248 VEGETABLES OR FOOD CROPS 



building or out-house, which admits but little light, will answer 

 the purpose of a mushroom house. Excessively wet or dry atmos- 

 phere must be avoided, and a high temperature is unsuitable. 

 Horse-dung, being freed from grass or straw, should be collected 

 daily and kept under cover until a sufficient quantity has been 

 secured. It should be spread evenly over the floor to prevent pre- 

 mature fermentation. A bed should be made about 3 feet deep, 

 consisting of alternate layers of the prepared horse dung and good 

 friable soil, finishing with a layer of the latter on top. The whole 

 being beaten down firmly, the bed should be allowed to settle and fer- 

 ment for about a week. Small cubes, about an inch square, of the 

 mushroom spawn are then planted on the surface, about 6 in. apart 

 and an inch deep. Water the whole thoroughly and, if the 

 weather be dry, sprinkle the surface of the bed every morning and 

 evening with water. A crop of mushrooms may be expected in 

 five weeks to two months from date of spawning, and the beds 

 should remain productive for at least 2 months. Mushroom spawn 

 in brick form may be imported from nurserymen. In the tropics 

 it should be stored away in an air-tight tin until requited for plant- 

 ing. Imported spawn in this form is usually prepared from the 

 mycelium of Agaricus cainpestris, the common field mushroom of 

 England, which is not indigenous to Ceylon, and can only be cul- 

 tivated successfully in the hill districts. 



Oca-quina, Melluco, or Ulluco. ( Ullucus tuber osus. N. O. 

 Basellaceae). This plant is a native of Peru, where it is cultivated 

 for its tubers, which are said to be largely consumed like potatoes. 

 It was introduced as small tubers at Hakgala Gardens, Ceylon, in 

 1885, when the late Superintendent reported that it grew rapidly, 

 the tops dying down in November. The tubers produced were 

 reported to be from 2 to 3i inches long, and shaped like a kidney 

 potato. Usually, however, they are of the size of Hazel-nuts. 

 The plants trail over the surface of the ground, rooting and produ- 

 cing small tubers at each node. If planted in good soil they will 

 mature a crop in about five months from date of planting. The 

 plant is suited to up-country only, and MR. W. NOCK stated it was 

 best to plant the tubers in April, in rows about 18 inches apart. 

 Thus treated, he found that " one plant produced as many as 

 636 tubers, weighing in all 6 Ib." 



Onion; " Lunu " S. ( Allium cepa. N. O. Liliacere). Onions 

 thrive moderately well in up-country gardens in Ceylon, and with 

 careful cultivation occasionally attain fair success at intermediate 



