22 SOILS 



particles, mixing with these the organic matter taken into 

 the body system ; with these go the secreted slime that 

 has a dissolving effect useful in making subsoil and un- 

 tamed earthy constituents available as food for plants. 



As proof of the great good of these indefatigable workers, 

 we have the evidence of Charles Darwin, who after long 

 study and observation declared that in many parts of 

 England as much as ten tons a day of dry earth annually 

 were passed through the bodies of these common worms 

 of the field. He also calculated that as much as ten inches 

 of the upper surface of the soil passed through their 

 bodies every fifty years. You can gather from this evi- 

 dence what worthy workers these insignificant animals 

 have been in preparing the earth for the habitation of 

 man. The increased production of all products of the 

 garden, of the orchard, and of the field has been due, in 

 not a small measure, to these underground helpers and to 

 these wonderful workers in soil making. 



