158 HARNESSING THE EARTHWORM 



AREAS SAMPLED 



To obtain more complete data than have been published here- 

 tofore, to the knowledge of the writers, samples of casts and of 

 the surrounding soil mass were collected in the fall of 1942 from 

 both field and forest and were subjected to rather complete ana- 

 lysis. 4 The field samples were obtained in a field of sorghum and 

 soybean stubble and young sweet clover on Earthworm Tillage 

 Farms No. 1 5 , in North Stonington, Connecticut. The "earth- 

 worm tillage" consists essentially in working the stubble and 

 other plant debris into the upper 4 or 5 inches of soil by means 

 of disk and spring-tooth harrows, rather than plowing under in 

 the conventional manner. Everything possible is done to supply 

 food for the worms in order to increase their number. The field, 

 of approximately 4 acres, was being pastured by ten steers and 

 two milk cows. The soil is principally Hinckley gravelly loam, 

 and the higher portion is classed as belonging to the Gloucester 

 or Plymouth series. Samples were collected at 5-pace intervals 

 along six lines across the field, and each group of line samples 

 was composited into one sample. In each case three kinds of 

 material were taken; first, earthworm casts; second, the adjoin- 

 ing soil mass to a depth of 6 inches ; and third, soil at the 8- 16- 

 inch level. 



The forest soil samples, obtained in four separate areas, con- 

 sisted of casts; Al horizon (nearby top J/ to 1 inch of soil, not 

 casts); A3 horizon (lj^ to 8- inch layer consisting of the re- 

 mainder of A and, in some cases, a part of the B horizon) ; and 

 B, horizon (8 to 20 inches, more or less). Locations and descrip- 

 tions of the areas are as follows : 



I. Mt Carmel State Park. Hamden. Holyoke stony fine sandy 

 loam. Mixed hard woods, principally oak with maple and dogwood. Sam- 



Field samples were collected by H. G. M. Jacobson and E. J. Rubins ; 

 those from forested areas, by H. A. Lunt and D. B. Downs. Most of the 

 analyses were made by Mr. Rubins. 



5 Property of Christopher M. Gallup. 



