CuAp. XXX.] MUSHROOM-CULTURE IN CAVES UNDER PARIS. 521 



are other places near Paris where the culture is carried on— 

 notably at Moulin de la Eoche, Sous Bicetre, near St. Germain, 

 and also at Bagneux. The equability of temperature in the caves 

 renders the culture of the Mushroom possible at all seasons ; but 

 the best crops are gathered in winter, and consequently that is 

 the best time to see them. I, however, saw abundant crops 

 in the hottest part of a very hot season. These Mushroom- 

 caves are under government supervision, and are regularly in- 

 spected like any other mines in which work is going on. As 

 regards the depth at which the culture is carried on, it varies 

 from twenty to one hundred feet, sometimes reaching 150 and 

 160 feet from the surface of the earth. The caves are so large 

 that sometimes people are lost in them. In one instance the 

 proprietor of a large one lost himself, and it was three days 

 before he was discovered, although soldiers and volunteers in 

 numbers were sent down. 



The Mushroom reared in the Paris quarries is always much 

 smaller than that which grows naturally in meadows. The earth 

 for " soiling " is very poor, and contains but little humus ; but 

 this comparatively slow growth is advantageous from a com- 

 mercial point of view, medium-sized Mushrooms selling better 

 than very large ones in the Paris market. The French growers, 

 according to M. Lachaume, divide the edible Cave-mushroom into 

 the following varieties : — 



1. The Small White Mushroom, whose cap is from f in. to 

 If in. in diameter ; the stem is 2 in. in length, and its flesh is 

 more spongy than that of the cap. This Mushroom is greatly 

 esteemed, and it is always eaten whole. 



2. The Large White Mushroom. The cap sometimes measures 

 as much as 3^ in. in diameter without the edges of the cap 

 ceasing to turn inwards, the stem is relatively short, measuring 

 about an inch in diameter, and is milk-white ; the skin of the 

 cap, which is firm and fleshy, is slightly torn, and the gills are 



light pink. 



3. The Cream-coloured Mushroom. The stem is 2 m. in 

 length, and i in. in diameter, and milky white. The cap is from 

 2-L in to 2^ in. in diameter. The skin is torn and clouded with 

 cream-coloured spots on a white ground, and the gills are of a 

 beautiful light pink. 



