Some follow the method of having the fireman, on his round at night, when he looks after the fires in the heating room, gather the mushrooms.

He pa.s.ses through all parts of the house and picks the mushrooms which are of suitable size. These are gathered by grasping a single mushroom by the cap, or where there is a cl.u.s.ter of mushrooms close together, several are taken in the hand. The plant is twisted slightly to free the stem from the soil, without tearing it up to any great extent. They are thrown in this condition into baskets. The collector then takes them to the packing room, and the following morning the plants are trimmed, that is, the part of the stems to which the earth is attached is cut away, the plants are weighed, put in baskets, and prepared for the markets. In other cases, the mushrooms are gathered early in the morning, in the same way, taken to the packing room, where the lower part of the stem is cut away, the plants are weighed, placed into the baskets and shipped to market.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIGURE 237.--View in Packing Room (H. E. Hicks' Mushroom House, Kennett Square, Pa.) Copyright.]

In some of the caves, or abandoned mines, which I have visited, where the mushrooms are grown on a large scale, the practice in picking the mushrooms varies somewhat from that just described. In the first place, the mushrooms are allowed to stand on the bed longer, before they are picked. They are rarely, if ever, picked before they open. Mushrooms may be quite large, but if they have not opened, they are not picked. Very frequently, the plant may open, but, the operator says, it is not open enough. It will grow more yet. The object of the grower, in this case, is to allow the mushrooms to grow as long as it is possible, before picking, for the larger the mushroom, the more water it will take from the bed, and the more it weighs. This may seem an unprofessional thing for a grower to do, and yet it must be remembered that a large water content of the mushroom is necessary. The mushrooms grown in these mines are very firm and solid, qualities which are desired, not only by the consumer, but are desirable for shipment. These mushrooms are much thicker through the center of the cap than those usually grown in houses at a room temperature of 60 F. For this reason, the mushrooms in these caves spread out more, and the edges do not turn up so soon. Since the cap is so thick and firm at the center, it continues to grow and expand for some little time after having opened, without turning up on the edges, and without becoming black and unsightly underneath. These large and firm mushrooms are not only desirable for their shipping qualities, but also, if they are not too large, they are prized because they are of such a nice size for broiling.

It is quite likely that one of the important conditions in producing mushrooms of this character is the low temperature of the mine. The temperature here, in July and August, rises not higher than 58 F., that is, the room temperature of the mines; while in the winter it falls not lower than 52. The growth of mushrooms, under these conditions, may not be quite so rapid as in a house maintaining a room temperature of 60.

The operator may not be able to grow so many crops from the same area, during the same length of time; but the very fact that this low temperature condition r.e.t.a.r.ds the growth of the mushrooms is perhaps an important item in producing the firm and more marketable product, which can be allowed to grow longer before it is picked. It is possible, also, that another condition has something to do with the firmness and other desirable qualities of these mushrooms. It is, perhaps, to be found in the fact that natural sp.a.w.n is largely used in planting the beds, so that the sp.a.w.n is more vigorous than that which is ordinarily used in planting, which is several or many generations distant from the virgin condition.

The methods of picking in this mine differ, also, from those usually employed by growers of mushrooms. The mushrooms are pulled from the bed in the same way, but the operator carries with him two baskets and a knife. As fast as the mushrooms are pulled, and while they are still in hand, before the dirt can sift upon the other mushrooms, or fall in upon the gills of those which are open, the lower part of the stem is cut off. This stem end is then placed in one basket, while the mushrooms which have been trimmed are placed in another basket. In cutting off the stems, just enough is cut to remove the soil, so that the length of the stem of the mushroom varies. The mushrooms are then taken to the packing room in the cleanest possible condition, with no soil scattering therefrom or falling down among the gills, as occurs to a greater or lesser extent where the mushrooms are picked and thrown indiscriminately into baskets.

=Packing the Mushrooms.=--In the packing room the mushrooms are prepared for shipment to market. The method at present usually employed is to ship them in baskets. The baskets vary in size, according to the market to which the mushrooms are to be shipped. They hold from three, to four, five, six, or ten pounds each. The larger baskets are only used where the mushrooms are shipped directly to the consumers. When the customer requires a large number of mushrooms, they can be shipped in these larger baskets. Where they are shipped to commission merchants, and the final market is not known to the packer, they are usually packed in small baskets, three to four or five pounds. The baskets are sometimes lined with paper; that is, at the time of the packing the paper is placed in the basket, one or two thicknesses of paper. The number of layers of paper depends somewhat upon the conditions of transportation.

The greater amount of paper affords some protection from cold, in cold weather, and some protection from the evaporation of the moisture, in dry weather. When the basket is filled with the required quant.i.ty of mushrooms, which is usually determined first by weight, the surplus paper is folded over them. This is covered in most cases by thin board strips, which are provided for basket shipment of vegetables of this kind. In some cases, however, where shipped directly to customers so that the baskets soon reach their destination, additional heavy paper, instead of the board, may be placed over and around the larger part of the basket, and then tied down neatly with cord.

=Placing the Mushrooms in the Basket.=--Some growers do not give any attention to placing the mushrooms in the baskets. The stems are cut off in the packing room, they are thrown into the weighing pan, and when the beam tips at three, or four, or five pounds, as the case may be, the mushrooms are emptied into the baskets, leveled down, and the baskets closed for shipment. Others use more care in the packing of the mushrooms; especially is this the case on the part of those who pick the mushrooms when they are somewhat larger and more open, though the practice of placing the mushrooms in a basket is followed even by those who pick before the mushrooms are open. In placing them, one mushroom is taken at a time and put stem downward into the basket, until the bottom is covered with one layer, and then successive layers are placed on top of these. The upper layers in the basket then present a very neat and attractive appearance. In thus placing the mushrooms in the basket, if there are any mushrooms which are quite large, they are placed in the bottom. The custom of the operator here is different from that of the grower of apples, or of other fruit, where the larger and finer samples are often placed on top, the smaller ones being covered below. It is a curious fact, however, that this practice of placing the largest mushrooms below in the basket is due to the fact that usually the larger mushrooms are not considered so marketable.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIGURE 238.--View in packing room, Akron "tunnel," N. Y.

Mushroom Co.; placing mushrooms in basket. Copyright.]

There are several reasons why the larger mushrooms are not considered so desirable or marketable as the medium-sized or smaller ones. In the first place, the larger mushrooms, under certain conditions, especially those grown in house culture at a comparatively high temperature, are apt to be very ripe, so that the gills are black from over-ripe spores, and are thus somewhat unsightly. Those grown at a lower temperature, as is the case in some mines, do not blacken so soon, and are therefore apt to be free from this objection. Another objection, however, is on the part of the restaurant owner where mushrooms are served. In serving the mushrooms broiled on toast, the medium-sized one is more desirable from the standpoint of the restaurant owner, in that two medium-sized ones might be sufficient to serve two persons, while one quite large one, weighing perhaps the same as the two medium ones, would only be sufficient to serve one person at the same price, unless the large mushroom was cut in two. If this were done, however, the customer would object to being served with half a mushroom, and the appearance of a half mushroom served in this way is not attractive.

=Resoiling.=--Once or twice a week during the harvesting period all loose earth, broken bits of sp.a.w.n, free b.u.t.tons, etc., should be cleaned out where the mushrooms have been picked. These places should be filled with soil and packed down by hand. All young mushrooms that "fog off"

should be gathered up clean. Some persons follow the practice of growing a second crop on the same bed from which the first crop has been gathered. The bed is resoiled by placing about two inches of soil over the old soil. The bed is then watered, sometimes with lukewarm water to which a small quant.i.ty of nitrate of soda has been added. The large growers, however, usually do not grow a second crop in this way, but endeavor to exhaust the material in the bed by continuous growth.

=Use of manure from beds which have failed.=--Manure in which the sp.a.w.n has failed to run is sometimes removed from the bed and mixed with fresh manure, the latter restoring the heat. If the manure was too wet, the moisture content can now be lessened by the use of dry soil.

=Cleaning house to prepare for successive crops.=--When the crop is harvested, all the material is cleaned out to prepare the beds for the next crop. The material is taken out "clean," and the floors, beds, walls, etc., swept off very clean. In addition, some growers whitewash the floors and all wood-work. Some whitewash only the floors, depending on sweeping the beds and walls very clean. Still others whitewash the floors and wash the walls with some material to kill out the vermin.

Some trap or poison the c.o.c.kroaches, wood-lice, etc., when they appear.

Some growers who succeed well for several years, and then fail, believe that the house "gets tired," as they express it, and that the place must rest for a few years before mushrooms can be grown there again. Others grow mushrooms successfully year after year, but employ the best sanitary methods.

=Number of crops during a year.=--In caves or mines, where the temperature is low, the beds are in process of formation and cropping continuously. So soon as a bed has been exhausted the material is cleaned out, and new beds are made as fast as the fresh manure is obtained. In houses where the mushrooms cannot be grown during the summer, the crops are grown at quite regular periods, the first crop during fall and early winter, and the second crop during spring. Some obtain the manure and ferment it during August and September, sp.a.w.ning the beds in September and October. Others begin work on the fermentation of the manure in June or July, make up the beds in July and August, sp.a.w.n, and begin to draw off the crop somewhat earlier. The second crop is prepared for whenever the first one is drawn off, and this varies even in the experience of the same grower, since the rate of the running of the sp.a.w.n varies from time to time. Sometimes the crop begins to come four or five weeks from the time of planting the sp.a.w.n. At other times it may be two or three months before the sp.a.w.n has run sufficiently for the crop to appear. Usually the crop begins to come on well in six to eight weeks. The crop usually lasts for six weeks to two months, or longer.

=Productivity of the beds.=--One pound of mushrooms from every two square feet of surface is considered a very good crop. Sometimes it exceeds this, the beds bearing one pound for every square foot, though such a heavy yield is rare. Oftener the yield is less than half a pound for a square foot of surface.

=Causes of failure.=--The beginner should study very carefully the conditions under which he grows his crops, and if failure results, he should attempt to a.n.a.lyze the results in the light of the directions given for the curing of the manure, its moisture content, "sweetness,"

character of the sp.a.w.n, temperature, ventilation, etc. While there should be good ventilation, there should not be drafts of air. A beginner may succeed the first time, the second or third, and then may fail, and not know the cause of the failure. But given a good sp.a.w.n, the right moisture content of the material at time of planting and running of the sp.a.w.n, the sweet condition, or proper condition of the curing of the manure, proper sanitary conditions, there should be no failure.

These are the most important conditions in mushroom culture. After the sp.a.w.n has run and the crop has begun to come, the beds have been known to freeze up during the winter, and in the spring begin and continue to bear a good crop. After the sp.a.w.n has run well, beds have accidentally been flooded with water so that manure water would run out below, and yet come on and bear as good a crop as adjoining beds.

=Volunteer mushrooms in greenhouses.=--Volunteer mushrooms sometimes appear in greenhouses in considerable quant.i.ty. These start from natural sp.a.w.n in the manure used, or sometimes from the sp.a.w.n remaining in "spent" mushroom beds which is mixed with the soil in making lettuce beds, etc., under gla.s.s. One of the market gardeners at Ithaca used old sp.a.w.n in this way, and had volunteer mushrooms among lettuce for several years. In making the lettuce beds in the autumn, a layer of fresh horse manure six inches deep is placed in the bottom, and on this is placed the soil mixed with the old, spent mushroom beds. The following year the soil and the manure at the bottom, which is now rotten, is mixed up, and a fresh layer of manure is placed below. In this way the lettuce bed is self-sp.a.w.ned from year to year. About every six years the soil in the bed is entirely changed. This gardener, during the winter of 1900--1, sold $30.00 to $40.00 worth of volunteer mushrooms. Another gardener, in a previous year, sold over $50.00 worth.

=Planting mushrooms with other vegetables.=--In some cases gardeners follow the practice of inserting a forkful of manure here and there in the soil where other vegetables are grown under gla.s.s, and planting in it a bit of sp.a.w.n.

=Mushroom and vegetable house combined.=--Some combine a mushroom house and house for vegetables in one, there being a deep pit where several tiers of beds for mushrooms can be built up, and above this the gla.s.s house where lettuce, etc., is grown, all at a temperature of about 60 F.

THREE METHODS SUGGESTED FOR GROWING MUSHROOMS IN CELLARS AND SHEDS.

=First Method.=--Obtain fresh stable horse manure mixed with straw used in bedding the animals. Shake it out, separating the coa.r.s.e material from the droppings. Put the droppings in a pile two to three feet deep. Pack down firmly. When the heat rises to near 130 F., turn and shake it out, making a new pile. Make the new pile by layers of manure and loam soil, or rotted sod, one part of soil to eight or nine parts of manure. Turn again when the heat rises to near 130 F., and add the same amount of soil. When the temperature is about 100 F., the material is ready for the beds.

=Preparing the beds.=--Make the beds as described under the paragraph on pages 250--253, or use boxes. Place the coa.r.s.e litter in the bottom three to four inches deep. On this place three to four inches of the cured material, pack it down, and continue adding material until the bed is ten to fifteen inches deep. Allow the beds to stand, covering them with straw or excelsior if the air in the cellar or shed is such as to dry out the surface.

Test the moisture content according to directions on page 255.

Watch the temperature. Do not let it rise above 130 F. When it is down to 90 F. or 70 F., if the manure has a "sweetish" or "mushroomy" smell it is ready to sp.a.w.n.

Sp.a.w.n according to directions on page 263.

Soil according to directions on page 266; cover bed with straw or excelsior.

=Second Method.=--Use horse droppings freed from the coa.r.s.er material. Proceed as in _first_ method.

=Third Method.=--Use horse droppings freed from coa.r.s.er material.

Pile and _pack firmly_. Do not let temperature rise above 130 F.

When it has cooled to 100 F., make up the beds, at the same time mixing in an _equal quant.i.ty_ of rich loam or rotted sod. Sp.a.w.n in a day or two.

In beginning, practice on a small scale and study the conditions thoroughly, as well as the directions given in this chapter.

FOOTNOTES:

[D] I have not learned the history of the other kinds of sp.a.w.n referred to above.

CHAPTER XXI.

RECIPES FOR COOKING MUSHROOMS.

By MRS. SARAH TYSON RORER.

As varieties of mushrooms differ in a.n.a.lysis, texture and density of flesh, different methods of cooking give best results. For instance, the _Coprinus micaceus_, being very delicate, is easily destroyed by over-cooking; a dry, quick pan of the "mushroom bells" retains the best flavor; while the more dense _Agaricus campestris_ requires long, slow cooking to bring out the flavor, and to be tender and digestible.

Simplicity of seasoning, however, must be observed, or the mushroom flavor will be destroyed. If the mushroom itself has an objectionable flavor, better let it alone than to add mustard or lemon juice to overcome it. Mushrooms, like many of the more succulent vegetables, are largely water, and readily part with their juices on application of salt or heat; hence it becomes necessary to put the mushroom over the fire usually without the addition of water, or the juices will be so diluted that they will lack flavor. They have much better flavor cooked without peeling, with the exception of puff-b.a.l.l.s, which should always be pared.

As they lose their flavor by soaking, wash them quickly, a few at a time; take the mushroom in the left hand and with the right hand wash the top or pileus, using either a very soft brush or a piece of flannel; shake them well and put them into a colander to dry.

AGARICUS.[E]

The wild or uncultivated _Agaricus campestris_, which is usually picked in open fields, will cook in less time than those grown in caves and sold in our markets during the winter and spring. Cut the stems close to the gills; these may be put aside and used for flavoring sauces or soups. Wash the mushrooms carefully, keeping the gills down; throw them into a colander until drained.

=Stewed.=--To each pound, allow two ounces of b.u.t.ter. Put the b.u.t.ter into a saucepan, and when melted, not brown, throw in the mushrooms either whole or cut into slices; sprinkle over a teaspoonful of salt; cover the saucepan closely to keep in the flavor, and cook very slowly for twenty minutes, or until they are tender. Moisten a rounding tablespoonful of flour in a little cold milk; when perfectly smooth, add sufficient milk to make one gill; stir this into the mushrooms, add a saltspoon of white pepper, stir carefully until boiling, and serve at once. This makes a fairly thick sauce. Less flour is required when they are to be served as a sauce over chicken, steak, or made dishes.

=Broiled.=--Cut the stems close to the gills; wash the mushrooms and dry them with a soft piece of cheesecloth; put them on the broiler gills up.

Put a piece of b.u.t.ter, the size of a marrowfat pea, in the center of each; sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. Put the broiler over the fire skin side down; in this way, the b.u.t.ter will melt and sort of baste the mushrooms. Have ready squares of neatly toasted bread; and, as soon as the mushrooms are hot on the skin side, turn them quickly and broil about two minutes on the gill side. Five minutes will be sufficient for the entire cooking. Dish on toast and serve at once.

=Panned on Cream Toast.=--Cut the stem close to the gills; wash and dry as directed for broiling. Put them into a pan, and pour over a very little melted b.u.t.ter, having gill sides up; dust with salt and pepper, run into a hot oven for twenty minutes. While these are panning, toast sufficient bread to hold them nicely; put it onto a hot platter, and just as the mushrooms are done, cover the bread with hot milk, being careful not to have too much or the bread will be pasty and soft. Dish the mushrooms on the toast, putting the skin side up, pour over the juices from the pan, and serve at once.

These are exceedingly good served on b.u.t.tered toast without the milk, and will always take the place of broiled mushrooms.