62 HARNESSING THE EARTHWORM 



acre- foot. Such a population will provide ideal aeration and air 

 capacity for the soil, with good drainage, rapid water penetra- 

 tion and maximum moisture-holding capacity. At the same time, 

 such an earthworm population provides a soil turnover and con- 

 ditioning of upwards of two hundred tons of material annually, 

 mixed and prepared in the humus mill of the earthworm and 

 delivered to the root-zone of vegetation comprised in the im- 

 mediate six to eighteen inches of surface soil. In special culture 

 beds, we commonly propagate earthworms in concentrations of 

 upwards of three thousand worms per cubic foot of material, 

 which means, in round numbers, one hundred and thirty million 

 worms per acre-foot. 



With the above figures and objectives in mind, it is possible 

 to begin to visualize the possibilities of soil-building, whether it 

 be for a single flower pot, a window box of flowers, a small city 

 yard or garden, or more extensive acreage in large gardens, nur- 

 series, orchards, or farms. 



We ordinarily think of earthworms as small, wriggling, in- 

 significant, repugnant creatures. To appreciate properly the pos- 

 sibilities inherent in the intensive propagation and use of worms 

 in soil-building, we should gain a new and different concept, 

 thinking of them in units of hundreds, thousands, or even mil- 

 lions, instead of thinking in terms of separate, tiny, individual 

 worms. For purposes of illustration, suppose we ask, "How 

 many are a million earthworms?" and use our imagination in 

 answering the question. 



Mentally, we shall combine one million earthworms into a 

 single, composite animal and place this animal on an acre of 

 ground, with a year's ration of fertile topsoil piled up around it 

 in symmetrical piles for its daily consumption. We shall then 

 have a monster animal, weighing more than 2000 pounds, with 

 365 piles of soil before it. Each pile will contain approximately 

 one cubic yard of earth, weighing upwards of 2000 pounds. Each 

 pile will represent the daily ration of this fantastic, dirt-eating 

 animal, that will swallow its own weight or more of earth each 



