Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-03-23
ALL ARE TOADSTOOLS
EDIBLE KIND ARE KNOWN AS
MUSHROOMS.
Secretary Wilson Tells How to Dis
tinguish Difference Between
Good and Bad.

with the approach of spring each year
We are in receipt of bags full Of letters
from all sections of the United States III
regard to the mushroom and how to dis
tinguish it from the toadstool," said Sec
rotary of Agriculture Wilson to a Star
reporter today.
How can one tell a mushroom from
toadstool?
That question is asked thousands OF
times a year all over this broad land, and
the wiseacre usually proceeds to explain
how it can be done. But, If left to his
own devices in the field, and forced to dis
tinguish the edible from the poisonous
fungi, he would probably kin himself. You
cannot tell a mushroom from toadstool,
because a mushroom is toadstool what
you desire to learn is to tell the edible
from the poisonous toadstools.
Before entering into this 1t may be well
to shatter the fable that mushrooms ma
ture in a single night. They do no sucn
thing. the development of the plant sons :
times requiring weeks after the spawn mas
begun it's reproductive action. 1t Is true
that the buttons appear above the eartn
during the night, but, then, SO 90 many
other forms of vegetable life, and If you
will take the trouble to measure a young
blade of corn you will find that 1t grows
much more rapidly than a mushroom.
Invariably Grows in Meadows.
"Presuming that the general appearance
of the edible toadstool, or mushroom, is
fairly we'll known to the seeker after more
information, the first thing to learn is
that the common table variety almost In
variably grows In meadows, never in the
woods or on the trunks of trees, and has
pink or brown gills according to its age.
The white-gilled ones are, so far as has
been learned, poisonous.
THE stem of the edible one must be
cylindrical and solid, and it must have a
ring, or traces of one, near the top. II
must have no bulb at the base and no
scales those having these characterize
being dangerous if not deadly. The most
important point for the novice to bear IN
mind is never to gather the small buttons
unless they clearly show a connecting
membrane between the top and the stalk
and even then It Is best to avoid the unde-
veloped ones, for until they have attained
half their full growth 1t Is frequently I'M
possible, even for the expert, to classify
them. s-'5 +
Edible fungi comprise thousands of
species so closely allied that great skill is
required to distinguish them. Yet 1t is
always safe to eat those that bear the
characteristics already mentioned. 1t is
always dangerous to eat those that have
begun to decay or are not sound In every
way. not because Of their condition, but
mining their food value.
'It has been said by scientists that lii
every country Of the temperate and torrid
zones there grow enough edible mushrooms
to almost entirely feed the population. The
plant being a great deltcacy, its points
should be a matter Of pleasant study for
the epicure.
"One enthusiast I know of has gone so
far as to live for several weeks solely on
those he found in his travels, and cata-
logued seventy-two varieties that he found
and tried, with carrying success, although
he did not kill himself.
Two Dangerous Species.
There are two species which are very
dangerous and which on casual inspection
by the novice resemble the common field
mushroom. They are known as the deadly
agaric and the fly agaric the former being
very dangerous and the latter very COM
mon. The fly agaric Is even more common
than the ordinary mushroom, and Is used
to manufacture a house fly poison. 1t
grows in groves OF pine trees and near the
and prefers a poor soil.
1T attains a large size and Is always
found singly. Its gils are white, never
that delicate pink that pleases the eye in
the edible variety, and it has a hollow
stem fringed with scales. Its most strik-
ing feature Is its color, always a bright
red or yellow, over which are sprinkled
white spots, and heavy collar hangs
down the stalk. Notwithstanding these
prominent features that mark it for an
enemy 1t has been the experience of years
that 1t is more frequently mistaken for
the edible mushroom than any other Of the
thousands Of varieties that abound all over
the world
Good mushrooms are never red or yell
low. The deadly agaric. scientifically
known as 'amanita phalloides,' grows singly
in woods and on the edge of fields, and
chooses a slightly better soil than Its less
dangerous brother. The simplest way to
tell 1t from the edible Is to break the stalk,
which in the agaric Is hollow or filled with
tiny threads, or to note whether 1t has the
collar beneath the gils, which the good
kind has not.
Points of the Good Mushroom.
Now that 1t may be a simple matter to
the good from the bad, let 1t
be remembered that the common mush-
room has always the following points: A
smooth crown with pink gills that change
to brownish purple when matured, a solid
stem with ring near the middle, and no
dubious base. The fly agaric is branded
with top covered with warts, has gills
that are always white and a large ring or
collar about the upper stalk, the latter
being hollow or filled with threads, except
at the base, where it has a scanty bulb
The deadly agaric also has white gills,
hollow stalk, solid and bulOous at the base
but the top is not always covered with
warts Avoid all that are brilliant in COL
oring and bear in mind that mushrooms
safe to eat are nearly always found in
moist meadows. Regard for size is a good
path to follow, the common meadow mush-
room having a stalk shorter than the
width of the top, which latter never be-
comes fiat until approaching decay In the
poisonous kinds the top is much smaller
than the height Of the stalk and fattens
out very soon after leaving the earth It's
breadth Is from six to eight inches while
that of the common variety is never more
than four. The substance in the edible
fungi is more solid than in the others
There are many other varieties that are
known to be edible, but their distinguishing
characteristics are SO closely allied to those
of the poisonous varieties that 1t Is not SAFE
for the tyro to attempt gathering them
Let the facts that have been set forth be
kept well in mind and there need be no rea-
sonable cause for mistakes. Only those
who have prided themselves on their knowl-
edge-generaily acquired from lore-haye
usually been victims to their lack Of 1t,
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