30G MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



and jralls, which injured them more than the cost of shoeing, 

 and only because of improper management. The shoeing of 

 oxen, as of horses, is unnatural, either with iron or any other 

 metal. Iron, for the health of the feet, may he the worst of all 

 metals, so that Nero's fully in shoeing some of his favorite horses 

 with guld, was not, perhaps, so great after all. But taking all 

 things into consideration, iron is the best article for horse and 

 ox shoes, and no other metal will in all probability ever take 

 its place. 



After an ox has been shod two or three years — as every 

 observing man knows who has had much to do with oxen — the 

 feet become tender and rotten where the nails have been driven, 

 and sometimes so thin on the bottom that he is unable to go at 

 all without shoes. This thinness is occasioned partly by rust 

 or canker, which is indicated by dark spots, especially around 

 the nail holes, and partly by a want of proper cleansing and 

 scraping of the hoof at shoeing. 



All oxen that require constant shoeing should, if possible, be 

 turned out to grass at least one month in a year without shoes, 

 that new and healthy horn may be formed, which will add 

 strength and beauty to the hoof. Though the outside may not 

 at once show the improvement, yet before the return of another 

 year it will be clearly observed in the firmness and capacity to 

 hold shoes. The feet of many oxen are so thin and tender that 

 their owners hesitate taking off their shoes and turning them 

 to pasture, fearing they will not be able to get round to feed. 

 But this soreness will soon disappear, as the new hoof forms 

 and hardens over the bottom of the feet. 



The ox is the most patient and docile, as well as one of the 

 most useful of all the animals that the All-wise Creator has 

 given for the service of man. Though he has not the spright- 

 lincss and intelligence of the horse, yet he bows his neck in 

 humble and willing submission, and endures hardship far 

 beyond our consideration, without a sign of complaint. He 

 should therefore be properly shod, well fed, well sheltered, and 

 kindly treated, not only as a return for all the toil he performs, 

 but that his health and strength may be prolonged for still 

 further service. 



