The Hawaiian gazette., 1868-11-04
Descent into "A Partisan Mush-
room Cave.

1t is pretty generally known that mush-
rooms are grown in great quantity under
! Paris and its enviroDs, but it is somewhat
difficult to gain access to these Gu rieres,
and therefore few words descriptive Of
one of them may not be unacceptable.
The locality is that of Montrouge, Just
outside Paris. The surface of the ground
is cropped with wheat here and there are
heaps of large white cut stones ready to
be transported to the buildings of Paris,
and which have recently been brought to
the surface through the coalpit-like open
ings. There is nothing like quarry" as
we understand it, to be seen about, but the
stone is extracted as we extract coal, and
with no interference whatever with the
surface of the ground. We find 80 cham
pignoniste after some trouble, and he ac-
companies US across some fields to the
mouth of his subterranean garden, if we
may so call it. 1t is a circular opening,
half of it being covered with planks. and
the head of a pole with sticks thrust
through it appearing a compile of feet above
the surface, its base resting in the darkness
seventy feet below We descend by this
shaky pole with the sticks thrust through
it, and soon reach the bottom of the shaft,
from which little passages radIate. A few
small lamps fixed at the ends of pointed
sticks are placed below, and with one of
these we follow our guide. Our passage is
narrow, but roomy enough to stand erect,
and Immediately on entering it mushroom
culture begins. On each side of the path
way there is a small bed of moist half-de-
composed stable manure, not covered with
earth-they are beds which have been
made quite recently, and have not yet been
spawned. Presently we arrive at beds in
which the spawn has been placed, and is
d" taking freely. The spawn in this cave
is introduced to the little beds by means
Of flakes taken from an old bed, or, still
better, from a-heap of stable manure in
which it occurs naturally" Such spawn
our guide preferred, and called it virgin
spawn, and considered it many times more
valuable than that taken from old beds.
OF spawn in bricks, as in England, there is
none. Our champgnoniste pointed with
pride to the way in which the fakes of
spawn had begun to spread their influence
through the little beds, and passed on,
sometimes STOPPING very low, and caution
ing us against the pointed stones in the
roof, to where the beds were in more ad-
vanced state. Here he saw, and with much
pleasure, little smooth, pretty -colored rigdes
running against all the sides of the passage
and wherever the rocky subway became as
wide as small bedroom, two or three little
beds were placed parallel to each other.
These beds were young, and dotted over on
their sides with mushrooms no bigger than
sweet-pea seeds, but regularly dotted thus,
and affording an excellent prospect of a
crop. Be it observed that the little beds
contain much smaller body of stuff than
is ever the case in our gardens-20 inches
high, and about the same width at base
being about the maximum, and of course
these against the sides of the passages
have not so much matter as those shaped
like little potato pits, and placed in the
more open spaces. The soil with which
they are covered to the depth of about an
inch is nearly white-it is simply sifted
from the rubbish of the stone cutting above,
and the use of this gives to the recently
made bed the appearance of being covered
with whitish putty. Although we were
from 20 to so below the surface of the
ground, everything looks very neat,-in
fact, very much more so than could have
been expected, not particle of litter or
matter out of place being met with the
whole time. Some length of bed is made
every day in the year, and, as they naturally
finish one gallery or series of galleries at
time, the beds in each have like charac-
ter. As we proceed to these in full bear
ing, creeping up and down narrow pass
ages, winding always between the two little
narrow beds that line the passages, and
seeing now and then wider hooks at the
side filled with two or three little beds,
even if the space be but few feet long,
daylight is again seen, this time coming
through another well-like shaft, formerly
used for getting up the stone, but now for
throwing down the requisite material into
the cave. At the bottom lies a large heap
Of the white earth before alluded to, and a
barrel of water-for gentle waterings are
required in the quiet, cool, mighty stiffness
Of these caves, as well as in mushroom
houses on the upper crust. Again we
plunge into passage dark as ink, and are
between two lines of little beds in full bear
ing, the beautiful white button-like mush-
rooms appearing everywhere in profusion
along the sides of the diminutive beds,
something like the drills which farmers
make for green crops. As the proprietor
goes along heremoves sundry punches that
are in perfection, and leaves them on the
spot, SO that they may be gathered with
the collection for to-morrows market. He
gathers largely every day, occasionally send
ing more than 400 pounds weight per day,
the average being about 300 pounds. A
moment more and we are in an open space,
a sort Of chamber say 20 feet by u feet
and here the little beds are arranged in
parallel lines, passage of not more than
four inches separating them, and the sides
of the beds literally blistered over with
mushrooms. There is one exception; on
half of the bed and for about ten feet long
the little mushrooms have appeared and
are appearing, but they never get SO large
as the pea stage, and then shrivel away,
" bewitched as it were. At least, such |
was the inference to be drawn from the
cultivators expressions about it. He
gravely attributed it to a ridiculonsly SUI
perstiti0us cause, which is better not men,
= l.