64 The dwellers in the soU 



soil is left the better. Often after several montlis some- 

 thing further happens; little ferns begin to grow and 

 they live a very long time indeed. There is at Rotham- 

 sted a bottle of soil that was put up just like this as far 

 back as 1874. For a number of years past a beautiful 

 fern has been growing inside the bottle, and even now 

 it is very healthy and vigorous. If, instead of being 

 kept moist, the rich garden soil is left in a dry shed 

 during the whole of the winter so that it gradually loses 

 its moisture, it will generally show quite a lot of white 

 flufiy growth. 



All of these living things are very wonderful, and 

 some, especially earthworms, are very useful to gar- 

 deners and farmers. 



After a shower of rain look carefully in the garden 

 or else on a lawn, common, or pasture field where the 

 grass is closely grazed by cattle or does not naturally 

 grow long, and you will find numbers of tiny heaps of 

 soil scattered about. Carefully brush away a heap and 

 a little hole is seen, now hit the ground near it a few 

 times with a stick or stamp on it with your foot and the 

 worm, if he is near the top, comes up. When he is 

 safely out of the way dig carefully do^vn with a knife or 

 trowel so as to examine the hole or "burrow." At the 

 top you generally find it lined with pieces of grass or 

 leaves that the worm has pulled in ; lower down the 

 lining comes to an end, but the colour of the burrow is 

 redder than that of the rest of the soil wherever the soil 

 has a greenish tinge. These holes are useful because 

 they let air and water down into the soil 



The following experiment shows what earthworms 

 can do. Fill a pot with soil from which all the 

 worms have been carefully picked out and another 



