sending them to market, and are tempted to let them stay
ungathered until to-morrow, when they have grown larger and many more
shall have grown big enough to gather. This should never be done. It
will give an unfavored, unequal lot, some big, some little, some old,
some young. Far better pick every one the moment it is ready to gather,
and keep all safe in a cool place and covered until some more are ready
for use, and in this way have a uniform appearing lot of young produce.

Mushrooms for soups should always be gathered before they burst their
gills; indeed, they are mostly gathered when in a button state; that is,
when they are about the size of marbles. In this condition, when cooked,
they retain their white appearance and do not discolor the soup.
Immature mushrooms are deficient in flavor.

For home use, for baking, stewing, broiling, or for cooking in any way
in which the tenderness of the flesh and the delicious aroma of the
mushrooms are desirable in their finest condition, let the mushrooms
attain their full size and burst their frills, as seen in Fig. 24, and
gather them before the caps open out flat, or the gills lose any of
their bright pink color. If you let them get old enough for the gills to
turn brown before gathering, the mushrooms will become leathery in
texture, and lose in flavor and darken sadly in cooking.

[Illustration: FIG. 24. A PERFECT MUSHROOM.]

In picking, always pull the mushrooms out by the root, and never, if
practicable to avoid it, cut them over with a knife. In gathering, take
hold of the mushrooms and give them a sharp but gentle twist, pressing
them down at the same time, and they generally part from the bed without
any trouble; then place them in the baskets, root-end down, so as to
keep them perfectly clean and free from grit. Sometimes when several
mushrooms are joined together in one root-stock and it is impossible to
remove one without disturbing the whole, cut it over rather than pull it
out. In the case of clumps of young mushrooms, where one can not be
pulled out without displacing some of the others also, cut it out rather
than pull it. There is a knack in pulling mushrooms, easily attained by
practice. And even when they come up in thick bunches and it would
appear impossible to pull out the full-grown ones without disturbing the
others, a practiced hand will give them a twitch and a pull--they often
part from the bed by the gentlest touch--and get them out without