St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1892-01-30
HUNTING THE TRUFFLE.

a Queer Spcrt Which Pays Frenchmen
Three alillioa Dollars Year.
The trufiie is the unusual subject of a
state department investigation. Consul
Knowles ut Bordeaux has found that
France produces three million dollars
worth Of truffies annually and exports
Ave hundred thousand pounds Of them.
The trufae is worth one dollar o pound
In the locali:y where it ID found, and it
sells for twice that in the principal
cities.
The ancient Romans. at whose sump-
tuous banqpets truffies played an inn
portant role, supposed that their exist
ence was one Of the material results OF
thunder. More modern botanists have
classed it as . species Of mushroom, but
it can scarcely be termed such. TO be
exact, the truillc is tuberculous fun
gus, q sort Of morbid extravasation of
vegetable sugars analogous to oak balls
or nut CALLS and doubtless originating.
q these latter, by the sting of nm in
scot
"During tine months Of July and Au-
gust" says M. Valserres. q noted nat
uralist. "a little Ay, azure-winged and
small of body. penctrates into the soil
at the base of oak trees or elsewhere in
search Of CERTAIN juices there to be
found With its sting it pierces some
portioG OF the root, makes . incision,
and therein lays its eggs. From this
incision, or scar. there exudes an viscous
substance, which clinging to the root.
grows into trufiie." How exact this
theory mag be is q matter Of con.
lecture. Certain it is that trufne-hunt-
ers are attracted to their spoil by lit.
tie insect; nut it is not altogether inn
possible that the fly itself is attracted.
like true gourmet, by the very ex-
istence Of the precious object
There are three species Of tru mes
found in France-the black and most
common. the white (highly prized).
and the truffe L oil. which has .
flavor Of garlic. They are found in all
soils, but chiefly in oak forests or where
the ecrth is damp and calcareOus, thriv-
ing best in an almost sterile soil The
best that the country affords come
from Perigaeux and about Angoulcme.
In appearance the ordinary trume is
about the size of walnut. with .
rough. brown. warty surface. closely
akin r. the potato. which It likewise re-
sembles in consistency, though not in
color. Not otyielding to cultivation. they
must he sought for in chance places.
nor il the method of obtaining them
the less interesting.
1t i known that the pig has . vigor-
ous appetite for this subterranean NOR
sci 1t is decided passion with the
race: % that as the day dawns. ont he is
led to perform duty which. though
rather odioas and Disappointing to him,
10 particularly lucrative to his master.
Az the scent, Of the fox leads hounds
to the trail 90 the odor Of trufaaes at
tracks the porl<er to the cherished bed
He snilRs about this way and that un.
Ill he locates the desired object when
he inmediatiy begins to root MP the
earth witE his awkward sout He
Il closely watched during the oper-
alton by his owner, who. upon the
swine uprooting the truf1e. whacks
him sharply over the nose with stick.
In the responsive grust Of pain which
follows this brutal blow. the soft.
meias fupSas b dropped from the ami
mal's laws, and before he can again
pick il up L II bagged By the hunter.
The beast nothing daunted, presses on
- snot>er SPOT WHERE hiddsP . lev