MUSHROOM GROWING 



such hunting it is necessary to select a quiet 

 day, and it requires great patience. More- 

 over, one must frequently dig up the earth 

 without reward. Nevertheless, there are 

 one or two marks by which the skilled ra- 

 bassier is able to determine a so-called truf- 

 fiere, the small area near a tree or group of 

 bushes in which the truffle mycelium, at 

 least, is growing. Frequently under the 

 borders of such a tree, or around the edge 

 of a clump of such bushes, it will be noticed 

 that the herbage is not so abundant as else- 

 where. It may be that the truffle mycelium 

 is more or less destructive to many plants; 

 this relationship has not as yet been scien- 

 tifically investigated. However, this is one 

 of the signs which enable the hunter to limit 

 his attention to small, well-chosen areas, 

 where his search may be best rewarded. 



The Market. Should we follow the 

 truffles to a wholesale market, such as that 

 of Carpentras (Plate XII, b), for example, 

 we would find an animated scene and lively 

 though neighborly competition. Old men, 



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