CHAPTER XXV 



EARTHWORMS 



The common earthworm (also called angleworm, 

 fishworm, and by most boys, the big worms called 

 night-walkers) is of much more importance to the 

 gardener and the farmer, than to the fisherman. 



When a child has a simple, clear idea of how the 

 earthworm is beneficial, he will have a very good 

 idea of how nature makes a garden soil. The com- 

 mon earthworm is a tremendous factor in making 

 and keeping up a good agricultural soil. Its life his- 

 tory is very interesting. It is very common. There- 

 fore, being common, useful to man, and interesting 

 in itself, it forms a very desirable kind of subject to 

 emphasize in the education of a child, especially the 

 child educated in the garden. The references given 

 in Chapter XXXI will supply the teacher with facts 

 from the observation of others, and they may, with 

 very little difficulty, give much information from di- 

 rect observation of their own. 



A plain wooden box sufficiently strong to hold wet 

 earth for several weeks, filled nearly full with garden 

 earth, with about an inch of small white pebbles on 

 top (such pebbles as are used on tarred roofs), and 

 on these, about a pint of earthworms. Pour a little 



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