Translations:Manfred Klett: Von der Agrartechnologie zur Landbaukunst/1082/en

yeasts and moulds, is checked. Collembola and other small creatures find no living conditions in this milieu. Ferments produced autolytically or excreted by bacteria initiate the final phase of fermentation: water, proteins, carbohydrates, fats and the like are broken down. The organic tissues dissolve — leaving only crumbling straw remnants and lignified parts; aromas develop, the mass becomes homogeneous and takes on a brownish colouration. The manure now smells like bread — as one is accustomed to say — when the fermentation has succeeded well. Treated several times with the biodynamic preparations and allowed to rest undisturbed through the summer, the ripened product is «einverleibt» (incorporated) into the field. To avoid waterlogging and thus putrefaction in the base layer of the deep-litter house, the ideal subfloor would be rammed clay or loam. The same rule of direct contact with the earth applies here as for the compost heap. Through ignorance of the subtler workings of forces, the law unfortunately also prescribes here a sealing concrete floor. One can counter the danger of moisture accumulation this brings with a layer of wood chips laid in before the animals are housed in autumn.