82 OF THE DISEASES 



tliem travel safely over stones. This, however, is 

 a question which can only be settled by experience. 

 The author has tried them for years, and is satisfied 

 that they do afford sufficient protection. 2ndly. It 

 is urged that with our hard roads and hard work 

 the heels and frog would soon be worn away. This 

 again is a matter of experience. The author has 

 invariably found that both heels and frog strengthen 

 and develop under use. 



Time is of course necessary, after substituting 

 tips for shoes, to allow the heels and frog to grow 

 strong. It would not do to take the shoes off a 

 horse to-day and to rattle him in tips over stones to- 

 morrow. 



Some persons who have tried tips have pro- 

 nounced them failures. This has generally been 

 where the feet have not been properly treated, or 

 where the tips have been made too long. Tips 

 are generally made much too long, so much so 

 that they are little else than short shoes, and of 

 course produce the many evils of such shoes. 



Though convinced of their value, we can hardly 

 venture to recommend them to the public generally. 

 They are a great innovation on the ordinary prac- 

 tice of shoeing, and farriers, as a class, are not well 

 disposed towards anything much out of the beaten 

 track. It is always difficult without consider- 

 able personal attention and some knowledge of a 

 subject, to ensure the success of anything new, 



