e conditions, that is, where the
mushrooms are grown at a room temperature of about 60 deg., they open very
quickly. It is necessary here to gather the mushrooms before they open,
that is, before the veil on the under surface breaks to expose the gill
surface. This practice is followed, of course, within certain limits. It
is not possible in all cases, to pick every mushroom before the veil
breaks. They are collected once a day usually. At the time of collection
all are taken which are of suitable size. Many of them may not yet have
opened. But in the case of some of the older or more rapidly growing
ones, the veil may have broken, although they have not expanded very
much.

Some follow the method of having the fireman, on his round at night,
when he looks after the fires in the heating room, gather the mushrooms.
He passes through all parts of the house and picks the mushrooms which
are of suitable size. These are gathered by grasping a single mushroom
by the cap, or where there is a cluster of mushrooms close together,
several are taken in the hand. The plant is twisted slightly to free the
stem from the soil, without tearing it up to any great extent. They are
thrown in this condition into baskets. The collector then takes them to
the packing room, and the following morning the plants are trimmed,
that is, the part of the stems to which the earth is attached is cut
away, the plants are weighed, put in baskets, and prepared for the
markets. In other cases, the mushrooms are gathered early in the
morning, in the same way, taken to the packing room, where the lower
part of the stem is cut away, the plants are weighed, placed into the
baskets and shipped to market.

[Illustration: FIGURE 237.--View in Packing Room (H. E. Hicks' Mushroom
House, Kennett Square, Pa.) Copyright.]

In some of the caves, or abandoned mines, which I have visited, where
the mushrooms are grown on a large scale, the practice in picking the
mushrooms varies somewhat from that just described. In the first place,
the mushrooms are allowed to stand on the bed longer, before they are
picked. They are rarely, if ever, picked before they open. Mushrooms may
be quite large, but if they have not opened, they are not picked. Very
frequently, the plant may open, but, the operator says, it is not open
enough. It will grow more yet. The object of the grower, in this case,
is to allow the mushrooms to grow as long as it is possible, before
picking, for the