Billy Wilson, age 13, of Cask Hill, N. Via., for his question:

How does the earthworm help the farmer?

The earthworm, as everyone knows, is a vary useful follow on a fishing trip. But ha does his best work for the farmer. The great Charles Darwin, who knew so much about the ways of Nature, called the little pink earthworm Nature's Plowman. Yes, he does plow up the earth by bringing the lower soil up to the surface.

Of cruise, one earthworm does not eat much soil. But a lot of them can accomplish a greet deal. Mr. Pinky digs his burrow by eating the soil. His body digests the only scraps of frrl it finds in the dirt and gets rid of the rust. This waste material is a little coil of dirt called a worm casting. It is soil which the worm ate down below the surface.

This deeper soil is rich in minerals. It must be near the surface to food the farmer's crops. Mr. Pinky and his relatives bring up tons of this deep, rich dirt to replace the worm out surface soil oath year.