Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-05-12
SOMETHING NEW IN MUSHROOMS
A Valuable Species Hitherto UnknOwn
Has been Discovered.

Has been Discovered.
The discovery Of an entirely new species
Of mushroom Is announced by DIR. Taylor
Of the Department of Agriculture
1t Is an important discovery, because this
mushroom has certain advantages over any
other known species. 1t is very prolific.
and. developing unusually early in the year,
Is less likely to be attacked by flies. That
is serious trouble in the business of
mushroom farming. Flies lay their eggs
upon the agarics, and from these are hatch
ed out maggots
Another point about the new mushroom
Is that Its spawn Is plentiful and easily OBJ
tanned. Up to the present time the price OF
spawn has been about 81 a pound, which is
almost prohibitory. The spawn Of the new
species will De sold this spring cheap enough
to bring it within ach of everybody-that
Is to say. at $3.50 bushel, or S. a barrel
This mushroom will grow in a dark cellar
as we'll as IN daylight. One disadvantage
1t has 10 that 1t looks like a toadstooL 1t
was discovered by Mr.. William Falconer of
Glen Cove, N. Y.
In the summer of 1892 he observed guam
titles Of a rather mountaineering mush-
room, which was new to him. growing wild
on and about piles Of leaf mold They were
not scattered about ike the agarics of the
lSlOS, out grew IN DuncneS or TWO, three or
sometimes a dozen together. But the crop
was not steady. There might be a great
quantity one week. hardly any the next.
plenty the following week. and so on. After
Mr.. Falconers attention was called to the
fact that a neighboring florist was picking
great quantities of mushrooms In his green
houses, and selling them at high prices in
New York. He went and saw them, but
instead of the common mushroom they
proved to be the same stranger he was
studying at home. They had appeared
with the florist the year before. Old violet
beds in the grape and tomato houses were
full Of mushrooms; old hot beds in the
nursery were run over with them and they
were growing i'll the open grounds among
the asparagus. Wherever planted they
were coming up like a crop of weeds.
DR.. Taylor means to raise these new
mushrooms. with a Wow to their introduce
ton In the Washir gton markets Their
greatest advantage is that they can be
grown much more easily than ordinary
mushrooms. and the yield Is astonishingly
pier it'll.
In Speaking OF his discovery a few weeks
ago before the Massachusetts Horticultural
Society, In Boston, Mr. Falconer called at
tention to the fact that mushroom growing
Is already becoming quite an important in
dustry In this country. Until a few years
ago veil of mystery hung over this
branch of gardening. Successful cultivators
were silent, and the general public was
Kept In darkness. Within the last four
has quadrupled. Some OF the largest grow
ers are Observation-Disclosures and 9TH
ers. who. having unoccupied caves or eel
lars, have gone into the business with a
view to utilizing room that would other
wise be idle and unproductive. Florists
have planted thousands of square yards
under their green house benches that would
otherwise be worthless To them mush-
rooms are an inexpensive by-product, the
loan and rotted manure being better for
flowers after having been utilized for grow
Ing mushrooms. Chicken raisers have also
taken to the mushroom business for profit;
they want to produce something that will
bring money in the winter time.
This Increased production, says Mr.. Fall
coner, will reduce the price of mushrooms
to popular basis, and will place on the
tables of the middle classes wholesome
deltcacy which hitherto has been available
only for the rich. Many persons who now
use the "tasteless and indigestible putty
balls from imported cans" will repudiate
the foreign article and accept no other than
the wholesome and juicy domestic product
Cooks need educating in the art OF cook
ing mushrooms, for few of them under
stand it. Dir. Falconer says that il Is Just
as easy to grow these agarics on a small
scale for home use as 1t is to raise flowers
or strawberries. and no more expensive.
The only drawback to raising mushrooms
In summer Is that they are then attack ed
by maggot-producing flies Caves and
abandoned quarrieS are ordinarily free
from such flies, so that they can be used TO
advantage for the production of mush-
rooms. In the village of Akron. n. " are
tunnels from which stone has been taken
10 make hydraulic cement. These have
been utilized with success for mushroom
culture, the temperature of the tunnels
varying only from 80 degrees in winter to
10 degrees IN summer. American growers
have not hitherto succeeded in making as
good spawn for propagating mushrooms as
may be got from France and England; con-
sequently, the importations OF spawn from
those countries have greatly increased dur
ing the last three years.