EUROPEAN TRUFFLES 



most in the truffle trade. The little village 

 of Bedouin, at about eight miles from Car- 

 pentras, tucked away under the very shadow 

 of Mt. Ventoux, is the centre of one of the 

 chief truffle sections of France, and Mt. 

 Ventoux is now itself a field of extensive re- 

 foresting operations. Through some un- 

 known cause truffles have begun to fail in 

 this region, and it is to be greatly regretted 

 that a thorough study of the conditions has 

 not been made by some botanist and mycolo- 

 gist. 



The reports of the truffle regions of 

 France which have reached the American 

 public have left the impression that these 

 fungi are unusually restricted in habitat. 

 This is only in part true, and nothing will 

 illustrate better the distribution of these 

 fungi throughout a large portion of France 

 than the following valuation in francs 

 placed upon the truffle yield in the various 

 departments of France^ in 1889, giving only 

 those provinces in which the valuation is 

 50,000 francs or more. 



205 



