72 HARNESSING THE EARTHWORM 



plowed under. Seldom was any material exposed on the surface 

 more than a few minutes ahead of the plows, for part of the 

 technique followed was to plow the egg-capsules and live earth- 

 worms under, so that as many of the earthworms would survive 

 as possible to continue their valuable work in the soil. Also it 

 was necessary to plow the worms and capsules under as quickly 

 as possible to escape the voracious, marauding crows which 

 swarmed in great flocks to the feast of worms and capsules so 

 thoughtfully spread for them. At this time, to my great delight, 

 I was appointed crow hunter. Armed with a light shotgun, I 

 industriously banged away at the crows to my heart's content, 

 killing some of them and keeping hundreds of them at a dis- 

 tance until the plows could turn the earth and bury the worms 

 and capsules safe from the birds and the sun. I estimate that 

 several tons per acre of this highly potent fertilizer material 

 were annually plowed into the fields in perparation for the crops 

 to follow. On account of this technique, not only was the earth 

 continually occupied by a very numerous worm population tlie 

 year round, but annually a generous "seeding" with live earth- 

 worms and capsules was planted to replenish and help renew the 

 fertility of the earth. 



More than forty years after my experience on my grand- 

 father's farm, studies of the earthworms in the soil of Ohio were 

 made by the Ohio State University. In plots of soil covered 

 with bluegrass, on the Ohio State University Farm, they found 

 earthworms in numbers of one million or more per acre. From 

 my experience of almost a lifetime of study and experimentation 

 with earthworms, I am sure that the earthworm population of 

 my grandfather's farm far exceeded one million to the acre. 



In the annual distribution of the fertilizer, my grandfather 

 never completely stripped the compost pit. One year he would 

 begin the hauling at one end of the pit, stripping back the top 

 layers of material which had not been broken down, leaving a 

 generous portion at the other end of the pit as breeding and 

 culture ground. After the hauling of the fertilizer was com- 



