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/       "NEBRASKA"S FABULOUS FISHWORM FARMER"
/  MEET PETE SCHEIDT, OF MCCOOK, NEBRASKA, THE ONE FARMER
/IN AMERICA TODAY WITHOUT A GRIPE, SUBSIDY, OR WORRY TO
/HIS NAME, WITH ONE EXCEPTION. "DOGGONE IT!" PETE GRUMBLES
/EVERY DAY OF HIS LIFE. "I AIN"T HAD TIME TO GO FISHIN^
/ONLY ONCE IN TWO YEARS."
/  PETE DIDN"T REALLY INTEND TO GET INTO THE BIG FARMING
/BUSINESS. IT JUST CAUGHT UP WITH HIM IN AN ACCIDENTAL
/SORT OF WAY. ALL PETE ASKED OF LIFE WAS SOMETHING TO TIN-
/KER AROUND WITH AFTER HE"D RETIRED FROM THE RAILROAD IN
/1951. "IF YOU WOULD LIVE LONGER AND HAPPIER, GET A HOBBY"
/HE^D READ OVER AND OVER AGAIN IN A HOBBY MAGAZINE, AND SO
/PETE WAS IN QUEST OF HIS FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH AND HAPPINESS
/WITH A HOBBY - WHEN IT HAPPENED.
/  ONE SPRING MORNING A LITTLE WRIGGLER STUCK HIS HEAD OUT
/OF THE SOFT WARM EARTH IN PETE"S BACK YARD AND SMILED AT
/PETE. PETE SMILED BACK, AND THEN IT STRUCK HIM LIKE A
/BOLT FROM THE BLUE!
/  THAT VERY MORNING PETE STARTED DIGGING PITS, THEN DIG-
/ING WORMS TO FILL THEM. HE CALCULATED HE HAD CLOSE TO
/20,000 BIG RED WRIGGLERS TO START WITH. A FEMALE WORM
/LAYS 100 TO 120 EGGS A YEAR, AND EACH EGG, WHICH LOOKS
/LIKE A SMALL BROWN SEED, HATCHES FIVE LITTLE WRIGGLERS -
/SO THAT"S HOW BIG BUSINESS CAUGHT UP WITH PETE.
/  THE FIRST YEAR HE SOLD MORE THAN 140,000 WORMS WHOLE-
/SALE AT $4.20 PER BOX OF 12-PINT CARTONS. EACH PINT
/CONTAINED 60 TO 70 WORMS. AND HE RETAILED THOUSANDS OF
/WORMS AT 60 CENTS A PINT, OR APPROXIMATELY ONE CENT PER
/WORM.
/  TO GET ALL THE EGGS POSSIBLE, PETE KEEPS 150,000
/BREEDER WORMS IN BOXES IN HIS HATCHERY. EVERY SIX WEEKS
/THEY ARE TRANSFERED TO NEW BOXES, AND THE EGGS ARE DEPOS-
/ITED IN HATCHERY BOXES MADE ESPECIALLY FOR THAT PURPOSE.
/PETE"S HATCHERY IS A FRAME BUILDING ON THE REAR OF HIS
/LOT, WITH HUNDREDS OF CLEAN SUNNY SOUTH WINDOWS ACROSS
/THE ENTIRE FRONT OF THE STRUCTURE. THE HATCHERY IS IMMAC-
/ULATE, AND A HEATER IS KEPT BURNING NIGHT AND DAY AT THE
/RIGHT TEMPERATURE TO RAISE WORMS. EACH BOX IS WATERED
/WITH CARE AND REGULARITY. UNDER NORMAL CONDITIONS MAIN-
/TAINED IN THE HATCHERY, PETE HAS A BOX OF EGGS HATCHING
/EVERY 30 DAYS, AND IN THIS WAY HE IS ABLE TO SELECT ONE
/YEAR-OLD WORMS FOR HIS BREEDING STOCK.
/  PETE HAS HAD TO HIRE A LOT OF HELP, TOO, BECAUSE HIS
/WORM PITS ARE A LITTLE OUT OF THE ORDINARY. EACH PIT IS
/LINED WITH A SOFT MULCH OF LEAVES, BARNYARD FERTILIZER,
/AND THEN ALFALFA "LEAVINGS."
/  LAST SPRING HE STARTED SOMETHING NEW. HE BOUGHT FIFTY
/OLD WASHING-MACHINE TUBS, SOMETHING THAT A DEALER HAD HAD
/TO TAKE IN ON TRADE, AND INTENDED TO JUNK. EACH TUB WAS
/PLACED IN A PIT, AND GRAPE VINES WERE PLANTED AROUND EACH
/PIT TO RUN ARBORS OVER THE TUBS. THIS WILL, AS PETE SAYS,
/"KILL TWO BIRDS WITH ONE STONE": KEEP HIS WORMS FROM
/COOKING IN SUMMER HEAT AND PRODUCE THE FINEST GRAPES
/KNOWN. THE SOIL IS EXTREMELY RICH, AND THE WORMS ACT MORE
/OR LESS AS CULTIVATORS IN KEEPING IT STIRRED UP DEEP DOWN
/IN THE PITS.
/  NOT LONG AGO A YOUNG CHEMICAL ENGINEER FROM SUN VALLEY
/SAW PETE"S SIGN ALONG HIGHWAY 6 AND STOPPED IN TO FIND
/OUT ABOUT FISHWORM FARMING. BEFORE HE LEFT, HE BOUGHT
/100,000 WORMS.
/  PETE SHIPS WORMS ALL OVER AMERICA TODAY, AND HE JUST
/CAN"T KEEP UP WITH THE DEMAND. IN FACT, IT REQUIRES MORE
/THAN ONE MAN TO COUNT AND BOX THEM FOR SHIPMENT. THE
/WORMS ARE SENT PARCEL POST. HE LINES WAXED-PAPER PINT
/CARTONS WITH PEAT MOSS, PUTS IN HIS WORMS AND ADDS JUST
/ENOUGH WATER; THEN PUNCHES HOLES IN THE LID SO THE WORMS
/CAN BREATHE.
/  COUNTING WORMS FOR HIS SHIPMENTS IS THE HARDEST PART OF
/THE BUSINESS, BECAUSE IT IS NECESSARY TO DIG YOUR HANDS
/DOWN INTO THE WARM MULCH, AND THE WORMS MOVE VERY FAST.
/LET A LITTLE LIGHT IN, AND THEY SWARM OVER TO THE DARK
/OF THE BOX QUICK AND SLIPPERY.
/  "TAKES ME EXACTLY 13 DAYS TO COUNT OUT 96 BOXES," PETE
/SAYS. "SO I BRING MY RADIO OUT HERE TO MAKE THE JOB MORE
/PLEASANT."
/  PETE IS POSSIBLY THE LARGEST FISHWORM FARMER IN THE
/WORLD TODAY, AS ORDERS POUR IN FROM THE 48 STATES AND
/CANADA. HE HAS PITS ALL OVER HIS YARD WITH MORE THAN
/100,000 WORMS PER PIT. PETE BELIEVES THAT THE REASON
/THERE AREN"T MORE FISHWORM FARMERS IN AMERICA TODAY IS
/BECAUSE IT"S A SQUEAMISH BUSINESS AND TIME CONSUMING;
/THEN TOO, THE BIG RESORTS AND FELLOWS WHO LOVE TO FISH
/WOULD RATHER PAY ONE CENT A PIECE FOR THEIR WORMS THAN
/STOP AND DIG THEM.
/  PETE DOESN"T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT SUBSIDIES, OVERPRO-
/DUCTION, OR EMBARGOES. HE QUOTES HIS OWN PRICES, AND SO
/FAR THERE HASN"T BEEN ANY CEILING PLACED ON WORMS OR
/WORM EGGS. FISHWORM FARMING IS PRETTY BIG BUSINESS. IT
/CAN BE HANDLED ON A SMALL ACREAGE, AND A MILLION WORMS A
/YEAR AT APPROXIMATELY ONE CENT EACH ADDS UP TO A FIVE-
/FIGURE INCOME.