October 18, 1863. ] 



JOHKNAi OF HOETICITLTURE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEE. 



295 



TEUPFLES AJiTD TKUFFLE-BEDS. 



In the south of France Oak coppices are not gi-own for 

 the sake of the wood, but because the black Truffle, which is 

 so highly prized by the lovers of good eating, is chiefly to be 

 found among the roots of that tree ; and it there acquires 

 an aroma which is wholly absent from Truffles growing 

 among the roots of the Elm, Beech, Walnut, Chestnut, 

 LOac, and other trees. 



M. Tulasne has carefully investigated the history of this 

 underground fungus and produced a magnificent work on 

 the subject. He divides the genus Tuber (Truffle), into 

 twenty-one species, of which four are confounded under the 

 name of the common or black Truffle. Two, the black 

 Truffle proper, and the winter Truffle, ripen in autumn and 

 are taken up during the beginning of winter. The former 

 is the most highly perfumed, and that held in the highest 

 estimation. Its surface is warty, and the interior is of a 

 uniform black with a reddish tinge, and marbled with white 

 veins, which become reddish when the fangus attains a 

 greater age. This species is common in Italy, Provence, 

 and Poitou, and is also occasionally found near Paris, and 

 in England. 



Black Truffle. 



The winter Truffle is inferior in quality to that just de- 

 scribed and always accompanies it. The flesh, is white when 

 young, and afterwards blackish and marbled with white 

 veins. 



Two other species come to maturity at the beginning of 

 summer. One, called the Summer Truffle, common in Ger- 

 many and the central districts of France, is covered with 

 large warts, whilst its flesh is whitish at first, afterwards 

 turning to a brownish colour marbled with white veins. 

 The other, which is common in Italy, is of a greyish-brown, 

 and the veins are extremely tortuous. Both of the above 

 are also met with near Paris. 



At Apt in the department of Vaucluse the Truffles are 

 cixt in thin slices and dried. In this way about 197 tons 

 are annually exported. 



To the four species abeady referred to must be added the 

 white Truffle of Piedmont, which Napoleon preferred to the 

 black kind. The others which M. Tulasne names are not 

 edible. 



Truffles are generally found in chalky or clayey chalk 

 soils. Just as many aerial fungi oiily grow on dead wood, 

 and that of a particular' kind, so the black Truffle is only 

 met with among the roots of trees, and more especially the 

 common and Evergreen Oak, and Qi^.erci'.s coccifera. It is 

 among the roots of these trees that the Truffles are most 

 abundant and acquire a perfume that makes them esteemed 

 all over the world. If the trees are too large and shade the 



ground too much the crop falls off, but it increases as the 

 coppice grows. 



Truffles increase like other fungi ; when ripe they contain 

 minvite spores not exceeding o'oth of an inch in diameter, 

 and when the TiTiffle decays in the ground these produce 

 white threads, or mycelium, like Mushroom spawn when 

 running, and a fresh crop results. 



Many prejudices exist, however, among Truffle-hunters. 

 Some imagine that the Truffle is a natural excrescence from 

 the roots of the Oak ; others that it is the consequence of a 

 punctui-e fi-om a fly or some insect ; and most believe that 

 there are Oaks at the roots of which Tniffles are met with, 

 and other Oak trees which do not produce them. Such, 

 opinions are whoUy wrong, for the Truffle is an underground 

 fungus reproduced like others of its race, but only succeeding 

 in calcai'eous soils and amidst the roots of trees, and among 

 the roots of the Oak in particular. The rains of July and 

 Aiigust encourage its gi-owth and increase the crop. 



Truffle-hunters had long observed that vineyards and arable 

 land surrounded by stunted Evergreen Oaks were very pro- 

 ductive of Tiaiffles : hence M. Auguste Eousseau, of Car- 

 pentras, conceived the idea of attempting their cultivation. 

 He sowed in a piece of sandy calcareous gi-ound, about five 

 acres in extent, a quantity of the acorns of the common and 

 Evergreen Oak at the roots of which Truffles had been found. 

 The sowing succeeded ; at the expii'y of eight years, in 1856, 

 the late M. de Gasparin foimd that there was a yield of 

 about 7 lbs. per acre, worth ^61 ISs. 4d. ; but since then 

 both the produce and the price of Truffles have advanced. 

 At the present time M. A. Eousseau obtains an average 

 produce of 46J lbs. per acre, which at cun-ent prices is worth 

 igl2 12s. 6(J. Deducting laboiu', rent, &c., we have .£11 19s. 6d. 

 as the nett produce of an acre of bad ground wliich has been 

 fifteen years in Oak coppice. Few crops produce such a 

 return with the investment of so little capital and labour. 



Two interesting facts have been observed in M. Rousseau's 

 Truffle-grounds ; one is that the Truffles are more plentiful, 

 more equal in size, and have a higher perfume when they 

 grow at the roots of the Evergreen Oak than when found 

 among those of the common one; the second fact is that 

 the Truffles are always met with at the foot of those trees- 

 where they had been found in previous years. Such trees 

 are always mai-ked with a white cross, and the sow em- 

 ployed to find the Truffles immediately seeks them out 

 and routs up the ground. The Truffle being foimd, she 

 receives a tap on the snout, and some acorns or a Potato 

 are thrown to her as a reward. Swine smell the Truffle 

 through the ground ; and some dogs can likewise be trained 

 to hunt for it, but they confine themselves to pointing out 

 the place where the Ti-uffie exists, whilst the sow does all 

 the work — discovers and routs it up. The person in charge 

 must, however, be watchful, otherwise the prize iv^ll be im- 

 mediately crushed between the sow's strong jaws, to open 

 which by means of a stick a vain attempt is often made. 



On an average from the 1st of December to the end of 

 February .£80,000 worth of Truffles are sold at Carpentras, 

 from which they are sent to all parts of Eiu'ope. The com- 

 munes of Bedoin, Blauvac, Monieux, and Metrennes contain 

 6672 acres of Ti-uffle woods let at dfioSO a-year. The coppices 

 continue productive for twenty or thii-ty years, after which 

 the gi-ound from having been shaded and kept too dry is no 

 longer favourable to the growth of the Truffle, but then the 

 wood can be sold for firewood. — (Alfred Lejoukdan in 

 Remie des Jardins et ilc Champs.) 



THE GLADIOLUS QUESTION. 



I HOPE we may look upon the question of pronunciation 

 as now settled ; for although I have great respect for Mr. 

 Beaton, I do not think I should sit at his feet for the pro- 

 nunciation of Latin. Nor am I inclined to agree with the 

 notion that we must pronounce as gardeners have done. 

 The flower is as a florist's flower comparatively new, and 

 now that the baim is fairly launched into the world, let it 

 have its right name. A contemporary, I see, has, since 

 this controversy beg^m, also given its opinion in favour of 

 Gladiolus ; so if the two gi-eat gardening papers will only 

 hold to it, it may be considered as determined. Your ccrre- 

 spocdent, " S. D. S.," asks where I would put the accent. 



