—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, July 8,1978
18
Earthworms are a different kind of farming
SMYRNA, Term. - While
fanners all over America
clamor for public awareness
of their financial plight,
there is a segment of the
Agricultural Americana
Folk Festival set
DAUPHIN - Log-hewing
is just one of many crafts
which will be demonstrated
daily at the Agricultural
Americana Folk Festival,
Dauphin, Pa. Other crafts
include blacksmithing,
leatherwork, cop
persmithing, egg
decorating, stained glass
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Log-hewing will be part of the Agricultural
Americana Folk Festival to be held from July 22 to
the 30 near Harrisburg.
AERIAL SPRAYING
ALFALFA - Blotch Leaf Minor
Must be sprayed on re-growth.
Use our aerial service -
NO WHEEL TRACKS
WOODLAND - Gypsy Moth
Protect your trees.
30 Acre minimum.
CORN - SPARK growth regulator.
Returns proven in Lancaster and
Chester Counties.
Closed Saturdays - July & August
,1 f BULK BLENDS ) ORGANIC
K PLANT
* [ ANH/DKOUS AMMON* A J FOOD CO.
2313 NORMAN ROAD, LANCASTER, PA
PHONE: 717-397-5152
farming population that has
remained silent.
Earthworm farmers are
quietly tending to their
business and reaping ,
work, applehead dolls,
cornhusk dolls, lace-making,
and more. These demon
strations, along with
children’s games and con
tests, music, and exhibits
will take place at the
Agricultural Americana
Folk Festival, Dauphin (six
miles west of Harrisburg).
rewards from their crops.
Today the earthworm is
climbing to its zenith in
productivity and uses. Thus,
more and more people are
turning to earthworms as a
The dates are July 22
through 30 from 10 a.m. to 7
p.m. daily.
Other demonstrations
include butter-making,
applebutter-making, turkey
shooting, panning for gold,
flintlock
and more. The children’s
activities include a pie
eating contest, spelling bee,
com-shelling contest, peanut
scramble, hay wagon rides,
and rooster catch. There will
be fun for all at the
Agricultural Americana
Folk Festival, July 22
through 30.
*»**
source for a stable income or
part-time employment.
Requiring very little
upkeep and time, ear
thworms are - quickly
becoming one of the most
popular agricultural
“crops” in the world.
Earthworms are practically
unlimited in their uses.
From putting nitrogen in the
soil to help grass grow better
to being used as a gourmet
food, earthworms are.
becoming more versatile
than their ancestoral fishing
worms.
While earthworm farming
may not sound as elite as
tobacco or beans, the ear
thworm farmer cpn
frequently make more
money than both combined.
All that is needed is a small
investment and enough room
in your backyard or field for
bins measuring four by eight
feet.
One Tennessee farmer
estimated that 16 such bins
would return $12,000 an
nually. That includes only
four harvests per year, with
one pound of the, wigglers
being sold to the National
Worm Growers Exchange
for $3. Approximately 1,000
worms make up a pound.
Now one shouldn’t get
greedy and go out and dig up
a handfull of worms and put
them in a hole in his
backyard. Chances are he’ll ■
be very disappointed.
Earthworm farming is
scientific. It takes a little
research to do it right.
Farming correctly is the key
to earthworm crops’ suc
cess.
*'*. v*"a f>
National Worm Grower
Exchange, located in
Smyrna, Term.,-has all the
information one ever wanted
to know about earthworms.
Earthworm farming can
be a family project. Mr. and
Mrs. George Boyer, Bell
Buckle, Tenn. are a retired
couple who wanted a little
extra income “for the finer
things in life.”
After only three harvests,
Boyer said he had a return of
his investment and began
making a profit.
Mrs. Boyer had some
trouble at first handling the
worms. Somewhat shiddish
at the thought of handling
the wigglers, she said all
that changed after the first
check arrived. “Now I think
of them as money,” she
commented.