Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1892-07-19
WEST AFRICAN rmIn WORMS.
now THEY rRFtARE THE GROUND
fOR tHE iEJuLE % iBADAN'

I
fs,iseht. Ia,u1aHi
In the "Pfortciiug- % the Royal
/ Geographical Slclcty," October, la9l,
! STR. Avian Millson gives tue follow
| lug account OF the extra lriinnry WORK
/ done 10y west African earth worms
"Norihwafd from lbndau, which
may be- described as the centre oi the
| chief military AMI numerical power
| IN i0ruba, Two days Juufncy-hbOui
| iorty miles-through many Villages,
hnd n landscape dotted far AMI near
with oil palms Llais gueneensIs),
along a ROAD throngui with travellers,
hriugs one 10 the capital OF Central
foruba, Oyo (Awyaw).
"On leaving lbhdHn, l passed In the
course OF our mornings march over
| i,7UO men, women auI children hurry
log into tue great city rom the farm
/ villages, with loads u maize, beans,
/ yans, yam Il Jur, sweet potatoes, fowls,
pigs, ducJs; or driving cattle, sheep
nud goatf, Or mounted on small native
| horses which anble quickly along
under the combined influence Of sn
| Arab ring bit and an armed spur,
| which leaves its traces IN deep scores
/ along tao Hanks Oi tho POOR animals.
"far and wide the land has, for
generations. and indeed Tor centuries,
| been cultivated by these indusifiyus
natives. The haichei, the IRE and the
| hoe have removed All traces Of the
/ original forest, Htye indeed whore n
| dsil, trail Of green across the landscape
/ shows where tho valley OF some mar.
row watorcourse or larger river Il hid.
den among treos.
"lOr two or three years ut most the
land IA allowed 90 Ne fallow, while Tor
three or four years double or treble
cf0pE nfo raised vii nOiuftho, cultiva.
tilh thnh an occasional scrApu with u
hoe, aud during ite iallow time no
iufther care - taken OF II than TO let a
rank growth OF really grass spring up
some ak or eight feet Ia height.
Among this grass can 10 seen the
\ seedlings and young plants OF a new
forest which would rapidly take poe.
session were the land 10 be permanonl.
| iy deserted.
"tu spite Of this careless and cS.
hau-ting method OF cultivation the
crop, maintain M excellent average,
aud the same plot OF ground serves
| for generations ~ support IT, ownora.
1 wv AAh fAhaAhN AhhAAA AANAN
notes taken At the timo will serve To
explain the apparently incxhausti5le
| fertility OF a soil which does not at
first sight show any signs Of unusual
/ richness.
Were one 10 visit Yoruba during
the early part OF the rainy season only
II would appear impossible 70 account
| Tor these facts, while under
I q.
ueasUless labor Of Tire real icrtiliEtrs Of
the Land.
ain the dry season the mystery l.
nj once solved, aud In the simplest AMI
most uneN p-cleI manuel The whole
surface Of the ground among the grass
n soon 10 bv covered by surrlcd ranks
Of cylindrical worm casts. These worm
casts vary In height from a quarter OF
an iuch 10 three inches, anu exist IN
astonishing numbers. 10 IL Ia many
places impossible 10 press your finger
upon tho ground without touching
one. For scores " square mlles they
crowd the land closely packed, upright,
aud burned by the sun Into rigid rolls
OF hardened clay. There they stand
until tbs rains break them down into "a
fine powder, rich In plant food, and
lending itself easily TO the hos OF the
farmer.
"Havlng carefully removed the
worm casts NJ one season from two
separate square feet OF land at con-
siderable diatauce from one another,
anu chosen At random, hnd the result
to weigh not lees than ten aud three.
quarter POUNDS In thoroughly
Try state, This gives mean
Of over Ave pounds per square
foot. Accepting this as the amount OF
earth brought It to the surface every
year by these worms, we get some,
what startling results. iay say,
speaking from the result Of umerous
experiment., that i've pounds In a very
moderate yearly estimate " the work
done by these busy laoOrers on each
square foot Of soil.
"Evrn at this moderate estimate,
however, OF tho annual result VI tleII
work, We have total Of not les. tlan
i2.223 tons Of UubsOil Brought 20 the
surface on each squsrc mile OF cult.
yablo land Ia the loruba country wear
after year, amt 20 the untiung lahor.
" it, enrthworms this part OF Wee,
| Africa owes the livelihood OF liz roo.
pie. Where the worms DO not work
tho Nouba knows that II Ia useless IL
make his farm,
"Estimatlng one square yard Of Dry
earth by two feet deep ~ weighing
half a ION, We have M annual move.
munt OF earth per square yard 10 the
depth OF two feet amounting 10 not
It's than l1dy'ilye pounds. From ia q
" hppeafs that uyory pal,lcle OF earth
IN each ton " sOil 10 the drnth OF two
feet IL brought 10 the surface once In
twenty'sevcn years.
"rho oat,hworm which produces
such surprising results has teen identi.
| He'd a. new species Of siph1nogastot.
. genug known hitherto only In the
] Nile Nnlley,n