6 BULLETIN OF THE BUSSEY INSTITUTION. 
and these should be more widely distributed than is the usual custom. 
In driving the nails, it is of importance that the hold should be short, 
including within the group a comparatively small portion of the crust. 
The shoe is thus held more securely, and the injury to the horn is 
more speedily removed by the natural growth downward. 
It would seem unprofitable to enter into the discussions which have 
arisen from time to time as to the propriety of applying the-shoe and 
fitting it to the foot in a hot rather than in a cold condition. It must 
suffice here to say that experience has amply shown that the hot 
fitting will alone secure the proper and accurate application of the 
shoe, and that the slight scorching of the horn-fibres has rather the 
effect to preserve them against untoward influences, than to inflict 
injury. — 
Our remarks have been directed to the method of shoeing which is 
especially applicable to the healthy foot. Disease not unfrequently 
brings about changes which compel us to modify the system which we 
have advocated. Of these changes we do not propose here to speak. 
The general management of the feet demands a few words. The 
right way of caring for the feet is the simplest possible, requiring 
nothing beyond strict attention to cleanliness. Washing the feet 
daily with clear water by means of a sponge, taking care afterwards 
to rub dry the parts above the hoof, and to avoid the use of any 
application in the form of oil or stimulant, &c., constitute all that is 
absolutely essential. The unmutilated sole forms in itself the best 
defence against the extremes of dryness or moisture; and the “stuf- 
fing” and other artificial measures so universally adopted are worse 
than useless, if the natural sole has been preserved. Neither can 
any thing be substituted for the beautiful polish which the unrasped 
wall presents in its healthy condition. 
Placing the animal on a perfectly level floor, if he stands in a stall, 
or, still better, giving him the freedom of a loose box, will promote a 
sound condition of the feet and conduce to the general health. 
