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Earthworms

http://res.agr.ca/lond/pmrc/faq/earthwor.html

-- 
Lawrence F. London, Jr. - Venaura Farm - Chapel Hill, NC, USA
mailto:london@sunSITE.unc.edu  http://sunSITE.unc.edu/InterGarden
mailto:llondon@nuteknet.com  http:nuteknet.com/london  Venaura Farm
Title: Earthworms
Frequently Asked Questions About Earthworms

Contact: Dr. Alan D. Tomlin

FAQ Menu URL: http://res.agr.ca/lond/pmrc/faq/menu.html

Pictures of Various Worms Species and cocoons

Why are there no native Canadian earthworms?

Should you try and raise earthworms for the fish bait market?

Should I let earthworm pickers on to my farm to harvest dew worms?

How much should I charge earthworm pickers to harvest earthworms from my farm?

What is the effect of conservation or no-till on earthworm populations and other soil organisms?

Will seagulls following the plow destroy earthworm populations in my fields?

Do earthworms come to the surface after heavy rains to avoid drowning?

Technical Questions ?? - Earthworm BBS.

How do earthworms affect transport of nutrient and toxics in soil? Try a working model of earthworms in food chains.

Reference Articles for Earthworm Harvesters Growers, & Gardeners

Key words to be used in searches for FAQs

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Various earthworm species Four adult worms representing the more commonly found species in Ontario (20 species total). Size differences reflect differences among species.
Earthworm eggs Dendrobaena rubidus cocoons (relative to a pin head).

Q. Why are there no native Canadian earthworms?

A. Because glacial sheets that covered nearly all of Canada until about 15,000 years ago wiped out any native North American species that may have lived here.



Q. Should you try and raise earthworms for the fish bait market?

A. The short answer is "no", but e-mail tomlina@em.agr.ca to request package explaining how bait market works.



Q. Should I let earthworm pickers on to my farm to harvest dew worms?

A. You can, and it can be quite profitable for you if you rent out the picking rights. If you are concerned about sustaining the earthworm populations in your field, you could specify the number of nights that can be used by pickers, limit the number of pickers, or have pickers on your land every other year to conserve the worms.



Q. How much should I charge earthworm pickers to harvest earthworms from my farm?

A. That depends on how good your soils are for worms, but a good one-acre field could easily provide 300,000 worms annually which would ultimately retail in the US for $0.20 Canadian each (that's $60,000). I would think that the source farmer should try and obtain about $500 for that.



Q. What is the effect of conservation or no-till on earthworm populations and other soil organisms?

A. They generally increase under conservation or no-till....usually dramatically.


Effect of Tillage on Earthworm Populations Till = Conventional tillage
No-Till = No-Tillage


Q. Will seagulls following the plow destroy earthworm populations in my fields?

A. No. Seagull feeding is normally responsible for far less earthworm mortality than plowing itself.



Q. Do earthworms come to the surface after heavy rains to avoid drowning?

A. No. Earthworms can survive for several weeks under water.



ATTENTION: Technical Questions ??
If you have technical questions related to earthworms, you can submit those questions here to theEarthworm Bulletin Board Service which is monitored by more than 40 earthworm specialists from around the world.


Try a Dynamic Earthworm Transport Model using STELLA modelling techniques!

This is an Earthworm transport model for soil ecosystems. In order to use this model, you must do the following:

  1. Obtain a FREE run-time demo copy of the application from High Performance Systems Web site that you use to open and display the earthworm transport model.
  2. Download the earthworm model (PKZIP format, 51 K), then extract the archived file to load into the application.
  3. Should you encounter problems, please contact: Dr. Alan Tomlin

Reference Articles for Earthworm Harvesters Growers, & Gardeners

The following articles may be obtained by sending an E-mail request.

ATTENTION!!
  1. Selecting Article Titles with hypertext links will allow you to download a PKZIPPED file on the subject, containing ASCII and WP5.2 versions of the document. PKZIP for Windows can be obtained from PKWare, Inc.
  2. To request a hard copy of a non-downloadable file, copy and paste text from the reference list below into your E-Mail meassage. PLEASE include your full Snail-Mail address in your E-Mail message.
  3. Mac Users - You will need the shareware Program "ZiPIt" to open the ZIP files. You can obtain ZiPIt from SoftLock Services. Your wordprocessor will also have to be able to open WordPerfect V5.1/5.2 files.
  4. Copyright considerations prevent us from making some of the following packages available for downloading from this web site.

  1. Earthworm biology. 1980. By A.D. Tomlin. An outline of earthworm biology written in easy to understand language for people who wish to grow earthworms for fish bait. Originally prepared and delivered as part of a short course sponsored by the University of Guelph, Dept. of Continuing Education, for earthworm growers in 1980 and 1981. 5 pages.
  2. Vermicomposting of different organic wastes. By: Piccone et al. 1986. In: Compost: production, quality and use. Compares plant growth for different organic amendments (peat moss, earthworm castings, manure) for soil in greenhouse experiments. 4 pages.
  3. Earthworm compost versus classic compost in horticultural substrates. By: Penninck & Verdonck. 1986. In: Compost: production, quality and use. Similar type of experiment to no. 2 above. 4 pages.
  4. Earthworm bait market in North America. By: A.D. Tomlin. 1983. In: Earthworm ecology. pp331-338. The paper outlines pricing structure at different distribution levels of baitworm business, and estimates numbers of worms that are harvested and annually traded to supply North American sport fishing industry. 8 pages.
  5. Life history of Eudrilus eugeniae. By Neuhauser et al. 1979. Research paper from a technical journal that provides data on life span of E. eugeniae (=African nightcrawlers), which is usually 15 weeks or less. Plenty of useful information on food & temperature requirements, growth rates and maximum sizes of worms obtainable under high density rearing conditions. 9 pages.
  6. Raising Earthworms Brochure prepared by Dr. Tomlin for Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada in 1983 and reprinted in 1984 outlining the basics of earthworm biology, and considerations for growing earthworms. 4 page leaflet.
  7. Earthworm growing business. 1981. An overview reproduced from a farm newspaper article by Dr. Tomlin in The Grower, in March, 1981 in easy to understand language. 3 pages.
  8. Vermiculture in Italy. By Cecchi et al. 1987. The experience of Italian vermicomposters trying to grow earthworms for profit during the 1980's. 15 pages. More technical, but very useful for someone considering going into earthworm growing business.
  9. Collection of references on growing African nightcrawler worms. This information was assembled from Dr. Tomlin's reference collection of papers and articles on earthworms, and includes experiences and case studies dealing with the problems that earthworm growers brought him from 1975 to 1995. 16 pages.
  10. What is our man doing at 4 am on the golf course in Ontario? An article by Gary Lamphier of the Wall Street Journal, Nov.11, 1987 based on interviews with Dr. Tomlin and some of the earthworm harvesters in southern Ontario in 1987. Interesting reading. 2 page photocopy of article.
  11. A transcript of a December, 1994 CBC-TV program outlining some problems of earthworm growers may be obtained from 5th Estate by e-mail at: fifth@cbc.toronto.ca.


Special Topics: (that are identified with PMRC)

Key words to be used in searches for FAQs:

earthworms, Lumbricus terrestris, mites, slugs, snails, pesticides, heavy metals, soil ecology, ecosystem, modelling, habitat, sludge, disposal, waste disposal, springtails, soil organisms

Background information to support search:

(articles, references, brochures, handouts, etc.)


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Last Revised: 11 November, 1996 08:55:05