202 HORSES AND ROADS. 



selves. Will this ' tip ' be thrown away upon them ? 

 We have heard that they have held out encourage- 

 ment to inventors who could remedy the only defect 

 of their pavements ; here they get all they want, 

 and without any charge for it. All inventions to 

 avoid slipping upon asphalte have been applied to 

 the ivrong surface. Let them turn their attention 

 to the other one, and so do what other societies 

 are unable to do, because they get muddled with 

 conflicting advice, and are unable to discern for 

 themselves. 



We have now, we believe, treated of all roads ; 

 and the upshot is that people are most afraid of the 

 best which are the hardest. Loose, broken flints, 

 freshly spread, no man in his right senses would 

 select as a trial for a horse that had just had his 

 shoes pulled off; although judicious treatment would 

 in a few days enable him to travel over them 

 with more comfort than if he were shod. On the 

 other hand, to try to harden his feet by working him 

 upon grass or soft roads would be almost as great a 

 mistake. It is well known that horses at pasture 

 will become tender-footed in dry summer weather, 

 if the ground becomes dry and hard, and that often 

 they have to get tips put on on this account. < Santa 

 Fe ' has advised that horses should be worked in the 

 fields at first, and then be gradually used to hard 

 roads. In this we are at variance with him, and 

 must uphold that from the first day they should 

 daily get some exercise on hard roads. The distance 

 cannot be laid down, as it depends so much on the 



