340 



THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



\NovemhtT., 



rapidly, but eveu when successfully diicd an- 

 nearly lasiteless, and thus useless in cookery. 

 The Shii-lake species, however, have this pecu- 

 liar excellence, that, though all but tasteless in 

 iheir raw state, when they are dried they have 

 an extremely line Havor. The quantity that 

 grows naturally on the decayed roots or cut 

 stumps of the .Shii tree is not sullicient to meet 

 the demand for them; consequently much skill 

 has bei'U brought to bear on their cultivation, 

 notably by cutting off the trunks of the Shii and 

 other trees, and forcing the growth of the Mush- 

 room on Ihem. Ditierent varieties of Oak are 

 most in favor for the cultivation of the Mush- 

 room, the tree known as the Shii giving, how- 

 ever, 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 lengthwise into fom*, 

 and on the outer bark slight incisions are either 

 made at once with a hatchet, or the cut logs are 

 left till the following Spring, and then deep 

 wounds, seven or eight inches long, are incised 

 on them. Assuming the first course to have 

 been pursued, the logs, after having received 

 several slight incisions, are placed in a wood or 

 grove -where they can get the full benefit of the 

 air and heat. lu about thi-ee years they will be 

 tolerably rotten in parts. After the more rot- 

 ten i)arts are removed they are placed against a 

 rack in a slanting position, and about the middle 

 of the ensuing Spring the Mushrooms will come 

 forth in abundance. They are then gathered. 

 The logs are, however, still kept, and are sub- 

 mitted to the following process : Every morning 

 they are put in water, where they remain till 

 afternoon, when they are taken out, laid length- 

 wise on the ground, and beaten with a mallet. 

 They are then ranged on end in the same slant- 

 ing 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. Mushrooms are induced of a more 

 than ordinarily large growth. If the logs are 

 beaten gently a great number of small sized 

 Mushrooms grow up in succession. In places 

 where there is a scarcity of water, rain-water 

 should be kept for steeping the logs in. 



There is yet another plan. The cut logs are 

 buried in the earth, and in a year's time are dug 

 out and beaten a-s above described. The Mush- 

 rooms thus grown are stored in a barn, on shelves 

 ranged along three sides, with braziers lighted 



under. Afterwards they are placed in small boxes, 

 the bottoms of which are lined either with straw 

 or bamboo mats. These l)oxes are then ranged 

 on the shelves, and all approivches carefully 

 closed. An even degree of warmth is thus dif- 

 fused. The boxes ranged on the upper or lower 

 tiers are constantly changed, so that the contents 

 of each are tiiorouLrhly dried. Another mode of 

 of drying is to string the Musiu'rxims on thin slips 

 of bamboo, which are piled together near the 

 brazier ; the heat is well kept in by inverting a 

 closely woven basket over them. Dried Mush- 

 rooms, which are much liked by the Chinese and 

 largely consumed by the Japanese, retain their 

 flavor for a great lengtii of time, and thus bear 

 transport to any distance very well. — Pall Mall 



Gazette. 



•••« 



NEW OR RARE FRUITS 

 AND VEGETABLES. 



SiiARPLESs Seedling Straavberky. — In the 

 admirable Descriptive Catalogue of Fruits of EU- 

 wanger & Barry, just received, there is a beautiful 

 colored plate of the Sharpless Seedling Straw- 

 berry. 



The Prentiss Grape. — We have from Mr. 

 Hubbard, leaves of the Prentiss Grape, showing 

 their hardy and healUiy character. It appears to 

 be derived from Vitis labrusca. 



Bonne du Puits Ansults Pear.— We are 

 not sure that we have the orthography of this 

 new fruit correct, and even if we have we would 

 suggest that the barbarous thing be sent back to 

 be re-christened, feeling sure that it cannot 

 travel with this huge tail. We were about to 

 throw it out, but the aroma plead for it, and so 

 we tasted it, and then felt the more pity that such a 

 remarkably fine fruit should be saddled with so 

 much dead weight. We are indebted to Ell- 

 wanger & Barry for our taste of it. 



Xew Late Peaches.— C. W. Westbrook & 

 Co., Wilson, North Carolina, write : " I mail 

 you a specimen each of Harris' Winter, Lady 

 Parham and Baldwin's late Peaches, all free 

 stones. The Harris is a new Peach and ripened 

 last year the 1st of November. It is just now^ 

 coming in and will last a month. It is frost- 

 proof, never fails to bear, has large flowers, very 

 productive and keeps well, has been kept until 

 Christmas. How do you think it will do for the 

 South, for market? Will it do well in your 



