EARTHWORM “MENACE”

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19453, 12 October 1937, Page 13

EARTHWORM “MENACE”

REPLY TO FARMERS “ONE OF BEST FRIENDS” BIOLOGIST’S VIEWS Are earthworms pests? This is an important question for all farmers and gardeners, for upon the answer de--1 pends in a large measure the future of their land. Farmers about Kerepeehi, on the Hauraki Plains in the North Island, have declared war upon the worms, describing them as pests and suggesting that the Department of Agriculture should be approached for . assistance in getting rid of them. The matter was before a recent meeting of the Kerepeehi branch of the New Zealand Farmers’ Union, at which it was reported with alarm that the worm population near there was 82,000,000 to the acre, and increasing rapidly. Lest other farmers and gardeners should be influenced by this report and throw their forces into the battle against worms, it will be of importance to record the opinion of Professor W. B. Benham, F.R.S., formerly professor of biology in the University of Otago, who is visiting Christchurch at the moment. Professor Benham is a world authority on earthworms, a student of their life histories and their economic value. When the report of the North Island farmers’ fears reached his ears he was mildly amused. “The Wrong Tree” “Those farmers are barking up the wrong tree,” he said. “Charles Darwin has shown, and so have others after him, that the earthworm is one of the farmer’s best friends. If it were not for the worms, the soil could not support the life it does support, and if the Hauraki farmers destroy all their worms then they might as well close up their farms. “I do wish I had the figures and all the data with me; but nevertheless the farmers should understand that tne/ are most certainly wrong. The worms eat holes in the soil and let the air down into it. When they eject the soil again it is a highly nutritive vegetable mould upon which plants thrive. The natural processes of the little worms are therefore of very big consequence. Quicker Germination “Seeds will germinate far quicker in this vegetable mould than in ordinary soil. Anyone who has a lawn will recognise the worm castings above the surface, and should note that this is the nutritive vegetable matter upon which the lawn will thrive. There is no possibility whatsoever of earthworms operating as a pest. Rather they arc a great army of allies for the farmer.” Professor Benham was not prepared to believe the report that the worm population on parts of the Hauraki Plains was 82,000,000 to the acre. He thought it was more likely to be 82,000. Whatever the figure, the more the better, he said.