212 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



Tlie great secret of good shoeing consists in so fitting the 

 shoe to the bottom of the foot that it bears equally upon every 

 part of the crust, and this ought always to be perfectly done 

 before a nail is driven. The practice of applying the hot shoe 

 to the hoof is not to be commended, and it should never beheld 

 on the foot for a moment, but it is the only means by "which an 

 ordinary smith can get a perfect fit, which is indispensable. 



There should be a smooth, level space upon the foot-surface 

 of the shoe, from quarter to half an inch wide for the crust to 

 rest upon, and it is especially important that this portion be 

 absolutely level at the heels, so that they may expand and con- 

 tract readily. Careless and ignorant workmen often leave this 

 part of the- shoe inclined inward, so as to prevent entirely the 

 the natural expansion of the hoof. Others, on the contrary, 

 are so excessively knowing as to make the inclination outwards, 

 so as to produce an abnormal expansion by a sort of wedge 

 forced into the foot at every step of the horse. It is certain 

 that no foot can either be prevented from contraction or cured 

 of it by any mechanical process. The disease, where it exists, 

 is within the foot, and the hoof will not be larger than the parts 

 it covers. 



There should be from five to seven nail-holes in each shoe, 

 two or three of them upon the inside of the toe, and the others 

 upon the outside, extending back two-thirds of the way to the 

 heel. The holes should pass straight through the shoe, and be 

 sufficiently large to admit the nail freely, and the fuller or 

 groove in which the holes are made, should be wide enough 

 to receive the heads of the nails. 



Horses with flat or tender feet will go much better, especially 

 upon pavements and frozen or stony roads, if a piece of leather 

 or vulcanized rubber be placed between the shoe and the foot. 

 Before this is done, the sole should be smeared with tar and 

 stuffed with oakum, so as to fill the concavity of the foot upon 

 either side of the frog. 



In fastening on the shoe, the nails should be driven straight 

 through the shoe, and thus prevented from passing up the side 

 of the hoof, as is too often the case. The lower part of the 

 shell of the foot is thicker, and tougher, and consequently holds 

 the nail much better than the middle or upper portion, and 

 there is also great danger of pricking the sensitive part of the 



