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A Mechanical Apparatus for the Rapid, High‐Temperature Microbial Decomposition of Fibrous, Cellulosic Materials in the Preparation of Composts for Mushroom Cultures 1
Author(s) -
Stoller B. B.,
Smith F. B.,
Brown P. E.
Publication year - 1937
Publication title -
agronomy journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.752
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1435-0645
pISSN - 0002-1962
DOI - 10.2134/agronj1937.00021962002900090002x
Subject(s) - mushroom , cellulosic ethanol , horticulture , library science , chemistry , botany , computer science , biology , cellulose , organic chemistry
T method used at present to obtain a partial decomposition of horse manure in the preparation of composts for mushroom culture is to make a compost heap about 3 to 6 feet high and any convenient length and width. The compost heap is turned every 5 to ~o days with a pitch fork to mix and sufficient water is added to mainrain a moisture content of about 6o to 7o~o. Some of the larger growers use an elevator similar to those used in loading coal to mix the compost. Several such turnings and mixings are made over a period of 4 to 7 weeks, the length of time being longer in the case of fresh manure or manure containing a high percentage of strawy bedding. At the end of this "composting" the manure is made up into mushroom beds. The amount of decomposition in the compost as measured by the loss in dry weight is 25 to 4o%, according to Waksman and coworkers (4, 5, 6) -~ Lambert and Davis (2) have recently made a study of the aeration, temperature, acidity, and moisture in the m~shroom compost heaps. They sampled the air in various parts of the compost heap and found that more than half of the heap was under anaerobic conditions (20 to 3o% of carbon dioxide and no oxygen), and stated that it would take two or three times as long to decompose this lower anaerobic part as the outer aerated portions were it not for the thorough mixing obtained during the turning process. They concluded that the aerated condition in the compost heap is preferable to anaerobic conditions provided it can be maintained without excessive heating or drying out of the manure. Under present conditions of making mushroom composts some of the manure becomes too wet and some too dry, some too acid or too alkaline, and some too "green" or decomposed too far. However, the turning and mixing of this material over a period of several weeks diminishes extremes of this kind; yet, this hand-turning of the compost to obtain a homogeneous material requires much time and the final product is never uniform in composition. One of the greatest menaces to mushroom cultivation is insects which may reduce the yield to the point where the business is unprofitable. Insects are most commonly introduced in the mushroom house with composts which did not heat enough in certain portions to kill them. If the manure could be prepared at a uniformly high temperature and the final product transferred perhaps by an elevator