The daily morning journal and courier., 1906-08-25
UNDERGROUND GARDENS.
Colonel Posey Will Introduce the Trop-
 ics Into Indiana.

ics Into Indiana.
 Frank B. Posey surveyor of the port at Evansville and a epublican leader of prominence is about 10 undertake in this county remarkable experl- ment.He opposes to plant gardens un- der the eath's surface and to raise the fruits and flowers of the tropics. The hanging gardens of Babylon ranked as one of tie early wonders of the world, but the people down here say they will not be In 1t with the underground gar dens of Spencer county.
 A few years ago Colonel Poey, who formely prersesehted the First district in congress bought two hundred acres of land on Pigeon Creek, lying partly 1 in Spence and partly In Warick coun- l ties. On the place Is a coal mine that was abandoned seventeen years ago Recently Colonel Posey caused the shaft to be reopened and to his sur pise he found that, unlike nearly all abandoned mines, the Interior cham bers wee Intact.
 Colonel Posey organized an exploring pantry and investigated all of the ram l ifications of the abandoned mine He found it covers an area of fifteen acres, subdivided into chambers two hundred feet long and of varying width. These chambers are about one hndred feet below the surface of the earth,
 It at once occurred to Colonel Posey, who delights in experiments that here was an opportunity to test the feasl- blllty of underground gardening. He was satisfied that if he could raise flf- teen acres of garden truck one hun dred feet below the earth's surface he would perform an achievement that would arrest the attention of scientific circles all over the world and at the same time prove immensely profitable. He learned by taking temperatures ] that the inteior of the mine remains 1 conseantly at flfty-ave degrees, the even temperature of the earth. This temperature Is unvarylng winter and summer, and Is the temperature most conducive to the growth of plant life. Furthermore, the air Is surchaged with carbonlc gas upon which plants thrive.
 Tn order to grow, however, plants re- quire light and how to light his un- dergound garden has been problem that was difficult to solve but Colonel Posey is convinced that he has at last found the solution He will Illuminate the various chambers and passageways with acetylene gas, which furnishes a very brilliant light and is inexpensive.
 T had heard said Colonel Posey, that some experiments conducted at i Cornell university proved conclusively that sunlight is not necessary to the growth of plants and that acetylene gas furnishes a very good substitute 1 wrote to Clifford PPinchot, chief of the United States Bureau of Forestry. for information on the subject, and I have just received his reply, He says that he participated in the experiments at Cornell and that while they could not be called completely successful, they showed that plants can be made to grow and mature by the aid of ace- tylene gas, The cost of generating this light Is nominal. Ten cents will pay for the illumination of room or chamber two hundred feet long and fifty feet wide for twenty-four hours It has been proved time and again that electricity is good substitute for sunlight in raising plants, but it Is en- tirely too expensive for ordinary use" Colonel Posey expects to spend & good many thousands of dollars in pre- pairing his underground gardens for cul- tivation. He will import into the mine hundreds of tons of rich soil and shape 1t Into beds, such as are found in greenhouses. He has already arranged to plant crop of mushrooms about September l. and he expects to have mushrooms for market by Thanksgiv- ing, His intention Is to raise large quantities of lettuce and celery for the winter makets. and he will devote Imuch attention to the cultivation of figs and oranges. He also expects to grow oses on an extensive scale.
 Colonel Posey's farm is near the Ohio iyer. and an electric line has been sur- veved within the distance of half a cItv block from it, so that he anticipates no difficulty in marketing the produce of Ihis underground Indianapolis Star.