40 



a "JT'BE AGBI C U LT U BAL JOURNAL. 



Material for Shoes. 



Notwithstanding the importance of 

 horse-shoeing, the length of time that has 

 eUipsed since it was intrduced, and the 

 many attempts that have been made to 

 find a substitute for iron in maldng shoes, 

 nothing has yet been found to equal, or 

 even to approach, good malleable iron in 

 the manufacture of horse-shoes. Speci- 

 ally-prepared leather, vulcanite, and com- 

 pressed paper have been tried, as well as 

 steel and various alloys of aluminium, but 

 good wrought iron is still an easy first. 

 Many attempts have also been made to 

 find some satisfactory means of fastening 

 the shoes to the feet other than by the use 

 of nails, but all have been practically 

 failures. The immensely improved, 

 machine-made nails, ready to be driven, 

 that are so plentiful in the markets now, 

 leave little to be desired, and are not the 

 unmixed evil that nails used to be con- 

 sidered thirty or forty years ago. 



In Choosing a Shoe 

 for a cart-bred colt, the weight and build 

 of the colt should be taken into account. 



But in any case the shoe ought not to be 

 too heavy at first. It ought to have suffi- 

 cient iron to wear at least four weeks, and 

 that is easily managed before an animal 

 IS trained to stand steady hard work. No 

 shoe ought to remain on more than six 

 weeks \vithout being removed, and very 

 seldom as long as that. As a rule, the 

 flatter the foot, the more slope there is on 

 the hoof, the broader is the bar required 

 to make the shoe. A foot that is com- ^ 

 paratively upright is usually pretty con- W 

 cave in the sole, and dees not require 

 much cover of shoe, much protection of 

 the sole. A colt, therefore, should be shod 

 with lighter iron than when he is more 

 matured and into regular hard work. And 

 this holds good even if the hoofs have at- 

 tained their full size. He should also be 

 shod flat. It is a siillicieiit change for a 

 colt to 1)0 shod at all without sticking him 

 on to stilts at once. Machine-made shoes, 

 cheap and fairly good, have been a con- 

 siderable time in the market, but it is 

 taken for granted that hand-made shoes 

 are to be used. 



To Make a Horse Lie Down. 



To make a horse lie down, bend his left 

 fore-leg, and slip a loop over it, so 

 that he cannot get down. Then put a 

 surcingle around the body, and fasten one 

 end of a long strap around the other fore- 1 

 leg. Just above the hoof. Place the other | 

 end under the surcingle, so as to keep the 

 strap in the right direction ; take a short 

 hold of it with your right hand ; stand on 

 left side of horse, grasp the bit in the left 

 hand, pull steadily on the strap with right 

 hand, and bear against his shoulder till 

 you cause him to move. As soon as he 

 lifts his weight your pulling will raise the 

 other foot, and he will have to come on 

 his knees. Keep the strap tight in your 

 hand, so that he cannot straighten his leg 

 if he rises up. Hold him in this position 

 and turn his head toward you; bear 

 against his side with your shoulder, with 

 a steady, equal pressure, and in about ten 

 niimites lie wilUie down, when he will be 



completely conquered, and you can handle 

 him as you i>kase. Then take ofE the straps, 

 straighten out his legs, rub him gently 

 about the face and neck ; handle all hiss 

 legs, and after he has lain ten to twenty 

 minutes, let him get up. After a short 

 rest go through the same operation again, 

 and n'i)eat it three or four times. The 

 next day give him two lessons, and the fol- 

 lowing day two more. By this time he 

 will lie down by taking hold of one foot. 

 A\ hen he is well broken this way, tap him 

 on the opposite leg with a stick, when you 

 take hold of his foot, and in a few days 

 ho will lie down from the mere motion 

 of the stick. 



The most profitable dairy cow is one that has 

 not a tendency to put on flesh has a good 

 appetite and a large gtomach, indicating great 

 consuming and assimilating capacity. A cow 

 with this conformation is said to be ot the true 

 dairy type. 



