106 HARNESSING THE EARTHWORM 



facilitated. A hose nozzle or flat sprinkler head can be inserted 

 between the boxes without disturbing the tiers and the entire tier 

 can thus be watered in one or two minutes. Once the cultures 

 are set up, all the attention they require between harvest times 

 three or four weeks apart is watering once or twice a week, 

 depending on the weather and temperature. In hot, dry weather 

 more watering is required than in cool, wet weather. Cultures 

 should be kept thoroughly moist at all times for best results. In 

 watering, a gentle sprinkler stream should be used so that the 

 surface of the culture will not be rudely disturbed by the force 

 of a hard stream or spray. We always use a layer of gunny 

 sack material on top of the culture material in each box. The 

 gunny sack conserves moisture and prevents drying out; and 

 also acts as a water spreader, insuring even spread of the water 

 and preventing disturbance of the culture material by force of 

 the water. 



Gunny Sacks 



We have found that plenty of gunny sacks are almost indis- 

 pensable in earthworm culture. Old potato sacks, sugar sacks, 

 feed sacks in fact, old tow sacks of any kind provide material 

 for a multitude of purposes. We use them for cover material 

 to protect the cultures from excessive heat and cold, for shade 

 in a form of screens tacked on a lath or other light frame- 

 work. Their main use, however, is as cover material on the 

 surface of the compost in all boxes and culture beds. Such 

 cover material conserves moisture, keeps the surface of the cul- 

 ture dark and damp, and favors maximum capsule-production. 

 The worms will congregate in great numbers immediately be- 

 low the damp layer of burlap and this favors rapid breeding. 

 We use a heavy pair of tin snips for cutting the sacks into con- 

 venient sizes for regular use. Ordinary scissors may be used, 

 but they are not heavy enough for regular use. With tin snips, 

 we can cut several layers of sacking at a time, thus speeding up 



