_Deliciosus Pie._--Pepper and salt slices of the agaric, and place them in layers with thin slices of fresh bacon, until a small pie-dish is full; cover with a crust of pastry or mashed potatoes, and bake gently for three-quarters of an hour. If with potato crust, brown nicely before a quick fire. _Deliciosus Pudding._--Cut the agaric into small pieces; add similar pieces of bacon, pepper, and salt, and a little garlic or spice; surround with crust, and boil three-quarters of an hour. _Fried Deliciosus._--Fry in slices, properly seasoned with butter, or bacon and gravy; and serve up hot with sippets of toast. A steak in addition is a great improvement. _Morchella esculenta_ (the Morel). Every one knows the Morel--that expensive luxury which the rich are content to procure at great cost from our Italian warehouses, and the poor are fain to do without. It is less generally known that this fungus, though by no means so common with us as some others (a circumstance partly attributable to the prevailing ignorance as to when and where to look for it, or even of its being indigenous to England), occurs not unfrequently in our orchards and woods, towards the beginning of summer. Roques reports favourably of some specimens sent to him by the Duke of Athol; and others, from different parts of the country, occasionally find their way into Covent Garden Market. The genus _Morchella_ comprises very few species, and they are all good to eat. Persoon remarks, that though the Morel rarely appears in a sandy soil, preferring a calcareous or argillaceous ground, it frequently springs up on sites where charcoal has been burnt, or where cinders have been thrown. [Illustration: Fig. 37. _Morchella esculenta_ (the Morel). Woods, &c., in the spring; colour pale buff; height, 3 to 5 inches.] _Pileus_ very various in shape and hue, the surface broken-up into very little cells, made by folds or plaits of the hymenium, which are more or less salient, and constitute the so-called ribs. These _ribs_ are very irregular, and anastomose with each other throughout; the pileus hollow, opening into the irregular stem. _Spores_ pale yellow. Neither of these funguses should be gathered after rain, as they are then insipid and soon spoil.