In most cases it will not be necessary to remove much, if any, of the horn from the sole, but there are cases where it will be found necessary to remove quite an amount, or the sole will become so inelastic that it will greatly interfere with the action of the internal organs of the foot. It is evident that nature made the sole of the foot so that it might be acted upon mechanically to remove its surplus growth in the same way as the wall, for in the unshod foot it receives the impact of all sorts of substances, from soft mud to sharp, flinty rocks; and that, too, without becoming dry and brittle. The bearing surface should be half an inch wide and made _positively flat and level_, being without lumps or depressions, and not beveled either way unless they are hard and inclined to pinch, when it should be beveled to the outside, so that the weight of the horse when brought upon its surface will cause the heels to open, thereby causing a more healthy condition of the frog. The nail holes of the shoe should be further from the outer edge of the shoe, especially at the toe, than those usually seen in the market. The bearing surfaces of the foot and shoe should be as nearly approximated as possible, else the hoof will be bruised and the shoe soon loosened. The holes being further from the edge, allows the nails to take a deeper and lower hold than is usually given them; the direction of the nails is more nearly across the grain or layers of horn, causing less splitting of its substance, thereby securing a firmer hold upon the foot. Two large nails are usually chosen, 5s or 6s being large enough for ordinary shoes. It is not necessary to hammer down the clinches, if care has been taken to draw the nails, finishing with light strokes of the hammer. The shoes will stay just as long, as we can testify by four years' experience, and the advantages are that the horn is not injured by filing below the clinches nor by the strokes of the hammer during the operation. Should the horse step upon the shoe, no horn will be removed with the shoe, as is usually done when the clinches are left long and then turned down with the hammer. In such cases, the shoe will be torn off, no matter how solid the clinches hold, and it is better to come away without breaking the hoof. We repeat and make emphatic that the bearing surface of the shoe _must not be concave_, as it is almost sure to make corns, and induce an inflammatory condition of the foot, and this inflammatory action is the forerunner of the long list of evils that are sure to follow, unless means are taken to relieve the parts. And yet almost every horseshoer in the country gives the bearing surface of the shoe a bevel to the center. Many smiths will deny this, but after they have the shoe ready to apply to the foot, take a square and place the edge across the bearing surface at the heel of the shoe, and ninety-nine times out of one hundred the outside will be the highest.