Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1880-11-12
MUSHROOMS.
something About the Delicious Edi-
bic Frugi--lIOw to cultivate Them
Mark Lane Express.

Y edible fungl Let any one who thinks
his appetite is failing him, seek some
rural retreat, and let him rise early in
/ the morning, and, provided with stout
waterproof boots, let him gather Il
basket full of mushrooms from the
dew-clad meadows, and taen sit down
TO breakfast with the fungi stewed or
broiled before him and if their delicate
aroma and soft, luscious texture do
not TENT him to make II hearty sort of
meal his case must be bad indeed.
10 our way of thinking the mush-
room is the king of fungi His parts.
thrown into bold relief By the surround
ing green grass, give him All elegan
and dignified appearances and as weshall
! presently see, he is aS useful rs he is
beautiful. However, as we have no
right to speak Of the passiouless mush-
room in the masculine gender, we
will at once resume the sOulless neutcr,
and proceed with few descriptive de-
tails. Let it be promised that the
whole of the mushroom is made up
entirely of the delicate interlacing
tubes or hyphm which we have al
ready had reason to mention iii eonnec-
ton with other fungal organisms. Let
sections be cut from amy part what
ever and placed under the microscope,
and nothing but these severed hyphr
will bc exposed to view, The body of
u mushroom, rs it is pulled from the
! ground, presents two obvious parts, the
erect cylindrical stalk or stipe sur
mounted by the umbrella-like recep-
taclc. The upper or convex surface
of the receptacle is covered BY
Il soft, smooth skin, pilcus,
or cap, and in young plant it
will be seen that the pileous surrounds
and is joined to the stipes below, form
ing, at this stage, the ceium pottiote, Of
partial veil, which ultimately rupturcs,
the greater part Of the vclum gong to
form the pileus, while the fragment left
surrounding the stripe is the WaitiS, or
ring Before the rupture of the yelum
the head Of the mushroom is almost
| globular; afterwards it spreads out into
the wcil-known shape in which we see
it in the market, On the other surface
of the pllcus series of vertical rad
latlng plates or lamellp extend out
ward from the stripe to the margin.
The structure of one of these lamcllp,
or gills, can only be unravellcd bv
means Of il good microscope. A
traverse section shows the central It's
sue or trama (tuHtd, the wool, weft, OF
filling Of webb to consist Of short
tubes which gradually pass on either
side into minute rounded cells, form
my the sub-hymeneal layer, and each
Of these on its outer side, that is on the
free exposed surface Of the lamella. is
covered by the hymenium (hHmea, II
membrane.) The hymenium is made
upof u closely packed mass Of long
cub-shaped cells or basidia baSiS, II
pillar, standing at right angles to the
surface of the sill and with their border
ends outward. Each basidum bears on
lis broad free end four slender parallel
projections, the SteHgnatd, and finally
each stcrigma bears an exceedingly
minute roundish or Oval spore Shake
II ripe mushroom ovcra piece of white
paper, and countless numbers of these
spores will fall from the gillS, forming
II fine dust, possessing the delicate
llesh-color of the lamcllp themselves. 1t
is these spores which constitute the cs.
scntial part Of the mushroom spawn"
from which the cultivated varieties are
raised. When the spores are sown they
generate beneath the sun, and give
rise to 4 mycclium (0iYcor. mould) Of
delicate mtcraeing hyphp, and it is
from tins that the aerial part of the
present understand, takes its origin.
Hence the complete life cycle of the
mushroom involves two very distinct
phases If vegetation; first, the ger
mmating spore produces suhterran-
can mYecllum; and secondly, the my
ccGun gives rise to the aerial stipe and
receptacle, the gills Of the latter re-
producing the spores.
Mushrooms are StcWcd, hroiled, and
picked for the table, and when sailed
and pressed they produce catschup, al
most agreeable sauce They are high
~ heterogeneous, and contain much fat,
and hence they constitute valuable ar
ticles of diet,
The edible mushroom, IWuicus CONF
peslijS, is common in meadows, espec-
ally where horses feed, and grows
most ahundantly in hot, moist weather.
Unjust be gathered early in the morn
ing or the heat of the sun rapidly
withcrs it UP. Ii is sufficiently in de-
mand to constitute an article Of COM
merce, and may he rown all the year
round in specially prepared beds, in
cellars or underground caves, light
having 4 retarded effect ga its growth.
The beds III which the spawn" is
sown must be highly charged with
humus, or decaying organic matter,
horse manure being valuable ingrc-
dent The genus AgarieuS comprises
y large number of mushrooms like
plants; and as they are very much
alike. great caro- i requisite iii gather
ing them for the table. inasmuch as
most of their allies are poisonous, and
fatal mistakes have often been made.
Some enthusiastic mieologists assert
that We allow large quantities Of nutri-
touS and delicious fungal food 10 waste
every year, simply on account of the
inability of most people 10 distinguish
the cseulcnt fungi from the injurious
ones but il must not hc forgotten that
even one mistake may prove fatal and
| tl,ot fttpy,l,YiNf.. tI,,,31,I,.N.5