4l2 Cultivation of Truffles. 



The secret of raising the mushroom upon places that were as- 

 signed to it, was only comparatively recently discovered in Italy. 

 Without being able to give any exact account of the grounds 

 upon which the experiments were made, the object in view was 

 attained by means of several experiments. The preparations 

 that were made, and in general the whole procedure, we're 

 imitated in France, and succeeded. The raising of truffles 

 would be still easier in Germany ; since here the proceeding 

 might be commenced with proper views of the nature of the 

 fungus, and of its manner of originating and formation : its 

 proper treatment could, therefore, be easily pointed out. 



There are several kinds of truffles, which must be critically 

 known and distinguished by any one who proposes to lay out a 

 situation for this species of fungus. Without this, the planter 

 would be exposed to the hazard of planting bad and useless 

 kinds, instead of the good and eatable ones. To enable him to 

 avoid this, the following description of the different kinds will 

 be useful to most readers : — 



Linnaeus and other ancient botanists comprehended all the 

 different species of truffles under the genus Lycoperdon, which 

 is said to be distinguished from the rest of the fungi by having 

 a round body filled with powdery seeds. The lycoperdons 

 have, while alive, a fleshy body, with veins running through it, 

 which, by means of absorbing organs, like roots, either draw 

 their necessary nutriment from the earth, or sit upon plants and 

 rob them of their juices. For example, to the first division 

 belongs the commonly known puffball (Lycoperdon Bovista) ; 

 and to the last, the grated puffball (Lycoperdon cancellatum), 

 upon the leaves of the pear tree. When dead, the inside of the 

 body, of most kinds, quickly becomes an extremely fine dust, 

 which, for a considerable time, is included in the dry, more 

 durable, papei'-like external skin. Formerly, in this fine dust 

 the seed was looked for ; and it was supposed to be carried by 

 the winds into very distant districts. This belief was so strong, 

 that it could not be shaken by all the unsuccessful attempts 

 which were made to raise young fungi by sowing the supposed 

 seed. 



Later botanists have separated the family of such lycoperdons 

 as grow within the earth from the two other kinds which grow 

 upon its surface, and have raised them to a separate genus, 

 under the name Tuber. The latter differs much more from the 

 former, than the cherry does from the plum, or the bean from 

 the pea. The new genus includes many species, though not all 

 of them ; especially those which grow in deeper strata of earth 

 are svifficiently known to be distinctly different. The following 

 are the only ones that are accurately known : — 



1. T/ic true Tnrffle [Tuber giilbnum, T. gnlosorim, Lyco- 



