St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1897-05-15
rRuFFLEs IN ENGLAND.


Esteemed Fungus.
An ingenious school board child once
defined a radish as round and red, ex-
ccpt when 1t was long and white. Sim
i!arly the tru1ae may be described rs
round and black. except when it is oval
and yellow. It possesses peculiar,
penetrating. pungent odor. and q flavor
which has been compared to almost
every known edible, but which il, in
point Of fact. distinct and peculiar to
itself. "A trufIle," n famous CASTRO
nomic expert sagely remarked. "tastes
like . trufle, and like nothing else un-
der The sgn." The late Lord Beacons-
field, who. strangely enough, detested
truffles. is reported to have described
them AZ looking like rotten potatoes
and tasting like bad lucifer matches"
The best trufles come from Perigord.
near Bordeaux. and from place called
Carpentras, which is in. the .neighbor-
hood of Marseilles. To the peasant who
resides in these districts the black.
grnnulated. nutlilse root il everything
board. lodging. fuel and clothing.
From the end Of November, when the
harvest begins. until the middle Of
March, when it ends, he hunts for truf-
fles morning. noon and night with a
praiseworthy diligence which leaves lit
tie to be desired. During the remainder
Of the year he divides his time pretty
equally between indulging in piously
wortled regrets that the harvest was
k,,0 v~A Axt 20
forecast the quantities which will be
available for gathering during the en-
suing season.
The fungus grows and ripens at .
depth Of from eight to twelve inches be-
meath the surface of the ground. and is
hunted by dogs specially trained to the
work. A good dog will often unearth
900 or 400 truffles in day; and during
the season it is no uncommon thing for
an expert hunter who understands his
business and has q knowledge Of the
localities where the root is to be found
to make ~ much as three and four
pounds daily. In addition to the dogs.
pigs are also used to smell out the hid
ing places Of the trufles. but experience
has shown that they are not 30 reliable,
besides being far more difficult to
tain.
England takes q considerable proper
tion Of the French crop. the price on
the London market varying from six
shillings to two guineas pound. A -
ries of severe frosts kills the fungus, or,
at all events, prevents it from ripening;
snd trufles are then extremely scarce
and proportionately dear. Last year.
as il happened. hardly any trufI1es were
to BE had, either for love or money, and
q number Of slots" were sold Wholesale
toward the close Of the season at 30
shillings . pound. This year the same
trufaes would probably not fetch more
than . fifth Of that sum.
In addition to the true French trufIe
there are considerable quantities Of
English ones on the market-more, in
fact, than the dealers care to admit.
Hampshire, Wiltshire and Dorsetshire
are where they are generally found.
and It 10 legend to this day among the
country people engaged in the business
that the existence Of the underground
root in their neighborhood was hrst
made known to their ancestors many
years ago by . foreigner who came
among them from no one knew whence.
accompanied by two long-haired dogs
Of the poodle variety.
Epping forest, once famous for its
trufIles, il now destitute Of the suecu-
lent root, and the same remark applies
to Hadleigh woods and the forest eoun-
try around Barnet.-London Answers.
Bew she Dia Il.
Madison-That was m odd wager
Van Amsterdam made with his wife.
Lexington-What was It?
Nadison-He bet she couldn't walk
i've blocks mp the avenue without look
ing back to zee what some other woman
bad on.
Lexington-Did he win the bet?
Madison-No.
Lexington-Then his wife must Be Z
woman Of iron resolution
Madison Not necessarily. She walked
baekward-N. Y. Truth.
DeslaneA WITH 1Aanns.
He-Do you think marriages are made
n Heaven7
eha-Well, don't know; but euesl
yourD Win havo 70 be e ron ever gel