diameter, grayish or grayish brown, sometimes tinged lead
color. Wash and stew: Stew or bake from twenty to thirty minutes after
thorough washing, being the recognized mode.

All the Clavarias or Coral Mushrooms are good except Clavaria
dichotoma which is white, and has its branches divided in pairs at
each fork. It grows on the ground under beeches and is slightly
poisonous; it is rare.

The Delicious Morel (_Morchella deliciosa_)

One and a half to three inches high; greenish with brown hollows.
There are several kindred species of various colors. This is known by
the cylindrical shape of its cap. Wash, slice, and stew.

[Illustration: Inky coprinus]

[Illustration: Morel]

Puffballs (_Lycoperdaceae_)

The next important and safe group are the puffballs before they begin
to puff. All our puffballs when young and solid white inside are good,
wholesome food. Some of them, like the brain puffball or the giant
puffball, are occasionally a foot in diameter, and yield flesh enough
to feed a dozen persons.

[Illustration: Brain puffball]

[Illustration: Pear puffball]

[Illustration: Cup puffball]

They are well known to all who live in the country, their smooth
rounded exterior, without special features except the {127} roots, and
their solid white interior are easily remembered. Peel, slice, and
fry.

Bibliography

The following are standard and beautifully illustrated works on
mushrooms and toadstools. They have been freely used for guidance and
illustrations in the preparation of the above:

"Edible Fungi of New York." By Charles H. Peck. Published by New York
State Museum, Albany, 1900.

"The Mushroom Book." By Nina L. Marshall. Published 1902 at New York
by Doubleday, Page & Co. $3.50.

"One Thousand American Fungi." By McIllvaine and Macadam. Published by
the Bobbs-Merrill Company of Indianapolis, 1902. $3.00. Add 40 cents
express.

"Mushrooms." G. F. Atkinson. Holt & Co.

"The Mushroom." M. E. Hard. The Ohio Library Co., Columbus, Ohio.

COMMON NORTH AMERICAN TREES

White Pine (_Pinus strobus_)

A noble evergreen tree, up to 175 feet high. This is the famous pine
of New England, the lumberman's prize. Its leaves are in bunches of
five, and are 3 to 5 inches long; cones 4 to 6 inches long. Wood pale,
soft, straight-grained, easily split. Newfoundland to Manitoba and
south to Illinois.

[Illustration: White pine]

[Illustration: Hemlock]

[Illustration: Red