Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1877-10-13
Angle Worm Culture.
A SINGULAR INDUSTRY-HOw WORMS ARE
TRAINED.

TRAINED.
IFTGgLK auckland w Luaf and WIdteT.J
when a. Nottingham, few days ago,
was much pleased AZ the discovery of an
entirely new industry-namely, the rearing
and education of worms for the purpose OF
al iers. Mr.. Wells, fishing tackle maker, OF
Sussex street, Nottingham, carries on busl-
ness and trade Ia worms. lie has several
people IN his employ who collect worms
every favorable night during tue year he
sells The following kinds OF WOTmS-naInely,
lob OF dew worm, the CDckspIr, and the
Iing-taiIed branding. In dry We ather worms
are very scarce, the men have To water the
ground for them. In wet weather the worms
are better and heavier. They are caught in
Ihe meadows and pasture lands IN the neigh
BorbOod. The supply is not falling.
The worms are sold By the thousand or the
quart. In warm, moist night from ,OO1 to
6,OO9 worms are brought In by the collectors
Some people can collect worms much better
than others. The worms are very cunning,
and are spt 10 pop ba TX into their holes IL the
pers' trea1s heavily.
When the worms are brought IL Mr.. Wells
81 once begins his raining operations, by
placing them in properly selected moss.
stays hOrl moss Will lot TO al aii-tt is too
harsh. Grass is bad. Field ElOSs is the best.
The worms are put INTO the moss To scOur. a
fTeSh caught worm IS very delicate and ten
der, and easily breaks up when put on the
hook. When = worm is properly educated
he is as tough q a bif OF india-rubber, and
behaves a a worm should when put on
hook. The way to test worm Is to take him
upaud past the finger gently down the length
OIL DitD. 1T ri. NtllLS comes out OF NJ ne Is
not ct. and Is put back for further training.
The Elc aiming OF this is That The wild worms
contain, more or less. food undergoing d.
gestiOn. When Put lutO the moss this food
disappears. TIE moss ia some way facili-
tateS tii- 'peratiOD. bat I cannot quite see
how this is, unless tie worms disgoTge all
their former fCCJ. a-d practically become
very little else than skin.
Tie Keeping o. worms depends very much
upon tie Gather. They Wiil EO- keep well
above week. Mr.. Wells has supply OF
worms ready for his customers al The year
round. He goes over his moss very f e.
Pueni!y, picking out the m4uled and mashed
worms aud Oriy sending 10 market the
Plump ard hca- tiny ones, which are packed
up for market in moss. the bags used are
Of b GIT canvas.
Not only does Mr.. Wells collect worms
but lie also brt eds them in cOnSidUra ole
quantities. IN his garden Is a special heap
made OF vegetable matter, expressly for the
purpose OF breed .ug worms. / shall not, OF
course, say " h-,t substance for worm breed o
ing il mCSt favJrs ole. this is a profcS siOnal
secret. On turning the heap over where the
worms ere bred. II was very interesting To
see the worms in the various stages of
growth. Mr.. Wells knows from experience
pretty well what the age of a worm is l had
Lhe pleasure of pointing out 10 him the eggs
% the worm. These are about three lines
long, and somewhat oval. They had q sort
Of lid at each end, which opens when the
young are liberated. / believe that two
young are sometimes produced from the
Same egg.
The business of worm selling has been
going on some ten years, and is gradually
increasing.