Urbana union. [volume] (Urbana, Ohio) 1862-1872, 1869-07-21
Mushroom Caves of Paris.

IT is pretty generally known that
mushrooms are grown in great qUanti-
ties under Paris and its environs, but it
is somewhat difficult to gain access to
these carrieres, and therefore q few words
descriptive of one of them may not be
unacceptable. The locality is that of
MOntTOUge, Just outside of Paris The
surface of the ground is cropped with
wheat; here and there are heaps Of large
white cut stones ready to he transported
to the buildings of Paris, and which have
recently been brought 10 the surface
through the cOal-pit-like openings
| There is nothing like a "QuarTy," 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 a "cham-
pignOnisten mushroom grower and he
accompanies us across some fields to the
mouth of his subterTanCan garden, if we
may so call it. 1t is particular OPEN
| ing, half of it being covered with planks,
and the head of pole with sticks thrust
| through it appearing a couple of feet
| above the surface, its base resting in the
! darkness, seventy feet below. We de-
scend by the shally pole with the sticks
! thrust through it, and soon reach the
shaft, from which little passages Tadiate.
A few small lamps fixed at the ends of
pointed sticks are placed below, and
with one of these We follow our guide.
| Our passageway is narrow, but TOOmy
enough to stand erect, and Immediately
on entering it mushroom culture begins.
On each side Of the pathway there is a
small bed of moist, half-decOmpOscd sta
bic 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 have been placed,
and are " talzingH 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
tmanurg in which it occurs naturally
Such spawn our guide preferred, and
called it virgin spawn,n and consider
/ ed it many times more valuable than
that taken from old beds. OF spawn
in bricks, in England, there is nome
Our champignOniste pointed out with
pride to the way in which the flakes of
spawn had begun to spread their inf1u-
ence through the little beds and passed
on, sometimes STOPPING very low and
| CautiOning us against the pointed stones
in the roof, to where the beds were in a
more advanced state. Here we saw, and
with much pleasure, little smooth pretty
cOlOred ridges running along the sides Of
| the passage, and wherever the rocky
subway became as wide as u small bed
room, two or three little beds were placed
Darellel to each other. These beds were
| Young, and dotted over OH their sides
with mushrooms no bigger than sweet
| pea seeds, but regularly dotted thus and
affOTding an excellent prospect of a crop.
The average size of these beds is only
twenty inches high, and about the same
width at base; of course those against
the sides of the passages have nOtsO much
lmatter as those 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 COW
cred with whitish putty. Although we
are from seventy to eighty feet below the
surface of the ground, everything looks
neat, in fact much more 50 than could
have been expected, not a particle of lit
ter or matter out of place being met with
the whole time. Some length of bed is
made every day i'm the year, and as they
naturally finish one gallery or series of
galleries at a time, the beds in each have
n like character. As we proceed to those
in full bearing, creeping up and down
narrow passages, winding always he
tween the two 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 he 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 materials into the cave. At
the bottom lies a large heap of white
earth before alluded to, and Il barrel Of
water-fOr gentle waterings are required
in the quiet, cool, mighty stiffness of
these caves, as well rs i'm the mushroom
house on the upper crust.
Again We plunge into a passage dark
as ink, and are between two lines of lit
tie beds in full bearing, the beautiful
white bUttOn-like mushrooms appearing
I everywhere in profJision along the sides
Of the diminutive beds, something like