January 25, 1919.] 
Gardeners’ Chronicle 
No. 167}.—SATURDAY, JANUARY 25, 1919 
q ONTENTS. 
America, notes fro: 
| Primula warleyensi: 43 
Horticultural “plants, Pritzel’s mcm Hotell: 
descriptio a У arum, revision je 2 
Rabbits iod кин 46 
: Belgium, news f 43 
Crisp, Sir Fra n "Macar 
for 42 Ripley Cast. e 
—. Cultural memora anda— Romneya Cou 
В Mulching newly- Societies 
planted fruit trees . 39 British Carnatio 3 
Farm, crops and stock Highiand and Agricul 
onthe home .. tural of Scotl. 7 
Food production, home 44 National Rose vw 4 
statisvics in rel orfolk and Norwich 
n to the war . 4&2 Horticultural wo Ф, 
ire notes from— Royal Caledonian Hor- 
1 Begon nia erga 22-40] ticultural .. 47 
обе .. 40 | Royal Horticult 
Royal Society of Arts 42 
Кез the status ot 43 
E Garten 45 | 
"nu $; wee border— | 
and Provident 47 
1 on Scouleri.. 39 | Soldier- ‘gardeners, letters 
Hybridisation of flowers 46 | {тош 
Iris lacustris A 37 | Chate: garden in 
Maumené, Mons. Albert 42 | France, а  .. 
Medi.iual plants 5 | Trees aud shrubs— 
 Obituary— | Hybrid Oaks 40 
. Michel, Edouard 48 | Tri notes iran 
Orchids, **blue".. 45 = Visiting, arecordin .. 43 
. Orchid notes— Wages fixed by the 
Я Blue Visas es Board 4 
Odontoglossum: олары 9 Week's work, the 40, 41 
Victo 39 | Worms, tbe f f 37 
ILLUSTRATIO 
Iris lacustris Р; MS v ke 189 
. Knife, French vine- grower s prüning % ev BAN 
Pentstemon Scouleri à Be) = .. 39 
Primula warleyensis = oF 2 es $s 2.1.48 
. Romneya Coulteri ae A Ss б E 1.546 
: THE FOOD OF WORMS. 
: ne of prime importance de th 
gardener, d rist, and th 
. farmer. As s eceive n- 
siderable a tio 
, in spi 
n done and written, the question 1s 
still persistently p What do worms 
ea o th 3 ЖЕР on i dead 
leaves which are agged into their 
burrows? Or do бы ad eed on soil, on 
other animals, or on living plants 
bee 
r know- 
3 Some e people beliere t that worms ‘‘ simply 
1 Uh edi in the earth as a mole might 
es. leaves are 
e не рве The real food of 
nimal de s of 
creatures which live in e soil, and are 
wn as amoeba 
fibre, d other constituents 
which go to make at we generally 
vegetable mould. Has thi pone 
through the body of the wo Are w 
the i wit true excreta? And do not 
THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 
37 
vegetable and mineral matter have been 
taken into the body of the creature which 
east it 
The natural ues would be that con- 
Merced adulteration, and admixtu 
have t n passi ng Batt = the 
oil 
ct with various earthy and еа: 
it is the 
matters, and i 
pass a true judgment. The objecti on is 
valid, to a d extent. So we take a 
well-fed worm from the earth, as we might 
take a pem г pheasant to to examine “its 
crop. If w xx it to void the matter 
which fills the intestinal tract, what shall 
we find? That the extruded matter is a 
fine soil, composed, as ave alread 
found, of finely ma vegetable 
Let us now att tack the ios from a 
second position. We have all seen нути 
around the burrows of worms in autumn, 
n 
the peptonised juice t t is desti- 
tute of them. ow is the worm pla 
with а to this digestive зае 
rom Darwin, because 
accessible, and his authority will 
t be EET: nged :— 
© “The outh is situated at the tt ur 
body, € is provided N 
ile сйс (abe т lip, as it has Dade 
all 
ds, m 
of carbona Thes 
glands are Righty “remarkable, fo or nothing 
like them is known in any other animal. 
p most of the -— the 
oesophagus is enlarged into a i 
of е» gard. Тв latter spi: is lined 
h 
“sm mb 
is surr d by weak longitudinal 
but еги cii muscles. Pe 
saw these muscles i ergetic action; 
"remark, des trituration of 
ected 
this organ, for worms ур 
or teeth of any kind. 
and small ы: from the 1-20th 
ntribution to the ы Бисен of English 
aright, Se “te prezent wri ter; “Science Progress,” 
Vol, 
little more than 1-10th inch in diameter. 
{ found in their gizzards 
one intestines. 
r 
s, to tritu 
millsto rate their food " (op 
cit, 11-18). 
As = subject is important we ma 
add few (condensed) lines from 
section dealing with Food and 
Digestion (p. 35 et s '" Worms are 
mnivorous. They swallow enormous 
quantity of earth, out of which they ex- 
iract any digestible — which it may 
contain. They also consume a large 
number ha ft леда leaves, a i 
peduncles, and decayed flowers. th 
ill also consume fresh leaves, as T have 
found by repeated trials. ey are 
cannibals, for th o halves of 
orm placed in у were dragged into ihe 
wW 
T} ae of worms are gs Bless in 
the i niesiins, showing that eal had 
been ids of the dead ае of the 
1 о dissect 
y t 8 
worm and the contents of its 
аа to learn what is the nature of its 
fo 
E у. ndeed, one has on 
study 
worms leoi d getable matter is arm 
if he is not s d you," he says. 
‘that lea and even t ineral 
in rd 
whic 
As who sho 
this tis it is worth notice 
becaus are frequently foun 
living in decaying and fallen timber. If 
a ined it wil found that 
their stomachs are full of wood pulp more 
d 
o not know 
they could subsist 
certainly the rie of investigation is worth 
pursuing c Friend. 
ist; but 
(To be concluded.) 
NOTES Pn IRISES. 
TRIS LACUSTRI : 
Tuis interesting little plant (хе fig. 13) 
belongs to the ice nsia section of the genus, 
being a rhizomatous species with crested falls. 
Tt is local in its ion, an apparently 
only found near the cdi sh f the great 
lakes Superior and Huron, where it grows in 
moist, gravelly soil in. half -shady spots near 
streams. 
The Been mdi mo which was repro- 
from s in November, но 
m f 
is a central, crinkled ite crest, tipped with 
orange, and this is flanked by two lateral ridges 
The colour is a d urple, wi 
amount of white and paler -p 
erect than those depicted in the 
The slender, greenish- Duc edens spreads 
