DOMESTICATED EARTHWORMS 89 



already learned from practical experience. From time immemo- 

 rial farmers and gardeners have recognized that plants and 

 vegetables prosper in soil where there are plenty of earthworms, 

 but few have given any thought to why this is true. In general, 

 people who have worked with the soil have simply accepted 

 earthworms as one of the inhabitants of good soil, never realizing 

 that the worm had anything to do with the building of the soil. 



In my investigations I found scattered instances where 

 farmers who fertilized their land with manure from neighbor- 

 hood stables attempted to transplant manure-bred worms to their 

 fields. Every attempt ultimately failed, as the transplanted worms 

 did not survive. So far as I have been able to learn, no sincere 

 attempt was made to discover why such earthworms perished 

 when moved. My own experiments and research brought to light 

 the fact that earthworms are as much in need of the food and 

 soil on which they have been raised as a fish is in need of water. 

 Manure-bred worms demand manure; soil-bred worms demand 

 soil and decaying vegetable matter and humus. 



My first efforts to develop a satisfactory hybrid earthworm 

 were made in 1927 when I was engaged in landscape artistry. 

 Selected specimens of earthworms found in various sections of 

 the United States were studied, bred and interbred. Most of my 

 observations, coming under practical conditions, showed that the 

 brandling (commonly known as the manure worm) possessed 

 highly favorable qualities which, if transmitted and retained by 

 a hybrid, would be very advantageous. Chief among these fa- 

 vorable qualities was the fact that the brandling never deposited 

 its excretions above the surface of the soil. One of the main 

 objections which has been made to the use of earthworms (in 

 fact, about the only legitimate objection) is the habit of the 

 ordinary native earthworm of building little piles of lobed cast- 

 ings on lawns and golf links. On lawns such piles of castings 

 are unsightly, while on golf links they are such a nuisance that 

 in many places the worms are killed out by the use of poisons 

 and mineral fertilizers. Golf requires perfectly smooth surfaces 

 for best results and the little hillocks of castings made by the 

 earthworms are often large enough to divert the ball. In some 

 sections, particularly in England, the native earthworms produce 

 such mounds of castings that lawns, golf courses, and cricket 

 grounds have to be rolled regularly in order to keep the surface 

 smooth for good sport and sightliness. 



So the quality of delivering its excretions under the surface 



