Worms as Soil Renovators

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXI, Issue 36, 3 September 1903, Page 20

Worms as Soil Renovators

Earth worms are not soil formers, for they are seldom met with in soils that are destitute of organic matter. They are simply renovators (says the ' Fertiliser '). Every time a worm is driven by dry weather, or any other cause, to descend deep, it brings to the surface, when it empties the contents of its body, a few particles of fresh earth. At the same time it fertilises the subsoil by opening up passages, which encourage the roots of plants to penetrate deeper, these passages being lined with excreted matter, which provides a store of nourishment for the roots. On meadow land Darwin found that these worm-casts amount annually to eighteen tons an acre, and on good arable land to about 10 tons.