Roe will test the compost on more than 300 tomato plants of a single variety in 30 plots. We hope to examine the effect on growth and yield on tomatoes in the field. We want to examine nutrient value, how it affects microorganisms in the soil, both good and bad, and whether it improves the soil's ability to hold water and nutrients. Roe received a Postal Service grant to evaluate the value of composting as a means of disposing of waste paper. At present, the Postal Service recycles more than a million tons of materials a year and wants to test this program as a way to keep undeliverable mail from going to America's landfills.
Some compost now goes back to post offices in the Dallas-Fort Worth area for use in landscaping.
Silver Creek Materials received the 1997 Governor's Award for Environmental Excellence in the Small Business Category. Field trials of its compost product will compare three different application rates of the compost with and without added fertilizer. The composting process reduces the volume by about half so that the original 150 tons of discarded paper shrinks to about 75 tons. Compost is not a fast-acting fertilizer treatment but rebuilds the soil over time. It's similar to the difference between eating sugar directly and eating a piece of bread.