America is said to be the most wasteful of all civilized nations as regards food; especially is this true of those fruits of the earth which come to us without toil or expense. It would be a work of real beneficence to the poor of our land could we break down the prejudice and ignorance which lets car loads of valuable mushrooms decay every week in the year throughout the country. The edible fungi of the United States are said to number one thousand; Dr. Curtis has proved that one hundred and twelve species in North Carolina alone are good, having found no less than forty in one locality, within a radius of two miles. Charles Mcllvaine states that he has them on his table from April to December. In the southern states they can be had the entire year. The peasantry of Russia, Italy, China and Japan use them extensively, fresh and dried, in the place of meat, which they closely resemble in some respects. In England by the many, in America by the few, among the educated, are they sought after as a luxury; but the laborer whose scanty bill of fare needs enrichment, passes them by through ignorance of their value.

This state of affairs is really a disgrace to a practical people, and to one who, like the writer, knows by experience the pleasure of gathering, testing and finally eating "toadstools," it is unaccountable. - L., Charleston, S. C.