The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-08-01
TILE RP1CuRE,s DELIGHT.
over 100 Edible Varieties of the Much
Abused ToadStool.

hvIGneS. ID,
ing devoted to the determination of that
saint preventing insect by the white form
,,bich grows upon them and weaves them
shrou!s after they are dead. Wasps, cater
T,iIlars, beetles and bugs afford them houses
of which they take full possession They
1arght the epioure with their delicious truf
a, and savory sauces, and have entered
INTO a companionship with beefsteaks as
aostronomic delights inseparable as
coaches and cream. Their favors and fav
ffrs are known by the hundreds to the my
conhagist who is not afraid to question and
eat of them.
In spite of all the good toadstools do US,
thew paw us back well for our general dis
ike and contempt. Our harvests of grains
and grast, are good or bad as their rust
forms decide. They creep into the pantry,
colonize their mold shapes upon cakes,
cheese, bread and preserve, and fare sump-
tuously at our expense They will destroy
30 cent shine" on pair of boots in a
single night by planting their blue forest
from pulling strap to toe point. They SOW
death where wounds cape for their gangrene
settlements and famine where their white
clad Peronospora settles upon the potato
plant and delves its tubers, leaving them a
mass of rot and corruption.
Many skin diseases are due to their bur
rowing, and it is an open question whether
they do not originate several of the we'll
known human ailments. They are the Paul
Prys of plant life.
The edible varieties are numerous The
writer has eaten enjoyably of over 100, and
confidently expects to add many more to
the list. The late Dr. Curtis of North Caro-
limo catalogues liz edible kinds found by
him IN that state. Every day mycophag-
lists are adding to their cuisine species not
heretofore tested to the safety point in eat
ing, and oven those which have long borne
q bad reputation.
1t is as supplying stores OF nutritive mat
ter and thus forming most important ex-
cellent and delicate food supply that toad
stools are of most value. Almost everything
contributes to the arts, but food supply is
limited to digestible things. To the inhabit-
ants of many nations toadstools-in their
edible capacity-are most important. The
Russians pay particular attention to their
economy and cooking. The Italian peasants
regard toadstools as among their greatest
blessings. In England all of the edible
varieties are eagerly sought after; tons
daily find their way from wood and field to
the markets of towns and cities, and the
great manufactures of sauces and pickles.
Everywhere in Europe they are dried for
winter use. In France, especially, much at
tention Is paid to the cultivation of the
toadstool of commerce. and it constitutes an
enormous industry. Ten thousand tons are
annually produced by one cultivatOr. In
October of 1885 the writer saw the outlying
commons of Boston, New York, Brooklyn
and Philadelphia covered with men, women
and children gathering the prolific and deli
cate Agaricus comatus (Coprinus) by huge
basketfuls for the use of hotels, clubs and
private families Until within q very few
years this same Coprinus was classed among
prisonous toadstools
But few varieties yield the secrets of the
necessaries for their cultivation. aMost of
them positively refused to impart the know
ledge to the most seductive care and closest
limitations of their natural homes and
haunts, and therefore can be found only
upon the spots and within the circles Dame
Nature has assigned to them.
They will not coloniZe they will not emil
CRATE; they will not be cheat ed out of their
natural possessions; they refuse to be
educated, and stand themselves upon their
single leg as the most independent and
contrary growth with which man has to
deal.
Compared with a toadstool the North
American Indian is saint for educational
and implanting purposes, the Berkshire pig
as tractable as an oyster, and the long stig
matized mule a model of amiability. The
pOlypoerei climb trees; their twin brother
the Boletus will not do so under any cir
custances. The trufIle hides under ground;
the lycoperdon camps on the ground and
enjoys the ligneous stupidity of rotten
Stumps; the hydnei are more bohemian,
and the agaricini are cosmopolitan. No
mortal yet has found the spot where
toadstool of some kind does not grow-even
upon metals-aud yet not over a dozen va
rieties Of the many thousands will allow
themselves to be taken from their natural
habitat to live and grow in another mock
ing it as Intimately as the proverbial pair
Of peas. They are loyal beyond precedent
TO their native soil. and not willing to &C
cept naturalization papers from any one or
for any purpose, no matter how polite the
rendering.
The much kicked and thoroughly despised
puff balls are properly so treated when
they reach tho dust giving age, because
they are then too old to eat; but when
young their white flesh is very tempting,
and, when not changing color to any shade
OF yellow upon being cut or broken, will be
pronounced by the most fastidious equal to
any table delicacy. All white flesh puff
balls are edible.
The power of cell building is well exem-
plifed by them. 1t is recorded of a puff
ball that it has raised a stone weighing
ninety pounds one and half inches; and
the pavement of whole Spanish city has
been disturbed by these silent lifters, I'M
authorized by its highway department.
They push through dry surfaces that the
pick refuses to enter, and have a way of
growing under difficulties that commands
respect To any one who will take the
pains to examine their cheeselike interI-
ors, they will commend themselves even
raw
By far the most numerous tribe is that
called agarlcini-a gillbearing tribe. To it
belongs the common mushroom OF com
merce-the agaricus campestries, agaricus
arvensis, horse mushroom, champignon-
never was anything in nature so titled.
everybody thinks that he or she knows it,
and yet few do. 1t varies so in shape,
color, size, and at different stages of its
growth, that even the expert is puzzled IN
Qecldlng to which of its many named varie-
Yes 1t bAongs. In firm belief of know
lSsdge ofit by the amateur lies the great
1anger of toadStool eating; for a small
family of this tribe, numbering about thirty
members and called amanitR, contains at
least twenty members possessing properties
lnsinuatlng and deadly that, until
within the few last months, those who ate of
tuem were doomed to certain death, be-
cause the antidot to this subtle poison was
Got certainly k >wn. In their button
snapped youth they SO closely resemble the
common field mushroom that they are gath
cred with them, and get in their deadly
work on the sanguine. Owing to their per-
t tect structure they stand at the head of
VI this family several members are harm
ieS and delicious: but il is best for the col