The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-03-04
THEY WAR ON ERRTHWORNS,
GOLFERS THINE DARWIN WAS
WRONG ABOUT THEN.

Coli, among other things 1t has done.
such as giving value as building lots 20
many abandoned lands, has dislodged the
earthworm. The reputation given to it
BY the scientists and workers of the fields
alike Of being a lowly and persistent aid to
vegetation is said by the green committees
of the golf clubs to be all wrong.
Moreover, besides spelling the earth
worms reputation, the golfers are eradi-
eating It from the soil. They have been
carrying on for some years a war Of exter-
mination. According to Darwin the result
should be a deterioration OF he grass on
the links, but that is not what has hap
pened.
The golf committees are almost a unit
In p~ronouncing the earthworm to be a det-
riment to putting green's and lawns, and
they question II it does any good to the fair
green's. AS an agent In promoting the
Y%ruitfulness of the soil the earthworm, say
the green keepers, is Of no value.
Now in the North the earthworm is hiber-
mating q couple of feet underline sod. When
the sun warns the soil the earthworm bur-
rows to the surface to get fresh air, oxygen.
ating It's blood through the pores OF the
skin.
The theory has been that the cylindrical
canal 1t bores has aided plant life by open
ing UP the soil. It's food is the humus OF
the soil. The process Of digestion Of the
earth was supposed to convert the
crude vegetable particles in the soil into q
soluble food that was absorbed eagerly by
grass and plant roots.
Instead, say the greenkeepers, the worms
are epicures living on the fat OF the land.
Their drains do nc good, for the roots do
not need such animate augers to do the
work, while the openings on the surface
give an opportunity to pernicious and turf
destroying weeds to obtain a foothold, such
as orabgrass and plantains.
That the refuse from the earthworm 10
of value as a fertilizer for putting greens
ia also disputed, for the Jumps made by
worm casts e~ffectually stop true puts and
the only way to save the green is to sweep
them of. On putting greens about New
York where this has been done for years
the turf is closer and better than on nearby
lawns where the worm casts are rolled in
and worm d~estroyers not used.
On such putting green's the loss OF sur
face is balanced by seeding, sanding and
ton dressings in the spring or fall. The
Is louRnI dBaliiSV ae BeV-
ically as the moles.
The Darwin pleas for the earthworms
we're that they drained aerated and MANFRED
The ground, the last by casting on the sur
face fine earth brought up from a depth
and which had passed through their bodies.
In rebuttal the club committees chat bave
been using exterminators say the greens
play true all the season; the grass is
and healthy, keeping a beautiful
green; the turf is thicker, as 1t Is no longer
smothered by worm casts and the roots
no longer damaged by burrows; the sur
face is firmer. ,,,
Each scotsman has a worm killer that
may be recommended, also each club com
has usually a recipe: All are to be
applied in liquid FORM. All bring up the
Soap and water will do this; also mustard
and water.
Applied overnight the killers will have
a green covered with worms in the morn
ing. Within twenty minutes after a day
application the worms begin to wrtggle
up and into the open air.
It is an odd sight. The turf is studded
with writhing worms, the outstanding ones
suggesting the waving tendrils OF a grape
vine. In its pursuit of sustenance when
quite at ease, or when on pleasure bent,
the earthworm having no eyes will not
trust itself to come all the way out OF its
hole, but keeps a grip on 1t so as TO draw
back when alarmed.
The worms brought to the surface by the
killers neglect all such precautions. They
wriggle out full length and roll on the grass
as though consumed by internal pains or
fires. The dead worms are carried of in
pals. If undisturbed they dry up quickly
in the sun and may be rolled in as a top
manure.
If the worm casts have any fertilizing
value an ingenious idea of Charles Hope,
greenkeeper of the North Hants Club in
England, will SOON make it plain. He has
been working the plan for some seasons.
He takes an old style bamboo fishing pole
of twelve or fifteen feet in length, and APP
plies it to the putting green with a long
steady, sweeping stroke, eXerting more q"
less pressure, according to'the roughnesS
of the soil and nature of the eXcrescencesto
down and spanked thoroughly with the
rods, which are swept backward and for
ward over every inch of the green,
The immediate benefit is to level up the
surface better than a roller, for the latter on
soft turf will cut ridges. but the rod is equally
effective in all weathers. The worm casts.
and all sorts of top dressing and mower
clippings, are converted to a powder that
fills up all slight depressions and so solidlties
the surface. II is asserted, too, that the
process gives back to the soil the nutritive
factors AIKEN out by the worms; the nourtsh-
ment and protection is returned naturally
into the turf in exactly the places where 1t ia
most wanted.
The idea should be tested at links in
this country. Rough brooms Of brush
wood are often used to break up and sweep
in worm casts. but the fishing rod plan is
manifestly an improvement-that is, II
the casts have a remedial or stimulating
effect on putting greens. worth bothering
about. Is the game worth the candle?
1t is conceded that there are nc better
greens than at the Dyker Meadow Golf
Club, yet the committee has been eradl-
worms and sweeping away worm
casts for seven years.
you can't have good putting greens
unless you Danish the worms, says O'Hara.
the greenkeeper. They are the vermin
of the soil and no good at ALL"
Should the Hope plan Of beating the
putting greens as though they were carpets
come into trial the swish of the old bamboo
rods will become a new noise of the links.
On blind holes an American idea is to use an
old fishing rod in place OF the usual short
rod and flag.
1t has happened that to many golfers the
tall bamboo, standing sentinel in the YER
glens or sauoers, has brought back
with suddenness the b%oyhood's fishing IN
pond or brook, and memories of the long
fish poles that were kept ready with line
and hooks under the eaVPS of the OuthOIse,