ITS 
CULTURE OF TRUFFLES. 
The difficulty, then, is among themselves. They 
do not trust to the soil, but look to something else. 
One oi the most prominent of these reliances is the 
coaling of the wood yet left, for the city market. 
When this is gone, they must raise the soil, or a 
portion of them leave it. 
Now, Mr. Editor, what can be done in such a 
place ? Call on these men to improve, and they 
show you empty pockets. Suggest schemes of im¬ 
provement, and you will be told, “ these things cost 
money, and we hav’n’t got it.” They must then have 
some plan of “ going ahead ” that does not cost any¬ 
thing but labor. Did you ever see anybody raise 
such a piece of land, with nothing but his hands? 
And if so, give us the manner, and the results. 
Schemes that require a capital equal to the value of 
the farm after the thing is done, will not answer. 
They have been told they might accomplish the de¬ 
sired object by means of the bean culture, and from 
what little I have seen of it elsewhere, there can be 
little or no doubt of it. If they would only follow 
out the suggestions of your article in the third volume 
of the Agriculturist, upon this subject, they would 
find themselves started in a new track, with brighter 
prospects. Chip manure is mentioned as being espe¬ 
cially adapted to this crop. Now, on almost any of 
these farms, enough of this and the like manure 
could be found for three acres, which would produce 
a crop worth more than $100, at present prices—an 
humble beginning, it is true ; but could be doubled 
from year to year, till a flock of sheep could be pur¬ 
chased, anil their progress upward would be still 
more rapid; and I can see nothing to prevent this 
oecoming a wool-growing region, not surpassed by 
even Vermont itself. Another plan has been tried, 
which certainly did succeed in one case. Poor land 
was taken and oats cropped upon it for nine success¬ 
ive years—no stock was allowed to go upon it, but 
the weeds and second growth fell down—till the tenth 
year, when a good wheat crop was obtained. But 
there is much prejudice against this scheme, from the 
almost universal belief that successive crops of oats 
poison the land by certain excretions from the roots. 
My paper is full, and I must have done. I would 
not have you believe there are no exceptions among 
the farmers of Schooley’s mountain to these remarks; 
lor there are several, and very commendable ones, 
considering the circumstances in which they are 
placed. A. R. D. 
HacJcettstown, Warren Co., N. J., ) 
Dec. 12 th y 1844. $ 
We passed over the above region in our rambles 
last summer, and determined at the time to write an 
article upon the subject; but our excellent corres¬ 
pondent has saved us the necessity of so doing. His 
suggestions as to the renovation of the soil are ex¬ 
cellent. It is one of the finest sheep countries in the 
north, and in its amenity of climate superior to Ver¬ 
mont ; and raising mutton for the New York market 
would pay extremely well, and, moreover, rapidly 
renovate the land. Pasturing geese there in large 
flocks would also be an excellent renovation, and 
turn poor land to a good account. This is a system 
little understood in this country, but extensively and 
profitably practised in England on poor lands. Then 
let clover and other crops follow; which, with plas¬ 
ter, Lme, ashes, charcoal, swamp muck (which we { 
saw in abundance there), and the other manures at 
hand, would make splendid stock farms of the whole 
of that beautiful region—for beautiful it really is, 
naturally. Our first volumes abound with all sorts 
of information on these subjects,, and we can only 
recommend an attentive perusal of them to those who 
are desirous of understanding the proper manner of 
cultivating any kind of soil to be found in the United 
States. 
CULTURE OF TRUFFLES. 
Truffles have been the favorite dish of epicures 
from the beginning of the world to the present day; 
and yet, strange to say, they are always scarce and 
high priced, for few know how to raise them, and 
still fewer have the proper knowledge to prepare 
them for the table. The royal cooks of France say, 
that “ the truffle improves all it touches;” and happy 
is the cuisinier who can give a taste of its delicacy 
and flavor to each separate dish which issues from 
his scientific laboratory ! Even the grave and satiri¬ 
cal Juvenal writes: 
. . . u Tibi habe f momentum 7 Alledius inqmt • 
0 labye l Disjimge boves , dum tubera mittis. n 
This we take the liberty of thus freely translating, 
not doubting that it is the veritable English the gas- 
tronomical satirist would have used in our day. 
Keep back thy wheat, oh, Egypt! and thy corn. 
And thy fat beeves which low at early morn; 
But give me truffles, or I die forlorn! 
A gay French writer says: t£ Quand je mange des 
truffes je me crois transports dans un autre monde,” 
&c.; but we forget—this is not English, and there¬ 
fore we translate the lively Gaul for the benefit of our 
readers, as freely as we have the grave old Roman. 
“ When I eat truffles I at once think myself trans¬ 
ported to another world ; for instantly my spirit be¬ 
comes more gay and more joyous ; my blood courses 
my veins with an indescribable pleasure; an agree¬ 
able voluptuousness seizes upon me, and my whole 
spirit is changed by the delicious symposium. As I 
continue eating my judgment becomes sound and dis¬ 
creet : my wit sharp and ready; and my imaginings 
of the most lofty, varied, and beautiful kind. In¬ 
deed, a sort of inspiration comes over me, and I feel 
as if I could readily write an epic poem; address a 
popular assembly with unsurpassed eloquence ; and 
compose works which for depth of learning, and beauty 
and brilliancy of style, should astonish the world. 
Then the agreeable digestion which follows—the 
delicious sleep—and the ecstatic dreams ! Ah, lan¬ 
guage is too poor to portray these; and all, yea all, 
are inspired by truffles V* 
Truffles or Mushrooms are easily cultivated, and 
the best method of raising them which we have seen 
practised in the United States, is detailed in the fol¬ 
lowing obliging communication to us from Mr. Colt, 
of Paterson : 
“ You ask me about the cultivation of mushrooms. 
I have two houses in which I have raised them, one 
built expressly for the purpose, 50 feet long, 14 wide, 
9 high, plastered inside, with a flue from a stove run- 
ning on the ground through the centre. On the top 
of the flue are hollow tiles for the purpose of hold¬ 
ing water and keeping the room moist. I have two 
tiers of beds on each side of the house, one over the 
other, 3 feet apart and 5 feet wide. We first fill each 
