Democrat and sentinel. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1853-1866, 1860-02-08
a6AsGGIGU4Ag.
V,ur,. op .xCI.E-WORMs.

EARTH OR AxGIE-WORMS'
The common earth or angle-worm lnfests
old gardens and rich soils generally, much to
the detIinlcnt of the appearance OF the former /
There neat walks and alleys arc always desi- |
.able. They usually come to the surface in
rains and after heavy dews, (hence taking the |
came of dew worm.) bringing with them
portion of the soil. and leaving their casts
aud trails wherever they move These facts
are generally noticed but few have studied
their uses or sought to know the part they
perform in the economy of nature. Instead
OF being. as is generally supposed detrimen-
tai to the farmer. they are laborers with him
in the Improvement of the soil. scientific
writer on Zoology says:
The burrowing of earth-worms IS pro-
.ess exceedingly useful to the gardner aud
ssriculturists; and these animals are far more
useful tc nan in this way, than they are in
curious by destroying vegetables. They give
kind of under tillage to the land, perfor-
ming the same below the ground that the
spade does above for the garden and the
for arabic, land ioosening the earth SO as to rem
der it pesmeable to air and water. 1t has
lately been shown that they will even add to
the depth of soil: covering barren tracts with
aIayer Of productive mould Thus in fields
that have been overspread with lime burnt
mari, or cinders these substances in time
covered with nely-divide1 soil. we'll adapted
to the support Of vegetation
That this result-which Is not commonly
attributed by farmers to the working down
of the material in questions really due to
the action of the earth worm, it appears from
the fact that iE the soil thus formed. large
number Of worm casts may be distinguished.
These are produced by the digestive process
canal, large quantity of the soil through
which they burrow. extract from it great
part of the decaying vegetable matter it may
contain, and eject the rest in fiuely divides
state. In this manner field manured with
ma-l has become covered; in the course o
eighty years, with bed of earth averaging
thirteen inches in thickness"
Another author speaks of the angle worn
(lup,bricus terrestris) as the natural manur,
of the soil, and the ready indicator of its i'm
proved state. 1t consumes on the surface O
the ground, where they would soon be injuri
ous, the softer parts of decayed vegetabl
matters, and conveys into the soil the NOR
woody fbres, where they moulder and be
come reduced to simple nutriment, Gttiu
for living vegetation. The parts consume
bv them are soon returned to the surface
whence dissolved b. frosts aud scattered
rains, they circulate again in the plants {
OF the sofia ceaseless rotation. death sti
producing life
These worms are tender creatures and W.
ter remaining few days over their haunt
browns them; they easily become frozen, Ut
less they enter deeper into the ground to e:
cape the cold No sooner IS she frost out
the ground. than they come to the surfac
and go to work again. We hare observe
that a certain degree of moisture seems NJ
cessary to their activity; they go down to IL
depth of eighteen inches or two feet in c,
.rene dry weather. We have found the
knotted in a compact ball in dry hard sui
soil, SO hard as to require pick TO penetra
il. Various other characteristics in their nj
ural history might be mentioned, but they {
net refer particularly TO their agricultur
uses, we leave them TO the researches of Il
curious reader II CouItYU Gentleman