Mushrooms are so universally used for food that it is of the greatest importance that all should know at least sufficient about them to avoid those growing wild, which are poisonous, and to distinguish those which are edible. Bulletin No. 15, United States Department of Agriculture, by Dr. W. G. Farlow, gives the best resume of the subject I am acquainted with, and to him I am indebted for much assistance in this review of the subject Mushrooms are toadstools, and therefore the names do not distinguish them. The best known and edible of the toadstools are what we know as mushrooms, so called in the markets. There are many other toadstools not known in the markets as mushrooms which are edible, and many more of them are not poisonous, even if not very palatable. How do you tell the edible from the poisonous fungi? We do not exactly know scientifically, but we know in regard to many of them empirically, because some one has eaten this one and lived to tell the story, and another person has eaten that one and been ill or died from the effects. The number tried empirically is small in comparison to the whole number of species of toadstools. As to this great number of unknowns, we might say that this one is not poisonous because it resembles that one we know to be harmless, and this one is poisonous because it resembles one we know to be poisonous. This reasoning may not always be practically safe.

Mushrooms and toadstools (I use the word mushroom to apply to the edible fungi, or, rather, the ones we are familiar with in the market or on our tables, and the word toadstool to apply to those not generally used as food, whether edible or not edible) belong to the group of fungi known as Hymenomycetes. They grow in the ground or on the bark of trees. There is first a ball, which gradually enlarges, or pileus. This gradually expands, in some species largely, and in others keeps more of a ball-shape. The mushroom or toadstool comes from fine threads. These threads are the spawn, or the mycelia, the spores of fungi. Each thread is called a hypha.

The word mushroom is almost universally used to express an upstart of any kind, whether in real life or otherwise. This would seem to indicate that we all think of the mushroom as springing up in a night. This is not the case. The button developing from the mycelia takes often a long time, even weeks, months, or years, before it comes from the mycelia, or spawn, in the ground to the top. True, the mycelia, or spawn, are the whole plant, and the mushrooms are the fruit only, the reproductive bodies like the apples of the apple-tree. The spores, the mycelia, and the spawn reside in the mushrooms or fruit of the fungus. The buttons, in the parlance of trade, are these young non-expanded mushrooms, and mushrooms are the expanded buttons. In Europe buttons are most used. In this country we use mostly the expanded fruit.

In the toadstool family the under side of the umbrella, or the pileus, bears the spores or seeds. In some species these are like the spokes of a wheel, and radiate to the circumference from the top of the stalk. In others they are packed in and together like tubes in a steam boiler, in others like teeth, while in still others the surface is only set in wrinkles. The wheel-spoke or gill group are called Agaricini, or the Agarics; the tube group are the Polyporei; the teeth group the Hydnei; and the wrinkle the Thelephorei.

There are some toadstools with no stalk at all, yet even some of these are edible; but no one but an expert should even think of selecting them for food. Nearly all of the edible mushrooms belong to the Agarics and the Polyporei. No one when beginning, and not yet an expert, should gather buttons for food, for it is then difficult to distinguish the species. Of course, this does not apply to cultivated mushrooms, for the species is known and raised only for food. Again, do not eat old, decayed mushrooms, as even the edible ones when old may develop poisons.

The common mushroom, Agaricus Catnpestris, is really the only species cultivated and sold in our markets during winter. In summer it grows wild, is most plentiful in June, July, August, and September, and is found more frequently in old pasture fields than in other places. As a rule it does not grow in the woods. The stalk and umbrella are white, or cream color, and the gills are pink, going on to dark brown or purplish brown as the mushrooms get older. The pink or brown color is due to the spores on the gills. The stalk is cylindrical and solid, and near the umbrella is a membranous ring, and below this there is no membrane or scales.

Remember this: They grow singly or in clusters of several. Before the umbrella opens the gills are covered by the veil; when the mushroom expands, the veil ruptures and the red gills are exposed. What is left of the veil clings around the stalk and forms, a little below the umbrella, the ring before spoken of. Some fragments of the veil also remain attached to the margin of the umbrella, giving it a slightly fringed appearance. When looking for this mushroom see that the gills are pink or dark brown, and not white, that the stalk is round and solid and has the ring below the umbrella, and that it has no bulb at the ground end and no scales or bag of a membranous material. It never grows on old logs or trees. Differentiate this species and gather or buy no other and you will always be safe. Leave all the others to experts.

The two poisonous toadstools most likely to be mistaken for the common mushroom are the Amanita Phalloides, the Deadly Agaric, and the Amanita Muscaria, the Fly Agaric. The former is the worst, and the latter is the most common. The Fly Agaric is quite common; it grows on roadsides, on the borders of fields, not often in pastures, and not usually with the common mushroom. It grows very often among pine-trees and under evergreens. It grows singly and is often very large. Its gills are white, not pink. Its stem is hollow, not solid like the common mushroom stem; there is always a bulb at the ground and scales on it. The color of the umbrella is brilliant yellow with a deep red, or orange red. The surface of the umbrella is polished, with a number of warty scales, which cannot be rubbed off. There is a large membranous collar hanging down from the upper part of the stem. This is the mushroom most frequently causing poison; but surely no one having the least experience in gathering mushrooms would mistake it for the common edible mushroom. Pick it up, and it is light, and the stem has no strength and bends like a piece of cooked macaroni. The common mushroom has a firm, solid stem. This Fly Agaric strongly resembles the Amanita rubescens, one of the most delicious of mushrooms, with a flesh of red tinge. None but an expert should gather this; they may pick the poisonous Fly Agaric for it.