MUSHROOMS

The general title of ‘‘mushrooms’’ is here used, as popularly emploved, to cover all kinds of edible fungi except Purr eat is and Trurres, both of which are treated separately under their own heads. They are found in nearly all — temperate regions, in forests and orchards, vineyards and pastures, growing wild most freely in the spring and autumn, and they po e a great theoretical interest for many people--with the result that much which is not true has been most impre ively written concerning them. First, and most emphatically, mushrooms are not entitled to the pathetie praise, so often bestowed, which describes them as a valuable but neglected food source. Their nutritive value is slight, and unle carefully cooked —and consumed in the greatest moderation—they are liable with many people to retard the a imilation of better foods by their ‘‘indigestibilitv’’ in the stomach. The foregoing is the case against the mushroom. With fanciful theories of food value tlius set aside, one may proceed with praise for the numerous varieties which please the palate with their unique flavors—to be enjoyed for those flavors rather than for nutrition—and which, furthermore (the best of them free for the gathering), perform also a real service to humanity by adding bulk and substance, even though it he of minor grade, to the diet of hundreds of you sands of people in other parts of the world who are not ble ed with the measure of comparative abundance which is, or should be, the heritage of every resident of the North-American continent. The mushroom is not, as generally understood, the plant, or fungus, itself—it is the fruit of the growth which produces it and which remains underground—a white or ee aes bef ~ Mn AS eae 5 ~~? LIK. NEES: SCE ES Be Way aay A, ys th we A common mushroom in the button stage, and the mycelium, or plant-system, which has produeed it. Al] was underground (except the top of the button-mushroom) until the earth was removed for the photograph. Note the many small mushrooms forming bluish mold called mycelium, or ‘‘spawn,’’ a network ma of thin, thread-like “‘roots,’’ or underground stems. The mushroom, or fruit, when mature diffuses a quantity of powdery seeds, or ‘‘spores,’’? by means of which the fungus extends its propagation. The distribution of the spores is in most eap types from ‘‘gills’’ on the underside of the cap. Cultivation is confined almost exclusively to varieties of the Common Mushroom. Spawn, because of its quicker results, is used in preference to spores. It is marketed’ in both cake and flake forms. Any place is suitable for cultivation which is moderately cool and moist, wniform in temperature, and away from direct sunlight. A cellar is the best ordinary example, but growing on a large scale is generally done in caves, closed tunnels, abandoned breweries or quarries, or specially constructed ‘‘mushroom-houses’’—usually wooden buildings partly below and partly above ground. The spawii is planted in beds of mixed manure and earth, with a final covering of the latter. When the crop is well under wavy, the beds are picked once or twice a day for fruit large enough for market. All kinds of fungi should be cooked as speedily as po ible after gathering—or be promptly dried for future use—as their fine qualities quickly deteriorate. If your harvest does not include sufficient of any one kind to justify a separate cooking, they may all be thrown into a mushroom stew—though some of the delicacy of the choicer varieties will be lost in the proce . If the total is too small even for this method of cooking, they may be chopped fine and incorporated in an omelette. Those that are too mature to be tender (but still not in any degree decomposed) may—with the stems of their younger relations—-be made into sauce or catchup. ‘*Button-mushrooms”’ are young mushrooms, particularly of the agaries, gathered while still roundish and with unbroken ‘veils’? concealing their gills. They should not he taken unle actually connected by the threads of their mycelium with a mature fruit recognized as edible, for divers buttons both wholesome and poisonous look much alike. The accompanying double color-page shows a selection of twelve important, generally distributed mushrooms. Mushrooms of the same species and variety frequently differ considerably in coloration as well as in size, but the illustrations are of spec i in ens typically average in general appearance. The average size is larger than that of the illustration. Additional descriptions will be found in the following list. The novice should make himself thoroughly familiar with the general appearance and characteristics of a species before he ventures to eat a specimen, and all mushrooms (or other fungi of any kind) which are infested by insects, sodden with rain, or have commenced to decompose, should be avoided or dis earded. Morels (if of sound condition) make a distinctive change from the common mushroom and are safe to experiment with, as there are no known poisonous fungi resembling them closely enough to deceive an ordinarily observant person. Ground Mushrooms Common Musnuroom (Agaric us campestris), both wild and cultivated, the most generally acceptable type of mushroom in this country and England, and the common champignon comestible of the French canned product. It is found wild during the late summer and fall in gra y places, manured ground, ete.—never in close woods. The wild varieties appear either singly or in simple groups; the cultivated often ma in large clumps. The fruit consists of a central stalk, generally white or cream in color and from one to 214 inches in height, supporting a rounded, table-like cap, two to t; inches in diameter, silky white or creamy in color—or scaly and brown (generally hbrown-spotted) —or (rarely here) silky grey. The gills are free from the stem, and are white and then pink in the button stage, becoming brown to blackish on maturity and exposure, The flesh is white. The common mushroom is served in many ways, both raw and cooked—some people consider it especially delicious when broiled. There are many fungi*superior in flavor, but the common mushroom has the advantage of bemg better known and more generally available. Its food value is also Ingher than the average, for its protein is to a greater degree a imilable. The Horse, or Field, Mushroom (Agaric us arvensis) somewhat closely resembles the common mushroom but may be distinguished by its double ring, or collar. It also averages larger, and its eap, white when young and fresh, becomes yellowish with age or drying. It is desirable, though rather coarse, and is fairly well distributed. Bo.etus. The several species of boletus are distinguished principaliy by small tubes, or holes, taking the place of the gills under the cap. They find much favor in France and Germany and grow freely in this country also. One of the largest and best is that illustrated, the Edible Boletus, its eap ranging up to six inches, or even more, in diameter, and varying from yellowish-brown to reddish-brown, the tubes changing at maturity from white to yellow or greenish-vellow, and the stem of about the same color or lighter. It is imported in considerable quantities, chiefly from France, preserved in olive oil, sauces, ete., being generally known hy the French title of cépes. It is noted for its strong flavor. Others well distributed and good eating are the Granulated Boletus, named for the small, pinkish-brown granules dotting the stem—-its cap, which is from 115 to four inches broad, varving widely in color; and the Rough-stemimed Boletus, its stem roughened with small, prominent, reddish or brownish or blackish dots, or scales, and its cap varying from white to nearly black. The first step toward serving any of these is to remove and discard the stem and tubes. This done, a good method of preparing them is to eut the cap into small pieces, set them ina covered dish with a little butter, milk, salt, and pepper, and bake for about half an hour. No holetus with reddish tubes should be eaten, nor one with bitter or otherwise unpleasant flavor, nor which quickly changes to blue where bruised or roughly handled. Kpipie CHANTARELLE (Can thar ell us cibarius), most commonly found in the woods in groups, but also in open grounds. Its cap, one to three inches broad, flat or centrally depre ed, is of varving and irregular shape, but it is distinguished by its beautiful, ege-vellow color, which extends to all parts of the plant except the white inner flesh. The odor of the flesh frequently suggests a ripe plum. The gills are in the form of shallow folds growing down the stem. Chanterelles require long cooking and are improved by a previous soaking in warm milk for several hours. Cora Musnrooms. Of the several types, the Pale Yellow Clavaria (Clavaria flava) was chosen for illustration. It is a ‘‘ bushy’? fungus, two to six inches high, frequently appearing in woods during a warm, wet spell. In young specimens, the tips are more deeply colored than the lower parts of the branches, but they fade with age. The flesh is white, mild in flavor, and moderately tender when young. Alhied types of good edibility are the Club’? mushroom (C. pistil laris) —club shaped, yellowish or brownish, two to six inches or so high, and an inch or more in diameter; and **Leaf Coral’? (Spar a is crixspa) with flattened white or yellowish branches in rosette form. Farry Rinc MusHroom (Marasmius oreades), a small kind found principally in the autumn, in meadows, on lawns, etc., in wet weather or after heavy rains. It is so called because of its habit of growing in rings or circles. When young, the cap, from three-quarters of an inch to two inches in diameter, is reddish, yellowish-red, or yellowish-brown, becoming paler in maturing or as its moisture evaporates. When dry, it is generally of a buff color. The gills are broad and whitish or yellowish. The flesh is inclined to be tough except when fresh and young, but careful cooking makes it very palatable. It is good broiled for serving with steak, and also pickled and in sauces. Ixk-caps. Species of the Coprinus, or Ink-cap genus, are readily distinguished by their gills, and sometimes the caps themselves, melting into a black liquid at maturity. Their life above ground is very brief—they push through, the soil in great numbers and develop and di olve very rapidly. Those to be eaten should be gathered before they show any sign of expanding and should be cooked without delay. Their thin, tender, palatable flesh is generally digestible even by a squeamish stomach, They are harmle in the inky stage but they then present a far from attractive appearance. The two best species are those illustrated, the Common Ink-cap, greyish, yellowish, or brownish, one to 21% inches in cap width, and the Shaggy Mane, or Horsetail, 11: inches to 214 inches in width, white with yellowish or brownish seales, and; somctintes with lilae tints. Both of these, when voung, have white gills and flesh. A third species of value is the Glistening Coprinus, light tan to brown, almost equally good hut much smaller, often found in abundance on dead trunks and stumps. Ink-caps require little cooking. They are very good prepared ‘‘au gratin.’’ Maskep Tricnotoma (J'richoloma person a tum), found chiefly in the autumn in open woods and long gra . Its cap ranges from two to five inches in diameter, and (together with the stem) has a more or le marked lilac or violet tint, with a dull pink look to the gills. With age, the lilac or violet changes to grey and the gills to reddish-brown. More.. There are several species of the Morel (Morchella) genus, all similar and all edible. They are most frequently found in forests and wooded swamps, and are known by their deeply hon eve combed caps—varying generally from oval to blunted conical—vellowish-brown when young but growing darker with age, from three-quarters of an inch to 115 inches in width and generally Jonger than broad. They are excellent stuffed with cooked foreemeat and baked, or stewed as a vegetable, or in sauces. They require long cooking. Because of their formation they should be earefully washed. Parasor. Mcsuroom, or Tarn Lepiota (Lepiota procera), a handsome species which grows to large size—the cap width from three to six inches and the stem height from five to ten inehes. It is found in gra v places and open woods. The young cap is somewhat egg-shaped and generally reddish or brownish. As it matures, the surface skin cracks and separates, giving the appearance of a hghter surface marked hy reddish or brownish spots or seales. The gills are white when voung, becoming yellowish or pinkish-brown in many mature specimens. It should be noted that the ring is movable, that the scales of the cap do not separate readily, that there is no green tint to the gills, and that there is no cap—or any piece of a cap —around the hulbous hase. The flesh is thin, white, and soft. It is best broiled on a quick fire, and is a good mushroom for drying. Suaccy Manz. See its description in Inx-caps, above. Tree Mushrooms Beer steak MusnHroom, or Liver Fistunina (Fistulina hepatica), also known as ‘“heefsteak fungus,’ ** vegetable beefsteak,’’ ‘beef tongue,’? and ‘‘oak tongue.’’ Its cap varying from two to six inches and more in breadth—has, when voung, a rough, reddish surface which reminds one of beef tongue, and flesh streaked with red and with a reddish juice. Its flavor when cooked bears a distinct resemblance to meat, and it vields a rich, brown gravy. {[t should be sliced acro the grain and soaked in salt water prior to cooking—which may be by broiling, stewing, in soup, ete. Oyster MusHroom (Pleurotus ostreatus), somewhat shell-shaped, white or ashy or creamy-brown on the upper surface and white or ashy on the under-parts. with white, rather tough, flesh. It grows on dead trees and wood, generally in the early fall, attached by a short side-stem or directly to the wood without any stem at all. The shells vary in size, with a maximum width of about four inches. Small specimens (or pieces of large tender ones) are good breaded and fried. Of the same genus and closely resembling it is the Sapid Mushroom (P. sapid us). A third species is the Elm Tree Pleurotus (P. ulmarius) which grows most freely on stumps and dead branches of elin-trees. Its cap, two to five inches broad, ix generally whitish, often with a central tinting of reddish or brownish-vellow, MUSKRAT, or Musquash, an aquatic rodent, frequenter of ponds, marshes, rivers. and lakes, found generally throughout North America, resembling the common rat in general appearance and the beaver in many of its habits. Its average size is that of a small rabbit, its body attaining a length of ten to twelve inches. Among its distinguishing characteristics are its partially webbed hind feet and its long, scaly tail, Jaterally flattened. It is commercially valuable for its skin—with dark-brown fur above and greyish on the under-parts—which within recent years has risen greatly in market price, the supply seldom equaling the demand. Dved or of natural color, and variously proce ed, it becomes ‘‘Hudson seal’? and ‘‘river mink.’’ ‘Black muskrat’’—the most valuable from the fur-dealer’s standpoint—is a variety with very dark skins caught chiefly in the Chesapeake and Delaware regions. The flesh of the animal is also worthy of consideration, for (properly prepared) it makes an agreeable dish—particularly so if the animal has been, as he usually is, on a diet of water-plants, fruits, and vegetables. The most generally acceptable method is to soak it in salt water for an hour or so, or overnight, then to cut it up and slowly stew it with a small quantity of pork, cut in dice, onions and other vegetables, and herbs. A considerable number of the little animals are marketed in the larger cities, especially in Canada, under their own name and various other appellations—as ‘‘marsh rabbits,’’ ete.