﻿114 
  A 
  PLAIN 
  AND 
  EASY 
  ACCOUNT 
  

  

  fresh. 
  Lovers 
  of 
  a 
  dish 
  of 
  truffles 
  protest 
  also 
  against 
  

   the 
  barbarity 
  of 
  paring 
  them, 
  by 
  which 
  process 
  much 
  of 
  

   the 
  delicious 
  aroma 
  is 
  lost, 
  Like 
  other 
  fungi, 
  these 
  

   cannot 
  be 
  eaten 
  too 
  fresh 
  ; 
  and 
  amateurs 
  speak 
  with 
  

   delight 
  of 
  fresh 
  truffles 
  cooked 
  in 
  the 
  embers. 
  Inferior 
  

   as 
  the 
  dried 
  truffles 
  are, 
  they 
  ordinarily 
  realize 
  from 
  

   fifteen 
  to 
  twenty 
  shillings 
  per 
  pound 
  in 
  the 
  London 
  

   market, 
  and 
  on 
  the 
  Continent 
  this 
  fungus 
  always 
  ob- 
  

   tains 
  a 
  good 
  price, 
  which 
  has 
  occasioned 
  many 
  experi- 
  

   ments 
  being 
  made 
  on 
  its 
  artificial 
  culture. 
  In 
  woods 
  in 
  

   the 
  south 
  of 
  France, 
  truffles 
  are 
  raised 
  by 
  watering 
  the 
  

   soil 
  with 
  water 
  in 
  which 
  the 
  skins 
  of 
  these 
  tubers 
  have 
  

   been 
  rubbed. 
  In 
  Vaucluse 
  crops 
  have 
  been 
  raised 
  in 
  a 
  

   meadow 
  manured 
  with 
  truffle 
  parings. 
  In 
  the 
  latter 
  

   locality, 
  also, 
  seedling 
  oaks 
  have 
  been 
  reared, 
  and 
  with 
  

   them, 
  what 
  have 
  been 
  termed 
  oak-truffles. 
  M. 
  de 
  Gas- 
  

   parin, 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  jurors 
  of 
  the 
  Paris 
  Exposition, 
  has 
  

   reported 
  the 
  result 
  of 
  his 
  visit 
  to 
  one 
  of 
  these 
  truffle- 
  

   grounds 
  at 
  Carpentras. 
  Encouraged 
  by 
  the 
  high 
  price 
  

   of 
  truffles, 
  the 
  proprietor 
  of 
  a 
  somewhat 
  stubborn 
  soil 
  

   determined 
  to 
  convert 
  it 
  into 
  a 
  truffle 
  ground. 
  The 
  

   land 
  was 
  sown 
  with 
  the 
  acorns 
  of 
  the 
  common 
  and 
  of 
  

   the 
  evergreen 
  oak. 
  In 
  the 
  fourth 
  year 
  three 
  truffles 
  

   were 
  found, 
  and 
  in 
  about 
  four 
  years 
  more 
  upwards 
  of 
  

   thirty 
  pounds 
  were 
  collected. 
  When 
  M. 
  de 
  Gasparin 
  

   visited 
  the 
  plantation, 
  upwards 
  of 
  two 
  pounds 
  of 
  truffles 
  

   were 
  gathered 
  in 
  a 
  very 
  poor 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  plantation 
  

   within 
  an 
  hour. 
  All 
  the 
  truffles 
  collected 
  on 
  this 
  

   ground 
  have 
  been 
  taken 
  at 
  the 
  base 
  of 
  evergreen 
  oaks 
  ; 
  

   but 
  other 
  jdantations 
  in 
  Vaucluse 
  produce 
  them 
  at 
  the 
  

  

  