Re: [CH]Compost, Evilagro Greenfield War

Charles P Demas (cpd@world.std.com)
Thu, 23 Mar 2000 14:18:01 -0500 (EST)

On Thu, 23 Mar 2000 GarryMass@aol.com wrote:

> Finally, my recall of composting by the acre is that approx. 200,000 lbs. of 
> compost will cover an acre to about three inches deep.  Given that number, I 
> can see where a decimal might have run away and hid.  A forty pound bag 
> (35-38 quarts) of composted manure covers one square yard of my raised beds 
> at 3+ inches.  40lbsXCameron's 4840sq.yd./acre=193,600lbs.  

If it covered 1 square yard at 3 inches that would be 9/4 cubic feet of
material, or 2.25 cubic feet in decimal.  A cubic foot of water would
weigh about 62 lbs, so if that's a 40 pound bag, it's not very dense
manure.  40 lbs / 2.25 cu.ft. = 17.8 lbs/cu.ft. or a specific gravity of
0.29 which sounds pretty low to me.  (Water has a specific gravity of 1.0) 

Is that 40 lb bag really 18" x 36" x 6" thick?  

FWIW, 35 quarts is 1.17 cubic feet, not the 2.25 cubic feet which is what 
it would take for 3 inches over a square yard (9 sq.ft.)

In other words, I thing your numbers are wrong too.  :-)


Chuck Demas
Needham, Mass.


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