The Lamar register., 1901-02-06
days Of Earthuorm

f.artH-WOrfns nave n reason 1or being
ever so much more important than to
serve as bait for fishermen. Far in all
their iowly estate, few creatures have
done more for mankind. Earth-worms
are not merely the original powmcs,--they
have brought abouh the condition Of the
earth's surface thai. makes other pinwing
possible and profitable
Field crops, for the Hnft part. grow and
feed upon vegetable ni>v;d-the layer Of
warm. light. brackish easth resting upon
the subsoll. Save by grace OF the earth.
worm vegetable E.old would exist only In
those places where dead leaves and de-
cayins growths generally resolved them
selves into their original clements. The
earth worm. which may he described as
embodied appetite. eats everything
animal matter. green leaves and dead
ones. twigs. leaf stalks small stones and
earth, The residum of all ne casts up,
on the surface at the rate. Throughout
pastures and garden ground. of some ten
tons a, year. Continue the process hun
dred yelrs- or even iifty and many inches.
Of line fr!ablc. productive soil result
Beyond all that. their burrows let down
light and air from the subsoil. SONG
times the burrows run six feet deep! In
winter th.. worms hibernate in roundish
chambers mt the bottom The chambers
llItu Will very sHliii StoHts VI
rounded seed a dozen worms sleeIu to-.
gether; knotted into a squirming ball.
1t Is only in the winter sleep that they
are thus Gregarious. At other times they
go in pairs. Though they do not In cap-
tivity appear very sensible of either cold
or heat. In hot. dry weather they 10 al
most far down they do in winter
ESeless, they have yet a certain psrcep--
tton of light. retreating before 1t to, their
burrows. Vibration also affects tliem-
hence. ray the country folk. the wood
cocks habit Of drumming to call them out
of the ground. Their sense of smell is
acute. and by the help of IT. they find
their food. either buried or lying upon the
surface. AS soon 1t is found the worms
drag lit to the burrow. They burruw. ex-
plains the St. Louis Globe Democrat, by
pressure of their smooth-ringed bodies
and by literally eating out the earth
ahead. The digestive apparatus lnnludas'
a crop and gizzard. like those of birds.
After the manner of birds. the gizza rds
are kept supplied with small stones to-
serve as millstoncs In grinding down the
food
Tho burrows are plastered all around
with the finely chewed earth anu kept
shape often long after they are untenant-
ed From the dead leaves which make so
large part OF tnelT lOOu iHe WORMS Sc
crete humus acids. which attack and help
to dissolve the rocks buried i'm the SOIL
Thus the earthworms not merely trans
form the soil chemically and mechanical
ly but add to the bulk of it-snce soil of
every kind comes from the disin tegration
| of rocks. Further, many leaves dragged
! down Into the burrows are only partly
eaten. and. decaying, furnish gases which
permeate the soil and react upon its min
eral element.
Earthworms are the best allies of those
| gentlemen, the antiquarIes. A coin. an
arrow head. spear point an inscribed
slab. tesselated pavement. they bury, sure
| ly, safely, to await the day of resurrec-
tion The burying Is done In two ways-by
castings spread above the thing to be
buried, and by undermining the soil be-
meath. Earth honeyeombed with burrows
sinks in times of heavy rain or frost.
Thus In course Of thousand years. an
object may be many feet under the sur
face, yet remain exactly as it fell. In
deed the wise men declare the earth
worms, in the mass. keep the whole face
of the planet In state of gradual evolu
ton.