Chap. XXX.] MUSHROOM-CULTURE IN CAVES UNDER PARIS. 511 



Mushroom-culture are to be observed— heaps of white gritty- 

 earth, sifted from the debris of the white stone, and large heaps 

 of stable-manure undergoing preparation for Mushroom-beds. 

 That preparation is different from what it receives in England. 

 It IS ordinary stable-manure thrown into -heaps four or five feet 

 high, and perhaps thirty feet wide. The men were employed 

 turning this over, the mass being afterwards stamped down with 

 their feet, a water-cart and pots being used to thoroughly water 

 the manure where dry and white. This cave is but -a sample of 

 a number in the immediate neighbourhood of Paris. In the 

 Department of the Seine alone there are 3000 stone quarries; 

 those which have been abandoned as such and which are situated 

 close to Paris, at Montrouge, Bagneux, Vaugirard, IMery, Chatillon, 



r-3S« 



V »■ 



f' r t. 



Section follffwivg the line C, D, i« preceding' figure. 



Vitry, Houilles, and St. Denis, are used by the 250 Mushroom - 

 growers of the Department. 



We will next visit a Mushroom-cave of quite another type at 

 some little distance from Paris. It is situated near Frepillon, 

 Mery-sur-Oise — a place which may be reached in an hour or so 

 by the Chemin de fer du Nord, passing by Enghien, the valley of 

 Montmorency and Pontoise, and alighting at Auvers. There are 

 vast quarries in the neighbourhood, both for the building-stone 

 and plaster so largely used in Paris. As many as 3000 lbs. 

 weight of Mushrooms were at the time of my visit sent daily, from 

 Mery to the Paris market. The Mushroom has rather mysterious 

 habits, for after a time the great quarries seem to become tired of 

 their occupants, or the Mushrooms become tired of the air ; the 



