FARM SHOP WORK 71 



1/64" thick it will wear longer and work more easily 

 after having been used an hour or two than it will if 

 the edge be filed thin. This is especially noticeable 

 when the ground contains small stones. Hoes are 

 sharpened from the under side only. The inside of a 

 hoe blade should be straight clear to the edge. Hoes 

 should always have sharp corners. When working 

 around valuable plants you want to know exactly 

 where the corner of the hoe is when the blade is buried 

 out of sight in the ground. 



Shoeing Farm Horses. Farmers have no time or 

 inclination to make a business of shoeing horses, but 

 there are occasions when it is necessary to pull a shoe 

 or set a shoe and to do it quickly. Shoeing tools are not 

 numerous or expensive. They consist first of a tool box, 

 with a stiff iron handle made in the shape of a bale. 

 The box contains a shoeing hammer, hoof rasp, hoof 

 knife, or paring-knife, as it is usually called, and two 

 sizes of horseshoe-nails. Sometimes a foot pedestal is 

 used to set the horse's front foot on when the horse 

 wants to bear down too hard, but this pedestal is not 

 necessary in the farm shop. 



There are flat-footed horses that cannot work even 

 in summer without shoes. Common sense and shoeing 

 tools are the only requirements necessary to tack on a 

 plate without calks. Shoes to fit any foot may be pur- 

 chased at so much a pound. 



A paring-knife is used to level the bottom of the 

 hoof so that it will have an even bearing on the shoe all 

 the way round. It is not desirable to pare the frog or 

 the braces in the bottom of a horse's foot. If the foot 

 is well cupped, a little of the horny rim may be taken 

 off near the edges. Generally it is necessary to shorten 

 the toe. This is done partly with the hoof chisel and 



