The supply carried over from the spring is put on
in late summer, and the manure made in the early part of the winter can
be drawn to the field fast as made. Manure spread immediately before
the sod is broken is less effective, as no leaching of soluble elements
into the surface soil occurs before the coarse material is buried in
the bottom of the furrow.

[Illustration: Corn in the Ohio Valley.]

The use of fresh manures for corn is rational, because corn is a gross
feeder and requires much nitrogen. All plants having heavy foliage can
use nitrogen in large amounts. It is possible to apply manure in
excessive amount for this cereal, the growth of stalk becoming out of
proportion to the ear, but the instances are relatively few. Ordinarily
corn suffers from lack of nitrogen. When the farm manure is in large
amount, its direct use for corn is good practice.

Effect upon Moisture.--Coarse manures should not be plowed down late in
the spring, as they increase the ill effects of drouth. Decayed
vegetation, well mixed with the soil, increases the soil's
water-holding capacity, but undecayed material in the bottom of the
furrow is harmful. Fresh, strawy manure, made immediately before the
time for breaking a sod, is preferably carried over in a covered shed
until a later season of the year.

When manure has been spread upon a sod in the fall or early winter, it
decays quickly after the plowing, and aids in resistance to drouth.
When it is plowed down, the ground is kept more porous, and the
presence of plant-food and moisture at or near the depth of plowing
encourages deeper rooting of plants, and thus indirectly assists them
to withstand dry weather. If the plowing is good in character, leaving
the furrow-slice partly on edge, and permitting the harrow to mix part
of the turf and the manure with the remainder of the soil, the best
conditions respecting moisture are secured.

Manure on Grass.--When the crop-rotation embraces two or more years of
grass, or one of clover followed by only one of grass, it is better
practice to use the manure to thicken the sod. The object in view is
the largest possible amount of crops, and the maximum amount of organic
matter for the soil. Grass is a heavy feeder, like corn, and makes good
use of nitrogen. Its roots fill the soil so that no loss attends the
use of manure. When the supply is given the grass, after the harvest of
the second crop of clover and during the winter, the timothy c