Photostory #25: Gardener's Gold from Earthworms

Photographers
Herb Taylor
Maker
National Film Board of Canada
Release Date
December 7, 1955
Collection
CMCP fonds
Credit Line
Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography fonds, National Gallery of Canada Library and Archives
Main Text
A little-known earthworm, recently imported from Tennessee, promises to be the answer to many of the farmer's most serious problems. The "Red Wiggler", smaller than the common earthworm produces topsoil over 300 times as fast. Burrowing a dozen feet into the earth, the Wiggler builds an inch of topsoil a year. Captain C. E. Misner, a former lake sailor, who imported the worm says he now needs no sprays or fertilizers on his 400-acre Fenwick, Ont. farm. The worms produce a rich, dark soil which he calls "Gardener's Gold". It grows hardier, earlier maturing plants, which resist disease and parasites. Worm culture first interested Misner when he took over operation of the family farm on retirement; discovered the high costs of commercial fertilizers. Now he sells both worms and compost as far away as Australia, New Zealand and South America.
Locations: