The Mushroom, Edible and Otherwise Part 112

MUSHROOMS WITH BACON.

Take some full-grown mushrooms, and, having cleaned them, procure a few rashers of nice streaky bacon and fry it in the usual manner. When nearly done add a dozen or so of mushrooms and fry them slowly until they are cooked. In the cooking they will absorb all the fat of the bacon, and with the addition of a little salt and pepper will form a most appetizing breakfast relish.

HYDNUM.

The Hydnums are sometimes slightly bitter and it is well to boil them for a few minutes and then throw away the water. Drain the mushrooms carefully; add pepper and salt, b.u.t.ter, and milk; cook in a covered saucepan slowly for twenty or twenty-five minutes; have ready some slices of toast, pour the mushrooms over these and serve at once.

OYSTER MUSHROOMS.

One of the best ways to cook an Oyster mushroom is to fry it as you fry an oyster. Use the tender part of the Oyster mushroom; clean thoroughly; add pepper and salt; dip in beaten egg and then bread crumbs and fry in fat or b.u.t.ter. Or parboil them for forty-five minutes, drain, roll in flour and fry.

The Oyster mushroom is also excellent when stewed.

LEPIOTA PROCERA.

Clean the caps with a damp cloth and cut off the stem close to the caps; broil lightly on both sides over a clear fire or in a very hot pan, turning the mushrooms carefully three or four times; have ready some freshly-made, well-b.u.t.tered toast; arrange the mushrooms on the toast and put a small piece of b.u.t.ter on each and sprinkle with pepper and salt; set in the oven or before a brisk fire to melt the b.u.t.ter, then serve quickly.

Some persons think that slices of bacon toasted over the mushrooms improve the flavor.

BEEFSTEAK SMOTHERED IN MUSHROOMS.

Have ready a sufficient quant.i.ty of full-grown mushrooms, carefully cleaned; cut them in pieces and put into a baking pan with a tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter to two cupfuls of mushrooms, sprinkle with pepper and salt, and bake in a moderate oven forty-five minutes. Broil your steak until it is almost done; then put it into the pan with a part of the mushrooms under and the remainder over the steak; put it into the oven again and allow it to remain for ten minutes; turn out upon a hot dish and serve quickly.

Agaricus, Lepiota, Coprinus, Lactarius, Tricholoma, and Russula are especially fine for this method of preparation.

CHAPTER XIX.

CULTIVATION OF THE MUSHROOM.

BY PROF. LAMBERT,

The American Sp.a.w.n Co., St. Paul, Minn.

=GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS.=--Commercially, and in a restricted sense, the term "mushroom" is generally used indiscriminately to designate the species of fungi which are edible and susceptible of cultivation. The varieties which have been successfully cultivated for the market are nearly all derived from _Agaricus campestris_, _Agaricus villaticus_, _and Agaricus Arvensis_. They may be white, cream or creamy-white, or brown; but the color is not always a permanent characteristic, it is often influenced by surrounding conditions.

Mushrooms are grown for the market on a large scale in France and in England. It is estimated that nearly twelve million pounds of fresh mushrooms are sold every year at the Central Market of Paris. A large quant.i.ty of mushrooms are canned and exported from France to every civilized country. This industry has recently made remarkable progress in the United States, and fresh mushrooms are now regularly quoted on the markets of our large cities. They are sold at prices ranging from twenty-five cents to one dollar and fifty cents per pound, according to season, demand and supply.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 498.--Mushroom Beds in a Cellar.]

=ESSENTIAL CONDITIONS.=--Mushrooms can be grown in any climate and in any season where the essential conditions may be found, obtained or controlled. These conditions are, _first_, a temperature ranging from 53 to 60 F., with extremes of 50 to 63; _second_, an atmosphere saturated (but not dripping) with moisture; _third_, proper ventilation; _fourth_, a suitable medium or bed; _fifth_, good sp.a.w.n. It may be seen that in the open air, these conditions are rarely found together for any length of time. It is therefore necessary, in order to grow mushrooms on a commercial basis, that one or more of these elements be artificially supplied or controlled. This is usually done in cellars, caves, mines, greenhouses, or specially constructed mushroom houses. A convenient disposition of the shelves in a cellar is shown in Figure 498. A large installation for commercial purposes is shown in Figure 500, and a specially constructed cellar is shown in Figure 499. Where abandoned mines, natural or artificial caves are available, the required atmospheric conditions are often found combined and may be uniformly maintained throughout the year.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 499.--Specially Constructed Mushroom Houses.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 500.--Mushroom Houses, Flat Beds.]

=TEMPERATURE.=--Within the limits prescribed, the temperature should be uniform throughout the growth of the crop. When too cold, the development of the sp.a.w.n will be r.e.t.a.r.ded or arrested. A high temperature will favor the development of molds and bacteria which will soon destroy the sp.a.w.n or the growing crop. The cultivation of the mushroom, as a summer crop, is therefore greatly restricted. As a fall, winter or spring crop it may be grown wherever means are at hand to raise the temperature to about 58 F. Many florists are utilizing the waste s.p.a.ce under the benches for that purpose; they have the advantage of being able to use the expended material of mushroom beds in growing flowers.

=MOISTURE.=--Moisture is an important factor in the cultivation of the mushroom, and demands intelligent application. The mushroom requires an atmosphere nearly saturated with moisture, and yet the direct application of water on the beds is more or less injurious to the growing crop. It is therefore essential that the beds, when made, contain the requisite amount of moisture, and that this moisture be not lost by excessive evaporation. They should be protected from a dry atmosphere or strong draughts. Where watering becomes necessary, it should be applied in a fine spray around the beds with a view of restoring the moisture to the atmosphere, and on the beds after the mushrooms have been gathered.

=VENTILATION.=--Pure air is essential to a healthy crop. Provision should therefore be made for a gradual renewal of the air in the mushroom house. However, draughts must be avoided as tending to a too rapid evaporation and cooling of the beds, an unfortunate condition which cannot thereafter be entirely remedied.

=THE BEDS.=--The most common type of beds is known as the "flat bed." It is made on the floor or on shelves as shown in the ill.u.s.trations. It is usually about 10 inches deep. Another type, princ.i.p.ally used in France, is known as the "ridge bed," and requires more labor than the flat bed.

The mushroom house and shelves, if used, should be frequently disinfected and whitewashed in order to avoid danger from insects and bacteria. The preparation of the beds and subsequent operations will be shown in connection with the other subjects.

=PREPARATION OF THE MANURE.=--The best manure is obtained from horses fed with an abundance of dry and nitrogenous food. The manure of animals fed on greens is undesirable. Growers do not all follow the same method of fermenting or composting the manure. When first unloaded, the manure is left in its original state for a few days. It is then piled in heaps about three feet deep and well pressed down. In this operation the material should be carefully forked and well mixed, and wherever found too dry, it should be lightly sprinkled. It is allowed to remain in that condition for about six days when it is again well forked and turned. In the latter operation it receives an additional light sprinkling; the dry portions are turned inside in order that the whole ma.s.s may be h.o.m.ogenous and uniformly moist, and the heap is again raised to about three feet. About six days later the operation is repeated, and in about three days the manure should be ready for the beds. It is then of a dark brown color mixed with white, free from objectionable odor. It is unctuous, elastic and moist, though not wet, and should not leave any moisture in the hand.

Of course, the above rules are subject to modification according to the condition of the manure, its age and previous handling.

=Sp.a.w.nING.=--The manure, having been properly composted, is spread evenly on the floor or shelves and firmly compressed in beds about ten inches in depth. The temperature of the bed is then too high for sp.a.w.ning and will usually rise still higher. It should be carefully watched with the aid of a special or mushroom thermometer. When the temperature of the beds has fallen to about 75 or 80, they may be sp.a.w.ned. The beds must be sp.a.w.ned when the temperature falls, never when it rises. The bricks of sp.a.w.n are broken into eight or ten pieces, and these pieces are inserted from one to two inches below the surface, about nine to twelve inches apart. The bed is then firmly compressed. An advantage is found in breaking and distributing the sp.a.w.n over the surface of the bed a few days before sp.a.w.ning; this allows the mycelium to absorb some moisture and swell to some extent. If the bed is in proper condition it should not require watering for several weeks.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 501.--Brick Sp.a.w.n, Pure Culture.]

=CASING THE BEDS.=--As soon as the sp.a.w.n is observed to "run," or from eight days to two weeks, the beds are "cased" or covered with a layer of about one inch of light garden loam, well screened. The loam should be slightly moist, and free from organic matter. The beds should now be watched and should not be allowed to evaporate or dry out.

=PICKING.=--Mushrooms should appear in from five to ten weeks after sp.a.w.ning, and the period of production of a good bed ranges from two to four months. In picking the mushrooms an intelligent hand will carefully twist it from the soil and fill the hole left in the bed with fresh soil. Pieces of roots or stems should never be allowed to remain in the beds, otherwise decay might set in and infect the surrounding plants. A good mushroom bed will yield a crop of from one-half to two pounds per square foot. Mushrooms should be picked every day or every other day; they should not be left after the veils begin to break.

For the market the mushrooms are sorted as to size and color, and packed in one, two or five-pound boxes or baskets. Since they are very perishable, they must reach the market in the shortest time.

=OLD BEDS.=--It is not practicable to raise another crop of mushrooms in the material of an old bed, although this material is still valuable for garden purposes. The old material should be entirely removed, and the mushroom house thoroughly cleaned before the new beds are made. If this precaution be omitted the next crop may suffer from the diseases or enemies of the mushrooms.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 502.--A Cl.u.s.ter of 50 Mushrooms on One Root, Grown from "Lambert's Pure Culture Sp.a.w.n" of the American Sp.a.w.n Co., St. Paul, Minn.]

=Sp.a.w.n.=--The cultivated mushroom is propagated from "sp.a.w.n," the commercial name applied to the mycelium; the term "sp.a.w.n" includes both the mycelium and the medium in which it is carried and preserved. Sp.a.w.n may be procured in the market in two forms, flake sp.a.w.n and brick sp.a.w.n. In both forms the mycelium growth is started on a prepared medium mainly consisting of manure and then arrested and dried. The flake sp.a.w.n is short-lived by reason of its loose form, in which the mycelium is easily accessible to the air and destructive bacteria. It deteriorates rapidly in transportation and storage and can only be used to advantage when fresh. Growers, especially in the United States, have therefore discarded it in favor of brick sp.a.w.n, which affords more protection to the mycelium and can be safely transported and stored for a reasonable period.

Until recently the manufacturer of sp.a.w.n was compelled to rely entirely upon the caprice of nature for his supply. The only method known consisted in gathering the wild sp.a.w.n wherever nature had deposited it and running the same into bricks or in loose material, without reference to variety. Neither the manufacturer nor the grower had any means of ascertaining the probable nature of the crop until the mushrooms appeared.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 503.--Agaricus villaticus.]

=PURE CULTURE Sp.a.w.n.=--The recent discovery of pure culture sp.a.w.n in this country has made possible the selection and improvement of varieties of cultivated mushrooms with special reference to their hardiness, color, size, flavor and prolificness, and the elimination of inferior or undesirable fungi in the crop. The scope of this article precludes a description of the pure culture method of making sp.a.w.n. It is now used by the large commercial growers and has in many sections entirely superseded the old English sp.a.w.n and other forms of wild sp.a.w.n.