Soil breaks down Tori-buried underwear in three months

Cotton underwear buried at a horse breeding farm in Tori was almost completely decomposed after three months, ERR reported. The experiment was designed to demonstrate that soil is alive and will be presented as part of a new permanent exhibition by Estonia’s rural museums.

The underwear was buried on June 16 at the Tori horse breeding farm to assess the activity of the soil. It was dug up 12 weeks later.

“They had decomposed unbelievably completely. There was almost nothing left. One very small piece remained of the control underwear, while the actual underwear had only its elastic and a little thread left. We did not expect this,” said Kadri Valner, head of Estonia’s rural museums.

The results indicated that the burial site had very fertile soil, Valner said. “Even during the digging, it was clear that there were many earthworms and different microorganisms there,” she said.

Underwear was also buried in Ülenurme and at the Jakobson Museum in Kurgja. The museums will determine which pairs have survived best and can be displayed.

“If there is anything left at the other locations, we will first dry and clean the underwear. On September 18, we will open the exhibition, where the items should also be on display,” Valner said.

The exhibition, titled “What do I need soil for?”, will be shown at the agricultural museum in Ülenurme.