The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1909-12-23
A Fortune in Mushrooms.

To THE EDITOR OF The JOURNAL: We
suppose that most of our neighbors, even
the most spiritual minded and unworldIy
of them, have seen the moment when
some ''get rich quick scheme appealed
to them; when they would really have
liked to have made fortune quickly,
and to have retired from the storm and
stress of active business life. Such a
moment had come to US, when one morn
ing we picked up the daily paper and
saw staring US in the face these words.
ga Fortune in Mushrooms. Good, :"
we said. THAT fortune shall be ours !"
First we sent for the little pamphlet
that pointed out the road, to for
tune. 1t came. 1t looked as easy
as rolling off log. Not having much
time at our disposal we got up early and
worked hard and fast. 1t took us more
than week, but at last we had the
earth ready according to the directions
given in that precious little pamphlet.
The earth was in a dozen or more good
sized boxes in a shady old woodshed.
The neighbors were curious about those
boxes, and some of them asked questions.
We had to sidestep little and dodge
some for we had decided to keep our
new business secret until we were
well started on the road to fortune.
The neighbors looked at US suspi-
ciously and we knew they thought we
were crazy; but we were used to that,
and we chuckled to think how those sus-
picious looks would change to smiles of
appreciation when once we had reached
and grasped our fortune. In the little
pamphlet we read of woman at Dark
Harbor, Me-. who had almost reached
the goal, and we chuckled again to think
how soon we would overtake and Cass
her in the race. We sent for the mush-
room spawn according to directions: we
paid-well never mind about that. The
spawn came in bricks. The bricks were
hard and we had to cut them up with
a Ratchet. The neighbors saw us and
asked more questions; we side stepped
some more. The spawn had little white
fibres interlaced through it and from
these fibres the mushrooms were to
spring up in the night for eight weeks or
more, at the rate of about ten pounds
night, and were to be sold at the rate of
two dollars per pound. The price was
all right. We spoke to friend at Dark
Harbor about our new enterprise, and
from that time on, all through the sum-
mer, he offered US two dollars pound
for ours mushrooms. He offered it Of
ten, and he offered it earnestly. He
really wanted our mushrooms. We
hated to disappoint him. We hated to
be disappointed ourselves. But there
was ''hitch in the proceedings with
those mushrooms. We planted the
spawn according to the directions. The
mushrooms came up. They came up in
single night. That part was all right.
But they came up one at a time at the
rate of one mushroom per day. At the
rate they came up it would have
taken ten acres of ground to have
produced that pound of mushrooms
per day for which our Dark Harbor
friend would have paid two dollars.
But we were not discouraged. We had
at least seen what mushrooms looked
like when they grow in a single night.
We had purchased our experience, and if
we had paid little high for it-well, our
neighbors only guessed at that. This
was consolation at this particular
stage, When spring came again we
renewed proceedings We had good
courage; we had better success; we
gathered more mushrooms; we even
looked forward to supplying the de-
mand of our Dark Harbor friend
We were happy when one morning we
picked from our own mushroom bed
enough mushrooms for our own break
fast and the breakfast of our family.
With an exalted sense of we'll being and
well doing We made preparations to cook
our mushrooms, when some curious men,
Der of our family who had been examin-
ing our new source of income uttered
Disguised 'Oh!" We looked. We had
read in the little pamphlet that mush-
rooms had all the qualities of beefsteak
from that moment we have never
doubted it. Those mushrooms were beau
ties; they were button" mushrooms,
and to the casual eve were perfect speci-
mems. Broken open and examined close
ly they were filled with minute squirm-
ing, wriggling little white maggots. We
said, Good bye mushrooms. Good bye
fortune. Let who will secure fortune
in mushrooms. From now on we our
selves will plod along in the routine of
our daily business life" If our neigh
bors ever knew the secret of those boxes
in the shady shed, they were mercifully
silent-and so were we. R. N.