Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-09-16

rich rewards thus promised and raising
mushrooms is no longer regarded as a
royal road to wealth. An increasing
number of people are growing mushrooms
study and preparations and have soma
small capital To start They do not re-
ceive even a dollar a pound for their
produce. They are satisfied IL they aver.
age half that Yet IL is rapidly becoming
recognized as paying business and ono
that does not require heavy work or
large capital to begin with. Formerly.
all OF the mushrooms raised artifciaily
in this country were from spawn im-
ported from France or England Now
good. reliable spawn can be obtained In
this country. and full directions for
mushroom culture may be gotten from
the Department OF Agriculture
x r
France has the best developed mush-
room trade OF the world. For at least
three centuries
France Has Best mushrooms hava
Developed Trade. t p nroau ,epO n
the Partisan market Paintings OF
market scenes by old masters in the
sixteenth century frequently show
basket OF mushrooms In the foreground,
thus indicating their popularity as a
food even then. They were cultivated
assiduously in caves and catacombs I'M
der Paris and other French cities. In
1870 a large cave was reported near
Merry which contained twenty-one miles
of mushroom beds and yielded more than
5000 pound of mushrooms annually.
The quantity OF mushrooms sold in the
Paris markets now approximates 10000
pounds each year. About third OF
.
The balance are preserved and largely
exported.
The United States depends largely
upon imported French mushrooms when
better quality could be produced at home.
In Italy, Germany, Russ and otner
parts of Europe, mushrooms are estee m
ed as food. In England they are cu.ti-
waited extensively for home consumption
| and also are preserved and exported in
large quantities. The English mush-
room catsup is deEcacy recognized
over the civilized world. In China and
Japan the mushroom has been known
for many years. 1t has been included
in the Anti-Famine Herbal. recently
prepared by the Chinese governm, mt.
containing descriptions and illusti atoms
of plants available for food when the
ordinary supply fails.
X X
greater than is generally supposed. Ac-
cording to scien-
Mushrooms Contain tihc tests. it is
q Deal Of Nutrition. len, - ,ha, ~
meat. Dried mushrooms contain 35.ls per
cent protein. 40 per cent potassium salts
and phosphoric acid and 2.3 per cent OF
fatty matter and sugar. The comparative
nj Of
per hundred parts gives bread 500 per
cent; oatmeal. 9O4 per cent: legumnous
foods such as peas and beans. 27.05 per
cent; potatoes, 4.S5 per cent. and mush-
rooms SO per cent This indicates that
mushrooms contain more than six times
the heterogeneous food value of potatoes.
Considering how great this food value
Is. 1t Is most unfortunate that thousands
of pounds of mushrooms are being wasted
each year which should go to the nourish-
ment Of the nation. This Is chiefly due
to the ignorance of the average person as
to how to distinguish between the poison
Gus fungi and the delicious edible mush-
rooms. The Department of Agriculture
mycologists frankly confess that up to
this time they have been unable TO es-
tablish any test which may be relied
upon Consequently. while admitting the
value Of the mushrooms which are TO be
found In the fields and forests, they rec
ommend that the uninitiated grow their
own mushrooms from reliable spawn or
else purchase them from responsible deal
ers. Because Of the resemblance between
some Of the species they cannot recon-
mend any other course with safety.
Despite this Official caution, thousands
of Americans are every day enjoying the
flavor of mush-
Many Poisoning rooms which
Cases Exaggerated. wild and the
number who have suffered from poison
ing Is exceedingly small. The Agaricus
campestris is the scientific name of the
common mushroom which can be found
upon almost every field and pasture land.
1t is almost always absolutely harmless.
A Washington lawyer. who learned to eat
mushrooms while boy upon his fathers
farm. claims that he could never be de-
ceived by 1t. For several years he and
his small son have had a regular route
which they cover each week along some
suburban roads. They are frequently able
to bring in several pounds of mushrooms
which are fresher and of higher quality
than could be bought In market.
Many cases of mushroom poisoning are
exaggerated, although there is much dam
ger. A group Of fungi known as the
deadly amanita" Is sometm steo be
found near the common mushroom, and
have doubtless been mistaken for ii. 1t
often happens that a species will agree
perfectly with one person and be po SON
GUS to another Strawberries. Holsters.
clans and other delicacies are rank pol
sons to occasional individuals. The fear in
which the general public regards mush
rooms is frequently considered responsible
for supposed cases of poisoning. \ per-
son having eaten mushrooms may become
indisposed from some other cause, ana
his fear because of what he has heard
Of mushroom poisoning may aggrayate
his illness.