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PREFACE. 



The title of this work will in some degree indicate our purpose 

 in presenting it to the public ; a few remarks, however, may be ap- 

 propriate. 



The conviction that the works on Horse Farriery, at the present 

 da) , as a general thing, are not written so much lo instruct and 

 benefit the horse owner and breeder, as the veterinary surgeon, that 

 they confuse raiher than instruct the common reader, that they are 

 too scientific, technical, minute aiid elaborate, to meet the wants 

 and demands of our agriculturists, who, from the scarcity of com- 

 petent veterinary surgeons and frequent impositions, are compelled 

 to treat their own horses, are among the prominent reasons that 

 have induced us to present these pages to the farming community. 

 We do not claim to have presented much that is new, but as 

 usefulness rather than originality was the object kept constantly 

 in view, we feel but little regret on this point. 



We have consulted the best American and English authorities 

 on the veterinary art, and skillful practitioners, the experience 

 of many intelligent and practical farmers who have communicated 

 their views and experience in such papers as the Veterinary Jour- 

 nal, Cultivator, Agriculturist, Rural New Yorker, Boston Culti- 

 vator, Vermont Stock Grower, N. Y. Tribune, &c., for years past, 

 and have obtained from these many valuable prescriptions and sug- 

 gestions. Availing ourselves of these sources, we have collected a 

 vast amount of valuable material on the subject of the work. This we 

 have exammed, sifted, arranged, digested, and reduced, by exclud- 

 ing words, retaining ideas, facts and opinions, so as to present the 

 substance and cream of the whole in a clear, simple style, within 

 the comprehension of every one of common capacity. We have 

 submitted the matter, previous to publishing, to one of the most 

 noted stock breeders in the U. S. ; and the symptoms and treatments 



