A technique combining comminution and high-speed homogenisation has been developed for the preparation of suspensions of micro-organisms in colonised wood. When standard inocula of Streptomyces spores were applied to wood, constant proportions of the inocula were recovered. This method was used in conjunction with selective culture media to isolate actinomycetes from wood which had been buried in soil for varying time-periods. It was found that numbers isolated rose from 6x102/g colonised wood after 1 week's burial in soil to 9x108/g colonised wood after 21 weeks experience suggesting that a considerable proportion of the microbial population at the end of succession in decaying wood are actinomycetes.

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