Evening star., 1932-05-31
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.

| Those who own water lily pools neeC
not be told OF the voracious appetite oi
goldfish. They know from experience
their infinite capacity for angleworms
I and the like.
| Those who do not water garden may
do so, at some time, since the number
OF enthusiasts Is growing every year
they may be interested in knowing ir
advance Of the sport Of feeding the
fish.
| Especially those land owners who art
troubled by an excess of fiShin' worm:
IN their lawn and flower beds will be
glad to hear Of this easy way to dis
pose Of them.
OF course. one must first catch the
worms.
That is not so difficult as 1t sounds
however, If ones land really harbors
too many OF these useful members oi
the soil community.
The great question is. whether there
can be too many oligochaetous worms
OF the genus Lumbricus, as the big die
tionary calls them.
The common earthWorm, Lumbricus
terreStriS, Is found in most lands In
this country and Europe.
| In the vast majority of cases it is a
help, rather than a detriment, to
soil. 1t Is useful because it swallows
| earth, in feeding, and takes some of i,
to the surface.
Thus it is continually loosening the
soil and bringing the deeper parts tc
the top. What the earthworm does is
to act as a living farm implement
turning over the soil, as in cultivation
1t is probable that many home own
ers worry about earthWorms when there
Is not much occasion for them to
| do So In certain cases. an excess OF
the worms to the square foot might re-
suit In a too acid condition.
1t Is here that one might try feeding
| them to the fishes. Owing to the seq
mented character Of their bodies. ano
the utter lack of sympathy which the
members of the human race have for
| these loWly creepers, the common earth
| worm may easily be broken into bits
for the complete edification of the pool
goldfish. Or they may be thrown to
the voracious minions of the deep. as
ilsn once were called, as complete crea-
lures.
The latter method of feeding will
prove the most interesting to watchers
and afford the most sport to the gold
fish. The onlooker will not wonder any
longer, If he has done so before, why
1lshermen are successful when using
| angleworms, as they are called, for bait
Inc wonder Is that they do not catch
! some sort Of fish the moment the hook
i hlts water. II other fish were as gres DIV
as the small occupants of cultivated lily
ponQS and aquaria, there can be little
doubt that the tall tales" of fishermen
would be thing of the past. There
would be no need for them.
Goldfish possess some faculty which
enables them to know when an angle
F, worm Is being brought to their pool
We have approached their habitat time
and time again. minus an earthworm
| to create no particular excitement in
the depth. The red-gold fellows know
| us not
But just let one come up with a
worm, no matter how softly he treads
/ the fish arrange themselves with even
! spacing near the surface of the water
/ quite evidently expecting dinner
They remind one of something Of a
! cruiser formation. as they hold their
| places near the sides of the pool, allow
! ing plenty of space in the center, into
| which quite plainly they expect their
| favorite food to be dropped.
| A segment no sooner hits the water
! than there is a flash Of gold, a gulp
| and the section of LumbriCuS is gone
! Plop! A second segment hits. second
! fish swallows it. or perhaps the first
one
1t would make an interesting experiment
| for some person with accurate means OF
detection to estimate the speed OF the
/ fish in their rushes for angleworm meat
Our guess is that the average goldfish