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Mrs. DeMaree will talk about her earthworms to anyone who will listen. They have provided her with an interesting hobby, have earned her some extra money, and have made her famous enough to be sought after when advice is needed by horticulturists and biology specialists in the surrounding area. Her worm-bed is no longer a simple soil-building unit; it has grown into the flourishing Fort Collins Earthworm Farm. Except for some help when it comes to packaging the worms for sale, Mrs. DeMaree cares for her earthworms herself. A chore? A burden? Not at all, she insists, adding: "Earthworms make the best hobby on earth. Since there are close to 1,500 species, a 'worm-fancier' has a wide field to cover. And—it is healthful to work with worms."

The DeMarees have a small stock farm in Fort Collins, Colorado, raising mostly chickens, pigs, and rabbits. One day Mrs. DeMaree decided it might be good for the acreage to increase the earthworm population. She knew nothing at all about worms except that they aerate soil. So she read up on them and got to thinking that it might be fun to grow worms as a hobby. Urged on by her young daughter, Karla Kay, she bought 10,000 brown-nosed wigglers from Bertha Baxter of Antlers, Oklahoma, and planted her beds, following advice supplied by Mrs. Baxter. That was two years ago. What a lot she knows about worms now! At the time she planted her first worm bed little did Mrs. DeMaree realize that before the summer was out she would sell 98,000 worms (not counting the thousands unrecorded), and find herself the largest "live stock" broker in Northern Colorado!

IF YOU were to ask Mrs. DeMaree how it all came about, she would tell you that words fly around a small community. The worms were no more than planted before inquiries began coming in. Students from the near-by Colorado Agricultural and Mechanical College help out on the DeMaree stock farm, so it was only natural that those from the Forestry department should tell their instructors where there was a worm bed in production. The result: Mrs. DeMaree was soon selling worms for specimen fishing to forestry classes. Other school departments began ordering worms for specialized feeding of birds and poultry, even for dissection purposes. More as an accommodation than with any eye to business, Mrs. DeMaree supplied them with worms.

"This type of school business is not what you would call a big market," says Mrs. DeMaree. But she adds that it's a fine way of getting word-of-mouth publicity. "And that is very helpful to anyone starting in a new field."

The winter of 1949 was an open one in Colorado. The warm weather lured fishermen out for lake fishing, and the DeMarees soon began almost to dread weekends for they had so many people coming for worms. When Mrs. DeMaree found that her worm-bed was two-thirds depleted she stopped all sales. It was then she made up her mind to investigate the possibilities of going into business with earthworms!

Where would she get all the worms she would need? Ten thousand worms might sound like a lot of worms to most people—but in a worm-growers language that number isn't much. Mrs. DeMaree's husband was not the least bit encouraging about this new project. He felt she couldn't find an adequate source of supply for use until she was able to grow quantities of worms; and there was no point in being in business if you had nothing to sell! But Mrs DeMaree is a woman of patience and persistence. Her determination won out over all objections.

NOW, WITH almost two years' experience behind her, Mrs. DeMaree happily acknowledges that selling worms is a tedious but vitally interesting project, and profitable too. Dealing in worms isn't as "dirty" a business as you might imagine; and it can be handled very nicely by a woman. It does tie you down during the bait season—but so does any other private enterprise. Mrs. DeMaree warns, too, that in supplying worms—as in other fields of merchandising—you must have a good product to offer or your business will not succeed.

To find the exact type of worm she wanted to sell, Mrs. DeMaree wrote to almost every grower of worms listed in gardening and hobby magazines, stating that she was in the market for a large sized worm in quantities. Replies came in; but none of them offered what she wanted. She was almost ready to give up and try her hand at something else when she had a "bite" from the Hudson Bait Company of Columbus, Ohio. Yes, they had a nice size worm to offer and could supply up to 50,000 worms a week. A few samples were sent for her inspection. Mrs. DeMaree at last had found her source of supply!

Her next move was to look for prospective customers. She dropped in on one of the large local sporting goods houses in Fort Collins and made some inquiries as to the worm situation. She was told it was a wide open field. Three other sporting goods houses said the same thing to her. All four stores had heard of the size of the worms in her beds (that is what word-of-mouth publicity does!) and they were eager "to stock her worms. Not that they had anything against the people who were then supplying them, except that the worms were small. The stores wanted a larger worm.

Mrs. DeMaree was not content to take just the local stores as a market indication. She was going into this business seriously—and did not want to leap into something that would not prove worth the hardships and heartaches entailed. So she went into Denver to talk with a few shopkeepers and came home with the names of two stores which promised to buy from her. Next, she got hold of a Casper, Wyoming, telephone directory and wrote to four sporting goods houses in that city (two of which later became quantity customers). To round out her survey she then got in touch with the representative of a wholesale sporting goods house in the Rocky Mountain area—this man covered the states of Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, and Utah. The interview ended by his asking Mrs. DeMaree to supply 140 of his accounts! Roberta DeMaree knew full well that it would be a long time before she could take on 140 accounts—but this final offer was what really convinced her that there was a market for earthworms. For those who might like to follow in her footsteps she passes on these constructive suggestions:

BEFORE YOU market worms it is necessary to grow them. The simplest and most practical method for beginning an earthworm bed is the use of boxes. These boxes can be either model breeding boxes which you can obtain from the worm grower who supplies you with your breeding stock or you may use the simple fruit boxes which you can get free from your nearest food market. A breeding setup requires very little space—two by four feet is large enough. You can stack your boxes on a base support which will accommodate three or four tiers of breeding boxes—about 500 adult earthworms to a box. The price of your breeding stock varies, depending upon the dealer from whom you buy. Worms sell wholesale for as little as 40 cents for 100, and up—the quality and species of the earthworm determining the price.

Mrs. DeMaree's advice is: Start with as many units as you can afford; for with a greater number of breeding units your production will be substantially higher.

"I line my breeding boxes with layers of newspapers," says Mrs. DeMaree. "This lets moisture get out but will keep the worms from going down to the boxes beneath—or just roaming away. Worms love it if you put in a couple of layers of burlap bag material—why, I don't know—but they twist themselves in and out of it and have a lot of fun, I guess."

Mrs. DeMaree only half fills her boxes with soil (this is fine and well moistened). She then adds manure and vegetable peelings—this is earthworm food. "In their castings, worms turn this mixture into the richest soil in no time at all," states Mrs. DeMaree.

The cost of feeding worms is practically nothing—unless you have to buy manure. But manure really isn't necessary if you have lots of table scraps. Manure is good for worms; but worms thrive on garbage. "But," warns Mrs. DeMaree, "when you place the garbage in either breeding box or warm bed be sure to put a layer of soil over it to keep the odors down." In feeding earthworms you have to watch two things—first, do not use manure or scraps that have been sprayed with DDT; or manure from barns where worm capsules have been given to the animals. Secondly, be careful not to throw the worms any citrus fruits or rinds—these kill worms. Earthworms like sweets, fats, cornmeal. But they particularly like spoiling vegetables. They also relish milk and buttermilk.

Earthworms multiply with almost incredible rapidity, A single egg-capsule may hatch from one to as many as twenty worms each. Under favorable conditions (chiefly a matter of a warm temperature), an earthworm may produce a capsule every three or four days, so you can see how easy it is to grow worms. Once you have made a good start with your breeding units, Mrs. DeMaree suggests you turn from breeding boxes to a culture bed, which is simple to make and easy to operate. In Mrs. DeMaree's estimation, the proper size for a worm bed is four by six feet, for you can reach the middle of such a bed from either side. To make a culture bed, you dig a piece of ground about two feet deep, line your bed with lumber and fill with a little soil and filling mixture (similar to your breeding boxes). Such a bed will take care of approximately 50,000 worms.

ROBERTA DEMAREE does not pretend, to be a large scale worm grower. At present her operations are still on a hobby basis that pays its way and gives her enough profit for those "extras" which make life much more pleasant. For the time being she wants to keep it that way. Her advice to anyone interested in marketing earthworms is this: Have a good worm to offer—see to it that it is well packaged—and give service to your customers. Nothing ought to be too much trouble. Friendliness and courtesy ought to be your watchwords. The only way you can meet competition in trade is by means of added service and good business methods. So Mrs. DeMaree suggests you spend time and thought on the human side of your business.

Not growing—but packaging; that's where you run into problems," says Mrs. DeMaree. Several worm growers she knows just throw some dirt in a tin can, drop in the worms, and consider their product ready for sale. Not so with Roberta DeMaree. To begin with, she has worked hard to get the idea of worms as slimy, dirty creatures out of people's minds. So, naturally, she wanted a clean, refined looking package for her worms. She looked at tin containers, plastic boxes, and finally decided on a simple round pint carton made of waxed cardboard—the Marathon carton has proven to be best as to water resistance. The cartons cost her about 3 cents each. Unusual shaped cartons, such as pails, and the like, may be nice to look at; but they are not nearly as satisfactory as the plain round carton we all know so well, Mrs. DeMaree stresses, especially from the viewpoint of making it easy for a fisherman to get hold of a worm.

"Worms always go to the bottom of a box," says Mrs. DeMaree. "That's why I pack the carton upside down—so the lid is on the bottom. That way, when a fisherman needs a worm, he turns the lid side up, opens the box, and finds a worm right at his fingertips."

Mrs. DeMaree makes a few holes in what is the top of her container so that her worms will get some air. She does this with a small pointed awl, making a neat four-holed square with one hole in the center. "It's surprising how a little trick like this gives a decorative touch to your package," she points out.

BESIDES A satisfactory container, Mrs. DeMaree wanted a label to attach to the carton which would not only identify her worms, but give her package color. Needless to say she wanted a tantalizing worm pictured on the label! She had an artist friend do a sketch for her; and so that the worm, would really stand out she had the artist dress it up with a hat and a fishing rod. The worm's dangling fishing line writes out the words "A Friendly Worm."

Her orange label does catch the eye of prospective customers—and holds it. Since gummed labels will not stick to a waxed carton, Mrs. DeMaree has her labels made long enough so that the ends overlap when placed around the container—thus holding the label on the carton. On each label. are printed instructions as to the handling of the worms. The directions conclude with this advice: "The earthworm is one of man's oldest and best friends as a builder of good soil and as a bait for fish. Be a friend in return. Do not leave unused and uncared for worms in the carton to die slowly." Mrs. DeMaree hopes fishermen follow her directions.

"After you have worked with worms and know their importance in soil building, you can't help admiring them," she says. "You hate to have them die in a carton where they don't have a chance to fight to live."

When Mrs. DeMaree first started marketing her worms she used to stamp the packaging date on the label. But she soon discontinued this practice. Human nature being what it is, customers would insist on buying only the most recently packaged worms. "They'd leave the old ones on the shelf—to become old for sure," she recalls. Mrs. DeMaree prefers to supply her customers with, "just enough" worms to last them a week. In this way fresh worms are always on their shelves and the cartons are always fresh looking. It is an unwritten rule in the Colorado area that unused or damaged packages, if the worm content is in good condition, must be replaced by fresh packages. Each package replaced costs time and money.

You just don't place a worm in an empty container! It has to be filled with something that will let the worm live. In some sections of the country, worm packages must be supplied with at least 30 days' food supply. Mrs. DeMaree at first placed cornmeal in her package, but found this was a bother and not necessary in her instance. For a good fat worm can get along for a week or more without food other than what it chews from peat moss. Mrs. DeMaree's worms sell so fast they don't have time to get hungry!

Her first packaging material consisted of just plain peat moss that had been soaked in water, with most of the water content squeezed out so as to have a good moist pack. But as time went on Mrs. DeMaree preferred using one-half peat moss and one-half sphagnum moss. "The worms seem to like this better—and it's cheaper," says Mrs. DeMaree. "Weighs less, too, when it comes to shipping."

IN PREPARING the cartons for the worms, Mrs. DeMaree works on factory assembly line methods. First, she removes the lids from the cartons, stacking them in a large box at her side. She then places the carton with the open side down on her workbench. Before using her awl to make the holes in what is now the top of the carton—she takes a rubber stamp and stamps the words "Keep Cool" on the top of each carton. Next she places the containers, one at at a time, over an empty tin can that will let her awl go through the carton and save it from getting a "punched out" look. The holes are punched; then the labels put on, spaced to allow for the lid to be added later.

Mrs. DeMaree has a number of corrugated boxes (the kind you get in grocery stores) near her worktable. These boxes hold twelve cartons and act as a tray. The prepared containers are stacked in these "trays" and then tiered up next to the tanks where the peat and sphagnum moss are kept moist—ready to be filled. The cartons can be prepared ahead in spare time but must never be filled with the wet moss until you are ready to package the worms. After the cartons are filled with moss they are turned over to the college boys who help Mrs. DeMaree with this part of her work. She has instructed the boys to count out two worms at a time and thus save arm motion.

After placing the worms in the containers the boys hand them to Mrs. DeMaree and she puts on the lids. The cartons go back in their trays, lid side down and are stacked for distribution. Cartons to be shipped by train or bus are placed directly into shipping cases (these are usually heavy cardboard beer boxes) which hold one or two dozen cartons of worms. Large pieces of newspaper are stuffed around to hold the cartons in place so they will not jostle about. Worms are sensitive to handling, so the less bouncing the better! In all the shipping boxes, holes the size of a lead pencil are punched to allow for ventilation. The boxes are then tied with heavy brown twine and stamped "Keep Cool," "Perishable," "Fish Worms." Mrs. DeMaree uses a purple ink in her stamp pad as she knows, this color attracts attention.

Mrs. DeMaree personally talks to the trainmen and busmen who will care for the worms to be shipped. Those she cannot meet in person, she sends word to through the other men, to "look after the worms." This extra effort on her part pays off in the best possible delivery of the worms. Not so long ago she talked to a mall clerk who told her—"I know you. I saw to it that your worms were kept cool all the way to Montana. Dan told me to take extra good care of them every week and I did my best."

SHIPPING WORMS so that they reach their destination in good condition is often a major task. Dry ice can be used to keep the shipping case cool if carefully used. However, Mrs. DeMaree has never tried shipping this way. Instead she studies railroad and bus schedules very closely and her shipments are timed so that the worms go out after 10 o'clock Thursday and Friday nights so that they will reach their destination the following morning after a cool overnight trip—fresh and ready for sale for weekend fishing. One distant shopkeeper told Mrs. DeMaree that Friday mornings he has a line of customers waiting for him to come from the post office with the fresh cartons of worms. Often not one carton was placed on the counter as they sold so fast.

Even a well organized schedule runs into snags once in awhile. This routine preparation went along fine the first year Mrs. DeMaree was in business until the opening of the fishing season in Colorado. Mrs. DeMaree felt she could supply any and all calls at that time. She had 7,500 worms ready for sale; and she thought this ample for the opening day of the season. Luckily, rain set in and kept most fishermen at home; for her 7,500 worms were sold, with more orders flooding in, even before the big day arrived. Since then she has kept a good supply on hand at all times and was only caught short over the Fourth of July when again her demand was great. She could have sold 10,000 more worms that day had she had them!

Mrs. DeMaree packs her worms thirty to a container and they retail for 40 cents (most worm growers pack 50-100 worms in a box, that sells for 75 cents to $1). But Mrs DeMaree feels that thirty worms is usually enough to supply a man for a day's fishing (if a fisherman needs more worms he will buy more cartons). Many of the local fishermen want only a few worms for two or three hours' fishing after their day's work is done. They object to having to buy 50-100 worms and then throw many of them away. Then, too, thirty worms at a lower price looks like a much better buy. Actually the price figures out about the same per worm.

RETAILERS FROM all over soon learned of Mrs. DeMaree's worms and became buyers. One account placed a standing order for ninety-six cartons (2,880 worms) per week; and often took more. But even once she was established, Mrs. DeMaree had problems to iron out. One difficulty was worms dying in the cartons. Upon examination, the dead worms looked as if they had blisters all over their bodies. Mrs. DeMaree sought the advice of one of the professors at the local Agricultural and Mechanical College and after testing the water and the peat moss in the package material it was determined that both were high in acid content. This "acid pack" was literally blistering the worms to death. From then on Mrs. DeMaree used neutral peat moss and water with no acid content.

Hot weather brought its own problems, too. Mrs. DeMaree's species of worm is very sensitive to heat. Stores had to be notified that the worms be kept at cool temperatures. All of which meant extra work hours. The straw that almost broke the camel's back came midway in the fishing season. Customers began to complain that they didn't receive thirty worms in their carton. This seemed impossible to Mrs. DeMaree as it was a hard and fast rule that the boys who packaged the worms were to put two or three extra ones in each carton. Where, oh where, was the slip-up! For some time Mrs. DeMaree had noticed what she thought were the tip-ends or "noses" of worms that no doubt had been cut off when dug—in other words, worm ends. Not until she had to replace a huge number of cartons during a two-week period, did she start paying attention to these worm ends. Hurriedly, she sent some up to the college. It turned out that these were maggots and they were destroying the worms. After a very thorough house cleaning of maggots, that problem was solved.

WHEN QUERIED as to the questions most frequently asked by people interested in growing earthworms, Mrs. DeMaree came up with these:

1. How, much money can you make selling earthworms?

"This is a hard question to answer; for it is what you put into it that regulates the returns. Bertha Baxter (a well-known worm grower) told me that she started out with $10 worth of worms and in three years' time was averaging $4,000 a year. Of course, every worm grower does not do this much business. I feel that with a good supply of worms, if you put in three hours a day you ought to dig and package about $9 worth of worms a day. I have often sold as many as 10,000 worms in one week—and average that number every two weeks."

2. Judging from your experience, how long does it take to grow enough worms to market them?

"This depends on the size of your beds, the number of adult worms used to plant the beds, on the climate in which you live. I would say that on a four-by-six-foot bed, stocked with 10,000 adult worms properly cared for to realize the best increase possible, it would be close to a year before you had enough worms to start marketing on a business-like scale. However, while you are waiting for your worms to multiply and mature, you can buy large quantities of worms for sale purposes, package and market these."

3. At what age is a worm ready for sale?

"In my opinion, not until it is at least three months old. It is not fully grown until it is six months old. Many people sell worms under this age—but fishermen will tell you these worms are too small. When you start selling be careful that you don't sell all the adult worms in your beds. You have to keep breeding stock on hand to keep laying eggs. Be sure to plant your beds where drainage is assured in case of heavy rains so that the worms won't be drowned out."

4. What is the cost of enough adult worms to start a bed?

"Ten thousand worms of fine breeding stock costs about $100. But I would suggest the purchase of worms and culture, rather than worms alone—this way you get breeders, young worms and eggs; and it is cheaper. Worms are sensitive to different soils and you are apt to lose some breeders. That's why I prefer culture to just worms. Then, if some of the adult worms die, you still have the young ones and the eggs, which I feel adjust more readily to new surroundings. If you don't know where to go to buy breeders and culture, thumb through the pages of garden magazines, hobby magazines, etc., and you will find the names of many dealers who will be happy to send you circulars and growing instructions upon request."

MRS. DEMAREE is firm in stating that you should study everything on the subject of earthworms that you can put your hands on; but study worms, too, as you will learn much from working with them. There are many books on the subject from Aristotle through Darwin down to present day writers such as Dr. George Oliver, whose "Our Friend the Earthworm" is a "must read" book on any beginner's list. Dr. James MacNab of Oregon State College is considered one of the leading earthworm specialists in the country today. For the novice, his books are a little too technical. In fact, Dr. MacNab sends many of his inquiries to Mrs. DeMaree to answer for she has a knack of making it simple for people to understand scientific facts. Dr. Grace E. Packford of Yale is another top earthworm specialist. She writes the earthworm material for the "Encyclopedia Britannica." And, Mrs. DeMaree, herself, is always willing to furnish any information she can to interested worm growers.