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close this bookBetter Farming Series 04 - The Soil: How the Soil is Made up (FAO - INADES, 1976, 37 p.)
View the document(introduction...)
View the documentPreface
View the documentPlan of work
View the documentWhy we study the soil
close this folderDifferent kinds of land
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View the documentThe soil
View the documentThe subsoil
View the documentThe parent rock
View the documentExamples of different soils
close this folderWhat is soil made of ?
View the document(introduction...)
close this folderSand
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View the documentSandy soils
close this folderClay
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View the documentClay soils
close this folderSilt
View the document(introduction...)
View the documentSilty soils
close this folderHumus
View the document(introduction...)
View the documentWhat humus does
View the documentSome practical advice
View the documentAir in the soil
close this folderWater in the soil
View the document(introduction...)
View the documentCirculation of water in the soil
View the documentPractical advice
close this folderLiving creatures in the soil
View the documentEarthworms
View the documentRats and other animals
View the documentTermites
View the documentOther insects
View the documentMicrobes
View the documentSuggested question paper

Earthworms

There are a lot of worms in the soil.
If we put together all the worms living in a hectare of soil (in a football field), they would make a big heap and would weigh as much as two oxen.
Worms eat the remains of plants that are mixed with the earth.
Worms also eat a lot of earth.
You often see on the surface of the soil the little heaps of earth that worms have left.
Worms make a lot of holes in the soil.
Worms improve the soil structure.
By making holes and by eating earth, worms mix humus, sand, silt and clay. They work the soil like the farmer with his hoe.
So worms are very useful in the soil.