Show A M G A AL KIN MINE 4 V 4 it 04 A V ir I 1 ca 4 I 1 vill 44 t raz cazely HOEVER beard heard of a lux urbant garden flourishing W in the bowel of 0 itie we earth a subterranean paradise where beautiful sweet scented flowers bloom and tatty tasty vegetables for the dinner table mature while icy ley winds and jack frost front reign with despotic power on tho the surface bovet above whoever imagined that the eoll soil of a it dark damp coal mine after ita its black treasures of carbon bad had been exhausted to keep factory wheel wheels in motion and hoakes warm could be utilized for flower raising and truck gardening it has remained for an enterprising a boosler to at leat least ex pertinent perl ment with a measure of success eucce ea along floricultural and horticultural lines in the bowel bowels of the earth at ott a depth where sunshine and rain never penetrate frank B posey of pose pos vine posey county indiana ie to the man who rival rivals burbank the wizard and who has triumphantly realized a lifelong life long drean dream theae these name names of city and county in the extreme south western corner comer of the rich and fertile hoosier state along the north beak of the ohio river stand an a the immor tal tributes paid to tho the poey poser family by the hardy pioneers wt who o braved the scalp luz I 1 redskins to cultivate the indiana wilderness more than a century ago mr nir Is in a worthy descendant of that sire alre of mysterious lineage for whom poey poser county and Pose poseyville were named he ile haa won renown on bis his own account and accumulated ten talents by judicious use of the one hie kite progenitors bequeathed him foresight rite locati location on of the posey sinnova tion in floriculture and gardening Is between Pose poseyville and Bo blonville it Is an abandoned coal mine that had been giren given up as an serviceable only for the habitation of green lizards wards and other slimy denizens of dark damp rece recesses sEes during the winter of 1909 1910 the posey plants thrived in the old coli colliery tery did mr ir posey desire a tulip or a carnation with which to add a touch of nature to the de decora porn eions of hie his d he merely went to the lift of his mine decender dec ended and picked the blossom if bla his a appetite p needed a stimulant he brought op up a radish a green onion or a dainty bunch of lettuce endive or celery crips juicy and sweeter than any ever grown in a ho hothouse does this seem like an origin of the mine garden and low how did the mine ga jen den come about it is an interesting little story several years ago posey hav I 1 ing arrived at the conclusion that I 1 asia Is for the and china for the chinese began to wonder it if indiana should not bo be to the it took him only a short time to decide that question lon for himself then poser got b bs is and soon was hard at work with some laborers he lie cleared away tho the ruins on the sur ur face erected a frame building bull dlug over the shaft and installed heating apparatus he ile put la in simple ventilating machinery constructed a small ele vator and descended to complete his exploration of the mine and begin the laying out of his garden I 1 far beaw w the surface lay lar the base of the sha t enlarged to the size of perhaps a fourth of a city double lot giant mani G oak and maple timbers rough hewn tood stood upright formed a solid wall of wood around this b room except bere the tunnels whence the coal 1 had been extracted t h anahed off in reveral directions the natural kocl of the room was supported with huge wooden beams to prevent the fall of elate slate away awry from the shaft ran the caverns dark as pitch for miles perhaps cross sections dux dug w with iab mathematical precision led into rooms fee in dimensions where thousand thousands of tons of coal had bad been mined wined ahne anel cried the subterranean gar dener when he ob observed sered how tbt the miners had left the rooms intact with ng columns and walls re on enforced forced by heavy timbers it if he hail hai dug into the buried treasure house 0 of 0 grandee of compell or herculaneum he be could not have been more deligh tel in those rooms stretching elde side by side he knew krew not bow how far be he be lieven he could ultimately cultivate enough flowers and vegetables to make it so far as fie concerned legeta tion eternal spring and summer in the homes in the big western and northern cities but he be planned only to experiment on a R small scale at first he ile would attempt to raise jut just a few things for his own use posey selected one of the smaller chambers and trans formed it into flower and vegetable beds laboring in tho the atmosphere of eummer summer but without having a blistering sun beating down dowd on hia his back over his head was an eternal cloud thousands of tons of earth and rock all that posey needed was artificial artificia 11 light mater ater and something to stir the air it was easy enough to get the water through a hose and make it fall like rain on the planted beds it was also easy amy to keep the air in any kind of circulation he lie desired an electric fan capable of whirling in 1000 1 or 3 revolutions a minute solved that problem how to provide a tute for the sun nun was not so easy a task dut but the experimenter got the substitute acetylene gas provided the beneficent rays that made the seeds swell well up till they burst and the sprouts shoot out the und r ground farmer put in a small ace ave tylene gas plant in thero the room omand and ar ranged it in such a way that the beams of light would fall evenly on every portion of the garden for his experiment in growing be he selected uch such varieties of flowers and vegetables ashe as ho know knew grew best by artict cia llight some of thee thee having already ben been named he ile slanted his bin crop and adjusted the gas plant so as to produce days in the mine of a length equal to the natural da das a above ground in fit ane sprouting seison se ee ison of spring although it was in reality win ter on the surface not to bis his surprise sur but to bis his in finite delight posey soon saw little green shoots thrusting th their tiny way up tip through the soil of his under fertile besides that the plants drank in every bit of the fertility of the acil ter there were no tul t ul weeds in that garden cultivation tle plants 4 needed and they got it uain rain they needed and they goc got that too through a sprinkling device acetylene gas rare gare the nearest artificial approach to sunlight that la Is known to modern science it seemed to fulfill all the requirements of the growing plants in fact it almost outdid the sun in developing the plants to maturity A great success within little more than halt half the time ustia usually ily needed pos ys tulips and other lowera flowers were ere blooming ills vegetable crop gre grow with ith like rapid ity and before hie his friends discovered that he be was a midwinter farmer he lie was mas giving a few preferred ones some of 0 the choicest chol test most toothsome vegetables the had ever tasted all from the subterranean b garden ills own bu table was often supplied not only with the edibles but with beautiful and fragrant decorative blossoms ai 11 well posey to quite a satisfactory degree proved hi his theory and zoi hie his dream meanwhile he planned to extend bis his subterranean lower flower and vegetable growing to undertake mar koting in the futura there s no limit to the aties and the profit he told ble bk in to dimate friends |