178 FRENCH MARKET-GARDENING 



thorum, and is due to cold, wet, and erratic seasons, 

 and is checked naturally by keeping the plants warm 

 and dry during such periods, and dusting with flowers 

 of sulphur. Canker sometimes attacks the plants 

 and is best cured by cutting away the injured portions, 

 and rubbing powdered lime or ashes on the wounds. 

 Black Aphis, Red Spider, and Thrips are best checked 

 by frequently syringing the under-surface of the 

 leaves with a quassia-chip and soft-soap solution, 

 or any of the advertised insecticides. 



MUSHROOMS 



A treatise on French market-gardening would be 

 scarcely complete without some reference to the 

 French method of cultivating Mushrooms. The system 

 of culture adopted by growers in the outskirts of Paris 

 differs in so many ways from that practised in England, 

 that it may be worth while recording it somewhat 

 fully. Last summer (1908) I had the pleasure of 

 meeting a Parisian mushroom grower, and he very 

 kindly showed me not only his own " cultures," but 

 also introduced me to some friends of his in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Montrouge. 



It has been estimated by M. Cure a writer on French 

 market-gardening that 10,000,000 francs (or 400,000) 

 are earned by the cultivation of Mushrooms and the 

 sale of old beds every year in the neighbourhood 

 of Paris alone. This is sufficient to indicate what 

 an important industry mushroom-growing is, and also 

 accounts for the establishment of the " Syndicat des 

 Champignonnistes," a society formed to protect the 

 interests of mushroom-growers in France. The British 



