17 

 OAK TRUFFLES. 



BY M. BE GASPARIN. 



M. Rousseau, of Carpentras (Vaucluse), France, having obtained truffles 

 by the culture of evergreen oaks, M. de Gasparin addressed the following 

 Report upon the subject to the Jurors of the Paris Exposition of 1855 : — 



At the Exhibition I remarked a case shown by M. Rousseau, of 

 Carpentras, in which were enclosed some beautiful specimens of preserved 

 truffles, and accompanied by a proces^verhal, signed by the mayor and 

 many of the principal people of the country, certifying that they had been 

 obtained in a coppice of seedling oaks, planted expressly to obtain oak 

 truffles. My colleagues of the Jury naturally addressed themselves to me, 

 as a countryman of the exhibitor, to know what I thought of the matter. 

 I had heard previous mention made of similar plantations in the Arrondisse- 

 ment of the Apt, and in the Department of the Lower Alps ; but I had 

 not paid any great attention to it. 



It appeared fit to the Jury to give a recompense of some sort for the 

 production, of which we have had no more circumstantial details, and it 

 thought proper to accord to M. Rousseau a medal for the good preservation 

 of the truffles exhibited. I proposed to visit the locality upon my return 

 to the country ; and having entered into conversation with the producer, 

 through the introduction of M. Fabre, Director of the School Farm of 

 Vaucluse, I paid a visit to the place on the 3rd of February, 1856, accom- 

 panied by M. Fabre, M. Aug. de Gasparin, my brother, and many 

 amateur agriculturists who desired to assist in the examination which we 

 had come to make. M. Rousseau is a truffle-merchant. Carpentras is one 

 of the centres where this production flourishes on all sides ; in the season 

 it is not rare to purchase in the market 1,500 kilogrammes of truffles. 

 M. Rousseau prepares them after the method of Appert, the quickest and 

 the most perfect in Paris. 



The lands of Carpentras possess a soil by no means fertile, as the 

 following analysis will show : — 



Stony element (calcareous and silicious) - - - 56*3 

 Earthy element ------- 43-7 



100-0 

 The earthy particles contain — 



Lime - - - - - - - --4 , 1 



Silex - - - 57-0 



Clay ----.... 38.9 



100-0 

 The continual advance in price of truffles caused him to conceive the 

 idea of utilising this earth by transforming it into a truffle -ground ; and for 

 vol. 11. c 



