Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1889-06-20
GROWN IN DARK PLACES.j
TIE CULTIVATION OF THE ToorH-l
SOME MUSHROOM.

| ShNOE " LIlIS OtlI-
cacy is sProduced-A Chicago Com
pany's Cave-"Cellar Plantations.
''The Chicagoan is fast becoming quite
gourmet, an expert in gastronomy,"
said MIR. Kinsley, the well known restau-
rateur. "Chicago is better off in the
matter of mushrooms than Paris. We
have finer and more choicely favored
mushrooms here all the year round than
the Parisians can boast of With that
we have practically never-failing supply
Of those delicacies. True, in Paris they
have three varieties of mushrooms, while
we have only one. But ours is of su-
perior kind-frm, not soggy or spongy,
and they cook like meat. There is SUBJ
stance to them. The best are those of
medium size, about as large on the surface
as silver dollar. Since our home supply
has been composed entirely of fresh and
home grown mushrooms the consumption
has risen enormously. l use about fifty
pounds day on an average. 1t was quite
different year or two ago, when mush-
rooms were eaten very sparingly in Chi
cago, when many thousands who now de.
light in this gastronomic luxury had a
very solid prejudice against it. Those
were the days when the Chicago restau.
rateur was obliged to use the canned arti-
Gle except for few weeks each year,
when men and women went around gath
ering mushrooms that grew wild in the
meadows and fields around Chicago. But
those were of very poor quality and
lacked flavor and consistency"
For this great change, it seems, a COM
pany whose headquarters are in Chicago,
and whose organizers are Chicago men, is
mainly responsible. This company owns
big cave at Utica, little town near
Peru, ILL.,, sixty miles out. This large
cave, covering an area of twenty acres,
was partially produced by nature. The
company, however, improved it by dig
ging out many thousands of loads of sand,
until the cave assumed its present aspect.
To-day its bottom is level with the
ground. There are arches overhead, and
it Is laid out so well that wagons can
penetrate through its avenues, winding all
around, and the excellent mushrooms
there grown are loaded on these wagons,
ready for tranfer by rail. From this cave
mushrooms are sent all over the Union,
especially to Chicago, New York and all
the larger cities. This cave virtually sup
plies the continent with fresh delicious
mushrooms, growing there all the year
round, and in quantities to satisfy even
the rapidly growing demand. The
natural temperature in the cave is fifty-six
degrees. This has been found, though.
to be little too cool. The mushrooms
did not grow as fast nor as luxuriantly
as was desirable, and thus the company,
some time ago, put in steam pipes, and
by that means is now in a position to
regulate the temperature and always keep
1t at that point most conducive to mush-
room culture-about sixty
The company ships its mushrooms in
neat baskets of about the same appear
ance as peach baskets and with a securely
fastened perforated cover. The prices
OF these mushrooms have been brought
down in this city until there is almost no
difference between Paris and Chicago.
They vary between twenty-five and sixty
cents per pound, with an average of for
ty-tive cents. After being skinned every
part of the mushroom is utilized in the
kitchens of our fine restaurants. The
stem is sliced up and used for mushroom
sauce, while the more delicately fbered
head is cut up and served with steaks,
roasts and all sorts of game. Many peo-
pic don't know yet that raw mushrooms,
sliced and dished up as salad, with
vinegar and olive oil, make very appe-
tizing dish.
However, this company is not the only
source of supply Chicago has for its
mushrooms. A number of other mush-
room cultivators though on smaller
scale-are domiciled within the precincts
of this town. They are all Frenchmen or
French Canadians. They raise these
mushrooms, not in caves, but in the cell
lars OF their homes and in cellars rented
for the purpose. A man by the name of 7
Charles Martell has such city mushroom
nursery In three continuous cellars on
West Thirteenth street. The area he has
thus secured is enough to raise, during the
AnFoapAC pdib VI Iuc SehSOu, some l0U,-
600 mushrooms 5000 pounds.
He sells about $4,000 worth of them dur
ing the year. a. a5.
1t is an interesting sight, once the eye
has become accustomed 10 the dim light 4
in this cellar plantation, to inspect a
mushroom field. The soil in which the
mushrooms are grown is very rich, but
not deep. The buttonlike heads bob i'm
everywhere, and much care has to be ex-
ercised in keeping the beds properly
weeded, so as to afford the required space
for each plant. The propagation process
is kept secret.
1t would seem that the principal diff
Guilty those mushroom growers have to
contend with is to secure that degree Of
moisture and warmth in the atmosphere
required for the healthy growth of this
fungus. Those conditions are most
difficult to obtain just at the time of year
when they are most desirable-that is.
when mushrooms are highest in price and
scarcest. - Chicago Herald.
Il. e.. b. s-