ot," "maggots," or other ailment,
and discard all that have any symptoms of disease.

The small, short-stemmed, white-skinned mushrooms offered for sale are
of the variety known as French mushrooms, and on account of their white
appearance are preferred by many; the longer-stemmed, broader-headed,
and darker-colored kind that we also find offered for sale is what is
known as the English mushroom. The French mushrooms are the most
attractive in appearance and preferred in the market, but the English
variety is the best flavored and generally the most liked for home use.

As soon as the frill around the neck breaks apart the mushroom is fit to
gather; keeping it longer may add to its size a little, but surely will
detract from its tenderness. The gills of the mushrooms will retain
their pink tinge for a day after the frill breaks open, but they soon
grow browner and blacker, until in a few days they are unfit for food.
In gathering, the mushrooms should be pulled and never cut, and kept in
this way until ready to prepare them for cooking. By retaining the stem
uncut the mushroom holds its freshness and plumpness much longer than it
would were the stems removed. Keep them in a cool, dark place, and in an
earthenware vessel with a cover or a thick, damp cloth thrown over it;
this will preserve their plumpness. If the frill is broken wide apart
when the mushrooms are gathered, the caps are apt to open out flat in a
day or two, and the gills darken and spread their spores, just as if the
mushrooms were still unsevered from the ground.

Carefully inspect the mushrooms before cooking them. If the gills are
black and the mushrooms are too old do not use them; if the cap is
perforated by insects discard it, as it is very likely there are maggots
inside; or if there are dark brown spots ("black spot") on the top of
the caps throw the mushrooms away. Old mushrooms are tough, ill-looking,
bad-tasting and indigestible, and those infested by insects, although
not poisonous, are very repugnant, and should not be used. But the
dangerous mushroom is the one affected by "Flock."

Mushrooms should be gathered free from grit; if at all gritty they
require washing, which spoils them. All large mushrooms should be peeled
before they are cooked; the skin of the cap parts freely from the flesh,
but the skin of the stem must be rubbed or scraped off. The gills should
not be removed as they are the most delicate meat of the mushroom, but
if th