PROXIMATE CARBON ANALYSIS FOR COMPOST PRODUCTION AND MULCH USE
Proximate carbon analysis fractions, including non-polar-soluble, polar-soluble, acid-soluble, and acid-insoluble 
portions, were studied in active compost and in mulch materials supporting microorganisms for suppressing plant disease. 
Composts included six different blends of poultry manure, rice hulls, grass clippings, and wood chips. Non-polar extractives 
correlated well with time when a first-order linear decay model was considered as well as with compost supplemental water 
requirements. Polar extractives helped to predict the success of Gliocladium virens as a colonizer of each of 17 mulches, but 
carbon fractions did not predict the success of either Pseudomonas fluorescens or Trichoderma harzianum.