The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1902-10-17

damp as any other with a switchbach
sort Of road leading from the entrance
70 the bottom of the caves Here there
was space FOR six lines of mushrooms
beds 10 wcud their Irregular ways side
by side. as win bee seen IN our photo
graph.
There were six OF these large CALLER
les, from which numerous Others ran
off, twisting and winding about 20 the
length Of some seven kilometres. Cut
IN the Sides OF the passages were
numerous little "chapels." some on a
level with the ground, others high up
I'm the side of the wall. In all, these
caves contained some sixty kilometres
OF nne mushroom-b beds; spiders and
flies we found there in their millions.
the only occupants beyond being rats
and the cats that are kept there TO
catch them.
In no cave Of such dimensions are
all the mushrOom-beds I'm the same
stage of advancement at once. While
some thousands Of metres are i'm full
bloom, others are not 50 far advanced.
and in some passages the beds are
only just being laid down, while in
others the work of clearing out old and
useless beds is being carried on.
Scrupulous cleanliness Is an absolute
sine qua non ere a new bed can be
laid down. The cave must be cleared
of the old bed entirely; not a particle
Of 1t must be left, for with all the
mushrooms aptitude for lightning
growth it Is something Of a dandy in
the vegetable world.
New beds are laid down every five or
six months, and as they do not bear
until three months have passed the
harvest need be a rich one, for the
average cost Of a bed ere 1t shows
signs of produce is two and a half
francs per metre. First the manure
has to be secured, and then, ere it can
be used it has to be prepared, the work
taking from three to six weeks. When
ready it is carried into the cave or
shovelec down a shaft as occasion re-
quires.
The building Of the beds is n peculiar
and laborious process. Sitting astride
made the worker gathers armfulls of
manure and presses the material down
to an even height in front of him. Thus
he is always provided with a seat. Ere
the spawn is sown the temperature of
the beds must have reached about
twelve degrees to fourteen degrees
Fab. The spawn sown, the manure is
| covered with sand, and then every two
or three days the beds must be literally
| Watered. At the end Of three months
the buttons poke their heads through,
then gradually the beds become COW
cred with white hoods, which on at.
! tanning the required size are collected
/ for market Unless, however, a metre
yields four kilos of mushrooms at the
least the Proprietor of the cave has
little occasion to be cheerful, for its
creation and care account for an out
lay of three francs, while the harvest
only fetches a franc per kilO.
Winter is the best season for the
champignOnniste. Then, NJ Sauvageot
told me, he sends to market no fewer
than one hundred baskets a day, which
means 100 kilos, while during the
other seasons Of the year forty baskets
or 440 kilos is the daily output. In the
production of this perennial harvest
thousands Of workmen find employ
ment round Paris alone-men who pass
their days in damp and darkness, with
only spiders and flies to keep them
company, and yet seem to experience
no evil effects as the result of
their strange surroundings Wide
World Magazine.