126 HARNESSING TH*. EARTHWORM 



layer by layer. We always spread the garbage evenly over sur- 

 face of bed and then add a thin layer of sifted topsoil on top of 

 garbage to absorb odors and furnish a base of soil for combining 

 with the vegetable and other matter. The worms consume and 

 combine everything, the final product being rich, black topsoil 

 for potting or other use. Lawn clippings, leaves, small prun- 

 ings, all trimmings from the vegetable gardens, such as cabbage 

 leaves, lettuce, or other organic material, can be used in the 

 compost, adding it layer by layer and mixing enough topsoil 

 or subsoil to prevent heating. In composting with earthworms, 

 it is highly important to mix the compost with enough earth so 

 that a high degree of heat will not be developed. This is also 

 one of the main reasons for keeping the culture bed shallow in 

 depth. Deep piles of compost should be avoided, as they may 

 develop intense heat in the deeper layers, enough to destroy 

 animal life, a fact that should always be borne in mind. A 

 liberal amount of manure mixed into compost is a very great 

 advantage. 



Intensive Production of Earthworms 



Where a rich compost is provided, a culture bed eight feet 

 long, four feet wide and two feet deep will easily support a 

 population of fifty thousand domesticated earthworms. Once 

 such a culture bed is fully impregnated and developed from 

 a lug-box setup, it is no problem further to develop earthworm 

 culture. In starting additional culture beds, or establishing large 

 compost beds in the open, we simply take a liberal portion of 

 compost from the old culture bed a wheelbarrow load or more 

 with such worms and capsules as it may contain and use this 

 as a starter for the new composting operation. This start will 

 quickly impregnate the new compost, and by the time the bed 

 is full there will be an adequate worm population to break it down 

 quickly into fertile topsoil. 



We wish to emphasize at this point that we are laying down 

 certain general principles for earthworm culture. We offer 



