MARKET GARDENING UNDER GROUND. 



29 



rare sight. One would have to go no far- 

 ther than Akron, a small town about 20 

 miles from Buffalo, on the West Shore 

 railroad, to see such a garden. 



An enterprising citizen has converted 

 the abandoned cement stone quarry cave 

 into a mushroom farm. There are about 

 20 acres in this cave, on which he has 

 hundreds of beds and is raising 3,000 to 

 5,000 pounds of mushrooms a year, ship- 

 ping nearly all to the New York and Bos- 

 ton markets. 



the narrow passage with a large gasoline 

 torch. The beds are about 1,000 feet back 

 from the entrance, long rows of them ex- 

 tending into the darkness. The air is cool 

 and damp. Little pools of water standing 

 here and there are caused by the warm air 

 from the outside coming in, condensing 

 and dripping down. In that way the beds 

 are kept well watered. They are built 

 with boards about 12 feet long and 5 feet 

 wide, are filled partly with horse stable ma- 

 nure and are well packed. This foundation 



AMATEUR PHOTO BY N. POMEROY, JR. 



MUSHROOM BEDS. 

 Flashlight View 1-5 of a Mile Back in the Cave. 



The temperature in the cave remains 

 about the same in winter and summer, 

 varying only 4 or 5 degrees, so the mush- 

 rooms grow the year round and are picked 

 twice a week. 



One enters the cave by way of a deep, 

 sloping cut through the rock to a passage- 

 way large enough to admit a horse and 

 cart. At the end of this passage you are 

 glad enough to put yourself in charge of 

 a guide, who lights the way back through 



is covered with a sandy soil, and the mush- 

 room seed, or, properly speaking, spawn, 

 is put in. The mushrooms do not appear 

 for 6 weeks to 3 months. The fibrous 

 roots extending to all parts of the bed 

 are like a fruit tree beneath the soil, and 

 the fruit appears up through the ground 

 when ripe. 



In the accompanying photographs the 

 light at the side was caused by a flash 

 made in a side passage. 



Church: I see some of the theaters are 

 reducing their prices. 



Gotham: Yes; it looks as if a fellow 

 would be able pretty soon to see a 25-cent 

 show in New York for only 50 cents, — 

 Yonkers Statesman. 



