Claiborne guardian. [volume] (Homer, La.) 1877-188?, 1878-03-13
The Work Of Worms.

A German gentleman, Herr Won
Hensen, has lately put on record de-
tails Of the interesting results ofa
series Of observations-conducte1l
With the patient perseverance char.
acteristic Of his race-in reference
to the habits Of the common earth.
worm, showing "the important part |
necessarily performed in the econO-
my Of nature by these humble crea.
lures in the elaboration of soils and
their adaptation to the requirements
of plant life" The field of study
was Q garden having q surface Of
mould everything yellow diluvial
sand.
Won Hensen describes how the
adult worms come to the surface at
night, and with their tails in their
holes, calmly survey the country
round before they sally forth in quest
of food, in the shape of leaves, twigs,
etc. These they heap up round the
entrances, the leaves being rolled
up separately and partly drawn in
to the holes, where they soon became
macerated and partly decOmposed,
in which state they are swallowed
By the worms. The wOrm.tnbes
were not easily traced in the garden.
mould, but in the sandy subsoil they
were clearly distinguishable, and
were found to descend to q depth of
from three to six feet. The tubes
were found to be lined with stones
about the size of a pin head, brought
from the surface; AMI fruit kernels
were also foud in them. Their walls,
too, contained little black masses of
characteristic shape, the excreta OF
the worms.
Besides these freshly inhabited
holes were others which have been
abandoned, and the cavities of
which were filed mp with black earth,
the black matter being difiused into
the surrounding sand, and these a
gain passing insensibly into mere
black streaks of mould penetrating
the sandy subsoil. In about half
the uninhabitea tubes were found
the roots of plants growing on the
surface, and these followed exactly
the course Of the tubes, putting out
their fibres through the black walls
of the tubes. An extended series Of
observations led to the conclusion
that, "a q rule, the roots Of animal
plants can only find their way down
to the moister subsoil through chan.
nels thus prepared for them by the
earth worms. Chemical and micro
scopic analyses of the contents of
the intestihes aud Of the "casts' of
the worms showed them TO he nearly
identical in composition with ordina.
~ "leaf. mould" such as is obtained
By mixing fallen leaves and sand,
and leaving them for couple OF
years until decomposition is com.
plete.
To ascertain the precise part play.
ell BY the earth.worln in the produc-
ton Of the ordinary vegetable. mould,
Won Hensen placed two worms in q
glass vessel flied with sand. the
surface of which was strewetl from
time to time with fallen leaves
The WORMS set to work at once, and
, at the end Of six weeks the surface
z of the sand was covered with a fayel
of mould half an inch thick, while
some of the leaves had been carried
} down to a depth of three inches lie
, low It. The wOrm.tubes permeatef
, the soil in all directions; some wer
quite fresh, others had wallis Of or
ganic matter one-eigth Of an incl
Q thick, while others, again, were quit
filed up with mould. In short, tn
, soil was perfectly prepared for tn
u growth Of plants
A single earth-worm weighs, o
II an average, SO grains, and is est
!. mated to produce 8 grains of excr'
Il ment in fifty -four hours. Allowin
& "a, 900 worms to an acre, weighin
r. altogether 200 pounds, this wOul
D. give 81 pounds of vegetable moul
in the finest state Of communion
'e passed through their bodies, eve'
> twenty four hours, over and abo,
9. the work done In removing veget
). BILE refuse from the surface aud wor
. ing and opening mp passages in Il
70 soil, thus facilitating the adu,issif
ID of air and moisture, and the pa
o. sage of the more delicate and sbsor
:, ant portions of the roots Of veget
81 ton.
m The famous Centennial OK, viii
no weighed 1900 pounds and has be-
~ kept on exhibition, has at last foul