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The Rural Voice, 1998-09, Page 28Tree Planting Conservation Services The Maitland Valley Conservation Authority (MVCA) is offering technical and financial assistance to encourage the reforestation of marginal lands and the establishment of windbreaks. Applications are now being accepted for the 1999 planting season. Reforestation Assistance Service This service provides assistance to landowners reforesting marginal lands or planting field windbreaks. Planting of seedling trees is available for areas 1 acre and above in size. The deadline for applications is September 30, 1998. Roadside & Windbreak Tree Service This service provides larger trees for windbreak and roadside plantings. A variety of tree species is available from the MVCA, based on a 50 tree minimum order. The deadline for applications is September 30, 1998. For further information or applications please contact the MVCAat 519-335-3557. Maitland Valley Conservation Authority Box 127, Wroxeter, Ont. NOG 2X0 24 THE RURAL VOICE produced turn to Brent Sorensen's book, Renewable Energy. He defines compost as "the bacterial decomposition of biological material under aerobic conditions". This means air ventilation must be present in order for it to occur. The bacteria should comprise acid producers usually found in manure, but a large number of bacteria and processes arc involved. If bacteria are not present composting will not occur. When carbonhydrates decompose, heat is produced. Air filtration must occur, either by frequent re -stacking or turning of dry material or, in the case of liquid manure, by blowing air through the matter. The value of composting is that the composted product is usually a better quality fertilizer than the original refuse material. The research team at Ridgetown only has preliminary results, based a large part on trial and error. The project's first batch of compost was started back in March. Before it could get under way an entire system had to be designed and built to house the project. A Cover -All building was erected to house three seven -foot -wide, six- foot -deep and 50 -foot long concrete channels where the composting experiments take place. The experiment was started by filling the channels with different dry materials. The first channel was filled with wood chips from demolition sites, the second corn cobs and the third wheat straw. Once the dry materials were in the channels a mechanical turner, called the Marvel machine, equipped with 14 slats with knives, travels down the channels, moving and cutting the materials. The manure is then pumped into the building with a sewage pump from a storage tank outside. While the project is still in its initial stages, Fleming said they haven't tried combining more than one solid material in a channel at a time, such as corn cobs and wood chips. Fleming said they have reached liquid -to -solid ratios of 5.6 to 1, but he said it should be possible to achieve rates of 8 to 1. Each channel also has a different aeration setup, to facilitate air being blown up through the floor of the channel to make sure oxygen is present for the composting process. In channel one, there is a spigot floor, consisting of four lengths of 4 inch pipe buried in the concrete floor. A plastic spigot rests on top of each pipe with the top slightly below the finished floor level. There is a small hole in the spigot through which air enters the compost. In the second channel, the floor is grated with air entering the material in the centre. The third channel is gravel, where air is pumped out into the stone before being forced up through the compost. Fleming said, he hasen't been happy with the results from channel three. As of August 6, channel two boasted the best results. Since March, 9,362.2 litres of liquid pig manure had been added to a combination of corn cobs and straw, far exceeding channel three where 3,161.6 litres were applied to wheat straw. "I think the centre one (channel two) has a nod from me, but we'll have to wait and see," said Fleming. Aeration takes place every three hours in the channels. To maximize use of bacteria in the composting process, they aim to keep temperatures between 55 to 65 degrees Celsius. Above that, Fleming said bacteria cannot survive. The hottest channel on display was the corn cobs, which had reached 78 degrees. Fleming said they had trouble keeping the temperatures in this channel down and had to turn the aeration system on more frequently to lower the temperature. Due to the heat, 60 per cent of the initial liquid evaporates. The total weight reduction average for all three channels so far was 55 per cent. After four weeks, the batch of manure and dry matter will be stabilized to the point it can be moved to a temporary storage, where it will further break down until it is ready to be used. One concern farmers had at the demonstration session, aside from the cost of the system, was how much labour was involved. Fleming said the most labour intensive part of the system is taking compost out of the channel when it is ready and putting more material in.