“ In gathering mushrooms for food, cut the stem off about an inch below the cap, and place them in the basket or dish, gills upward. Never twist or pull them, as the gills become thereby full of dirt, which is not easily removed. By placing them gills downward, they will shed their spores largely and thus lose flavor.
The stem in cutting will often exhibit fine holes; this indicates that maggots have entered the mushroom. If the substance of the pileus continues firm and hard, the mushroom may be cooked and eaten by those not over-nice ”

“ With bread, and mushrooms properly gathered and prepared, a person may neglect the butcher during the summer months. This is self-evident to the unscientific mind by the simple facts that mushrooms make the same use of the air we breathe as is made by animals, that cooked they resemble no form of vegetable food, and that in decay their odor in some cases cannot be distinguished from that of putrid meat. To this feast, abundantly provided by Nature for the poorest as well as the most epicurean, we invite the American people. ”

“ Having once learned to identify it without danger of error, this family is quite safe for use as food; for all the non-esculent Russulas are hot or nauseous to the taste, while the edible ones are very nutty and pleasant. ”

“ There are as many different flavors and tastes among esculent fungi as are found in any other varieties of diet, and the very general ignorance of this fact is a sufficient reason for the issue of this work. Many persons claim to know a mushroom from a toadstool. ”

“ Most noxious fungi appertain to the first or second class above given, and taste or common-sense would readily reject them, unless they were cooked with other food or excessively spiced. For this reason plain cooking is advised, and further, no amateur should venture to mingle with good varieties others to him unknown. ”

“ There are also other small fungi of soft texture and doubtful quality closely resembling these which grow in lawns and pastures, and the object of this plate is to teach the amateur to avoid all such. The suspicious varieties of Marasmius do not grow with the edible species, but in woods. ”

“ Gills. Broad, wide apart, of the same color as pileus, or a little paler.
Stem. Solid, of equal circumference; tough, not breaking easily if bent or twisted.
Volva and ring, none.
Spores white.
Taste and smell musky, rather strong, but nutty and agreeable.
Grows in rings or groups in rich lawns or roadsides.
TO COOK. For serving with meat or fish, cut the tops clear from the stems just below the gills. To a pint of mushrooms, if moist, add about a gill of water, pepper and salt to the taste, and a piece of butter half the size of an egg. ”

“ TO COOK. For about twenty mushrooms, put into a saucepan one gill of milk or cream, add salt and pepper to the taste, with a piece of butter the size of the larger specimens above; when it boils, put in the stems and small hard mushrooms ”

“ N. B. The noxious members of this family resemble the esculent so closely that, to the amateur, tasting each one as gathered is the only guide; the hurtful ones being always hot and acrid. Equal gills, extreme brittleness, and dry, firm texture are characteristic of the whole Russula family.
PLATE VII.
BOLETI.
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DESCRIPTION. No. 1. Boletus bovinus. Pileus flat, smooth, viscid; the thin, transparent skin easily peeling. Flesh white, unchangeable in color (stem same color as pileus) . Tubes whitish yellow, yellow or gray, shallow. Very variable in size. ”