In pursuance of a plan commenced a short time back of furnishing
information respecting the staple products of Japan, their culture
or preparation, Her Majesty's Consul at Yokohama, in his published
Report to the Foreign Office, deals, among other matters, with the
cultivation, &c. of mushrooms; and as that subject is a novel one in
this country, some brief account of the process may not be unacceptable
to our readers. The best of the edible species of mushrooms are known
to the Japanese as _matsu-také_ and _shü-také_. The difficulties
experienced in preserving the former kind prevent their being available
for export, added to which, even when successfully dried, they are
nearly tasteless; the _shü-také_, on the other hand, have this peculiar
excellence, that though they are all but tasteless in their raw state,
they have an extremely fine flavour when they are dried. The quantity
that grows naturally on the decayed roots or cut stumps of the _shü_
tree is not sufficient to meet the demand, and consequently much skill
has been brought to bear on their cultivation, notably by cutting off
the trunks of the _shü_ and other trees, and forcing the growth of the
mushrooms on them. Different varieties of oak are most in favour with
the Japanese for the cultivation of mushrooms, the one just mentioned
being considered to give the best results. The tree grows abundantly in
warm places with a south-easterly aspect, and attains a height of about
eighteen or nineteen feet. It is an evergreen, bearing small acorns,
which are steamed and eaten; the wood is used for making boats' oars,
charcoal, &c. Another oak, the _kashiwa_, from which mushrooms are
obtained, is also plentiful in warm localities, and grows to a height
of thirty or forty feet; its leaves are used in cookery, and the wood
is in great demand for divining-sticks. A third description of oak, the
_donguri_, is found all over the country; and its acorns, after being
pounded and steeped in water, are made into dumplings.
Mushrooms, we are told, are obtained from any of the above-mentioned
trees in the following manner: about the beginning of autumn a trunk
five or six inches in diameter is selected and cut up into lengths of
four or five feet; each log is then split into four pieces; and on the
outer bark slight incisions are made at once with a hatchet, or else
the logs are left till the following spring, when deep cuts are made
in them. Assuming the former course to have been pursued, the logs,
after having received several slight incisions, are placed in a wood
where they can get the full benefit of the air and heat; and in about
three years they will have become tolerably rotten in parts. After the
more rotten parts have been removed, they are placed in a slanting
position; and about the middle of the ensuing spring the mushrooms
will come forth in abundance. After these have been gathered, the logs
are still kept, and submitted to the following process. Every morning
they are steeped in water, and in the afternoon they are taken out and
beaten with a mallet; they are then ranged on end in the same slanting
position as before; and in two or three days' time mushrooms will again
make their appearance. In some places it is the custom to beat the logs
so heavily that the wood swells, and this seems to induce the growth of
mushrooms of more than ordinarily large size. If, however, the logs are
beaten gently, a great number of small mushrooms grow up in succession.
Another mode of forcing the growth of mushrooms is to bury the cut logs
at once in the earth, and after the lapse of a year, to take them out
and treat them in the manner just described.
The mushrooms thus grown are stored in a barn on shelves ranged along
three sides, with braziers lighted underneath. Afterwards they are put
into small boxes, the bottoms of which are lined with either straw or
bamboo mats; these are placed on the shelves, and gradually dried with
great care. Another mode of drying mushrooms is to string them on thin
slips of bamboo, which are piled together near the brazier, the heat
being kept in by inverting a closely woven basket over them.
Of other edible mushrooms in Japan besides the _shü-také_, Mr Robertson
particularises the following: The _kikurage_, which grows in spring,
summer, and autumn, on the mulberry, the willow, and other trees; it
is a small, thin, and soft mushroom, very much marked at the edge, and
of a brownish tinge. The _iwa-také_, which grows on rocks in thick
masses. The _so-také_, a very delicately flavoured mushroom, which
is found on precipitous crags, and is consequently scarce, owing to
the difficulties attendant upon its collection. The _kawa-také_, a
funnel-shaped mushroom with a long hollow stalk, which is found in
shady spots on moorland.
By adopting a somewhat similar plan of forcing mushrooms in Great
Britain, it is quite possible that growers might find it to their
advantage.
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