i8o FRENCH MARKET-GARDENING 



deep well, and it is with some trepidation and curiosity 

 that the stranger makes his first descent in this way. 



Arrived at the bottom one finds himself in a large 

 opening, from which what look like dark tunnels 

 radiate in every direction. Small lamps, fixed to a 

 stick about 18 in. long, are used to enable the workmen 

 to see what they are doing. Colza oil is now burned 

 in these little lamps in preference to paraffin, as it 

 was found that the fumes from the latter caused 

 headaches and other troubles that prevented the 

 workmen from attending to their duties for more than 

 two or three hours at a time. 



The tunnels or galleries are just as they were left 

 by the quarrymen, except where the mushroom- 

 growers have collected irregular masses of stone and 

 piled them up as supports to the roof, or to fill some 

 great gap in the side walls. The general appearance 

 is well shown in the accompanying illustrations (figs. 

 52, 53), from The Parks and Gardens of Paris. 



Fresh air being essential, not only for human 

 life but also for the sake of the Mushrooms is secured 

 by lighting fires beneath some of the openings that 

 communicate with the outer air. This causes an 

 upward current at one place and a downward current 

 at another, and in this way the air is constantly kept 

 in a fresh state as in a coal mine. 



It is no easy matter traversing these mushroom 

 galleries, as many of them are only a few feet wide, 

 and often only 4 or 5 ft. high. The inky blackness 

 is only just dispelled by the glow from the lamp, while 

 one has to plant his feet carefully on the ground to 

 avoid slipping on the wet or greasy and irregular 

 floors. 



