372 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Aug 



PRACTICE OP SHOEING HORSES. 



Mr. Chas. Percival, veterinary surgeon of the 

 Royal artillery, Furnishes the following communi- 

 cation to one of the Duhlin papers : 



I have lately been devoting much attention to 

 shoeing, and flatter myself that the horses under 

 my care arc as well shod as any in lier Majesty's 

 service. 



The shoe I found in use here was made concave 

 next to the foot, and flat on the ground surface, 

 than whicli, in my opinion, nothing could be 

 .worse. This shoe I have had reversed, making 



farriers are very apt to apply the edge of the rasp 

 improperly to the crust, forming a deep gn'ove 

 round the same, which cannot but be injurious to 

 the foot, and, together with taking away too much 

 of the crust in finishing oif the foot, must have a 

 tendency to render it shelly. Curving the shoe at 

 the toe, after the French fashion, where horses go 

 near the ground, I am very fond of; but I cannot 

 see any advantage in it as a general practice. 



Remarks. — We hope every shoer of horses who 

 reads this, will compare its suggestions with his 



the latter as concave as the foot will possibly ad- practice. As is the case with most of the me- 



mit of, leaving only sufficient room between the 

 shoe and the foot, for the pricker to pass freely 

 round, to remove dirt, &c. To the heels of the 

 shoe I have given an inclined plane outwards on 

 the foot surface, with three nails on the inside and 

 four on the outside. The heels, instead of being 

 cut off straight, are well sloped, and about the 

 same thickness as the toe. The shoe, one-third 

 as thick at the heel as the toe, recommended by 

 the late professor, the majority of our horses could 

 not travel in. There are many pernicious practi- 

 ces which smiths in general, if left to themselves, 

 fall into, viz : 



1. Mutilating the frogs by improper cutting. I 

 have at length got my farriers to understand that 

 the only part of the frog which ever requires cut- 

 ting, unless ragged, is the point, to prevent the 

 sensible frog being bruised between it and the cof- 

 fin bone. 



2. Inflicting serious injury to the crus* by an 

 improper use of the rasp, but especially the coarse 

 side of it. 



3. In fitting the shoes, by cutting too much out 

 of the crust at the toe to admit the clip. The shoe 

 is consequently set too far back, instead of being 

 fitted full to the crust, and afterwards rasping 

 away the crust, making the foot, in fact, to fie the 

 shoe, instead of the shoe to fit the foot. This is 

 a faulty practice, and very seriously so, which 

 smiths in general are very apt to fall into ; one, 

 too, which renders the crust shelly, for that part 

 Into which the nails are driven from time to time 

 is in this way rendered weak. 



4. In turning shoes, smiths in general do not 

 attend sufliciently to beveling or sloping the edge 

 of the shoe from the foot to the ground surface, 

 which I consider of great importance, especially if 

 horses are given to cut or interfere in their action. 



5. Cutting the heels of the shoe oS" straight. 

 This is also a very bad practice. If well sloped, 

 like a shoe for hunting, to which there cannot be 

 any objection, they are less liable to be pulled off 

 by the hind shoe catching in them, and contribute 

 more to safety of both horse and rider. 



6. Leaving the inner edges of the hind shoes at 

 the toe sharp, which, if rounded, will in a great 

 measure prevent over-reaches, as well as render 

 the fore shoes less liable to be pulled off by their 

 catching in the heels of the former. Squaring the 

 toe of the hind shoe for horses that forge, or "car- 

 ry the hammer and pincers," as it is termed, leav- 

 ing the horn projecting over the shoe, is, in my 

 opinion, good as a general rule, not only prevent- 

 ing that unpleasant noise, but rendering horses 

 less liable to overreach and pull off their fore shoes, 

 provided, however, attention be paid to rounding 

 the inner edge. 



7. la rasping the under part of the clinches 



chanics of this country, there is only one in a hun- 

 dred that understands his business. It requires 

 art, to shoe a horse properly, as well as to make 

 a watch. There are important principles involved 

 in the operation which the smith should study and 

 understand. We believe there are more horses 

 led into shambling gaits, and awkward overreach- 

 ing and stumbling habits, by bad shoeing, than by 

 all other causes combined. And when the horse 

 has acquired these habits, he is check-reined, mar- 

 tingaled, and abused in other abominable ways, 

 because he does«just as his owner ought to have 

 known he would do under such a course of shoe- 

 ing ! 



IiOVE ALL. 



BY C. D. STUART. 



Love all ! There is no living thing 



Which God has not created ; 

 Love all ! There is no living thing 



Which God has ever hated. 

 His love sustains the meanest life — 



Whate'er dolh live or perish — 

 And man ma)' not disdain to love 



What God has loved to cherish. 



Love all 1 For hate begettelh hale, 



And love through love increaseth; 

 Love all ! For hate shall faint and fall, 



While love, like God, ne'er ceaselh. 

 Love is the law, the life supreme, 



The goal where all are tending; 

 The hate shall die, the strife shall cease, 



But love is never-ending. 



ENTOMOLOGICAL DISCOVERY. 



The following note from our friend, Mr. S. Max- 

 well, Jr., describes a discovery he has made, which 

 will prove of considerable value, on account of the 

 ease with which the nit is removed. We have ex- 

 amined a number of plums since receiving the note 

 and find in every case the nit under the brown 

 speck, except where the punctui-ehas exuded gum 

 — then the worm is hatched out and has com- 

 menced his depredations. 



CuRCULio. — I have within a week discovered a 

 fact about the curculio which was new to me, and 

 have also found it entii'ely new to others to whom 

 I have communicated it. All those who have had 

 fruit bitten by the curculio, have probably noticed 

 a little brown spot on the inner edge of the cres- 

 cent-shaped puncture. That little brow spot covers 

 the egg left by the bug, and the puncture seems 

 to be made for a place of safety for the young 

 i worm when hatched, and also to facilitate its oper- 



