160 



a number of shallow plant-dishes, each containing 3 pounds of soil 

 and inoculated with 300 cc. of the culture, were kept in one of 

 the greenhouses at the Chelsea Physic Gardens for fourteen days. 

 Analyses of these gave the following averages : 



Mgrms. N. per 100 grms. soil 

 Soil A Soil B " Soil C Soif D 



Control. ... 371 375 312 402 



Pure culture . . 403 396 336 421 



Soil culture . . 406 395 333 424 







Increase 



Pure culture . . 32 21 24 19 



Soil culture . . 35 20 21 22 



< 

 Experiments in progress indicate that this fixed nitrogen is 



readily assimilated by plants, and crops are benefited by an ap- 

 plication of the mixed culture. 



H. FRIEND. Worms in a Cornish Garden. The Gardeners' 

 Chronicle, N. 3619, p. 294. London, May 7, 1910. 



In spite of the fact that thirty years have gone by since Darwin 

 wrote his remarkable volume on Vegetable Mould and Earthworms, 

 no systematic effort has yet been made in England to ascertain what 

 species of worms produce vegetable mould, to master their geo- 

 graphical distribution, the nature of the soil on which they operate 

 and the many other problems which the subject involves. 



The writer has studied 50 worms from heavy soil, at Pencar- 

 row, Washaway, for which he gives the following tabular return: 



Lumbricus terrestris L, or true earthworm. . . i 



Allolobophora longa, Ude, long worm 3 



caliginosa, Savigny 4 



Aporrectodea chlorotica, Sav. Green worm ... i 



Elisenia rosea, Sav. mucous worm 6 



Octolasion studio sum., Rosa 30 



The last species is a strong worm of a steel blue colour with 

 bright yellow tail and orange yellow girdle. 



Out of 270 specimens examined, no fewer than 240 belonged 

 to 4 species, the remaining 30 being distributed among 7 or 8 



