8oG MANUAL OF MODERN FARRIEtlV. 



This will prevent the growth of young worms, which would 

 occasion the decay and death of the old ones. 



Worms can also be well scoured in common moss, espe- 

 cially that which grows on heaths, and on stones. It should 

 be freed from earth at the roots, then well washed and dried. 

 Then both earth and worms should be put in an earthen pot 

 with a cover, which should be placed in a warm situation in 

 summer, and out of the reach of frost in winter. The more 

 moss that is used and the oftener it is changed the better, or 

 at least frequently washed and thoroughly dried again before 

 it is put to them, taking care not to allow it to remain long off 

 them, but replace it as soon as possible, as worms cannot live 

 long, exposed to atmospheric air. There are various ways of 

 scouring and preserving worms, but no method is better or 

 easier than the preceding. Although worms fresh taken from 

 the ground may serve for fishing, they are never so tough as 

 those that are purged ; nor do they answer so well as bait. 

 But when, from necessity, worms are wanted for immediate 

 use, and no provision has been made, nor a dealer in tackle 

 in the vicinity, who usually keep them for sale, the quickest 

 way to scour them is, if lob-worms, to put them all night in 

 water ; brandlings for an hour only, and both kinds must 

 then be put, with fennel, into the angler's worm-bag. 



The lobwor:.], which has the various appellations of dew, 

 garden-worm, or the twatchel, is of two sorts ; the old, which 

 is distinguished by being knotted ; the young, which is 

 destitute of knots, and which for distinction sake, are called 

 by some, maiden-lobs, and by others, red-worms : the latter 

 kind, with a red head, streak down the back, and a broad 

 tail, (from which, in some counties, they are called squirrel- 

 tails,) is the best. Lob- worms are dug up in fallow-fields, old 

 gardens, and by the sides of ditches and drains ; but they 

 are most plentifully found and caught in the night after 



