Direct Use for Corn.--The practice of spreading manure on grass land for corn is based upon much good experience. The custom is nearly universal in regions where corn is an important part of a four, five, or six years' rotation, and all of the corn and hay is fed on the farm. This disposition of the manure permits the handling at times when other work does not rush. 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.