The Early Worm
All keepers of golf greens, or for that matter of lawns, must have been aware of the abnormal activity of the earthworms ; and their destruction has been regarded as an almost necessary prelude to the use of the roller. Yet those who destroy worms (those enemies of the accurate putter) do not always realise the uses of this humble cultivator. It is a great aerating and in some degree a draining agency. Where the worms have been got rid of, as on the greens of most bigger golf courses, moss and other weeds not observed before may flourish and do permanent, not, as the worms, only seasonal harm. Experience of this compensation has led to the general recommendation of the spiked roller ; and it has become almost a necessity for the growing of good grass on greens and lawns where the soil is at all heavy. I have lately seen both greens and fairways where the starlings have done the work of the spiked roller. Indeed, their dibble holes are so close together and so obvious that they have been mistaken for the work of a mechanical tool. However well cleared of worms a lawn may be the popula- tion soon returns, for even the worm migrates, sometimes very considerable distances. It has been lately proved, for example, that mass migrations occur from drying hill tops to good moist valleys. Land reclaimed from the sea is soon populated and must await its higher point of fertility till the
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