ON SHOEING. S 



very neat, and well worthy of the attention or no- 

 tice of the shoeing-smith ; yet as a standing rule 

 to work by, all the men in the shop have stated, 

 that no such shoe could be formed, unless nature 

 had formed all horses' feet alike. The author has 

 been informed that machines are kept in town, 

 which are worked by Iiorses, for the purpose of 

 manufacturing shoes of this kind: but it should 

 be known that iron, formed into moulds for making 

 of horse-shoes, when passed through the machine 

 in a white heat, will not wear nearly so long as 

 when forged with a hammer. All that can be said 

 in favour of any particular method of shoeing will 

 certainly fall short of its intended purpose. Men 

 of talents, who have worked at the business for 

 many years, and with whom the author has been 

 acquainted, still conclude that there is abundant 

 room left for improvement. It were unnecessary, 

 perhaps, to offer much more on this subject, con- 

 cerning which the working smith alone is qualir 

 fied to judge : we shall, therefore, conclude our 

 strictures by remarking, that as many horses have 

 very fender feet, and some parts of the foot are 

 more tender than others, it is the province of the 

 operative artist to give ease to such parts, and to 

 throw the weight more upon those parts which are 

 better calculated to support it. 



B S 



