EARTH WORMS IN NEW ZEALAND.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXII, Issue 7176, 30 May 1885, Page 4

EARTH WORMS IN NEW ZEALAND.

I^IV :; The K following from the pen of Mr &t|?;.Ujfq,ahart.was some time ago quoted by from the correspondence columns ZVe«> Zealand Journal of Science: — |§§£liV October, 1875, I dug a trench on iM^oiitfe newly- cleared land — a raised Manukau Harbor. Tho section ftl-then showed about 4|in of blaok mould, P^ifandJ a ; horizontal layer lin thick of if&fj/ttfnt cWy, wood ashea, small stones, |i_drid|'puraice lying on a brownish-green lf|?faie<f£ictious clay. Tbe vegetation If ?;cl<, ared was tho growth of some thirty l^ytars. A portion of the land was left Measurements again If^taken a few days ago (September. 1882) |fll&ava an average depth of l£in of turf, Pl^Sfia of black mould, and there was no diiferenco in the layer of An angular block of trstchylo llUbout I 251 biv weight, pla'cod iv May, p^l&iio, 'had sunk lin, allowing for the As the results of soibo accurate as lo the number of worms |p|^s* aPV e > M f Urquhart gives results so •f^itconsiderably higher than Henson's fiat havo hesitated to publish them hot in a position to prove them. will be remembered by the WM^i^itsyAoi Darwin ou " Vegetable calculates that there are *^!\T>Bj767, worms per acre in garden mould, fsf^iid' about half that number in corn pglSields, Mr Urquhart's estimates, ..upon digging about a quarter ms3)£i "an, acre, as well as by a large number fepof tests on various parts of tho field — Iffefome that were under pasture for over l&pl^ixteen'- years — gave from four to K^twieiity-six per each square foot. The P^alluvia,! flats, slopes, and richer portions jp?£o._i tlie upper lands would average eight P^tp'tbe ; square foot, or say, 348,480 per pSjgapro." . 'Jin the uncultivated fern lands Af^oruas : are scarce. In New Zealand not only leave their burrows but ||l|fclimb up trees in search of food, this in.the night time, though often hour on. damp, warm morn-