476 



MUSHROOM CULTURE. 



the gatherer leaves a small Iiole from wliicli lie has pnlled 

 even a solitary Mushroom^ lie fills it with some of the white 

 earth from the base^ no douht intending to gather other 

 Mushrooms from the same spots before many weeks are over. 

 The Mushrooms look very white^ and are apparently of 

 prime quality. The absence of all littery coverings and 

 dust, and the daily gatherings, secure them in what we may 

 term perfect condition. I visited this cave on the 6th of 

 July, 1868, and doubt very much if at that season a more 

 remarkable crop of Mushrooms could be anywhere found 

 than was presented in this subterranean chamber — a mere 

 speck in the space devoted to Mushroom culture by one 

 individual. 



When I state that there are six or seven miles run of 

 Mushroom beds in the ramifications of this cave, and that 

 their owner is but one of a large class who devote themselves 

 to Mushroom culture, the reader will have some oppor- 

 tunity of judging of the extent to which it is carried on 

 about Paris. These caves not only supply the wants of the 

 city above them, but those of England and other countries 

 also, large quantities of preserved Mushrooms being ex- 

 ported, one house alone sending to our own country no less 

 than 14^000 boxes annually. There were some traces of 

 the teeth of rats on the produce, and it need not be said 

 that these enemies are not agreeable in such a place ; but 

 they did not seem to have committed any serious ravages, 

 and are probably only casual visitors, who take the first 

 opportunity of obtaining more varied food than is afforded 

 them by these caves. To traverse the passages any further 

 is needless — there is nothing to be seen but a repetition of 

 the culture above described, every available inch of the cave 

 being occupied, "We again find our way to the bottom of 

 the shaft, carefully mount the rather shaky pole one by 

 one, and again stand in the hot sun in the midst of the 

 ripe Wheat. In traversing the fields, two things relating 

 to 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 accumulated for Mushroom 

 growing, and undergoing preparation for it. That prepara- 



