Effect of Composting on the Chemical and Biological Changes in Peat and in Wheat Straw 1

A method for the preparation of artificial manure was devised by Hutchinson and Richards (~)3 in ~92~. The method consisted essentially in composting straw or other organic materials with fertilizer salts and lime. The merits of the product so obtained have been set forth by Albrecht (~), Bottomley (4), Collison and Conn (6), and Smith (5), M arms and Goheeu ( ~ 3), McCool (~ 4, ~ 5), Prianishnikov (~7), Halversen and Torgerson (9), and Russell (~8). Several investigators have studied the rate and extent of the chemical and biological changes occurring during the process, but the results of these experiments show considerable lack of agreement. McCool (~4, ~5), Itano (~2), Glomme (8), Valmari (2o), and (23) found that nitrogen mineralization in the composts was increased by the addition of fertilizer salts and lime. Wilson and Townsend (24) obtained a high production of nitrates in peat without the use of fertilizers. The experiments of Waksman d Stevens (22) and Vandecaveye (2~) showed that the addition of inorganic fertilizers to peat caused no marked change in the number and activity of the micro-organisms. Shunk (~9) and Arndt (2), on the other hand, obtained an increase in numbers of micro-organisms by the application of lime and fertilizers to peat. It appears that the lack of agreement may be due largely to differences in the character of the organic materials used. The object of the following experiments was to obtain further and more definite knowledge concerning the effects of treatment on the decomposition of organic materials, especially peat muck, and to determine the most suitable types for practical modification. The types chosen are representative of the natural deposits found in New York state,