EARTHWORM TILLAGE 149 



ciples are grasped, a new world of possibilities and instruction 

 is revealed for study and experimentation. 



We also recommend as possibly the most important book 

 on basic organic methods Sir Albert Howard's An Agricultural 

 Testament. If we were recommending one single book from 

 all books on the subject for earthworm students, we would say, 

 "read An Agricultural Testament." However, once one has 

 started on a study of organic methods, as contrasted with the 

 strictly "chemical" school of thought, one finds the sources of 

 recorded information almost endless, with the soil itself as a 

 fascinating subject for practical experimentation and never- 

 failing interest. 



As an outstanding example of what we mean by "earth- 

 worm tillage," showing the tremendous increase in food produc- 

 tion that may take place through use of such methods, we repro- 

 duce an article which appeared in the February, 1945, issue of 

 Farm Journal and Farmer's Wife, under the title, "Earthworms, 

 150,000 to the Acre." This report on the farming methods and 

 results obtained by Mr. Christopher Gallup is a corroboration of 

 the methods which we described in the chapter on "My Grand- 

 father's Earthworm Farm," but applied to a modern farm with 

 modern machinery. 



Incidentally, we have been in correspondence with Mr. Gal- 

 lup, who is an energetic, aggressive student of modern methods 

 and a successful farmer. In connection with the story of his 

 farm, we quote a few lines from a letter received from him under 

 date of April 18, 1945 : "When we used to get 70 bushel baskets 

 of corn per acre, the borers just raised cain with it ; but when our 

 yield had been stepped up to 196 baskets per acre, the borers 

 practically dropped out of the picture." In another letter from 

 Mr. Gallup under date of June 3, 1945, he remarks: "Saturday 

 we finished putting 37 truck loads of hay into the barn from two 

 fields that produced only 21 truck loads last year. No manure 

 or fertilizer was used in making the difference." 



