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[Gene GeRue <genegerue AT ruralize.com>]

Half a million pounds. I wonder how much good could be done with that?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1089395/Our-country-needs-count-worms-Volunteers-wanted-carry-earthworm-census.html

Our country needs you to count worms: Volunteers wanted to carry out  
first earthworm 'census'
By DAVID DERBYSHIRE
Last updated at 8:08 AM on 26th November 2008


They might be slimy, slithery and wriggly - but according to Darwin,  
worms are one of the most important creatures on earth.

And with their habitats increasingly under threat, volunteers are  
being asked to help with an earthworm 'census'.

The £500,000 project will see amateur scientists pouring mustard - a  
mild irritant to worms - on their flowerbeds. They can then identify  
any disgruntled (but otherwise unharmed) specimens which surface.

The collated results will be used to shed light on one of Britain's  
most common, but also most poorly understood, creatures.

Organisers also hope to identify rare species which could be on the  
brink of extinction.

David Jones, of the Natural History Museum, said that surprisingly  
little research has been done on earthworms since Darwin wrote in the  
19th century: 'Worms have played a more important part in the history  
of the world than most persons would at first suppose.'

Mr Jones added: 'Darwin did a lot of work on earthworms at his home in  
Kent, but since then the research has been sporadic.

'We don't fully understand which earthworms live where - and which  
particular species like which types of soil.'

Although there are dozens of ways to encourage worms to the surface,  
including imitating rainfall or rubbing a metal pole in the ground to  
simulate the burrowing of a mole, rigorous research has shown that  
dousing soil in mustard is the most effective technique.