On
the third morning twenty-five burrows were counted; and by suddenly
lifting up the little cakes of earth, four worms were seen in the
act of quickly retreating. Two castings were thrown up during the
third night on the floor, and these were of large size. The season
was not favourable for the full activity of worms, and the weather
had lately been hot and dry, so that most of the worms now lived at
a considerable depth. In digging the two trenches many open
burrows and some worms were encountered at between 30 and 40 inches
beneath the surface; but at a greater depth they became rare. One
worm, however, was cut through at 48.5, and another at 51.5 inches
beneath the surface. A fresh humus-lined burrow was also met with
at a depth of 57 and another at 65.5 inches. At greater depths
than this, neither burrows nor worms were seen.
As I wished to learn how many worms lived beneath the floor of the
atrium--a space of about 14 by 9 feet--Mr. Farrer was so kind as to
make observations for me, during the next seven weeks, by which
time the worms in the surrounding country were in full activity,
and were working near the surface. It is very improbable that
worms should have migrated from the adjoining field into the small
space of the atrium, after the superficial mould in which they
prefer to live, had been removed.
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