped to commission merchants, and the

final market is not known to the packer, they are usually packed in

small baskets, three to four or five pounds. The baskets are sometimes

lined with paper; that is, at the time of the packing the paper is

placed in the basket, one or two thicknesses of paper. The number of

layers of paper depends somewhat upon the conditions of transportation.

The greater amount of paper affords some protection from cold, in cold

weather, and some protection from the evaporation of the moisture, in

dry weather. When the basket is filled with the required quantity of

mushrooms, which is usually determined first by weight, the surplus

paper is folded over them. This is covered in most cases by thin board

strips, which are provided for basket shipment of vegetables of this

kind. In some cases, however, where shipped directly to customers so

that the baskets soon reach their destination, additional heavy paper,

instead of the board, may be placed over and around the larger part of

the basket, and then tied down neatly with cord.

=Placing the Mushrooms in the Basket.=--Some growers do not give any

attention to placing the mushrooms in the baskets. The stems are cut off

in the packing room, they are thrown into the weighing pan, and when the

beam tips at three, or four, or five pounds, as the case may be, the

mushrooms are emptied into the baskets, leveled down, and the baskets

closed for shipment. Others use more care in the packing of the

mushrooms; especially is this the case on the part of those who pick the

mushrooms when they are somewhat larger and more open, though the

practice of placing the mushrooms in a basket is followed even by those

who pick before the mushrooms are open. In placing them, one mushroom is

taken at a time and put stem downward into the basket, until the bottom

is covered with one layer, and then successive layers are placed on top

of these. The upper layers in the basket then present a very neat and

attractive appearance. In thus placing the mushrooms in the basket, if

there are any mushrooms which are quite large, they are placed in the

bottom. The custom of the operator here is different from that of the

grower of apples, or of other fruit, where the larger and finer samples

are often placed on top, the smaller ones being covered below. It is a

curious fact, however, that this practice of placing the largest

mushrooms below in the basket is due to the fact that usually the larger

mushrooms are not considered so marketable.

[Illustration: FIGURE 238.--View in packing room, Akron "tunnel," N. Y.

Mushroom Co.; placing mushrooms in basket. Copyright.]

There are several reasons why the larger mushrooms are not considered so

desirable or marketable as the medium-sized or smaller ones. In the

first place, the larger mushrooms, under certain conditions, especially

those grown in house culture at a comparatively high temperature, are

apt to be very ripe, so that the gills are black from over-ripe spores,

and are thus somewhat unsightly. Those grown at a lower temperature, as

is the case in some mines, do not blacken so soon, and are therefore apt

to be free from this objection. Another objection, however, is on the

part of the restaurant owner where mushrooms are served. In serving the

mushrooms broiled on toast, the medium-sized one is more desirable from

the standpoint of the restaurant owner, in that two medium-sized ones

might be sufficient to serve two persons, while one quite large one,

weighing perhaps the same as the two medium ones, would only be

sufficient to serve one person at the same price, unless the large

mushroom was cut in two. If this were done, however, the customer would

object to being served with half a mushroom, and the appearance of a

half mushroom served in this way is not attractive.

=Resoiling.=--Once or twice a week during the harvesting period all

loose earth, broken bits of spawn, free buttons, etc., should be cleaned

out where the mushrooms have been picked. These places should be filled

with soil and packed down by hand. All young mushrooms that "fog off"

should be gathered up clean. Some persons follow the practice of growing

a second crop on the same bed from which the first crop has been

gathered. The bed is resoiled by placing about two inches of soil over

the old soil. The bed is then watered, sometimes with lukewarm water to

which a small quantity of nitrate of soda has been added. The large

growers, however, usually do not grow a second crop in this way, but

endeavor to exhaust the material in the bed by continuous growth.

=Use of manure from beds which have failed.=--Manure in which the spawn

has failed to run is sometimes removed from the bed and mixed with fresh

manure, the latter restoring the heat. If the manure was too wet, the

moisture content can now be lessened by the use of dry soil.

=Cleaning house to prepare for successive crops.=--When the crop is

harvested, all the material is cleaned out to prepare the beds for the

next crop. The material is taken out "clean," and the floors, beds,

walls, etc., swept off very clean. In addition, some growers whitewash

the floors and all wood-work. Some whitewash only the floors, depending

on sweeping the beds and walls very clean. Still others whitewash the

floors and wash the walls with some material to kill out the vermin.

Some trap or poison the cockroaches, wood-lice, etc., when they appear.

Some growers who succeed well for several years, and then fail, believe

that the house "gets tired," as they express it, and that the place must

rest for a few years before mushrooms can be grown there again. Others

grow mushrooms successfully year after year, but employ the best

sanitary methods.

=Number of crops during a year.=--In caves or mines, where the

temperature is low, the beds are in process of formation and cropping

continuously. So soon as a bed has been exhausted the material is

cleaned out, and new beds are made as fast as the fresh manure is

obtained. In houses where the mushrooms cannot be grown during the

summer, the crops are grown at quite regular periods, the first crop

during fall and early winter, and the second crop during spring. Some

obtain the manure and ferment it during August and September, spawning

the beds in September and October. Others begin work on the fermentation

of the manure in June or July, make up the beds in July and August,

spawn, and begin to draw off the crop somewhat earlier. The second crop

is prepared for whenever the first one is drawn off, and this varies

even in the experience of the same grower, since the rate of the running

of the spawn varies from time to time. Sometimes the crop begins to come

four or five weeks from the time of planting the spawn. At other times

it may be two or three months before the spawn has run sufficiently for

the crop to appear. Usually the crop begins to come on well in six to

eight weeks. The crop usually lasts for six weeks to two months, or

longer.

=Productivity of the beds.=--One pound of mushrooms from every two

square feet of surface is considered a very good crop. Sometimes it

exceeds this, the beds bearing one pound for every square foot, though

such a heavy yield is rare. Oftener the yield is less than half a pound

for a square foot of surface.

=Causes of failure.=--The beginner should study very carefully the

conditions under which he grows his crops, and if failure results, he

should attempt to analyze the results in the light of the directions

given for the curing of the manure, its moisture content, "sweetness,"

character of the spawn, temperature, ventilation, etc. While there

should be good ventilation, there should not be drafts of air. A

beginner may succeed the first time, the second or third, and then may

fail, and not know the cause of the failure. But given a good spawn, the

right moisture content of the material at time of planting and running

of the spawn, the sweet condition, or proper condition of the curing of

the manure, proper sanitary conditions, there should be no failure.

These are the most important conditions in mushroom culture. After the

spawn has run and the crop has begun to come, the beds have been known

to freeze up during the winter, and in the spring begin and continue to

bear a good crop. After the spawn has run well, beds have accidentally

been flooded with water so that manure water would run out below, and

yet come on and bear as good a crop as adjoining beds.

=Volunteer mushrooms in greenhouses.=--Volunteer mushrooms sometimes

appear in greenhouses in considerable quantity. These start from natural

spawn in the manure used, or sometimes from the spawn remaining in

"spent" mushroom beds which is mixed with the soil in making lettuce

beds, etc., under glass. One of the market gardeners at Ithaca used old

spawn in this way, and had volunteer mushrooms among lettuce for several

years. In making the lettuce beds in the autumn, a layer of fresh horse

manure six inches deep is placed in the bottom, and on this is placed

the soil mixed with the old, spent mushroom beds. The following year the

soil and the manure at the bottom, which is now rotten, is mixed up, and

a fresh layer of manure is placed below. In this way the lettuce bed is

self-spawned from year to year. About every six years the soil in the

bed is entirely changed. This gardener, during the winter of 1900--1,

sold $30.00 to $40.00 worth of volunteer mushrooms. Another gardener, in

a previous year, sold over $50.00 worth.

=Planting mushrooms with other vegetables.=--In some cases gardeners

follow the practice of inserting a forkful of manure here and there in

the soil where other vegetables are grown under glass, and planting in

it a bit of spawn.

=Mushroom and vegetable house combined.=--Some combine a mushroom house

and house for vegetables in one, there being a deep pit where several

tiers of beds for mushrooms can be built up, and above this the glass

house where lettuce, etc., is grown, all at a temperature of about 60°

F.

THREE METHODS SUGGESTED FOR GROWING MUSHROOMS IN CELLARS AND SHEDS.

=First Method.=--Obtain fresh stable horse manure mixed with straw

used in bedding the animals. Shake it out, separating the coarse

material from the droppings. Put the droppings in a pile two to

three feet deep. Pack down firmly. When the heat rises to near 130°

F., turn and shake it out, making a new pile. Make the new pile by

layers of manure and loam soil, or rotted sod, one part of soil to

eight or nine parts of manure. Turn again when the heat rises to

near 130° F., and add the same amount of soil. When the temperature

is about 100° F., the material is ready for the beds.

=Preparing the beds.=--Make the beds as described under the

paragraph on pages 250--253, or use boxes. Place the coarse litter

in the bottom three to four inches deep. On this place three to

four inches of the cured material, pack it down, and continue

adding material until the bed is ten to fifteen inches deep. Allow

the beds to stand, covering them with straw or excelsior if the air

in the cellar or shed is such as to dry out the surface.

Test the moisture content according to directions on page 255.

Watch the temperature. Do not let it rise above 130° F. When it is

down to 90° F. or 70° F., if the manure has a "sweetish" or

"mushroomy" smell it is ready to spawn.

Spawn according to directions on page 263.

Soil according to directions on page 266; cover bed with straw or

excelsior.

=Second Method.=--Use horse droppings freed from the coarser

material. Proceed as in _first_ method.

=Third Method.=--Use horse droppings freed from coarser material.

Pile and _pack firmly_. Do not let temperature rise above 130° F.

When it has cooled to 100° F., make up the beds, at the same time

mixing in an _equal quantity_ of rich loam or rotted sod. Spawn in

a day or two.

In beginning, practice on a small scale and study the conditions

thoroughly, as well as the directions given in this chapter.

FOOTNOTES:

[D] I have not learned the history of the other kinds of spawn referred

to above.

CHAPTER XXI.

RECIPES FOR COOKING MUSHROOMS.

By MRS. SARAH TYSON RORER.

As varieties of mushrooms differ in analysis, texture and density of

flesh, different methods of cooking give best results. For instance, the

_Coprinus micaceus_, being very delicate, is easily destroyed by

over-cooking; a dry, quick pan of the "mushroom bells" retains the best

flavor; while the more dense _Agaricus campestris_ requires long, slow

cooking to bring out the flavor, and to be tender and digestible.

Simplicity of seasoning, however, must be observed, or the mushroom

flavor will be destroyed. If the mushroom itself has an objectionable

flavor, better let it alone than to add mustard or lemon juice to

overcome it. Mushrooms, like many of the more succulent vegetables, are

largely water, and readily part with their juices on application of salt

or heat; hence it becomes necessary to put the mushroom over the fire

usually without the addition of water, or the juices will be so diluted

that they will lack flavor. They have much better flavor cooked without

peeling, with the exception of puff-balls, which should always be pared.

As they lose their flavor by soaking, wash them quickly, a few at a

time; take the mushroom in the left hand and with the right hand wash

the top or pileus, using either a very soft brush or a piece of flannel;

shake them well and put them into a colander to dry.

AGARICUS.[E]

The wild or uncultivated _Agaricus campestris_, which is usually picked

in open fields, will cook in less time than those grown in caves and

sold in our markets during the winter and spring. Cut the stems close to

the gills; these may be put aside and used for flavoring sauces or

soups. Wash the mushrooms carefully, keeping the gills down; throw them

into a colander until drained.

=Stewed.=--To each pound, allow two ounces of butter. Put the butter

into a saucepan, and when melted, not brown, throw in the mushrooms

either whole or cut into slices; sprinkle over a teaspoonful of salt;

cover the saucepan closely to keep in the flavor, and cook very slowly

for twenty minutes, or until they are tender. Moisten a rounding

tablespoonful of flour in a little cold milk; when perfectly smooth, add

sufficient milk to make one gill; stir this into the mushrooms, add a

saltspoon of white pepper, stir carefully until boiling, and serve at

once. This makes a fairly thick sauce. Less flour is required when they

are to be served as a sauce over chicken, steak, or made dishes.

=Broiled.=--Cut the stems close to the gills; wash the mushrooms and dry

them with a soft piece of cheesecloth; put them on the broiler gills up.

Put a piece of butter, the size of a marrowfat pea, in the center of

each; sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. Put the broiler over the

fire skin side down; in this way, the butter will melt and sort of baste

the mushrooms. Have ready squares of neatly toasted bread; and, as soon

as the mushrooms are hot on the skin side, turn them quickly and broil

about two minutes on the gill side. Five minutes will be sufficient for

the entire cooking. Dish on toast and serve at once.

=Panned on Cream Toast.=--Cut the stem close to the gills; wash and dry

as directed for broiling. Put them into a pan, and pour over a very

little melted butter, having gill sides up; dust with salt and pepper,

run into a hot oven for twenty minutes. While these are panning, toast

sufficient bread to hold them nicely; put it onto a hot platter, and

just as the mushrooms are done, cover the bread with hot milk, being

careful not to have too much or the bread will be pasty and soft. Dish

the mushrooms on the toast, putting the skin side up, pour over the

juices from the pan, and serve at once.

These are exceedingly good served on buttered toast without the milk,

and will always take the place of broiled mushrooms.

=In the Chafing Dish.=--Wash, dry the mushrooms, and cut them into

slices. To each pound allow two ounces of butter. Put the butter in the

chafing dish, when hot put in the mushrooms, sprinkle over a teaspoonful

of salt, cover the dish, and cook slowly for five minutes, stirring the

mushrooms frequently; then add one gill of milk. Cover the dish again,

cook for three minutes longer, add the beaten yolks of two eggs, a dash

of pepper, and serve at once. These must not be boiled after the eggs

are added; but the yolk of egg is by far the most convenient form of

thickening when mushrooms are cooked in the chafing dish.

=Under the Glass Cover or "Bell" with Cream.=--With a small biscuit

cutter, cut rounds from slices of bread; they should be about two and a

half inches in diameter, and about a half inch in thickness. Cut the

stems close to the gills from fresh mushrooms; wash and wipe the

mushrooms. Put a tablespoonful of butter in a saucepan; when hot, throw

in the mushrooms, skin side down; cook just a moment, and sprinkle them

with salt and pepper. Arrange the rounds of bread, which have been

slightly toasted, in the bottom of your "bell" dish; heap the mushrooms

on these; put a little piece of butter in the center; cover over the

bell, which is either of glass, china, or silver; stand them in a baking

pan, and then in the oven for twenty minutes. While these are cooking,

mix a tablespoonful of butter and one of flour in a saucepan, add a half

pint of milk, or you may add a gill of milk and a gill of chicken stock;

stir until boiling, add a half teaspoonful of salt and a dash of pepper.

When the mushrooms have been in the oven the allotted time, bring them

out; lift the cover, pour over quickly a little of this sauce, cover

again, and send them at once to the table.

=Another Method.=--Wash and dry the mushrooms; arrange them at once on

the "bell plate." The usual plates will hold six good sized ones. Dust

with pepper and salt; put in the center of the pile a teaspoonful of

butter; pour over six tablespoonfuls of cream or milk; cover with the

bell; stand the dish in a baking pan, and then in a hot oven for twenty

minutes.

These are arranged for individual bells. Where one large bell is used,

the mushrooms must be dished on toast before they are served. The object

in covering with the bell is to retain every particle of the flavor. The

bell is then lifted at the table, that the eater may get full aroma and

flavor from the mushroom.

=Puree.=--Wash carefully a half pound of mushrooms; chop them fine, put

them into a saucepan with a tablespoonful of butter, and if you have it,

a cup of chicken stock; if not, a cup of water. Cover the vessel and

cook slowly for thirty minutes. In a double boiler, put one pint of

milk. Rub together one tablespoonful of butter and two tablespoonfuls of

flour; add it to the milk; stir and cook until thick; add the mushrooms,

and press the whole through a sieve; season to taste with salt and

pepper only.

=Cream of Mushroom Soup.=--This will be made precisely the same as in

the preceding recipe, save that one quart of milk will be used instead

of a pint with the same amount of thickening, and the mushrooms will not

be pressed through a sieve.

COPRINUS COMATUS and COPRINUS ATRAMENTARIUS.

As these varieties usually grow together and are sort of companion

mushrooms, recipes given for one will answer for the cooking of the

other. Being soft and juicy, they must be handled with care, and are

much better cooked with dry heat. Remove the stems, and wash them

carefully; throw them into a colander until dry; arrange them in a

baking pan; dot here and there with bits of butter, allowing a

tablespoonful to each half pound of mushrooms; dust with salt and

pepper, run them into a very hot oven, and bake for thirty minutes; dish

in a heated vegetable dish, pouring over the sauce from the pan.

The _C. micaceus_ may also be cooked after the same fashion--after

dishing the mushrooms boil down the liquor.

=Stewed.=--Wash and dry them; put them into a large, flat pan, allowing

a tablespoonful of butter to each half pound of mushrooms; sprinkle at

once with salt and pepper; cover the pan, and stew for fifteen minutes.

Moisten a tablespoonful of flour in a little cold milk; when smooth, add

a half cup of cream, if you have it; if not, a half cup of milk. Push

the mushrooms to one side; turn in this mixture, and stir until boiling.

Do not stir the mushrooms or they will fall apart and become unsightly.

Dish them; pour over the sauce, and serve at once. Or they may be served

on toast, the dish garnished with triangular pieces of toast.

COPRINUS MICACEUS.

Wash and dry the mushrooms; put them into a deep saucepan with a

tablespoonful of butter to each quart; stand over a quick fire, sort of

tossing the saucepan. Do not stir, or you will break the mushrooms. As

soon as they have reached the boiling point, push them to the back part

of the stove for five minutes; serve on toast. These will be exceedingly

dark, are very palatable, and perhaps are the most easily digested of

all the varieties.

LEPIOTA.

These mushrooms, having very thin flesh and deep gills, must be quickly

cooked to be good. Remove the stem, take the mushrooms in your hand,

gill side down, and with a soft rag wash carefully the top, removing all

the little brown scales. Put them into a baking pan, or on a broiler.

Melt a little butter, allow it to settle, take the clear, oily part

from the top and baste lightly the mushrooms, gill sides up; dust with

salt and pepper. Place the serving dish to heat. Put the mushrooms over

a quick fire, skin side down, for just a moment; then turn and boil an

instant on the gill side, and serve at once on the heated plate.

In this way _Lepiota procera_ is most delicious of all mushrooms; but if

cooked in moist heat, it becomes soft, but tough and unpalatable; if

baked too long, it becomes dry and leathery. It must be cooked quickly

and eaten at once. All the edible forms may be cooked after this recipe.

These are perhaps the best of all mushrooms for drying. In this

condition they are easily kept, and add so much to an ordinary meat

sauce.

OYSTER MUSHROOMS (Pleurotus).

Wash and dry the mushrooms; cut them into strips crosswise of the gills,

trimming off all the woody portion near the stem side. Throw the

mushrooms into a saucepan, allowing a tablespoonful of butter to each

pint; sprinkle over a half teaspoonful of salt; cover, and cook slowly

for twenty minutes. Moisten a tablespoonful of flour in a half cup of

milk; when perfectly smooth, add another half cup; turn this into the

mushroom mixture; bring to boiling point, add just a grating of nutmeg,

a few drops of onion juice, and a dash of pepper. Serve as you would

stewed oysters.

To make this into à la poulette, add the yolks of two eggs just as you

take the mixture from the fire, and serve on toast.

=Mock Oysters.=--Trim the soft gill portion of the _Pleurotus ostreatus_

into the shape of an oyster; dust with salt and pepper; dip in beaten

egg, then in bread crumbs, and fry in smoking hot fat as you would an

oyster, and serve at once. This is, perhaps, the best method of cooking

this variety.

RUSSULA.

While in this group we have a number of varieties, they may all be

cooked after one recipe. The stems will be removed, the mushrooms

carefully washed, always holding the gill side down in the water,

drained in a colander; and while they apparently do not contain less

water than other mushrooms, the flesh is rather dense, and they do not

so quickly melt upon being exposed to heat. They are nice broiled or

baked, or may be chopped fine and served with mayonnaise dressing,

stuffed into peeled tomatoes, or with mayonnaise dressing on lettuce

leaves, or mixed with cress and served with French dressing, as salads.

The "green" or _Russula virescens_ may be peeled, cut into thin slices,

mixed with the leaves of water-cress which have been picked carefully

from the stems, covered with French dressing, and served on slices of

tomato. It is well to peel all mushrooms if they are to be served raw.

To bake, follow recipes given for baking _campestris_. In this way they

are exceedingly nice over the ordinary broiled steak.

One of the nicest ways, however, of preparing them for steak is to wash,

dry and put them, gills up, in a baking pan, having a goodly quantity;

pour over just a little melted butter; dust with salt and pepper, and

put them into the oven for fifteen minutes. While you are broiling the

steak, put the plate upon which it is to be served over hot water to

heat; put on it a tablespoonful of butter, a little salt, pepper, and

some finely chopped parsley. Take the mushrooms from the oven, put some

in the bottom of the plate, dish the steak on top, covering the

remaining quantity over the steak. Add two tablespoonfuls of stock or

water to the pan in which they were baked; allow this to boil, scraping

all the material from the pan; baste this over the steak, and serve at

once.

_Agaricus campestris_ and many other varieties may also be used in this

same way.

LACTARII.

Remove the stems, and wash the mushrooms. Put them into a saucepan,

allowing a tablespoonful of butter and a half teaspoonful of salt to

each pint. Add four tablespoonfuls of stock to the given quantity; cover

the saucepan, and _cook slowly_ three-quarters of an hour. At the end of

this time you will have a rich, brown sauce to which you may add a

teaspoonful of Worcestershire sauce, and, if you like, a tablespoonful

of sherry. Serve in a vegetable dish.

=Lactarius deliciosus Stewed.=--Wash the mushrooms; cut them into

slices; put them into a saucepan, allowing a half pint of stock to each

pint of mushrooms; add a half teaspoonful of salt; cover and stew slowly

for three-quarters of an hour. Put a tablespoonful of butter in another

saucepan, mix with it a tablespoonful of flour; add the mushrooms, stir

until they have reached the boiling point; add a teaspoonful of kitchen

bouquet, a dash of pepper, and serve it at once in a heated vegetable

dish.

A nice combination for a steak sauce is made by using a dozen good sized

_Lactarius deliciosus_ with four "beefsteak" mushrooms, using then the

first recipe.

BEEFSTEAK SMOTHERED WITH MUSHROOMS.

Wash a dozen good sized mushrooms, either _Lactarii_ or _Agarici_, also

wash and remove the spores from half a dozen good sized "beefsteak"

mushrooms, cutting them into slices. Put all these into a baking pan,

sprinkle over a half teaspoonful of salt, add a tablespoonful of butter,

and bake in a moderate oven three-quarters of an hour. Broil the steak

until it is nearly done; then put it into the pan with the mushrooms,

allowing some of the mushrooms to remain under the steak, and cover with

the remaining portion; return it to the oven for ten minutes; dish and

serve at once.

BOLETI.

These are more palatable baked or fried. Wash the caps and remove the

pores. Dip the caps in beaten egg, then in bread crumbs, and fry them in

smoking hot fat; oil is preferable to butter; even suet would make a

drier fry than butter or lard. Serve at once as you would egg plant.

=Baked.=--Wash and remove the pores; put the mushrooms into a baking

pan; baste them with melted butler, dust with salt and pepper, and bake

in a moderately hot oven three-quarters of an hour; dish in a vegetable

dish. Put into the pan in which they were baked, a tablespoonful of

butter. Mix carefully with a tablespoonful of flour and add a half pint

of stock, a half teaspoonful of kitchen bouquet or browning, the same of

salt, and a dash of pepper; pour this over the mushrooms, and serve.

=In Fritter Batter.=--Beat the yolk of one egg slightly, and add a half

cup of milk; stir into this two-thirds of a cup of flour; stir in the

well beaten white of the egg and a teaspoonful of olive oil. Wash and

remove the pores from the boleti. Have ready a good sized shallow pan,

the bottom covered with smoking hot oil; dip the mushrooms, one at a

time, into this batter, drain for a moment, and drop them into the hot

fat. When brown on one side, turn and brown on the other. Drain on soft

paper and serve at once.

=Boleti in Brown Sauce.=--Wash and dry the boleti; remove the pores; cut

them into small pieces. To each pound allow a tablespoonful of butter.

Put the butter into a saucepan with the mushrooms; add a half

teaspoonful of salt; cover the pan, and stew slowly for twenty minutes;

then dust over a tablespoonful of flour; add a half cup of good beef

stock; cook slowly for ten minutes longer, and serve.

HYDNUM.

As these mushrooms are slightly bitter, they must be washed, dried, and

thrown into a little boiling water, to boil for just a moment; drain,

and throw away this water, add a tablespoonful of butter, a teaspoonful

of salt, a dash of pepper, and a half cup of milk or stock; cover the

pan, and cook slowly for twenty minutes. As the milk scorches easily,

cook over a very slow fire, or in a double boiler. Pour the mixture over

slices of toast, and serve at once. A tablespoonful or two of sherry may

be added just as they are removed from the fire.

CLAVARIA.

Wash, separating the bunches, and chop or cut them rather fine, measure,

and to each quart allow a half pint of Supreme sauce. Throw the clavaria

into a saucepan, cover, and allow it to stew gently for fifteen minutes

while you make the sauce. Put a tablespoonful of butter and one of flour

in the saucepan; mix, and add a half pint of milk or chicken stock; or

you may add half of one and half of the other; stir until boiling; take

from the fire, add a half teaspoonful of salt, a saltspoonful of pepper,

and the yolks of two eggs. Take the clavaria from the fire, and when

cool stir it into the sauce. Turn into a baking dish, sprinkle the top

with crumbs, and brown in a quick oven. Do not cook too long, as it will

become watery.

=Pickled Clavaria.=--Wash the clavaria thoroughly without breaking it

apart; put into a steamer; stand the steamer over a kettle of boiling

water, and steam rapidly, that is, keep the water boiling hard for

fifteen minutes. Take from the fire, and cool. Put over the fire

sufficient vinegar to cover the given quantity; to each quart, allow two

bay leaves, six cloves, a teaspoonful of whole mustard, and a dozen

pepper corns, that is, whole peppers. Put the clavaria into glass jars.

Bring the vinegar to boiling point, and pour it over; seal and put

aside.

This may be served alone as any other pickle, or on lettuce leaves with

French dressing as a salad.

=Escalloped Clavaria.=--Wash, separate and cut the clavaria as in first

recipe. To each quart allow a half pint of chicken stock, a teaspoonful

of salt, a tablespoonful of chopped parsley. Put a layer of bread crumbs

in the bottom of the dish, then a layer of chopped clavaria, and so

continue until you have the dish filled. Pour over the stock, which you

have seasoned with salt and pepper; dot bits of butter here and there

over the top, and bake in a moderate oven thirty minutes.

This recipe is excellent for the young or button _Hypholoma_, except

that the time of baking must be forty-five minutes.

PUFF-BALLS.

To be eatable, the puff-balls must be perfectly white to the very

center. Pare off the skin; cut them into slices; dust with salt and

pepper. Have ready in a large, shallow pan a sufficient quantity of hot

oil to cover the bottom. Throw in the slices and, when brown on one

side, turn and brown on the other; serve at once on a heated dish.

=A la Poulette.=--Pare the puff-balls; cut them into slices and then

into dice; put them into a saucepan, allowing a tablespoonful of butter

to each pint of blocks. Cover the saucepan; stew gently for fifteen

minutes; lift the lid; sprinkle over a teaspoonful of salt and a dash of

pepper. Beat the yolks of three eggs until light; add a half cup of

cream and a half cup of milk; pour this into the hot mixture, and shake

until smoking hot. Do not allow them to boil. Serve in a heated

vegetable dish, with blocks of toast over the top.

=Puff-Ball Omelet.=--Pare and cut into blocks sufficient puff-balls to

make a pint. Put a tablespoonful of butter into a saucepan; add the

puff-balls, cover and cook for ten minutes. Beat six eggs without

separating, until thoroughly mixed, but not too light; add the cooked

puff-balls, a level teaspoonful of salt and a dash of pepper. Put a

tablespoonful of butter into your omelet pan; when hot, turn in the egg

mixture; shake over the hot fire until the bottom has thoroughly set,

then with a limber knife lift the edge, allowing the soft portion to run

underneath; continue this operation until the omelet is cooked through;

fold and turn onto a heated dish. Serve at once.

Other delicate mushrooms may be used in this same manner.

=Puff-Balls with Agaricus campestris.=--As the _Agaricus campestris_ has

a rather strong flavor and the puff-balls are mild, both are better for

being mixed in the cooking. Take equal quantities of _Agaricus

campestris_ and puff-balls; pare and cut the puff-balls into blocks; to

each half pound allow a tablespoonful of butter. Put the butter in a

saucepan, add the mushrooms, sprinkle over the salt (allowing a half

teaspoonful always to each pint); cover the saucepan and stew slowly for

twenty minutes. Moisten a tablespoonful of flour in a half cup of milk,

add it to the mixture, stir and cook for just a moment, add a dash of

pepper, and serve in a heated dish.

This recipe may be changed by omitting the flour and adding the yolks of

a couple of eggs; milk is preferable to stock, for all the white or

light-colored varieties.

MORCHELLA.

Select twelve large-sized morels; cut off the stalks, and throw them

into a saucepan of warm water; let them stand for fifteen minutes; then

take them on a skimmer one by one, and drain carefully. Chop fine

sufficient cold boiled tongue or chicken to make one cupful; mix this

with an equal quantity of bread crumbs, and season with just a suspicion

of onion juice, not more than ten drops, and a dash of pepper. Fill this

into the mushrooms, arrange them neatly in a baking pan, put in a half

cup of stock and a tablespoonful of butter, bake in a moderate oven

thirty minutes, basting frequently. When done, dish neatly. Boil down

the sauce that is in the pan until it is just sufficient to baste them

on the dish; serve at once.

=A Second Method.=--Select large-sized morels; cut off the stalk; wash

well through several waters. Put into a frying pan a little butter,

allowing about a tablespoonful to each dozen mushrooms. When hot, throw

in the mushrooms, and toss until they are thoroughly cooked; then add a

half pint of milk or stock; cover the vessel, and cook slowly twenty

minutes; dust with salt and pepper, and serve in a vegetable dish. This

method gives an exceedingly palatable and very sightly dish if garnished

with sweet Spanish peppers that have been boiled until tender.

=Another Method.=--Remove the stems, and wash the morels as directed in

the preceding recipe. Make a stuffing of bread crumbs seasoned with

salt, pepper, chopped parsley, and sufficient melted butter to just

moisten. Place them in a baking pan; add a little stock and butter; bake

for thirty minutes. When done, dish. Into the pan in which they were

cooked, turn a cupful of strained tomatoes; boil rapidly for fifteen

minutes until slightly thickened; pour this over the mushrooms; garnish

the dish with triangular pieces of toasted bread, and serve.

GENERAL RECIPES.

In the following recipes one may use _Agaricus campestris_, _silvicola_,

_arvensis_, or _Pleurotus ostreatus_, or _sapidus_, or _Coprinus

comatus_, or any kindred mushrooms. The _Agaricus campestris_, however,

are to be preferred.

=To Serve with a Boiled Leg of Mutton=, wash well the mushrooms and dry

them; dip each into flour, being careful not to get too much on the gill

side. In a saucepan have a little hot butter or oil; drop these in, skin

side down; dust them lightly with salt and pepper. After they have

browned on this side, turn them quickly and brown the gills; add a half

pint of good stock; let them simmer gently for fifteen minutes. Take

them up with a skimmer, and dish them on a platter around the mutton.

Boil the sauce down until it is the proper consistency; pour it over,

and serve at once. These are also good to serve with roasted beef.

=Mushroom Sauce for Game.=--Wash well one pound of fresh mushrooms; dry,

and chop them very fine. Put them into a saucepan with one and a half

tablespoonfuls of butter; cover, and cook slowly for eight minutes; then

add a half cup of fresh rubbed bread crumbs, a half teaspoonful of salt,

a saltspoon of white pepper; cover and cook again for five minutes;

stir, add a tablespoonful of chopped parsley, and, if you like, two

tablespoonfuls of sherry; turn into a sauce-boat.

=A Nice Way to Serve with Fricassee of Chicken.=--Wash and dry the

mushrooms; sprinkle them with salt and pepper. Put some oil or butter in

a shallow pan; when hot, throw in the mushrooms, skin side down; cover

the pan, put in the oven for fifteen minutes; baste them once during the

baking. Lift them carefully and put them on a heated dish. Add to the

fat in the pan two tablespoonfuls of finely chopped mushrooms, a half

cup of good stock; boil carefully for five minutes. Have ready rounds of

bread toasted; dish the mushrooms on these; put on top a good sized

piece of carefully boiled marrow; season the sauce with salt, and strain

it over. Use these as a garnish around the edge of the plate, or you may

simply dish and serve them for breakfast, or as second course at lunch.

=Oysters and Mushrooms.=--Wash and remove the stems from a half pound of

fresh mushrooms; chop them fine; put them into a saucepan with a

tablespoonful of butter, a half teaspoonful of salt, and a dash of

pepper; cover closely, and cook over a slow fire for ten minutes. Have

ready, washed and drained, twenty-five good sized fat oysters; throw

them perfectly dry into this mushroom mixture. Pull the saucepan over a

bright fire; boil, stirring carefully, for about five minutes. Serve on

squares of carefully toasted bread.

=Tomatoes Stuffed with Mushrooms.=--Wash perfectly smooth, solid

tomatoes; cut a slice from the stem end, and remove carefully the seeds

and core. To each tomato allow three good sized mushrooms; wash, dry,

chop them fine, and stuff them into the tomatoes; put a half saltspoon

of salt on the top of each and a dusting of pepper. Into a bowl put one

cup of soft bread crumbs; season it with a half teaspoonful of salt and

a dash of pepper; pour over a tablespoonful of melted butter; heap this

over the top of the tomato, forming a sort of pyramid, packing in the

mushrooms; stand the tomatoes in a baking pan and bake in a moderate

oven one hour. Serve at once, lifting them carefully to prevent

breaking.

Or, the mushrooms may be chopped fine, put with a tablespoonful of

butter into a saucepan and cooked for five minutes before they are

stuffed into the tomatoes; then the bread crumbs packed over the top,

and the whole baked for twenty minutes. Each recipe will give you a

different flavor.

FOOTNOTES:

[E] The recipes for Agaricus are intended for the several species of

this genus (Psalliota).

CHAPTER XXII.

CHEMISTRY AND TOXICOLOGY OF MUSHROOMS.

By J. F. CLARK.

Regarding the chemical composition of mushrooms, we have in the past

been limited largely to the work of European chemists. Recently,

however, some very careful analyses of American mushrooms have been

made. The results of these investigations, while in general accord with

the work already done in Europe, have emphasized the fact that mushrooms

are of very variable composition. That different species should vary

greatly was of course to be expected, but we now know that different

specimens of the same species grown under different conditions may be

markedly different in chemical composition. The chief factors causing

this variation are the composition, the moisture content, and the

temperature of the soil in which they grow, together with the maturity

of the plant. The temperature, humidity, and movement of the atmosphere

and other local conditions have a further influence on the amount of

water present.

The following table, showing the amounts of the more important

constituents in a number of edible American species, has been compiled

chiefly from a paper by L. B. Mendel (Amer. Jour. Phy. =1=: 225--238).

This article is one of the most recent and most valuable contributions

to this important study, and anyone wishing to look into the methods of

research, or desiring more detailed information than is here given, is

referred to the original paper.

TABLE I.

===================================================================+

| FRESH | IN WATER-FREE MATERIAL. |

| MATERIAL.| |

-------------------------------------------------------------------|

| W | D M | T N| P N| E E| S I P A| F | A |

| A | R A | O I| R I| T X| O N E L| I | S |

| T | Y T | T T| O T| H T| L R C| B | H |

| E | T | A R| T R| E R| U 8 O| R | |

| R | E | L O| E O| R A| B 5 C H| E | |

| | R | G| I G| C| L E O| | |

| | | E| D E| T| E N L| | |

| | | N| N| | T | | |

-------------------------------------------------------------------|

| % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % |

Coprinus comatus |92.19| 7.81|5.79|1.92| 3.3| 56.3| 7.3|12.5|

| | | | | | | | |

Morchella esculenta |89.54| 0.46|4.66|3.49| 4.8| 29.3| 8.7|10.4|

| | | | | | | | |

Polyporus sulphureus |70.80| 9.20|3.29|2.23| 3.2| 27.8| 3.0| 7.3|

| | | | | | | | |

Pleurotus ostreatus |73.70| 6.30|2.40|1.13| 1.6| 31.5| 7.5| 6.1|

| | | | | | | | |

Clitocybe multiceps |89.61| 0.39|5.36|1.98| 6.0| 57.2| 9.6|11.5|

| | | | | | | | |

Hypholoma |88.97| 1.03|4.28|2.49| 2.5| 44.4|12.1|13.9|

candolleanum | | | | | | | | |

| | | | | | | | |

Agaricus campestris | 91.8| 8.2|4.75|3.57|3.72| -- | -- |11.6|

===================================================================+

=Water.=--Like all growing plants, the mushroom contains a very large

proportion of water. The actual amount present varies greatly in

different species. In the above table it will be seen that _Polyporus

sulphureus_, with over 70 per cent. of water, has the least of any

species mentioned, while the species of _Coprinus_ and _Agaricus_ have

usually fully 90 per cent. water. The amount of water present, however,

varies greatly in the same species at different seasons and in different

localities, and with variations in the moisture content of soil and

atmosphere, also with the age and rapidity of development of the

individual plant.

=Total Nitrogen.=--The proportion of nitrogen in the dry matter of

different species varies from 2 per cent. to 6 per cent. This

comparatively high nitrogen content was formerly taken to indicate an

unusual richness in proteid substances, which in turn led to very

erroneous ideas regarding the nutritive value of these plants. The

nitrogenous substances will be more fully discussed later, when we

consider their nutritive value.

=Ether Extract.=--This consists of a variety of fatty substances soluble

in ether. It varies greatly in quality and quantity in different

species. The amount is usually from 4 per cent. to 8 per cent. of the

total dry matter. It includes, besides various other substances, several

free fatty acids and their glycerides, the acids of low melting point

being most abundant. These fatty substances occur in the stem, but are

much more abundant in the cap, especially in the fruiting portion. Just

what nutritive value these fatty matters may have has never been

determined.

=Carbohydrates.=--The largest part of the dry matter of the mushrooms is

made up of various carbohydrates, including cellulose or fungocellulose,

glycogen, mycoinuline, trehalose, mannite, glucose, and other related

substances. The cellulose is present in larger proportion in the stem

than in the cap, and in the upper part of the cap than in the fruiting

surface. This is doubtless related to the sustaining and protective

functions of the stem and the upper part of the cap. Starch, so common

as a reserve food in the higher plants, does not occur in the mushrooms.

As is the case with the fats, no determination of the nutritive value of

these substances has been made, but it may be assumed that the soluble

carbohydrates of the mushrooms do not differ greatly from similar

compounds in other plants.

=Ash.=--The ash of mushrooms varies greatly. _Polyporus officinalis_

gives but 1.08 per cent. of ash in dry matter, _Pleurotus ulmarius_

gives 12.6 per cent., and _Clitopilus prunulus_ gives 15 per cent. The

average of twelve edible species gave 7 per cent. ash in the stem and

8.96 per cent. in the cap.

In regard to the constituents of the ash, potassium is by far the most

abundant--the oxide averaging about 50 per cent. of the total ash.

Phosphoric acid stands next to potassium in abundance and importance,

constituting, on an average, about one-third of the entire ash. Oxides

of manganese and iron are always present; the former averaging about 3

per cent. and the latter 5 per cent. to 2 per cent. of the ash. Sodium,

calcium, and chlorine are usually present in small and varying

quantities. Sulphuric acid occurs in the ash of all fungi, and is

remarkable for the great variation in quantity present in different

species; e. g., ash of _Helvella esculenta_ contains 1.58 per cent.

H_2SO_4 while that of _Agaricus campestris_ contains the relatively

enormous amount of 24.29 per cent.

Any discussion of the bare composition of a food is necessarily

incomplete without a consideration of the nutritive value of the various

constituents. This is especially desirable in the case of the mushrooms,

for while they are frequently overestimated and occasionally

ridiculously overpraised by their friends, they are quite generally

distrusted and sometimes held in veritable abhorrence by those who are

ignorant of their many excellent qualities. On the one hand, we are told

that "gastronomically and chemically considered the flesh of the

mushroom has been proven to be almost identical with meat, and possesses

the same nourishing properties." We frequently hear them referred to as

"vegetable beefsteak," "manna of the poor," and other equally

extravagant and misleading terms. On the other hand, we see vast

quantities of the most delicious food rotting in the fields and woods

because they are regarded by the vast majority of the people as

"toadstools" and as such particularly repulsive and poisonous.

Foods may be divided into three classes according to the functions they

perform:

(_a_) To form the material of the body and repair its wastes.

(_b_) To supply energy for muscular exertion and for the maintenance of

the body heat.

(_c_) Relishes.

The formation of the body material and the repair of its wastes is the

function of the proteids of foods. It has been found by careful

experiment that a man at moderately hard muscular exertion requires .28

lb. of digestible proteids daily. The chief sources of our proteid foods

are meats, fish, beans, etc. It has been as a proteid food that

mushrooms have been most strongly recommended. Referring to Table I, it

will be seen that nitrogen constituted 5.79 per cent. of the total dry

substance of _Coprinus comatus_. This high nitrogen content, which is

common to the mushrooms in general, was formerly taken to indicate a

very unusual richness in proteid materials. It is now known, however,

that there were several sources of error in this assumption.

Much of the nitrogen is present in the form of non-proteid substances of

a very low food value. Another and very considerable portion enters into

the composition of a substance closely related to cellulose. A third

source of error was the assumption that all the proteid material was

digestible. It is now known that a very considerable portion is not

digestible and hence not available as food. Thus, notwithstanding the

5.79 per cent. of nitrogen in _Coprinus comatus_, we find but .82 per

cent. in the form of actually available (i. e., digestible) proteids, or

approximately one-seventh of what was formerly supposed to be present.

The digestibility of the proteids varies very greatly with the species.

Mörner found the common field mushroom, _Agaricus campestris_, to have a

larger amount of proteids available than any other species studied by

him. Unfortunately, the digestibility of the American plant has not been

tested. There is great need for further work along this line. Enough has

been done, however, to demonstrate that mushrooms are no longer to be

regarded as a food of the proteid class.

The energy for the muscular exertion and heat is most economically

derived from the foods in which the carbohydrates and fats predominate.

The common way of comparing foods of the first two classes

scientifically is to compare their heat-giving powers. The unit of

measurement is termed a _calorie_. It represents the amount of heat

required to raise a kilogram of water 1° Centigrade. (This is

approximately the heat required to raise one pound of water 4°

Fahrenheit.) A man at moderately hard muscular labor requires daily

enough food to give about 3500 _calories_ of heat-units. The major part

of this food may be most economically derived from the foods of the

second class, any deficiency in the .28 lb. of digestible protein being

made up by the addition of some food rich in this substance.

In the following table the value of ten pounds of several food

substances of the three classes has been worked out. Especial attention

is called to the column headed "proteids" and to the last column where

the number of heat-units which may be purchased for one cent at current

market rates has been worked out.

TABLE II.

NUTRITIVE VALUE OF TEN POUNDS OF SEVERAL FOODS.

========================================================================+

|PROTEIDS.|FATS.| CARBO- |CALORIES.|COST.|CALORIES|

| | |HYDRATES.| | | FOR ONE|

| | | | | | CENT. |

------------------------------------------------------------------------|

a. {Beef (round) | 1.87| .88| ----| 7200|$1.50| 48.|

| | | | | | |

{Beans (dried) | 2.23| .18| 5.91| 15900| .30| 530.|

| | | | | | |

| | | | | | |

b. {Cabbage | .18| .03| .49| 1400| .15| 93.|

| | | | | | |

{Potatoes | .18| .01| 1.53| 3250| .10| 325.|

| | | | | | |

{Flour (roller | 1.13| .11| 7.46| 16450| .25| 658.|

process) | | | | | | |

| | | | | | |

| | | | | | |

c. {Coprinus comatus | .04| .025| .434| 987| 2.50| 3.9|

| | | | | | |

{Pleurotus | .051| .042| .828| 1811| 2.50| 7.2|

ostreatus | | | | | | |

| | | | | | |

{Morchella | .094| .05| .306| 955| 2.50| 3.8|

esculenta | | | | | | |

| | | | | | |

{Agaricus | .18| .03| .46| 1316| 2.50| 5.3|

campestris | | | | | | |

| | | | | | |

{Oysters | .61| .14| .33| 2350| 2.00| 11.7|

========================================================================+