ON DRAINING. 91 



rain. I have very recently found worms twisted up into 

 knots, and bertlied in a nidus formed by the side of the ver- 

 tical bore, and in communication with it by a lateral hole 

 about an inch long-, forming- in appearance a comfortable 

 retreat. 



My valued and much lamented friend, Mr. Henry Hand- 

 ley, informed me of a piece of land near the sea, in Lincoln- 

 shire, over which the sea had broken, and killed all the 

 worms — the field remained sterile imtil the worms again 

 inhabited it. He also showed me a piece of pasture land 

 near to his house, in which worms were in such numbers 

 that he thought their casts interfered too much with its 

 produce, which induced him to have it rolled at night in 

 order to destroy the worms. The result was that the fer- 

 tility of the field greatly declined, nor was it restored until 

 they had recruited their numbers, which was aided by col- 

 lecting- and transporting- multitudes of worms from other 

 fields. 



The g-reat depth into which worms will bore, and from 

 which they push up fine fertile soil, and cast it on the sur- 

 face, has been admirably traced by Mr. C. Darwin, of Down, 

 Kent, who has shown that, in a few years, they have actually 

 elevated the surface of fields by a layer of fine mould several 

 inches thick, thus adding- to the pabulum of grasses. His 

 experiments were made at Mr. Wedg-wood's, of Etruria, and 

 are recorded in the " Gardener's Chronicle," of April 6, 

 1844. Mr. Darwin's researches are entitled to the strictest 

 credibility. Here are some specimens of warp soil now 

 undergoing- drainage by me on an estate of Mr. William 

 Marshall's, M.P., near Patrington, fourteen miles east of 

 Hull, and opposite the well-known tract of land, reclaimed 

 likewise from the Humber, called Sunk Island. When first 

 examining this soil for drainage, I was struck with the 

 astonishing- number of fine vertical holes penetrating the warp 

 to its full depth, in some places 8 to 10 feet. These holes 

 were evidently not the work of earth-worms, being in a much 

 smaller bore, and worms abound in that soil, and were at 

 "work in their own fashion, though no other living creature 

 was discernible. Very many of these minute holes seem to 

 be fully appropriated by the fine roots of plants which 

 descend into them, and thus find easy access to moisture 

 and air. 



On further investig-ating into the origin of this net-work 

 of holes, it was traceable beyond a doubt to the existence 



