raw, boiled, stewed, roasted; and being hung up, and
dried in stoves or chimneys, form a part of their winter's stock of
provisions.

"Mushrooms are not, however, everywhere equally abundant, owing as well
to climate as to the more general cultivation of the soil: the character
of many of the sorts is, therefore, not perfectly known, and most of
them are passed over as deleterious. Indeed, the greatest caution is
requisite in selecting any species of this tribe for food; and we can
advise none but an experienced botanist to search after any but the
common and familiar sort (_Agaricus campestris_) for food."--_Loud._

* * * * *

COMMON MUSHROOM. _M'Int._ _Rog._

Champignon. Agaricus campestris.

[Illustration: Common Mushroom.]

This Mushroom, when it first appears, is of a rounded or button-like
form, of a white color, and apparently rests on the surface of the
ground. When fully developed, "the stem is solid, two or three inches
high, and about half an inch in diameter; its cap measures from an inch
to three and sometimes even upwards of four inches in diameter, is of a
white color, changing to brown when old, and becoming scurfy, fleshy,
and regularly convex, but, with age, flat, and liquefying in decay; the
gills are loose, of a pinkish-red, changing to liver-color, in contact
with but not united to the stem, very thick-set, some forked next the
stem, some next the edge of the cap, some at both ends, and generally,
in that case, excluding the intermediate smaller gills."

Loudon says that it is most readily distinguished, when of middle size,
by its fine pink or flesh-colored gills and pleasant smell. In a more
advanced stage, the gills become of a chocolate color; and it is then
more liable to be confounded with other kinds of dubious quality: but
the species which most nearly resembles it is slimy to the touch, and
destitute of the fine odor, having rather a disagreeable smell. Further,
the noxious kind grows in woods, or on the margin of woods; while the
true Mushroom springs up chiefly in open pastures, and should be
gathered only in such places.

_Cultivation._--"This is the only species that has as yet been subjected
to successful cultivation; though there can be little doubt that all or
most of the terrestrial-growing sorts would submit to the same process,
if their natural habitats were sufficiently studied, and their spawn
collected and propagated. In this way, the Com