From the March 21, 1931 issue
By Science News
MUSHROOMS SUDDEN GROWTH FOLLOWS LONG PREPARATION
Quick as a mushrooms growth, is the phrase we like to apply to sudden and unexpected developments. An oil town, a stock-market fortune, the reputation of the writer of a hit, are all referred to the mushroom standard of comparison.
Yet the mushroom is no creature of magic, not-here yesterday and here today. The sudden manifestation that startles and fascinates us is only the fruition of months, perhaps years, of unseen preparation under ground, like the age-old waiting pool, the slow ripening of economic forces, the years of obscure labor behind the composer or playwright. A cluster of mushrooms can easily be as old as a forest of trees. Only until its time comes, it lives wholly as a concealed mass of white threads in the dark mold.