Being in the tropics,
compost making went on year-round. Of the result, Howard stated that
"The product is a finely divided leafmould, of high nitrifying
power, ready for immediate use [without temporarily inhibiting plant
growth]. The fine state of division enables the compost to be
rapidly incorporated and to exert its maximum influence on a very
large area of the internal surface of the soil."
Howard stressed that for the Indore method to work reliably the
carbon to nitrogen ratio of the material going into the heap must
always be in the same range. Every time a heap was built the same
assortment of crop wastes were mixed with the same quantities of
fresh manure and urine earth. As with my bread-baking analogy,
Howard insured repeatability of ingredients.
Any hard, woody materials--Howard called them "refractory"--must be
thoroughly broken up before composting, otherwise the fermentation
would not be vigorous, rapid, and uniform throughout the process.
This mechanical softening up was cleverly accomplished without power
equipment by spreading tough crop wastes like cereal straw or pigeon
pea and cotton stalks out over the farm roads, allowing cartwheels,
the oxens' hooves, and foot traffic to break them up.
Decomposition must be rapid and aerobic, but not too aerobic. And
not too hot. Quite intentionally, Indore compost piles were not
allowed to reach the highest temperatures that are possible.
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