Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-11-07
MUSHROOMS FOR THE FAIR.
Novel Exhibit to BE Made by the Departures
Of Agriculture ut Chicago.

"OShhOOA0 FUN VhE fAIh
Novel Exhibit to Re Made by the Department
of Agriculture ut Chicago.
An exhibit Of a most curious and original
description IL to be made by the Department. Of
Agriculture at the worlds fair in Chicago.
Nothing like it has ever been seen at an exposi-
ton before. II will be q show Of mushrooms,
including all Of the 200 varieties of edible
agarics belonging to the United States. All of
them will be represented by models painted to
Initiate nature as nearly as possible, while the
principal and most useful kinds will be dis
played naturally growing and under cultiva-
ton.
For this purpose experiments are now being
made ~ barn some miles out Of WASH
ing under the direction Of DIR. Thomas Taylor,
an expert fungologist. Various methods Of
cultivation are being tried, and every day ex-
cursions are made into the woods around about
to gather fresh species. Already in that neigh
borhood more than 100 kinds have been Sc
cured. As fast as they are obtained they have
plaster molds made from them, and casts
OF the originals are produced in q curious ma
calls Soluble leather" The casts are painted
by skilled artists in close imitation Of the real
mushrooms. Each sort will be shown in q
group illustrating all stages of its development
and representing the conditions Of its growth
likewise, some sprouting from moss. others
from pine needles, still others from the bark Of
trees, and SO on.
oBJEcf OF THE rxnBrr.
The object Of the exhibit will be to educate
the people Of this country respecting mush-
rooms as a valuable article Of diet At present
the entire natural crop Of esculent fungi pro-
duced in the United States, which ought to
have value of q great many Thousands of dol
lars, is well-nigh wasted. Hardly more than
ono species is eaten at all, and even that is re-
garded usually with suspicion. Prudence in
selection is worth exercising, inasmuch as
there are no less than 800 poisonous varieties.
but little knowledge il all that is needed to be
certain in choosing.
| regarded as such by the epicure, which grow
all over the United States spontaneously, yet
go to waste for lack of gathering. For ex-
ample, few people will venture to eat the fairy
| ring mushrooms, which are the best Of all
agaries How many persons are there who
would think of taking home and cooking the
excellent ''oyster mushrooms" which grow out
| Of the bark Of trees in clusters, resembling in
| shape the mollusks from which their variety
takes its descriptive manner The same question
| may be asked respecting the "beefsteak mush-
| room," which is developed on tree stumps, Of
bright red color aud sometimes attaining
nearly foot in diameter. Cut in slices and
broiled with butter this latter species taste
exactly like the most tender beefsteak. In
| fact, fungi that are good to eat are composed
| largely of nitrogen, and their flesh is very like
mea: in the elements composing it. They are
also very nearly as nutritious as meat. When
they decay these curious vegetables actually
become putrid, as fesh does
THE GROWTH OF THE INDUSTRY.
Already the cultivation of mushrooms for
market is gaining ground as an industry in this
country. There are large mushroom farms in
on Long Island there are many extensive mush-
room cellars which produce considerable crops.
Farmers generally would find mushrooms a
most profitable winter crop. They have cellars
to grow them in and loan and manure at hand.
The only expense necessary is a small one for
the purchase of spawn, which can be got from
the seedsmep- As for the manure and loan,
they are better for other uses after having been
thus employed than before. Every florist could
| find in the space beneath the benches Of his
green house most suitable accommodation for
mushroom beds. For women seeking pleasant
and remunerative occupation nothing could be
more suitable than raising mushrooms. There
is more money in 1t than in hens. and in the
market the demand is always greater by far
| than the supply at good prices.
Several kinds Of puff-ball mushrooms possess
anasthetic properties when burnt, like chloro-
| form, and successful surgical operations have
been performed under their influence. There
| is an esculent agaric raised for The table in
Naples by simply depositing quantity Of cof-
| fee grounds in the cellar, the fungus soon max
ing its appearance In Italy also another spe-
cies is produced spontaneously from hazel
stumps, partly charred and watered from time
| to time. Razor strops Of good quality are
made from an Asiatic variety, which contains
minute crystals hard enough to act upon steel
The superb polyporus sacer is worshiped in
Africa as god. The 'German finder, famil-
lar to cigar smokers, Is manufactured from a
fungus beaten out and stepped in solution Of
4 saltpeter. Pieces of the same are often
| sewn together into coarse garments. The
| natives Of TERRA del Fuego depend upon GER
tain kinds of fungi for their staple food during
many months of the year. There is q species
which grows on olive trees that 10 so luminous
that it is possible to read by its light. fungus
| peculiar to the wine cellar is the pride Of the
wine merchant. covering his bottles with
mold expressive of antiquity. Another attacks
| the corks of wine bottles, destroying them and
timpregnating the wine with taste and odor so
| unpleasant as to render it unfit for use. Yet
another kind grows to enormous dimensions.
| 1t has been known to attack q wine cask, first
| feeding upon the wood and then upon the con-
| tents, until the over-fed monster blocked up
the doorway Of the cellar. Still other varieties
are employed in different parts Of the world
for making an intoxioant, fly poison, dye and
snuff.