DECOMPOSITION OF NON-NITROGENOUS ORGANIC MATTER 



445 



compost heap or in the field, the celluloses and the pentosans are the 

 first to disappear (following of course the immediate decomposition of 

 the small amounts of sugars and starches that may be present in the 

 manure). Deherain 52 distinguished two processes of manure decom- 

 position: (1) aerobic, when the temperature goes up to 65° to 70°; 

 (2) anaerobic, at 30° to 35°. The composition of the gases given off 

 in the decomposition of manure is given in table 37. 



Deherain believed that a large part of the cellulose of the straw is 

 decomposed, with the formation of CH 4 and C0 2 . The residue left, 

 after a part of the nitrogenous substances and the cellulose have been 

 decomposed, forms the black matter of the manure. This is accom- 

 panied by the transformation of ammonia (urea) nitrogen into protein 

 nitrogen. A spore bearing bacillus was found to decompose the cellu- 

 lose actively under anaerobic conditions with the formation of methane, 



TABLE 37 

 Composition of gases in different parts of the manure heap 



when a small amount of manure was inoculated into a synthetic me- 

 dium. Omeliansky succeeded in demonstrating that both methane 

 and hydrogen-cellulose fermentations take place in manure. In view 

 of the fact that the decomposition of the organic matter in manure 

 and in soil leads to a narrowing of the carbon-nitrogen ratio and forma- 

 tion of dark-colored substances, Omeliansky 53 suggested that the cellu- 

 lose decomposition takes place according to the reaction: 



2(C 6 H 10 O 6 ) = 5 C0 2 + 5 CH 4 + 2 C. 



lie states "It is possible that a general reaction of this sort forms the 

 basis of the universal processes of humification, that is, the gradual 



62 Deherain, P. P. Ann. Agron., 14: 97-133. 1888. (Deherain, 1902 (p. 793).) 

 53 Omeliansky, 1926, (p. xii) p. 309. No experimental evidence was submitted 



to justify this equation and it is doubtful whether it ever takes place in nature. 



Cellulose decomposition never results in the direct formation of "humus." 



