The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1877-03-08
Japanese MushrOOms-HOw they
are Cultivated.

! are Cultivated.
One of the industries of Japan, says
the Pail Nall Gazette, is the cultivation
of mushrooms, which are exported in
large quantities from that country, and
some interesting information respect
ing them is given by Consul Robertson
in his report on the trade of Kanagawa
/ lately issued. The best of the edible
species of mushrooms are known as
matsutake" and shii-take." The
difficulties attendant on preserving the
former kind almost exclude them from
the market for export; for not only do
they decompose very rapidly, but even
when successfully dried are nearly
tasteless, and thus useless in cookery.
The shii-take species, however, have
this peculiar excellence, that, though
all but tasteless in their raw state,
when they are dried they have an ex-
tremely fine flavor. The quantity that
grows naturally on the decayed roots
or cut stumps of the shii-tree is not
sufficient to meet the demand for them,
consequently much skill has been
brought to bear on their cultivation,
notably by cutting off the trunks of the
shii and other trees and forcing the
growth of the mushroom on them.
Different varieties of oak are most in
| favor for the cultivation of the mush-
room, the tree known as the shii
giving, however, the best results. About
the beginning of autumn the trunk,
about five or six inches in diameter, is
selected and cut up into lengths of four
or five feet; each piece is then split
down lengthways into four, and on the
outer bark slight incisions are either
made at once with a Ratchet, or the
cut logs are left till the following spring,
and then deep wounds seven or eight
inches long are incised on them. As
Stunning the first course to have been
pursued, the logs, alter having received
several slight missions, are placed in a
wood or grove where they can get the
full benefit of the air and heat. In
about three years they will be tolerably
rotten in parts. After the more rotten
parts are removed they are placed
against a rack in slanting position,
and about the middle of the ensuing
ex,r;px +ba ,o,,sbr ,o,,,O will oopoa fort h
in abundance. They are then gathered.
The logs are, however, still kept, and
are submitted to the following process :
Every morning they are put in water
and remain there till after noon, when
they are taken out, laid lengthwise on
the ground, and beaten with mallet.
They are then ranged on end in the
same slanting position as before, and in
two or three days mushrooms will
again make their appearance.
When the logs are beaten SO
heavily that the wood swells, mush-
rooms are induced of more than ordi-
narily large growth. If the logs are
beaten gently, a great number of small
sized mushrooms grow up in success
sion. In places where there is scar.
city of water, rain-water should be
kept for sleeping the logs in. There is
yet another plan. The cut logs are
buried in the earth, and in years
time are dug out and beaten as above
described. The mushrooms thus
grown are stored in barn, on shelves
ranged along three sides, with braziers
lighted under. Afterward they are
placed in small boxes, the bottoms of
which are lined either with straw or
bamboo mats. These boxes are then
ranged on the shelves, and all ap-
proaches carefully closed. An even
degree of warmth is thus diffused. The
boxes ranged on the upper or lower
tiers are constantly changed, so that
the contents of each are thoroughly
dried. Another mode of drying is to
string the mushrooms On thin slips of
bamboo, which are piled together near
the brazier; the heat is well kept in by
inverting closely woven basket over
them. Dried mushrooms, which are
much liked by the Chinese and largely
consumed By the japanese, retain their
flavor for great length of time, and
thus bear transport to any distance
very well. "a 90
A SINGULAR case of family affiiction