I have used two nails on a side on an animal with not the best of a foot, and very high action, and he has worn them entirely out without throwing either of them off. Previous to punching the shoe, observe the grain of the foot. It will be seen that the fibres of the hoof run from the top of the foot, or coronary border, towards the toe, in most feet, at an angle of about forty-five degrees. It will be plain, then, that if the nails are driven with the grain of the horn, they will drive much easier, and hold better, and be less liable to cut and crack the fibers. Another benefit can be derived from this process of nailing. When the foot comes to the ground, the nails act as a brace to keep the foot from slipping forward off the shoe. This renders that very ingenious foot destroyer, the toe-clip, unnecessary. Then, in punching the shoe, hold the top of the pritchell toward the heel of the shoe, so as to get the hole in the shoe on an angle with the grain of the hoof. Punch the holes large enough, so that the nails will not bind in the shoe, nor require unnecessary hammering or bruising of the foot to get them up to their proper place. Prepare the nails well, point them thin and narrow; and, as I have said before, use as small a nail as possible. When you proceed to nail on the shoe, take a slight hold at the bottom, so as to be sure that the nail starts in the wall of the foot instead of the sole. Let it come out as high up as possible. You need not be afraid of pricking with nails set in this way, as the wall of the foot is as thick, until you get within half an inch of the top, as it is where you set the nail. Nails driven in this way injure the feet less, hold on longer, and are stronger than when driven in any other way. If you have any doubt of this, test it in this manner: when you take off an old shoe to set a new one, and cut the clinches (which should be done in all cases), you will find the old nail and the clinches not started up; and in drawing the nail out you will also find the foot not slipped or cracked; and that the horn binds the nail until it is entirely drawn out. Indeed, I have known the hole to almost close as the nail left it. Set the two front nails well towards the toe, so as not to be more than two inches apart when measured across the bottom of the foot. Let the next two divide the distance from that to the heel, so as to leave from two to two and a half inches free of nails, as the form of the foot may allow. Lastly, before nailing on the shoe, and while it is cold on the anvil, strike the surface that comes next to the foot on the outside, a few blows with the hammer, right across the heels, and see also that the outside of the heels is a shade lowest, so that the animal in throwing his weight upon them will spread out, and not pinch in his feet. End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Mule, by Harvey Riley