Directions for growing mushrooms cannot be given here, but those who are intending to enter the business should consult the best authorities and begin in a small way until they acquire the necessary skill before commercial success can be obtained.
Growth of Mushrooms in France.
—Perhaps in no country has the cultivation of mushrooms been carried to such a large extent as in France. The principal industries in France are confined to those regions where artificial caves have been made by the quarrying of building stone. The most extensive caverns of this kind exist in the neighborhood of Paris, near Bordeaux, and particularly in the neighborhood of Sceaux. These artificial caverns are often miles in extent and furnish exceptionally favorable opportunities for the growth of mushrooms. The soils or manures on which they are grown must be carried into these caverns, and experience has shown that mushrooms do not continue to grow well in the same locality, and, therefore, the place of growth must be moved from time to time to different parts of the caves. The galleries of these abandoned quarries are sometimes of enormous extent and are from 30 to 150 feet below the surface. They are generally from seven to ten feet high, but occasionally so low that a man cannot stand upright in them. In general they are wide enough for two rows of beds with a foot way 18 inches wide in the center. Where a mushroom bed has been well prepared and properly seeded, it produces about six pounds of mushrooms per square yard. These mushrooms bring, in the market, an average of about 15 cents per pound. It is stated by some authorities that the reason the bed ceases to bear after a time and has to be abandoned or moved is not because of the exhaustion of the food but is due to the ravages of an insect or fly which produces a worm which is fatal to the growth of the fungus. At any rate, it is customary to abandon the beds after they have been bearing for six or eight months and to return to them after a year, when they are found to again be productive.
It is not expected that the general consumer will become an expert in the selection of mushrooms. Where mushrooms are exposed in a public market, it is the duty of the municipal officers in charge of food products to see to it that poisonous varieties are not exposed for sale. It will be of value, however, to the reader to have some idea of the general shape of some of the more common edible and poisonous varieties. It is generally supposed that mushrooms, toadstools, and puff-balls are entirely distinct species and that only the mushroom, so-called, is edible. On the contrary, there are many edible toadstools and many edible puff-balls, and all three classes of fungi belong to the same general family.
Food Value of Mushrooms.
—The nutritive value of mushrooms is not exceptionally high, although there is a popular opinion to the contrary. Frequently it has been stated that the mushroom in the vegetable world holds a similar position to beefsteak among meats, being particularly rich in digestible protein. The analytical data which have been collected from numerous sources on the composition of mushrooms do not bear out this popular impression, but, on the contrary, show that the mushroom is a food product consisting very largely of water and of only very small quantities of protein, fat, and carbohydrates.
The composition of some of the common mushrooms is shown in the following table (Farmers’ Bulletin, No. 79, Mushrooms as Food):
| Water. | Total Nitro- gen. | Albu- minoid Nitro- gen. | Non- albu- minoid Nitro- gen. | Protein. | Fat. | Carbo- hydrates. | Fiber. | Ash. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Common mushroom, | 91.30 | 0.60 | 0.36 | 0.24 | 3.75 | 0.20 | 3.50 | 0.80 | 0.50 |
| Shaggy Coprinus, | 92.19 | .45 | .15 | .30 | 2.81 | .26 | 1.40 | .57 | .98 |
| Inky Coprinus, | 92.31 | .36 | .. | .. | 2.25 | .24 | .... | .72 | 1.29 |
| Common Morel, | 89.54 | .49 | .37 | .12 | 3.06 | .50 | 1.60 | .91 | 1.08 |
These data may be compared with the composition of the beefsteak:
| Water, | 62.5 | percent |
| Protein, | 19.5 | „ |
| Fat, | 17.0 | „ |
| Ash, | 1.0 | „ |