Uncle Dick and Lisa's Old Time Animal Tales

Those having the care of these useful animals should never drive them so fast as to cause them great fatigue. A certain writer in remarking upon this subject, says:
“We sometimes see these animals moving so slow in the field and on the road that we can scarcely tell which way they are going. This mode of driving is wrong; let them travel at least two miles an hour, and stop occasionally for breath. In this way we prevent their acquiring that slow pace with which the ox is so frequently reproached; and there is no difficulty, with proper management, in keeping him to this pace of two miles per hour. The driver should never let his whip become too familiar with his team. If he suffers it to rest on his oxen’s back it is very likely to lose its charm; and a parent might as well give his rod to his child to play with.”
In Scotland the ox is trained to quick movement. He is never overloaded while young, and it is said, rarely falls short of three miles an hour, as a common “jug” either on the road or in the field. The slow, almost imperceptible progress of some teams while plowing, or performing other common operations, is of great fatigue, and can scarcely be dissociated, in the mind of the observer from that of extreme exhaustion and pain. When young, the ox is nimble and sprightly, and as susceptible of speed as the horse. Yet, by wrong habits, he becomes heavy and luggish in his movements, and finally acquires that slow, snail like pace, which so diminishes his value, as a draft animal, for most purposes, and which renders the driving of him wearisome and unpleasant in the extreme.-Germantown Telegraph.