452 Cultivation of' Tt-nffles. 



species, the greatest precautions must be taken, lest they die on 

 the journey, and become useless. This is the greatest difficulty 

 to be encountered in the planting of truffles, and thus the plant- 

 ation may easily fail. If truffles naturally grow in the vicinity 

 of the new plantation, the experiment may be repeated without 

 much expense ; but, when truffles have to be sent a considerable 

 distance, it is very unpleasant to lose both time and money. 

 Truffles, at their full growth, must not be chosen for transplant- 

 ing : at that time their vital powers are too feeble; they are then 

 too near dying to cause the production of this species in their 

 new situation. They are as little able to bear the violent re- 

 moval from their ancient situation, and transplantation into a 

 new one, as an old tree (for instance, a fir or an oak) that has 

 arrived at its full growth. Most of the early attempts to remove 

 truffles from one situation to another must have failed, because 

 large, and consequently old worn-out, truffles were chosen for 

 the purpose ; and it was expected that they should sin'vive this 

 treatment, contrary to their nature, and combined with their 

 transplantation. Already, during their journey, or even after 

 being planted, they fell a prey to death ; and their bodies, soon 

 becoming putrid, were unable to operate efficaciously upon the 

 vicinity assigned them. 



Equally injurious is the planting of tender truffle germs, or 

 very small truffles. They also cannot be taken from their 

 parental earth, and abandoned to their new situation, without 

 being exposed to the same hazard of dying as a young hound 

 which is taken from its mother's breast and left to itself, even 

 with heaps of meat and drink about it. How could it be even 

 possible that the tender truffle germ should operate so power- 

 fully upon the new soil, where truffles had never grown, as to 

 collect about the tender plant the matter necessary for the 

 support of the fungus, and to change it to its nutriment? 



Let, therefore, truffles of a middle size, and in the full pos- 

 session of their vital powers, be chosen for transplanting. There 

 is no great difficulty in finding truffles in a place in a wood 

 where many grow. Truffles are generally found in groups; so 

 that many, of all ages, are found near to fully grown ones. If 

 the dog has found the place where such as are fully grown exist 

 (for he can discover none but by the smell which is diffused 

 around them, and the young ones have no smell), we only need 

 carefully search the ground near to find more truffles, both 

 young and fully grown ones. In the general search, the young 

 unripe ones are mostly left unnoticed, but so torn from their 

 situation, that they must soon die. 



Nevertheless, these half-grown truffles often greatly resemble 

 the other before-mentioned truffles, that are not edible ; and an 

 experienced eye is necessary to distinguish them from such use- 



