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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 22, 1983)
F Page 6/The Battalion/Tuesday, November 22, 1983 French importer hopes to grow truffles in the Texas hill country United Press International DRIPPING SPRINGS — Buried in the Texas hill country, where culinary tastes usually run toward barbecue and tacos, are seeds that could make the state into the truffle capital of America. Black truffles, ugly little round fungi that for centuries have been considered delicacies by gourmets, are among the globe’s most expensive foods, at up wards of $500 per pound retail. Francois Picart, a native of southern France, hopes to change the high-brow image of what have been called “black di amonds” by cultivating them in Dripping Springs. Picart says that tiny Texas town, 30 miles outside Austin, has plenty in common with the French fields that for centuries have been the exclusive domain of the black truffle. In an interview he said he scoured America for a suitable growing spot for them before settling on the the Hill Gountry, whose well-drained, limestone- rich soil and summer rainfall BANGLES THE AFFORDABLE FASHION. This year's new styles call for bright new accessories. And these 14 karat yellow gold bangles are just the thing. Choose from any of these four styles and take advantage of this special value: $85 each. Post Oak Mall (713) 764-0045. Also locations throughout Texas. Use one of our convenient charge plans or American Express, VISA or MasterCard, provide a good growing en vironment. “I liked the name,” Picart, 36, said of his new hometown. “Ob viously, the limestone is here. The Hill Country is a very beautiful place to live. It’s very similar to the southern part of France. And people are friendly.” In the summer of 1982, he sent soil samples from Central Texas to laboratories in France, which heartily approved of the Texas dirt for truffle cultiva tion. . Picart also spent a summer without air conditioning in hot, humid Austin to test the climate firsthand. “It wasn’t too hot for me, so I figured it wasn’t too hot for them (truffles),” he said. Truffles resemble spongy charcoal. Fresh ones impart a strong, earthy flavor to foods such as meat, poultry, eggs, rice and pasta. They grow 2 feet under ground, on the roots of filbert (hazelnut) or oak trees. Difficult to harvest, they must be sniffed out by specially trained pigs or dogs. They also take years to reach maturity. Picart, who has lived in Texas about a year, began by sprouting acorns to grow oak seedlings. The seedling roots then are in jected with truffle mycelia, the vegetative part of fungi taken from their spores. The seedlings grow six to nine months in pots of sterlized dirt before they are planted in the earth. Black truffles, ugly lit tle round fungi that for centuries have been considered de licacies by gourmets, are among the globe’s most expensive foods, at upwards of $500 per pound retail. Another five to seven years must pass before the tree forms a “brule,” or burned-out circle, around its base that signals the presence of truffles. Tree and truffle form a sym biotic, rather than a parasitic, re- lationship, each providing needed nutrients to the other. Picart will plant about 30 acres of oaks this year, with 250 trees per acre. Allowing for trees that die, and based on a yield of one-half to 4 pounds of truffles tor each surviving tree, he hopes to realize about $25,000 an acre by the end of the decade. “That’s the highest (dollar per acre) legal crop in the Un ited States,” he said. “There’s nothing more profitable.” The Frenchman has trained his pet Labrador, V.K., to sniff out truffles. He said dogs are better truffle hunters than the pigs traditionally used in France because it often is hard to con vince a 300-pound porker to let go of the fungi after rooting them out. While waiting for his own crop to grow, Picart sells oak seedlings to other prospective growers, and imports truffles from France to sell in the United States. His U.S. customers include the Neiman-Marcus specialty shops, which are selling his im ported black truffles in tiny wooden boxes for Christmas. The price is $60 per 1 Fa- ounce truffle, which Picart said is cheap. “The market for truffles is already established in the Un ited States with stores and res taurants,” Picart said. “But they’re sold at $250 a pound wholesale, which winds up being between $400 and $500 retail) That (expense) is really what’s hurting the truffle market. Protestors plan to stop weapon-bearing train United Press International BOISE — Members of a group opposed to nuclear weapons say they will block rail road tracks in western Idaho when the next train carrying warheads passes through the state on its way to a Washington missile site. Jane Foraker-Thompson, spokeswoman for Ada County Citizens for Peace, said the ^SEBRING SCHOOL OF HAIR DESIGN •Salon Service At Reduced Rates •Today’s Advanced & World Renowned I Method of /LOO TTO'TO I Cutting & O^0-/0/0 Designing 1406 Texas Avc. S—Next to Gibson's—C. :.s. MSC Town Hall presents group has already begun “civil- disobedience training” to teach its members how to stage the protest and what to expect from law enforcement authorities. “This is not something we take lightly,” Foraker- Thompson told a news confer* ence Monday outside the Union Pacific depot in Boise. She said the group includes leaders and members of several churches, and representatives of the Snake River Alliance, Boise Women for Peace, and teachers and parents, she said. “You can see we are not a wild-eyed, radical group of peo ple,” said Foraker-Thompson, a professor of criminology at Boise State University. She said the group plans to peacefully lie across railroad tracks in western Idaho when it is notified the next train car rying warheads from a Pantex plant in Amarillo to a Trident missile base in Bangor, Wash., is enroute. 1 X J- 0 m m a United 1 1DALLAS assassii jblm F. Kt awn hike Around tow# recent ’ hedia in lei |0th anniv [ democratic ■ The ce llnmned t Group to present self-help workshop pmedyh 11 ir ures, mai -! lov. 22, 1< A self-help workshop, presented by Student Activitit ffjcially Minority Adviser Kevin Carreathers, will be held at! (alias, tonight in 401 Rudder. The workshop, sponsored bylli Count; MSC Black Awareness Committee, will include topicssud fficials s as how to be successful in the classroom, advice on the“oit ear, servi and feedingof a professor,” avoiding an inferioritycompla, lain pre and improving self-image. The presentation is freeandopa ather that to anyone interested. “The at On Dallas,' hath Par Pre-theology group presents fectur*’ ree . nl)er ^ The Texas A&M Pre-theological Society will prests tonight the second of two opposing lectures on “TheFoit knowledge of God and Human Freedom: If God Kno*i What I Will Do, I Can’t Fail to Do It, Can I?” Mesa Richard Stadelmann discuss the topic from the viewpoin that God’s foreknowledge and human freedom are nottot patible. His speech will be held in 510 Rudder, beginning; 7:30 p.m. An open discussion and refreshments will folio the presentation. Admission is free and everyone is welcois to attend. The at as been o ssassina nown fo ics at tin eath. Da 0 years li ate” inw "In the Student '‘wellness” phone line open The Student Wellness Network offered by StudentSa vices offers a telephone reference service for informatk counseling and assistance. By dialing 845-WELL, studeii: can talk with a trained individual who can give referent! information on nutrition, stress management, fitness an: sports activities, counseling services, social activities, media services, alcohol and drug awareness and religious or itual activities and counseling. Society offers free help sessions Pledges from Tau Beta Pi, a national engineering honoi society, will be available to help any student in Math ISlant 253, and ME 211 and 212. The help sessions willbel every Tuesday and Thursday from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m.inf Zachry, through dead week. For more information d Glynn Lunney, chapter president, at 846-3316. Aggieland photos still being taken Juniors, seniors, veterinary and medical school student can have individual pictures for the 1984 Aggieland tab: today and Nov. 28 through Dec. 2 at the Yearbook Associaie office at 1700 S. Kyle behind Gulpepper Plaza; and Dec.5i at the Pavilion on campus. To submit an item for this column, come by The Battalioi office in 216 Reed McDonald. l • Nurse indicted, charged with injury to a child w bi Unitei BROW ibout 5()(! ipproval llonday hotectioi Texans di issurance TBs anc he Gulf lone safe “No c he titai White K iminers ive app Waste M; 300,0001 micals at Texas C< Whit trying t< proposal lie input tactics h mistrust con tide i He selecting TexasC deal dec lam pet Admini Burforc Rita La tics. Whit EPA of funds .1 Republ United Press International SAN ANTONIO — A Bexar County grand jury Monday in dicted licensed vocational nurse Genene Jones on two counts of injury to a child, charging she injected a four-month-old boy with a blood-thinning drug. Jones, who is facing murder charges in the death of a Kerrvil- le infant, was charged with in jecting four-month-old Roland Santos with heparin, causing the child to bleed excessively, said Chief Deputy District Attorney Nick Rothe. The child, which was being treated for pneumonia at the Medical Center Hospital pediat ric intensive care unit, survived and was eventually released from the hospital. Rothe said the two-count in dictment charges Jones with causing serious physical impair ment and bodily injury to the child. The injection occurred Jan. 9, 1982 in the pediatric care unit, where Jones was em ployed, the indictment said. Rothe said the investigation, which began 10 months ago, would continue, and that more indictments may be forth- B™ coming. The grand jury is alsoinn gating the possibility thatliai al officials tried to coverii| incident. District Attorney Sam Ml filed contempt of grandj charges against Dr. 1" Dunn, dean of the Universii Texas Health Science Ctit alleging Dunn withheld d« ments subpoeaned bythejp jury. A contempt hearing is duled Dec. 1 before Dfe Judge David Berchelmana Thursday, December 8 8 p.m. Rudder Auditorium Tickets $10.00, $9.50, $8.50 Option Pass period, Nov. 15-18 General Admission go on sale Nov. 21 •MfiC TOWTXr HAT.T.- w TEXAS A&M vs LSU AGGIE BASKETBALL ^ TRIP TO HOUSTON •OPEN TO TAMU STUDENTS, FACULTY, and STAFF’ when: Saturday Dec. 3,1983 where: The Summit, Houston, Tx trip includes: All you can eat and drink at Mama’s Pizza (3:00-5:00) -Round trip bus transportation (Keg and sodas provided) -$6.00, $8.00, or $10.00 reserved tickets to game (8:00 p.m. Total cost of package: $21.00, $23.00, or $25.00 \ deadline: Nov. 23,1983 Must sign up by 5:00 in the Intramural-Recreational Sports Office ‘Each Bus must have 39 people; if not enough people sign up, money will be refunded .K FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, contact the Intramural- Recreational Sports Office, Room 159 East Kyle or call 845-7286. RECREATIONAL SPORTS 1 03