Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-03-14

Some Interesting Facts About q Great Branch
Of the Vegetable Kingdom.


Some Interesting Facts About . Great Brancl,
Of the Vegetable Kingdom.
WHAT ITS DISCOvERER DECLARED TO
w be a new kind Of mineral was received by
the Department of Agriculture the other day
all the way from California. Prof. Galloway
examined 1t and told a STAR reporter that il
was merely fungus of a very peculiar kind.
which grows In California and several other
states as far east as Michigan, being developed
upon the trunks Of pine trees. The specimen
mentioned weighed about three pounds and
was very solid, being composed almost entirely
OF resin. This material. for the purpose of its
own support. the parasite causes the tree TO Sc
crete in unusual quantities. Wherever the
fungus fourishes it is believed by the country
people to be an excellent substitute for ouiuine
and is used by them as a remedy for chills and
fever.
FIVE THOUSAND SPECIES OF FUNGUS
The study of funguses is comparatively new
As branch of research it is of somewhat wide
scope, 5000 species being already recognized
and CLASSIFIED. For every mushroom that one
eats there are hundreds which prey in retu. n
at the expense of mankind. Among the micro
scopic varieties may be briefly mentioned one
that spawns upon dried preserves. another that
makes bread mouldy. third that devours the
corn. a fourth that rots the fruits, a fifth that
spolis beer. a sixth that gives a bad taste 10
pickles and seventh that causes catsup 10
putrlfy. Still other families attack the hoofs
and horns of horses and cattle, grow amid
heaps OF moist marble dust in the sculptor :
studio, pick good timber to pieces, destroy silk
worms and even sprout from the products of
surgical disease In the hospitals. Not a few of
them actually prey upon each other
or transform insects into vegetables
They are everywhere; their name
Is gion and their province ubiauity. In form
they are infinitely varied. One sort exactly
resembles n human ear, which is attached to a
tree and trembles when you touch it: another.
which projects from the bark of the chestnut
Is SO like a tongue in shape and general appear
ance that IN the days OF enchanted trees you
would not cut 1t off to eat it OH any account
lest the knight should afterward come to claim
Il OF You. The surface of this latter curiosity
Is rough, just like that of real tongue the
flesh softly elastic and the color bright red its
appearance being not that of a healthy organ
OF speech, but OF one unpleasantly diseased.
GREAT VARIETY OF oDoR.
Funguses are characterized by the most sur
prlsing varieties Of odors. Some are provided
by nature with such horrible smells as nothing
else besides can approach. The infective stencil
OF one known as the ''clathrus'' has given rise
to superstition in parts Of France where it
grows that it is capable of producing cancer so
that the inhabitants of the Landes district call
II the cancer" and when they find a specimen
cover 1t carefully over lest some one should
chance to touch it and become afflicted with
that horrible disease in consequence. Another
species smells strong of onion. third of april
cot a fourth of tallow, fifth of putrid meat
and a sixth Of stale poultice. Wholesome mush-
rooms usually have an agreeable perfume and
the safest rule to follow in gathering them for
the table Is to nibbie the stem of each one
picked. II the taste is not pleasant throw the
thing away.
PHosPHoREsCENT FUNGUS
The coal mines near Dresden have long been
celebrated for the production of funguses
which emit light resembling pale moon
light: 1t is phosphorescens in its nature
Another species furnishes useful color for
dyeing; another is employed for making ink:
another is utilized for Supplying bees. for
sianching blood and for making finder; another
serves the Laplanders to destroy bedbugs. for
which purpose it is smeared upon the walls and
bedposts, and another is valued by the Kam-
schatkans for manufacturing an Intoxicating
liquor. The ''polyporus squamosus'' makes a
razor strap far superior to those commonly
sold, For this purpose it must be cut from
the ash tree upon which it grows in the autumn.
when its juices have been dried and its sub
stance has become solidified. 1t is then to be
fattened out for twenty-four hours in a press.
after which 1t should be carefully rubbed with
puuiCe. siAceu iOn<uulnally, and every slit
that is free from damage by insects glued upon
a wooden stretcher. In quite ancient times
this fungus was 30 employed, and it seems
strange that it has gone SO entirely out of
fashion.
A mushrooms method of growth and prona-
CATION is popularity considered to be a first
class mystery. 1t is not such, however from
the scientific point of view. On the contrary
it is very well understood how the seeds or
spores are developed on the under side of the
10 of \
single agaric often having many as 10 600. 900.
These myriad germs, when they fall upon suit
able ground, send forth numerous fine cotton
like threads, which bring nourishment to tho
spore. Fattening upon the food it gets from
the earth in this way the embryo swells into a
feshy kernel, like a knot amid the network of
flaments about l.. From this kernel the mush-
room in all its parts is developed before it
shows above the ground.
MUSHROOMS GROWTH.
1t is commonly believed that the mushroom
literally grows in night, so that it has come to
be cmblematic of sudden development, but the
truth is quite otherwise. II is very likely TO
require several weeks for its formation, and up
to the time OF its appearance in the light of day
1t remains beneath the surface, very much COM
pressed and held in small compass Then
comes q moist night and the cells of which the
fungus is composed are greatly expanded SO
that it thrusts itself out above ground. But it
IS uo HEAVIER, tuouBu SO mucQ Digger. than
days before. perhaps. when it lay hidden in
small compass under the top layer of soil a per-
feet mushroom.
1t is not very difficult to raise mushrooms
by hand if one will take little pains intelli-
gently. They are grown in enormous quanti-
ties in France in caves largely for export,
being picked while vet they are only buttons
and at their most delicious stage. Collect a
quantity of fresh horse-droppings as free
from straw as possible, and lay them in an
open shed in ridge-shaped heap While the
pile is heating" it should be turned from
time to time, and when the heat has mostly
subsidized it should be packed into o very solid
bed, over the surface Of which pieces of spawn
which may be bought at the seedman's may be
put into holes three inches deep. Two or three
weeks later cover the heap with an inch
loan, patted gently with the spade, and the
mushrooms may be expected in about six
weeks. Earth dug from about the roots of
growing mushrooms will always furnish spawn
fer planting.
The Bird and the Cash Box.
From the London News.