HUMUS 25 



agreeable odor when crushed or injured. Its favorite habitat is 

 manure piles and compost heaps, hence its name "manure worm." 

 Contrary to general belief, however, the manure worm readily 

 adapts itself to the same environments favored by the rainworm. 

 The brandling gorges voraciously on manure and decaying vege- 

 tation, digesting, deodorizing and converting all such material into 

 rich, clean humus, with an odor similar to fresh turned meadow 

 earth. The castings of the manure worm, like those of the rain- 

 worm and the many other species of earthworms, contain a very 

 high percentage of water-soluble plant nutrients. 



The manure worm is not a deep-burrowing worm like its 

 relative the rainworm, but prefers to work in the surface areas 

 under rotting vegetation, manure, and other decaying materials. 

 However, after becoming adapted to the soil, it is soon a good 

 burrower and will take care of itself in almost all climates. The 

 manure worm is found widely distributed throughout the United 

 States and in Europe, both in the southern as well as in the colder 

 latitudes. In size, it may attain a length of six inches or more, 

 but in measuring a large number of mature manure worms we 

 determined an average length of about four inches. In intensive 

 propagation and use of earthworms, size is important and the 

 smaller varieties can be utilized with better results than can the 

 larger worms. This point will be emphasized later. 



Finally, when we come to the subject of the intensive propa- 

 gation and use of earthworms in soil-building for agriculture, hor- 

 ticulture, orcharding, nursery, and home gardening, we shall dis- 

 cuss somewhat at length what we have termed "domesticated 

 earthworms." The term "domesticated" is applied to earthworms 

 which have been developed through selective breeding and feed- 

 ing methods in a controlled environment especially created to fa- 

 vor intensive propagation, as opposed to native earthworms which 

 are found in most fertile, well-watered soils. 



From this brief discussion of the earthworm family, we pass 

 to a consideration of the feeding habits and digestive functions 

 of earthworms, which make them possibly the most valuable ani- 

 mals on earth. 



