In article , Tumbleweed fromnews@myso
ckstumbleweed.freeserve.co.uk writes

Nitrogen. As it rots, so the more seasoned it is probably the quicker it
would draw nutrients.

It is true to say that sawdust, wood-chippings etc. use up nitrogen as
they bio-degrade. That amount is self-supplied energy used to create
heat in the material as it breaks down. I sometimes wonder though
whether any nitrogen is actually drawn from the soil, or is locked up by
the process. Much the same argument was used by farmers who preferred
to burn straw from their cereal harvests rather than turn it in. IIRC
there was some research into the effects and no leaching of nitrogen
from the soil was able to be detected. These days straw is more likely
to be baled for a variety of uses, but some of it is turned back into
the soil with good effect.
--
Alan & Joan Gould - North Lincs.