THE PRACTICAL HORSESHOER. 147 



I next put one end of the little cross-bar iiito the shoe and 

 then inserted the other end, and narrowed up the shoe, 

 bringing- it up tight to the shoulders. I leveled the foot, 

 then took a |-inch wood chisel and cut just inside of the 

 heel braces to allow the entrance of the pieces marked B, 

 in Fig. 84. 



When everything' w^as fitted nicely I nailed the shoes on 

 the two front feet (which were the contracted ones), and 

 then took a little wrench and spread the hoofs by screwing 

 up the nut upon the spreading'-bar. The piece B took the 

 strain from the nails: with an ordinar^^ shoe, nails could 

 not have been driven far enough back to spread the heels 

 as did the piece B. 



The owner was told to give the bar a quarter turn around 

 ever}" d3.y. The threads cut upon the cross-bar Avere 20 to 

 the inch. In Fig". 85, a bottom view of the shoe is g-iven. 

 The mule had not been able to work for two years, but he is 

 now" cured. The surg-eon g'ave the following' prescription 

 for a dressing— this was applied every day by pressing- it 

 into and around the frog- and top of the hoof — Kosmalein, 4 

 ounces ; ammonia, 2 ounces ; carbolic acid, 20 drops; new 

 linseed oil, 1 ipint.—By C. M. Lyon. 



White Pine Pitch for Contracted Feet. 



I had a horse that had contracted feet very bad!}'. I used 

 white pine pitch on them, and w^as surprised to sr^e what a 

 g-ood effect it had. It softened the hoof and itbeg-an to g-row, 

 and I believe if I had kept it on all the spring- he would 

 have had a foot as big* as an elephant.' I covered the foot 

 all over, with the pitch melted so as to stick ^\^il\.^By H. 

 A, S. 



