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large number of mushrooms of all sizes and see that they are thoroughly
clean; remove and discard the stems and peel the caps. Stir them around
for a few minutes in boiling water to which a little lemon juice or
vinegar has been added to prevent them from turning dark colored. Some
people use plain cold water, or cold water with lemon juice or vinegar
in it. But never use salt in preparing mushrooms for drying, or else the
salted mushrooms will absorb moisture from the atmosphere and spoil.
Take the mushrooms out of the water and drain them on a sieve, then
string them and hang them up to dry and season in an open, airy shed, as
one would strings of drying fruit. They may also be dried in a drying
machine or oven as one would do with apples or peaches. They are used as
a substitute for fresh mushrooms when the latter can not be obtained. In
preparing dried mushrooms for use steep them in tepid water or milk
until they become quite soft and plump, then drain them dry and cook
them in the same way as fresh mushrooms. While they are a good
substitute for the fresh article they are deficient in flavor.

=Mushroom Ketchup.=--To each peck of mushrooms add one-half pound of
salt; to each quart of mushroom liquor one-half ounce of allspice,
one-half ounce of ginger, two blades of pounded mace, one-fourth ounce
of cayenne.

Choose full-grown mushroom flaps, and be careful that they are perfectly
fresh-gathered when the weather is tolerably dry; for if they are picked
during rain the ketchup made from them is liable to get musty, and will
not keep long. Put a layer of them in a deep pan, sprinkle salt over
them, then another layer of mushrooms and so on alternately. Let them
remain for a few hours, and break them up with the hand; put them in a
cool place for three days, occasionally stirring and mashing them well
to extract from them as much juice as possible. Measure the quantity
without straining, and to each quart allow the above proportion of
spices, etc. Put all into a stone jar, cover it up very closely, put it
in a saucepan of boiling water, set it over the fire and let it boil for
three hours. Have ready a clean stewpan; turn into it the contents of
the jar, and let the whole simmer very gently for half an hour; pour it
into a pitcher, where it should stand in a cool place until the next
day; then pour it off into another pitcher and strain it into very dry
clean bottles, and do not squeeze the mushrooms. To each pi