British edible fungi : how to distinguish and how to cook them : with coloured figures of upwards of forty species / by M.C. Cooke.

  • Mordecai Cubitt Cooke
Date:
1891
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: British edible fungi : how to distinguish and how to cook them : with coloured figures of upwards of forty species / by M.C. Cooke. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

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    brown, and the spores which cover the gills are of the same colour. When the stem is cut off, and the cap laid gills downwards on a sheet of white paper for a few hours, or all night, the spores will fall on the paper in lines, and Avill appear almost black. It is a popular error that mushrooms grow to their full size during a single night, and that they dissolve and vanish after the sun shines upon them. They are rapid in growth, and rapid in decay; but the same mushroom may be watched growing and expanding for two or three days, and then gradually decaying away. Much depends on the dampness or dryness of the season. In some seasons they are exceedingly plentiful, whilst at other times they are comparatively i rare. This also is believed to depend chiefly on | climatic conditions. It is not unusual for cultivated ] mushrooms to become attacked by a parasitic mould which renders them unfit for food. This misfortune rarely happens to the wild form, until it is in process of decay. Stables, outhouses, and cellars may be utilised for the cultivation of mushrooms, and by ordinary care success is almost certain. They may be grown also in boxes and placed almost anywhere, so long as the , temperature and humidity is attended to. The ; French are fond of growing them in cellars and caves. The catacombs of Paris are noted for their produc- tion of mushrooms in immense quantities. From the Mei*y caves as many as 3000 pounds are sometimes J
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