SHOEING. 



129 



tried, an4 signally failed. The constant renewal of the nails was found 

 ruinous to the hoof; for the strongest of the projecting heads was unable 

 to resist the grinding action of a horse's foot longer than twenty-four 

 hours. Then, many of the heads broke off while being driven, and not 

 a few were fixed in a damaged condition, owing to the blows received 

 from the heavy hammer of the smith. 



A SHOE, INTENDED TO ENABLE A HORSE TO WORK 

 IN FROST, WHICH IS FIXED ON TO THE FOOT 

 ■WITH SHARP HEADED AND PROJECTING NAILS. 



A SHOE, ■WITH POINTS, WHICH SCREW ON AND 

 OFF, DESIGNED TO FIT A HORSE FOE WORK 

 DURING FROSTY WEATHER. 



Mr. White, however, proposed a plan concerning the utility of which 

 Mr. Lupton, a living and a most intelligent writer, bears favorable evi- 

 dence. Large holes, containing the thread of a female screw, are made 

 through the heels of the winter shoes, and several steel points, manufac- 

 tured with a male screw, adapted to the dimansions of the holes just 

 mentioned. Whenever frost coats the roads with ice, all that is requisite 

 a boy might perform. The hole in the shoe has to be cleared out, and 

 afterward, with an instrument known as "a spanner," one of the points, 

 before alluded to, is screwed into the opening. When these points are 

 worn down, they are easily renewed ; thus the terrors of the frost are 

 overcome without exjjosing the horse for hours to the chilly air, or 

 yourself submitting to the incivilities of the forge. 



On the above subject, the following is extracted from the excellent 

 weekly newspaper The Field, and is here quoted because of the informa- 

 tion it affords, and because of the lucid manner in which it explains the 

 measures necessary to be pursued. 



"About this time last season we inserted in The Field an account of 

 the plan of frosting horse shoes, recommended more than fifty years ago 

 by Mr. White, veterinary surgeon, of Exeter, Since then, nearly one 

 thousand sets of the sharp cogs used for this purpose have been sold by 



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