The Norfolk post. [volume] (Norfolk, Va.) 1865-1866, 1865-10-11
knowledge for Epicarists.

To the taste and smell of tratl5fes a man
must be educated, Every gentleman, at
least, has " his acquired nose.p But of
the most deliciousIy esculent of the Jatn-
al the whole history reads well. The
Horticulturisto thus gives it: Every
little has hitherto been written about
the trutiie; and we look in vain for any
account of its habitat or methodsof prop
agaticn ia botanical works. In scien-
tifio treaties it is classed in the ranks of
the esculent fungi, like the mushroom,
and is named the "Tuber Cibarum. y
"There are few ofnature's productions, !"
says an English authority, $50 extraor'
binary as this family of the fugi; and in
no other country than our own are there
so many varieties of the class to be seen,
with their curious shapes, their beauti-
full colors, and their fairy rings spring
ing up like magic after nights rain or
Il damp day." Unlike the mushroom,
this strange fungus is propagated untter
the surface of the soil. They are found
where the soil is black, loamy, mixed
with flint, or is composed of chalk
and clay. They grow close to the roots
of large trees, and seem to be propagat-
ed by the partial decay of their long,
fibrous roots, and nourished by the
drippings from their branches. They
are found in strawberries, plantations
and woods, and sometimes in banks and
bitches, but always where trees abound,
beneath them or at little distance from
their stems. They grow in rings of
clusters of six or seven round each tree.
Nor will they flourish beneath every
kind of tree, but frequent the oak, the
lime, the cedar, and appear especially to
love the beech, since wherever that tree
grows with the richest luxuriance the
trufIies are found in great abundance
and of the best quality The usual sea-
son when truffles are found in England
is the month of September; but their APP
pearance depends very much upon the
state of the Weather. In dry season,
the truffie-hunter will not look for them
| before October or November, and until
sufficient rain has fallen for their pro-
duction. In favorable situations and In
damp weather they will grow in q few
days. They will increase froma quarter
to half pound in weight, and in rainy
seasons they will sometimes reach ;
pound, while they measure from four t
six inches in circumference. The truf
, file resembles, externally, q rugged kno
, of an old oak, or apiece of decayed wood
This is the large truffle. There is an
other kind well known to the truf
| her. though lSUoTGu III 5CIeuLllc dC-
counts, called the red truff1e, on ac-
count of its color, and is of the size OF
pea, and equal in flavor to the
larger kind This larger truffie, when
examined through the microscope, is
found grained with fibrous lines. and is
Of a firm, tough texture, white i'll color
when young, and growing darker until
its ripeness is shown by becoming en-
tirely black. AS the trufae grows unde
ground, there would be some difficult,
4 in finding it were it not for the fac
that, before it is cooked, 1t possesses
peculiar odor--so powerful and so pecu
I liar that no imposition can be practise
I. in its commerce. The raw truff1es
when ripe and fit to eat, posses
this pungent and oppressive Odo
which will pervade the whole house
and they must be boiled or stewed whe
. this odor will disappear. This peculia
perfume is nearly imperceptible to tn
human senses when the fungus is grow
ing beneath the soil and, for this rea
son, the truffle-gatherer is assisted in thu
| search for them by peculiar breed o
dogs that are trained for this purpose
Clever little dogs they are, and trained
from puppyhood to hunt the truffie on
by the hose, and then to scratch it vi
with their long, sharp claws. 1t is Gu
rious and interesting to watch the pow
ers of nose possessed by these small dogs
how directly they perceive the odor
the hidden truffie; they rush to the plac,
, straight as dart, even at twenty yaro
2 distance