The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-02-23
GARDENING OVER A GEYsER.
Astonishing Growth of, Vegetables
in Yellowstone Park Greenhouse.

From the PiItsburg Dispatch
Mother Nature has begun to experiment
with hot houses. and the very first one, as
catea In Yellowstone park. A geyser fur
nishes all that is needful to make tremen-
dous growths such as cucumbers ten feet
long and the like The dollhouse, or green
house, as the gentleman who has charge
of it. W. p. Howe, terms it, is model one
of its kind, although located away up in
the mountains of the park. Nature furnish
es everything necessary to conduct it, eX-
cept the building itself, giving heat, mois-
ture and light.
If Mr.. Howe wanted to compete at the
county fairs in the vegetable line, he would,
unless heavily handicapped, win all the
prizes. Such lettuce. cucumbers, radishes,
tofna toes and other things TO eat as the
firm of Nature & Howe grows are bigger
than the biggest fish story ever told. Al
most every one who has ever been to yell
lowstone Park Hotter within the last year
will Remember the wonderful vegetables
for despite their size they are very deli
cate in flavor, although grown at an alti-
tude of 400 feet where ice forms every
month all the year. Here is what Mr.
Howe says about il.
Travellers who had been in every eli
mare on this broad earth never before had
seen such a2sight. Lettuce, cucumbers, rad
ishes. toma toes, mushrooms and the like
| are growing with the greatest success. The
experiment is novel and very interesting;
the growing of vegetables over a hot
stream of water often interested tourists
more than the eruption of a geyser.
After procuring permission from capt.
George S. Anderson, acting superintendent
| of the park, built the greenhouse over
| hot steaming hole in the ground The wa
| ter had temperature OF 100
! degrees Fahrenheit. 1t proved
a great success. On Dec. II, the
thermometer showed IS degrees below zero,
Fahrenheit yet in this little crude slab
house nature was caring for cucumbers,
onions, radishes and lettuce with temper
allure of % degrees Fahrenheit, all in fine
| shape knowing nothing Of the fierce blow
ing snow and wind outside.
'aThe greenhouse is % by 30 feet with
glass roof covering it, The building faces
the east with front four feet high and
| raised 10 the hight of eighteen feet at the
| back The heat is furnished from a run
ming stream flowing from seventeen
| hole in the formation at the south end
| flowing north through the center OF the
| building The water comes from the ground
at a temperature of 1876 degrees Fahren-
! heit which is about the boiling point at
! this altitude. Five-foot beds surround the
| building on the inside, except at the north
| end, with nine-foot bed in the center; all
| the beds are raised from eighteen inches to
two feet for circulation and a place Tor the
mushrooms An aisle runs around the
! building between the beds.
/ 'sOften the temperature indicates nearly
| 1oaz degrees Fahrenheit without the wilt
ing of a single leaf of the plants. The re
salt at, this rapid growing of vegetation
/ is wonderful. The beds are filed about
| three feet deep with rich stable refuse
| mixed with one-third silica formation
| found near by. The rich soil, the sun
| light and the constant condensation OIL
| the steam from the hot stream makes
| such a perfect combination that Vegeta-
| ton has to grow night and day.
What has been the result? The hrst
seeds were put into the ground on the
| 4th of July last year Lettuce came up
| from dry seeds in two days, and cucum-
! hers in three days, and other vegetables
! in Ike quick time Good sized heads or
! lettuce were gathered in fifteen to eigh-
teen DAYS from the time of planting. In
| ttwenty-eight days lettuce measured
| twenty-five inches across, which was as
| sweet and tender as any one ever put into
his mouth Often the condensation of the
steam would break down the larger leaves
| by the weight of water upon them. Gu
| curnber vines grew from twenty-five to
thirty feet in length in less than sixty
| DAYS without being watered, except from
| the moisture in the air.
Roots hang down from the vines fiji
! teen to twenty inches long. The flower
| ing on the various plants is exceptionally
great On some of the cucumber vines
| five full-sized cucHmbers were gathered
! from single joint; often three were
| grown More brittle ones were never
| gathered from the vines than those grown
in this novel greenhouse. Rhubarb, beets.
| mushrooms and other vegetables Will
grow 10 great advantage in this hot and
| moist temperature. Many tropical fruits
| could also be raised
There is very little labor to be done af-
ter the soil is properly fixed and the seed
| is once in the ground. 1t is like press
! ing the button and nature doing the rest.
Y There are no weeds. no insects, no stir
| ring of the soil only TO gather in the
! fruits ana watch nature working in har-
messed condition. The leaves and all the
! plants show a very healthy condition and
fine color
Cucumber leaves measure seventeen
inches across The growth of a cucum-
her is very rapid after it is once started
2 Many. a time they measure about two
inches long and within twentyfour hours
increase an inch in length. Radishes
grow so rapidly that they often split"