Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-04-04

Country of the Horld-UtiliEing the
Chambers Of the Worked-Out QuRrries
A Farm ON Lorg Island.
Every year thousands Of quart cans con-
tanning chamuIguou- or fairy ring mush-
rooms are imported here from France and
eaten in the leading hot~ls, CluLs restaurants,
and such households can afford to USE
them They are ustly, often selling at 81
per pouni In Europe thy are called
fairy ring mushrooms because Of the
cIrgI,s Of from "a few fe,.t tO several yariS
in diameter OF an mtens " bright green
color which are found here and there On
the lawns anl past lres Of England, Ireland,
AMI France. They are caused by the my
ce.lum or spawn Of the mushroom, which,
ha ing ~ hau -tel the soil within the ring,
Is constantly sprr ailng and enlarsing the
circle.
Fran is the great mushroom producing
count Of the world For nearly la a en-
tury the communes Of Gran MOntrougus,
Arcuell Chati.lon, Bagneaux, Nitry,
MaIsons Abort, and Noisy le 5, e, all within
reaching III tIure from Paris, have been
devoted almost exclusively to mushroom
culture. The soil in these districts IS poor
and would produce nothing but short grass
and stunted fruit t ees, Forty seven ears
ago a country genius hit up n the idea Of
utilizing thu galleries Of tie worked out and
disused quarrieS with which the entire dis
trict is undermined Tho,e quarries are
now the great st mushroom bets i'll the
world, and the once struggling chamPignon-
ists are mllliOnaIres in their way.
The gall rIcS as a rule. are from forty TO
e. IL. . -. apla
form temphratlre Of from 20 to 20 degrees
is rnaint lined in thrm The bed, are made
Of horse IN nure, which uDdergoes a special
treatment before b ing used. 1t Is
thrown in heaps ON the sides of the country
roadways aud turned over day after day
until it is thoroughly sun-dri-d From it
the eds are constructed The manure is
laid down from the walls to the center OF
the gallery, b-ilg higher by several inches
next the walls At regular intervals small
footpaths run from the center aisle TO the
walls, s. that growers may gather the mush-
rooms without SpOihng the beds, Viii ars
one and onehalf feet deep nearest the walls.
On these beds the spawn is scattered How
this spawn or seed is gathered is the secret
of the mushroom-gruwer The beds are then
Lept at a tenn perature 4 % degrees
N The MUSHROOM GALLERIES
Three or four weeks later the beds are
covered with a yer Of fine lOam to the
depth Of half inch, and fortnight iater
the mushrooms begin to appear, and are
gathered every morning or evening, accord
ing to the demands of the trade The men
who work in the mushroom galleries begin
their toll at ) o'clock in the morning, and
do not cease until late in the evsning They
are paid from 10 80 francs daily As an
Instance of the enormous feCundity of the
French mushroom beds, it may be mentioned
that one bed at Arceuil when in full bearing,
sent 5000 pounds Of champignons to the
Pari, market daily. In gathering, the
stalks of the mushrooms are never cut, but
tw visited. a. ,utting injuries the flavor and
/ spoiis the beds
Whilr of course, the delicattessen market
of this country is and will be for years,
supplied by France with champignons in
the dry canned form, still musnroo =
culture has been adopted as a profession by
different parties in this city and the sur
rounding suburbs, with varied degrees Of
success, and some of the experimenters have
kept on and are now making money. The
freshly:gathered American champignOn
is certainly superior to the French
dry canned article in every way
but it will take years before the general
prejudice against the native production will
be overcome. OF course the professional
cooks and restaurant-keepers know the diff
ference an buy the American mushroom
The only professional mushroom raiser
on Long island owns large farm outside
Jamaica. and raises his mushrooms in hot
houses especially CONSTRUCTED for the pur
pose and in dark cellars He packs his
freshly gathered mushrooms in thin, com
nr9ssed-wood baskets, and supplies q num-
Der OF Fulton street market dealers every
morning. \ Frenchman who has a small
mushroom farm outside OF Stapleton. s. /
carries round his baskets of fresh-raised
mushrooms every day, and enjoys an al
most complete monopoly of the downtown
restaurants and those establishments where
the chief cooks ara Frenchmen- Some years
ago a small colony of Frenchnen sguatted
in the unOcCupied arches Of the old aqueduct
works and began the artificial raising OF
rhampignOns One by one they gave up the
effort, and now there are none eft The
greatest mushroom farm near this city Is
that located behind Weehawken. " J. 1t
supplies Washington market and dealers all
over the city-New York Mail and Express.