In the preceding remarks I have insisted upon a horizontal bearing-surface for all shoes, with the single exception of shoes provided with the rolled toe (rolling motion). As far as I can judge from the literature of shoeing, and from what I have seen with my own eyes in many countries, this is the most wide-spread practice. In Germany, on the other hand, there is another method, followed in the military shoeing shops, _which consists in placing the bearing-surface of the shoe as nearly as possible at right angles to the slant of the wall_. According to this method the bearing-surface of the shoe, depending upon the direction of the wall (viewed from in front, from behind, and from the side), should incline more or less, now backward, now inward, now horizontal, and now outward. Shoes for wide hoofs are given a bearing-surface which inclines inward, while for narrow hoofs the shoes have a horizontal bearing-surface. Shoes for wry hoofs have a bearing-surface which inclines downward and inward for the slanting wall, and for the steeper wall a horizontal bearing-surface, which towards the end of the branch may incline slightly downward and outward. Besides, the bearing-surface of the ends of the branches, viewed from the side, has a backward and downward inclination. This method is practicable =only in part=. I. Nailing the Shoe. This is that act of horseshoeing by which the shoe is fastened to the hoof by special nails called hoof-nails or horseshoe-nails, which are driven through the shoe and horny wall. At present there are hand-made and machine-made horseshoe-nails. Both kinds should be made of the best wrought iron. The nails must be slender, wedge-shaped, and twice as wide as they are thick. Thickness and length must be in proper relation to each other. We should never choose a nail which is longer than is absolutely necessary to hold the shoe; six to eight sizes are sufficient for all purposes. The rough nails (hand-made), before being used, must undergo a special shaping to prepare them to pass through the wall easily and in the desired direction. This preparation is called _shaping and bevelling_. In doing this we should see to it that the nails are made smooth, and even, but are not hammered harder than is absolutely necessary, because the lighter one can hammer the nails the better they will be. [Illustration: FIG. 130. Hand-made horseshoe-nails, natural size, for fullered shoes (1, not bevelled).]