544 Select Pla?its for Industrial Culture and 



Tropseolum tuberosum, Ruiz and Pavon. 4 



Peru and Bolivia, up to the higher mountain-regions. The 

 tuberous root serves as an esculent ; some frost improves it. 



Trophis Americana, Linn6. 



West-Indian Archipelagus. The foliage of this milky tree has 

 been recommended as food for the silk -insect. In Cuba and Jamaica 

 it is used as provender for cattle and sheep. 



Tuber sestivum, Micheli. 



The Summer-Truffle or White British Truffle. Middle and 

 Southern Europe. The truffle most frequent in the markets of 

 England. Choiromyces meandriformis, though large, is valued less. 

 In the Department Vaucluse alone about 60,000 Ibs. of truffles are 

 collected annually, at a value of about 4,000. Many other kinds 

 of truffles are in use. The Australian Truffle, Mylitta Australis 

 (Berkeley) or Notiohydnum Australe, sometimes attains the size of 

 the cocoa-nut, and is also a fair esculent. It seems quite feasible, to 

 naturalise the best edible fungs of these and other genera, although 

 such may not be amenable to regular culture ; thus efforts should be 

 made for the introduction of all the superior kinds of truffles, as an 

 insight into the manner, in which vegetables of the fungus-species 

 might be transferred to wide distances, has gradually been obtained. 

 Truffle culture can be rendered very remunerative, particularly -on 

 calcareous soil, under plantations of Oaks and Beeches ; new ground 

 must be planted with such trees from truffle-localities. During 1889 

 the export of truffles from France, where three species are collected, 

 was 450,360 Ibs., nearly half of which went to England [Journal of 

 the Board of Trade]. But there have been years in which France 

 exported over 3,000,000 Ibs. valued at about 660,000 ; about a 

 fourth of this is gathered near Perigord. Dogs are trained to search 

 for truffles. The total value of the export of truffles from France in 

 1877 amounted to considerably over half a million pounds sterling, 

 the total production in that year being valued at about 800,000. 

 The annual revenue of the truffle-ground of Carpentras is according 

 to Simmonds, 80,000. The great White North- American Truffle 

 (Tuber album) is as white as snow and as tender as curds [Milling- 

 ton]. Truffles can be conserved in strong salt water within airtight 

 vessels [Laval, Wittmack]. Rudolph Hesse in Halle has furnished 

 in 1893 a monography of the edible truffles. 



Tuber albidum, Caesalpini. 



Occurs with T. a3stivum, but is smaller and less agreeable in taste. 



Tuber cibarium, Sibthorp. 



The Black Truffle. Middle and Southern Europe. Like all 

 others Crowing underground, and generally found in forest-soil of 

 limestone-formation. It attains a weight of over one pound. Ex- 

 periments for naturalisation may be effected with every prospect of 



