The suburban citizen., 1901-09-21
THE ELUSIVE TRUFFLE.
Little Brother of the Tuber Family and
Its Haunts In wilder England.

| Little Brother of the Tuber Family and
Its Haunts In wilder England.
Oak trees or beech trees these
believe, are the necessaries of life to
| tuber aestivum; and hidden away in
the recesses Of their roots lie in this
country, probably, tTuffles innumer-
| able.
We cultivate and produce mush-
rooms in huge quantities.; in season
and out, they are in full evidence.
Yet nobody has tried to cultivate the
trufle, and rarely indeed to secure it,
| even when it Is shown to exist.
could walk blindfolded to a spot
in a private park where in my youth
quantities of the trufle were found,
and small white poodle, once owned
by gypsy, unearthed many a noble
| specimen. For twenty years and
more the soil has been undisturbed
! underneath those magnificent beech
trees; nobody has sought for truffles
since those days, though there is every
reason to know they must exist. The
inferiority of the bottled and import
| ed specimen TO the fresh truffle as it
emerges from Mother Earth seems a
| very real reason why the sport of
truflc hunting should be cultivated.
Yet it is rare indeed to find a truffle
! dog in existence where everything
points to a fine crop of the savory
! relish.
Probably many n poodle could be
duly trained, and that without great
difficulty, being an exceptionally in
telligent dog. For in Umbria, where
trufties constitute quite an industry,
the peasants have employed pigs (for
centuries, it is said). trained entirely
by themselves, in the harvest of the
truhle.
No doubt pigs have reasons of their
own and offer small difficulty in this
utilization Of their services. But if
half the trouble were taken on our
own beech and oak woods, there
seems no doubt that we could our
selves secure Il good supply.
The trutlle dog we employed. 4 small
somewhat leggy specimen, would I'M
earth sometimes a pound weight,
sometimes much less. And from the
winter season we thus extracted much
pleasure in the dullest part Of the
Dorsetshire rural regions. The dog
must be led, or he is apt TO roam, and
carefully guided to likely localities.
We began his training by burying
trufies in a garden; his quick powers
of scent soon did the rest. Each time
he found a trufIle it was taken from
him, and a small piece Of raw beef
given him in exchange. This was
carried in pieces the size Of a dice i'm
small box; and from finding whole
trutlie he was soon taught to recover
the smallest fragment.
A small spud was taken to assist
and direct his, labors. Gradually he
was taken further afield, and l can
call to mind with greatest exactness
the satisfaction with which the educa-
tion progressed. The first fish, the
first partridge have not more delight
to offer than the first trufle, and the
element Of uncertainty attaching to
all true sport is naturally predomin-
ant in truffie-hunting.
TransitOry as woodcock-with a Iiv-
ing period in the woods, and a migra-
ton or departure quite as we'll timed
the trufie is generally somewhere at
hand, in the chalky soil Of beech
woods in Dorset Kent, Surrey, from
early October to the end of March.
No doubt from Italy the trained
trufiie dog could be obtained, especial
ly in the districts round Spoleto and
Norcia; or Perugia could be made
headquarters, and abundance of good
trutie sport could then be had. The
white truf1e as well as the black Is
found there in abundance, though the
strong aroma OF the former is dis.
tasteful to some people. AS regards
the black trufie, the scent acts like
a good 'spOor' to the tracker in a
rural region.
Many theories have been advanced
for the growth of the truff1e; probably
it is a fungus attaching itself to root
lets Of the beech and oak tree. A
Foreign commentator has mentioned
sowing a plot Of ground with acorns
as plantation-a method of secur-
ing trufties found practicable in South
ern France. Anyhow, there are un-
tried and unuaversed acres where
truf1es must and do exist. As a mar
ket produce Of value, and a sport fit
for the keenest hunter, there is no
reason why we should not push farth-
er the search for specimens.-Pau
Mall Gazette.