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Show wist uiiim i uiiii iitiiiin. IIUW TIOV IHriAltfc Till! UltUU.NII lull 1IIK llr, I I r IIIAIIAS. 0WW l-rKl In Iho "I'luirt liiua ot the Itoyal tie. graphical Hrrleiy," Octeber, laul, Mr. Alvun Million mvea the follow-lug follow-lug eooount of Ihe extra irdlnary work .lone by Witt African eartlt wormt "Norlliwanl fr in Itndaii, which may Ihi describe I as the ci tru of Ihe i hlef military and i mmerclal iiwer 1 1 Voruba, two ays' j umey about forty mllea through many Tillages, an I a landetape (Ii ttnl Tar anJ near with nil alma 1 1 Ilia gueneenais), along u roa.1 Ihrongi I wltti travolett, Irlngt nn. In the ca Ital ol Central Voruba, Oyu(AwawJ "(lllleavlig lbadan, I leeed III Iho (ourseofour lu trning'a maicli over 4,7ui) men, women an I ihlldren hurry log Into the great i ily from th, farm villages, with loaus of inalle, Uaus, atns, yam 11 ,ur, awit potatuer, U" It, I Igv, Uuoas, or driving tattle, sheep nu i goats, or moiin 1 on email native horse, which nl e illicitly alulig under the comlliivd ititluencoof an Arab ring bit aud an armed spur, whlctikavea Ha traces In deep scoria al mil tho llRltkt ul tin o r autmals. ''Par and wii tho land has, for gnu rations, and Indred lorceuiurles, been cultivated ly thefu IntusirliAla nallvie. The hut. net, tho tin anJ Ihe hoe have removed all Iraiea of the urlglual forist, aive Indietl wruro n d ai It trail of gret n at r sa tho lau Ismpe ehuue wliern thu valley of pome narrow nar-row watercourse or largir river la hid den among trie,. "lor two or three ears at mist the land laollowodti lie falloA, wllllo for Ihree or four )eara Uoul in rr tleble rronre raised wit uoliirthercultlva Itili lliah u orctt.lonal sempu with a lioe, and during lla fallow tlmu no further tare s lakeu of it than td Uta tank growth ot realy grass spring up some six or eight fs-art lu htight. Am mg thla grass utn li stun the st-etillugsaod young plants of a new forest Willi h would rap! Ily take pot-tension pot-tension were the land to be jamnabiul-ly jamnabiul-ly deeetteit. "In t Ho of thla careless and ix-liaustlng ix-liaustlng method of cultivation, the croptmal&tala 'un vxcclknl riTerige, aud Ihe pnma Int of ground servta for generations tu su anrt Its owners. ' the following extract, laken from notiatakrnallhu tlmo wlllierve tn explain the a) latently luexhauptitilo itrtlllt) ot a soil uhlcli iki, not at llrst sight show any tlgnaof unusual rlclitiiis. Were oils to visit VoruU during the early part of the rainy season only It would aijear lmiaslol,tu account for this, facts, s a a whllouudir our fetl, uiiih Iked, Wat going on Ihu i east lese labor of lliu real fertilisers rt the land. "In the dry siuaou Ih, mystery Is at onie solved, aud III tbe allll leatand mostunexp-clej mnnnti, Thu whole surlare of the ground among the grass la soon lu l-u entered b serried tanks ot cylindrical worm caabj. rtieaeworm cu-ta vary lu height from a iuarter of an It eti lo three inches, and ixlstln astonishing numbers. It la lu many lines lmttitl, to pries your finger upon tho ground wlthiui tuuthlug one. I ur eoon of square mile, the irowd the land clotf ly ackcd.ui tight, and I urmd by Ih, tun Into rlkld rolls of hardeked clay. Them llisy stand until the rains bitak them down Into a line owdir, rich In plant food, mid len ling Itself easily lo the lioo ol the farrrer. "Hating carefully removed Hie worm laita of rnu aoaain from twu separate a uaru feet ot laud at a considerable con-siderable Ot tanio from ono anothtr, and ibottu at random, I find the result to welsh not leaa than ten and time-qunttir time-qunttir louudt In a lliorougbly ir alate. This glvea a menu ol ovtr Aro pounds tr square fool. Aice ling till, aa the amount ol turtlt Iruuylit It to Ihu surface etiry enr by Ihree worms, we kct somewhat some-what eiarlllng result,. 1 aay say, spenklng from tho reietltof unit rout xirlmehte, that ttte joundalaa vtry moderate yearly tellmtte of tbe work doni b) time tajty laborers ou each square foot of lull, "l.veu at llila mulerale isllmtle, hnnevvr, of tho atmuitl result of tbilr work, we lmte a total of nut lest tl an li.iit tout of uuUoll brought to the aurfaieoneaib siiunro mile of colli vablolani la tho I'orubn lounlry iar nfier year, an I tu the mulling Itlwra of Us earthworuta thla rt of Wtt AfrkanwMlhe llvtlihocd of lla r- le. Wheie tli, woima do not work tlin loiulil knows that It lauteleia lo mate lilt farm. "I .tlratlliig one aquare yard of iiri initli by two fut deep ut nrlghin, half a Ion, we havu an auriual iuue-mantof iuue-mantof tuitli irtuaroyard to the (liqthof twu ttet itiiioiintliig to not kvllianfirly.tlveouuds. 1 rum th a IIU.rnrslhat uvory putlclu of unrili Iniaih Ion of soli to the ilei tli of two feit It bruiikhtti tbuiurfaco onie In twinty-tevinyriip. Tlio intthwotin which ) ro luci a surli Burpritlng resiilia has tun Identl-Hod Identl-Hod as u new eiii-a of alpliunogiister n gemif known lilthtriu only lu the Mia Villi." |
