14 HARNESSING THE EARTHWORM 



sidering the earthworm, we do not exclude other forces of nature 

 just as important in the biological processes of soil-building, but 

 it so happens that the earthworm is one major force in nature 

 which can easily be placed under control, propagated and ex- 

 ploited for human use in an intensive manner, just as other forces 

 of nature, such as water power and electricity, have been adapted 

 to the service of man. 



In developing the idea of harnessing the earthworm, we are 

 not dealing with theory, wild speculation or wishful thinking 

 we are dealing with facts. For generations scientists, students, 

 experimenters and practical tillers of the soil have studied the 

 earthworm and recorded its value in nature. Many individuals 

 have adapted its activities to their own use and profit. Others 

 have carried out selective breeding and feeding experiments over 

 a period of many years in developing what we have termed 

 "domesticated' earthworms," peculiarly adapted to intensive 

 production under control, together with the best methods of 

 propagation, feeding, and practical utilization in the modern 

 scheme of life as it is lived. 



Our task in this inquiry is to cull out, boil down and 

 present the facts pertinent to the subject of harnessing the earth- 

 worm in such a manner as to inspire the reader to go to work 

 and prove to himself, through actual demonstration, the possibili- 

 ties in store for him. To cover the subject in all its related de- 

 tails would require years of study and volumes of exposition. 

 Scientific studies of the earthworm are voluminous, taking in a 

 period of more than two hundred years, with references dating 

 back to the time of ancient Greece and Egypt. In our search for 

 material we have delved into scientific and other literature 

 books on zoology, biology, botany, agriculture, horticulture, 

 special articles in magazines, newspapers, pamphlets, agricultural 

 bulletins, experiment station records, and similar sources. 



We have also spent some years of work in practical research 

 and experimentation, verifying the claims about earthworms 

 which we found in the literature on the subject. Incidental to 



