The edible

Two other sorts of mushroom are much esteemed as delicacies at Paris, namely, the cèpe and the morille. Cèpe is a popular name given to various mushrooms of the boletus family, of which there are about a hundred different varieties, though only nine of them are enumerated as being edible. Many of the varieties are very poisonous. boleti (Fig. 6) are generally large and fleshy, of various shades of gray or of chestnut to cinnamon or very dark brown, sometimes inclined to olive. The under part of the head is white or grayish and the flesh is white or yellowish-white. There is also an edible 4. orange-colored variety. The ordinary cèpe (B. bulbosus) is often from 10 to 25 centimeters in diameter and is found in the woods during the summer months. The most delicate, or cèpe de Bordeaux (B. edulis), is found in April or May. To produce good cèpes May should be hot and rainy. A few come from Fontainebleau, though the greater quantity is found, generally in chestnut woods, in Limousin. Cèpes are never cultivated. They are said to be very nutritious and may be cooked when fresh, or may be dried without cooking or preserved by Appert's process, in the same way as the ordinary mushroom, or in olive oil.

The morille (Fig. 7), of which there are b. Boletus edulis. (After Dr. two edible varieties (Morchella esculenta and

M. nigra), is a soft, fragile, and often semitransparent mushroom of a grayish-black color, the outer surface of which presents a net-like appearance from numerous irregular cavaties. They are found in almost all soils, more particularly silicious ones, in the woods or along country roads, and are to be met with under several kinds of trees, as the oak, chestnut, ash, or elm, and sometimes also in hollow trees. They affect dry soils, and are better and more perfumed as they have absorbed less water, and should be gathered upon dry days, after the dew has evaporated. They are found in the spring and summer months, being at their best in the hot, dry days of July and August. The best are found in Périgord and around Agen. They may

be eaten cooked when fresh, or preserved, and are rather dear, bringing from 5 to 10 or sometimes even 25 francs per kilogram, according to quality and season.

Up to 1874 the cultivation of morilles had not been attempted, principally on account of their short duration, but in that year an experiment in this direction by M. Geslin (see Journal d'Agriculture Pratique for 1874), who formed a bed composed of two-fifths earth in which morilles had grown, two-fifths street sweepings, and onefifth decayed wood. The next year, from the first days of April up to the middle of July, he gathered 134 kilograms of morilles from 3 square meters of this bed. Both cèpes and morilles, preserved by Appert's process, were shown in the French section.

Truffles have long been held as a delicacy of the first order in France. The truffle (Lycoperdon tuber Lin.-Tuber melanosporum Vittadini, T. cibarium, Fig. 8) is found in all parts of France, but is best and most abundant in

the old province of Périgord. It is also abundant in Guyenne, Provence, Dauphiné, and other parts of the south of France, but in the north it is generally inferior in quality. Some kinds are also found in Algeria or in Italy.

A

B

E

Various conjectures have been made as to the nature of the truffle, but it has finally been ascertained to be a mushroom of the subterranean type (champignon hypogée), of the order of the thecaphore. It is a curious fact that truffles are only found under the shelter of terior; B, section; C, Asci or transparent sporesacs. various trees, and never farther DE, magnified spores. (From Gardener's Chronicle.) off than the branches of the tree extend. They are particularly found under two species of oak, the white oak, or chêne pubescent (Quercus sessiliflora) and the green oak, or yeuse (Quercus ilex), and it was formerly supposed that they would grow under such trees alone, but they have since also been found under about forty different sorts of trees, notably the hazel, hornbeam, beach, birch, linden, poplar, cedar, and even the black pine. A calcareous soil containing not less than 1 to 14 per cent of carbonate of lime, and also the presence of the oxides of iron, seem to be essential to their development. A climate which is favorable to the growth of the vine is also favorable to the truffle. It is stated that grass will not

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FIG. 8.-French Truffle. Tuber Melanosporum. A, ex-

grow upon a truffle bed until the truffles are exhausted. When the trees become too old no further truffles are to be found.

There are about twenty enumerated varieties of the truffle in France, but only four of these are edible, or at least marketable. The most important is the violet, or truffe de Périgord (Tuber melanosporum). This is found in the southeastern parts of France, and especially in Périgord, the best localities being near Sorges and Mareuil (Dordogne) or near Sarlat. It also grows in Italy or in other parts of Europe, but has not yet been found in Great Britain. It ripens in the autumn and winter, being at its best in January and February, and is more often found under the white oak than under

B, section; C, Asci; D, magnified spore. (From
Gardener's Chronicle.)

other trees, in groups of from 1 to 3 kilos, individual truffles weighing from 50 to 100 grammes. When fully ripe the flesh is black with a dark reddish or violet tinge, marbled with white lines, and is the most esteemed on account of its agreeable perfume and savor. The quantity varies in different years; thus in 1888 truffles were small and few in number. Generally to have a good harvest of truffles in the winter, the months from July to October must have been hot and moist. The truffle is found at various

FIG. 9.-English Truffle. Tuber aestivum. A, exterior; depths in the soil, from 1 to 50 centimeters (19 inches), but generally at from 10 to 12 centimeters (4 to 5 inches). Those nearest the surface are the first to ripen.

Other varieties are the winter truffle (T. brumale), which has a grayish flesh and a slightly musky or alliaceous odor, and is found in Périgord and the south of France and also in England. The summer truffle (T. æstivum, Fig. 9) is found in central and southern France, under oaks, beeches, hazles or birches, rarely under pine trees. It ripens from July until late autumn and has flesh of an ochrey or brown color marked with white irregular lines, and bearing a strong aromatic odor; it is less esteemed than the preceding. This variety is also found in some parts of Germany, and is the ordinary truffle of the English market, being quite common in that country. Finally there is the truffe fouine (T. mesentericum) found in central France, and not rare around Paris; it ripens in the autumn, and closely resembles the summer truffle, but has a grayish flesh and is but little sought for.

The Italian truffle (T. magnatum) (Fig. 10) has a smooth surface, often cracked, and of a pale ochrey brown color, sometimes shaded with red or green. The flesh is reddish black, or brown with yellow veins, and has a strong alliaceous odor. It grows in clayey soils under oaks, willows, or poplars.

Since truffles grow underground, without any visible exterior sign except the occasional breaking of the earth above them, recourse must be had to some method of detecting their presence. For this purpose dogs, usually small spaniels or poodles, are trained in some parts of France, but more generally swine are employed, the sow being preferred to the hog on account of her more acute sense of smell. A well-broken sow

may sometimes sell for as much as 600 francs, and successive generations having thus been trained, there exists a race of truffling swine, as there does of hunting dogs.

Many attempts have been made to cultivate the truffle, but they have been only partially successful. It is probable that complete success will never be obtained.

The production of truffles in France was in 1869 estimated at about 1,588,000 kilos, which at an average value of 10 francs the kilo would amount to 15,880,000 francs ($3,176,

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000), to be divided among fifty Fig. 10.-Italian Truffle. Tuber magnatum. A, exterior; B. section; C, Asci; D, magnified spore. (From of the eighty-six departments Gardener's Chronicle.) of France. The exportation of truffles in 1856 was only 43,675 kilos; in 1880 this had increased to 201,554 kilos, since when the figures have fluctuated, being in 1885 only 131,699 kilos. Most of those exported go to England, then to Germany and Belgium, while Russia and the United States consume but very few. The exposition of truffles was a particularly fine one, there being ten exhibitors, some of whom showed truffles of exceptional size and quality: one house displayed truffles prepared in 1874.

Dried prunes form an important item in French commerce, and a large and handsome show of them was made.

The best of these are the well-known prunes d'Ente, some of which are of large size and splendid quality. Agen, Bordeaux, and Villeneuve-sur-Lot are the principal centers for the production of these.

The fruit generally used is the Agen or Ente plum, also called datte violette, a large oval plum of a violet color with very dark yellow flesh, and ripening in August. These are dried in appropriate ovens, the heat being carefully regulated, and never very high, and the fruit only used after it has attained perfect maturity. Sun-drying is customary in the south of France, but not for the best varieties. Another fine production is the pruneau de Tours, generally made from the St. Catherine plum, a medium-sized, oval, yellow, sweet fruit, ripening in September and October, and grown in the valley of the Loire. Other good varieties used for drying are the ReineClaude, Damas de Tours, Perdrigon, and Quetsche. The Mirabelle, Île-Verte, Imperial white, and also the Reine-Claude are used for preserving. Less fine sorts of dried prunes were shown, intended for cooking or for distillation.

There was also a considerable show of olives. The olive is cultivated in Provence, Languedoc, and Rousillon, but the climate of northern and central France is too cold for it, and even in the southern provinces it is not yet fully acclimated. The fruit is gathered green, prepared by soaking for several days in an alkaline solution (weak caustic soda), and then preserved in strong brine, with or without spices, etc. The olive is more used for its oil than for preserving, but for this France can not compete with Italy or Spain. Olives are also grown in Algeria and Tunis.

Figs are extensively cultivated in France, especially along the Mediterranean, though some varieties grow well near Paris and along the Channel coast. They are often dried, but no samples of these were to be seen at the Exposition.

CEREALS.

The show of cereals naturally held a very prominent place in the agricultural exhibit, wheat being the most important, for France is, after the United States, the largest wheat-growing country of the world, India, Russia, and Austro-Hungary coming next in order.

During the ten years, 1875-'84, the average annual wheat crop of France was 100,726,074 hectoliters, and yet it often happens that the supply does not satisfy the demand and that wheat must be brought from abroad. From 1881 to 1886 the average annual yield per hectare was only 15 hectoliters, whereas an average of 17 hectoliters, corresponding to a total annual yield of 120,000,000, is necessary to obviate the purchasing of foreign wheat. With an average yield of 25 hectoliters France would have enough surplus wheat to supply the whole of England, in which country the annual average of bushels per acre is tending to decrease. In view of these facts the cereal show upon the Quai d'Orsay was considered as an encouraging one, much progress having been shown, particularly over that of the Exposition of 1878.