Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1896-01-04
RAISING MEAL WORMS.
A Profitable Industry That Perhaps
Affords a Puzzle for Naturaiists.
Fronn tho Denyer Rfi,,Ntfiean


A Profitable Industry That Perhaps
Affords a Puzzle for Naturaiists.
From the Denver Rephaiican.
A worm farm is ONE of the features in the
store Of E. e. Acheit. Mr.. Achert and his
wife have been in the-worm raising industry
in Denver for over twenty years: neverthe-
less no account Of their farm has yet ap-
peared in state agricultural reports THIS
happened, perhaps, because it is the only
institution Of it's kind in the country, and
was overlooked on account of its novelty.
The worms are chiefly bred to furnish food
for hooking birds, and about 800 Denver
people who own feathered mimics of this
variety are regular customers of the Achert
farm. All soft-bi1fed birds, nightingales,
thrushes, black birds. etc, eat the kind Of
worm the Acherts raise. but there are not
many OF these birds in Denver,so the Achert
farm provides delfcacies almost solely and
entirely for the hooking bird tribe
Although Mr.. and Mrs. Achert call their
worm plant farm, there is very little Of
the AGRICULTURAL about it. 1t looks mere like
middle of the little shop Is large wooden
contrivance, fitted out with four drawers
Each drawer is filled to the brim with a
MOVING living mass. On the top Of each
weighing heap Is a heavy linen cloth, eaten
through here and there into holes. Out Of
nearly every hole just now sticks the brown
head of a wriggling meal worm.
AS explained by b. E. Achert, the process
of raising meal worms for the feed of soft
billed birds is quite complicated business
The history of the Denver farm is also in
terestng. To begin with, the Acherts came
TO Denver twenty years ago. bringing with
them a pair OF hooking birds. In the old
country feed for the pets was easily OBJ
tanned in the Touring mills They ate vel
loWish worm, which seems to generate and
breed In ground meal, flour and BRAN After
Annnripa Aol
tain none of these worms Thew did NOT
seem to grow here. and they had n hard
time keeping their birds alive, ignorant as
tney were of what other food the mocking
bird would eat.
1t happened that. after couple of months
stay In Denver, Mrs. Achert was called back
to Germany and before leaving she was
instructed by her husband to bring back
some meal worms for the pair Of mocking
birds. In Frankfort she purchased a sup-
Fly, and these formed the nucleus of the
farm.
From the worms brought here by Mrs
Achert numerous millions have since been
raised. The staple diet of the beasts con-
sists OF beer, wooden blankets and meal
bran. Over the bottom of each drawer ia
scattered mess of bran, in which the meal
Wcrm bug lays Its eggs. Over the bran is
laid section of thick wooden blanket. above
this more meal bran, and over all a heavy
piece OF linen. Between the linen and the
bottom OF the drawer an Interesting process
Where the evolutionary movement COM
niehces Is question for abstruse, hair
splitting scientists but in Achert's farm II
began with the worms After lapse of
about three months his yellow one-incb-
long worms grew hard shell of brownish
hue upon them and appeared to be dead
Before coating themselves with this armor
thew crawled ont of the upper strata Of the
iafm 10 the soft bran at the bottom of the
drawer, and lay there, apparently Without
power or motion. few weeks more and
each shell burst, giving birth to an ugly
black bug of small dimensions. and nos
sessed of horns and feelers in plenty These
things swarmed in the meal bran until they
nestled all over it. and laid eggs AS fast as
bug laid her due quantity of eggs she
rolled over on her back and died If there
are male meal worm bugs the Acherts have
not become cogniZant of the fact; all their
bugs lay eggs. usu,
During the Matching period, which lasts
atout a month, there is no evidence of life
apparent on the worm farm. At the end of
a month the lower stratum of bran crauIs
ana q'nVerS with the life Of innumerable
small worms These thrive upon the bran.
tnen eat their way through the blankets
APPEAR in a wriggling mass. under the linen
cover at the top of the drawer
when this occurs their diet is varied with
an allowance of beer. Meal worms fatten
rapidly upon lagerlbser. 1t Is sprinkled all
over the linen cover until that becomes
saturated. and the meal under II becomes
soaked. Reer-fed worms are ready for the
market after fortnsght's guzzl:ng. They
are sold by the Acherts at the rate of 100
for Twenty-Five cents. and 300 mocking birds
are supplied with daily food regularly
throughout the yeaRY Each bird eats from
two to four wormsra day. So the feeding
comes cheap r.r
About three-fourths of the worms raised
on the farm are sold. the remainder being
Kept for breeding purposes When a worm
grows pretty fat he crawls back to the bot
tom OF the drawer, and begins his meta
morphoss to larva, then to bug, then to
an egg, and back to worm again E. E.
Achert and his wife assert that theirs is
the only meal worm ranch in America.