104 MINOR PRODUCTS OF PHILIPPINE FORESTS 



meaning rat's ears, due to the general resemblance of the mush- 

 room to the rat's ear. It is reddish brown to black, homogeneous, 

 gelatinous, collapsing when dry and reviving when moistened 

 (Figs. 1 and 2). The form generally shipped in the dry state 

 from Japan is the Cortinellus type (Fig. 3) . Similar fungi, just 

 as good in flavor, can be produced in the Philippines. 



Commercial attache Julean Arnold,* of Pekin, writes as fol- 

 lows in regard to mushrooms as an article of commerce in China. 



The Chinese use many varieties of fungi in their dietary. Dried mush- 

 rooms are popular with Chinese everywhere. They are gradually assum- 

 ing a position of importance in the export trade. In 1917, China exported 

 200 tons; it is likely that this amount includes fungi other than mush- 

 rooms, as the customs authorities probably do not distinguish. Foochow 

 is the center of this trade. It exported to other ports in China and to 

 foreign countries a total of 300,000 pounds of dried edible fungi. They 

 are grown in the mountainous ditrict in the interior of Fukien, on hard- 

 wood logs felled for the purpose. Incisions are made in the logs, liquid 

 manure is poured over the incisions, straw is covered over them, and 

 when this is well rotted the fungi spring forth. 



In Japan even more scientific methods of culture are practiced. 

 Mimura,t forest expert of Japan, comments on mushrooms cul- 

 ture in, Notes on "Shiitake," (Cortinellus Shiitake Schrot.) 



The Shiitake mushroom which is an important forest by product to 

 this country, is produced to the extent of 2,000,000 kilograms a year, of 

 which annually over 700,000 kilos valued at $500,000 are exported. The 

 study of this important product in the forest industry should not be 

 disregarded. 



I. SHIITAKE CULTURE AS HITHERTO KNOWN. 



The Shiitake is known to have been used as a nutritious article of 

 food for over 1,000 years. The people in ancient times seem to have 

 learned how to grow Shiitake having noticed its occasional appearance 

 on fallen trunks and rotten woods after fall of rain. They, then, began to 

 fell trees in autumn, on which the mushroom grows better than the trees 

 felled in other seasons and lately they learned to grow the mushrooms 

 by the so-called "soak and strike" methods. The Shiitake is a saprophyte 

 and the wood on which it is to be grown should become thoroughly 

 seasoned. The Shiitake can grow on almost any broad-leaved tree trunk, 

 but it is mostly grown on the wood of oak or birch. In the case of 

 deciduous trees, they should be felled early in the fall, evergreen oaks 



* Arnold, Julean. Mushrooms as an article of commerce. Daily Con- 

 sular and Trade Reports, No. 299, pages 1117-1118, December., 1918. 

 Washington, D. C. 



t Mimura, Shozaburo. Notes on "Shiitake" (Cortinellus Shiitake Schrot.) 

 culture. Extracts from the Bulletin of the Forest Experiment Station, 

 Meguro, Tokyo, Bureau of Forestry, Department of Agriculture and 

 Commerce, Tokyo, Japan, pages 109-114. 1915. 



