NEW HAMPSHIRE NEWS 



Homeless, but Hopeful 



A Seventh Annual Seacoast Area 

 Flower and Garden Show is being 

 planned for the spring ot 1993, but 

 there's a hitch — as of Labor Day, 

 it had no confirmed location. Ac- 

 cording to Brenda Schure of the 

 Portsmouth Visiting Nurses Asso- 

 ciation, the sponsor ot the event, 

 The Air Force has "moth-balled 

 the Pease Rec Center," where the 

 event was so successfully held last 

 year, "because ot the cost ot keep- 

 ing It open." 



So the tlower show committee is 

 looking into alternate sites. Among 

 them are two on Lafayette Road, 

 the Channel Building and the old 

 Data General building. The com- 

 mittee would like "35,000 square 

 feet (10,000 more than last year), 

 overhead doors, and a cement 

 floor." If you have ideas, contact 

 Brenda at (603) 436-0815. 



The Granite State 

 Garden and Floiver Shoiv — 

 Not this Year, 

 But Maybe Next 



On Thursday, September 3, a group 

 of concerned representatives from 

 the NHPGA, the NHLA, and the 

 NH Women's Federation of Garden 

 Clubs met with Granite State 

 Board members Real Fallu (Vice- 

 president) and Ginny Grand Pre 

 (Secretary) to discuss the revival ot 

 the Granite State Garden and 

 Flower Show. 



Action was taken. The Man- 

 chester Armory was tentatively 

 leased for March 16-19, 1994- 

 A meeting will be held at Demers 

 Garden Center on November 17 to 

 elect officers and plan fund-raising 

 events (a plant auction is being 

 planned for July) for 1993. The 

 idea IS to spent a year raising funds 

 and seeing how much public inter- 

 est and corporate support can be 

 generated. 



If, by December, 1993, support 

 seems to be lacking, the Armory- 

 lease will be cancelled and any 

 money raised will be used to pay 

 debts. Any left over after that will 



be divided among the organizations 

 involved for use in educational 

 projects. 



So — things are stiil tentative — 

 but moves have been made. It will 

 be a year of hard work. For infor- 

 mation, contact Bob Demers, Jr., 

 at (603) 625-8298. 



UNH Compost 

 Application Study 



The University ot New Hampshire 

 (UNH) Compost Technology Cen- 

 ter (CTC) was established at the 

 Kingman Research Farm in Mad- 

 bury-, NH, in the late fall of 1990. 

 The thinking behind this center 

 was the growing emergence of 

 composting as a preferred manage- 

 ment practice for many solid wastes 

 and the lack of solid research in- 

 formation on composting — such 

 aspects as siting, costs, environ- 

 mental aspects, quality standards, 

 and product end use. 



On August sixth, UNH initiated 

 a project to study the application 

 of municipal solid waste (MSW) 

 compost on Northeast soils and 

 look into some ot the social and 

 political issues associated with com- 

 post use. "Successful management 

 of solid waste depends as much on 

 public attitudes as on scientific in- 

 quiry," says Dr. George Estes, who 

 heads the research. 



The three-year study totals 

 $267,000 in grant money. 

 Contributors include the Solid 

 Waste Composting Council, the 

 Agricultural Experiment Station, 

 UNH, the Soil Conservation 



Service, the NH Cooperative 

 Extension, and the NH Depart- 

 ment of Transportation. 



The project will investigate 

 the effects of MSW compost 

 application in soil conditions 

 unique to the Northeast, specifi- 

 cally low soil temperatures, limited 

 land areas, and acidic soils. Ten 

 sites will include highway right-of- 

 ways and sod and corn production 

 fields. Sites are at the Center, at 

 Winding Brook Turf Farm in 

 Lyman, Maine, and on the em- 

 bankments along the Route 4 

 by-pass in Durham, NH. 



Surveys conducted by Drs. John 

 Halstead (Resource Economics) and 

 Larry Hamilton (Sociology and 

 .Anthropology) will examine 

 people's attitudes toward MSW 

 composting. Dr. William McDaniel 

 (Natural Resources) will study 

 potential ground water 

 contamination. 



.■Achievements already include 

 procuring equipment (an IH Hy- 

 drostatic 100 HP 4-wheel drive 

 tractor, a Wildcat FX 700 windrow 

 turner, and a Mill Creek top dres- 

 ser unit), construction of a 40x100' 

 storage/mixing pad, clearing a 

 five-acre windrow site and the 

 beginning of research and 

 demonstrations. 



C'urrent projects include evaluat- 

 ing the effects of differing rates of 

 MSW compost on field corn pro- 

 duction and the construction of an 

 equipment storage building. 



.Another project is a look at the 

 use of solid waste materials in the 

 growing of a wildflower turf, 

 treated and handled like normal 

 grass turf, but seeded with wild- 

 tlowers and used for landscaping. 



Dr. Estes is at Nesmith Hall, 

 UNH, Durham, NH 03824. 

 He can be reached at (603) 

 862-3205. 



1992 SBA 



Tree Planting Grants 



On .August 24, Small Business Ad- 

 ministration (SBA) District Direc- 

 tor William K. Phillips announced 

 that a grant totalling $65,079 had 



October/No \' EMBER 1992 7 



