Life in La Plata 237 



The rambles I took about La Plata afforded me the 

 only opportunity I had during my stay in Argentina to 

 come into touch with the life of the "Camp.' Other- 

 wise my observations were confined to such glimpses as 

 are given from the windows of express- trains. The word 

 'camp' is a simple abbreviation of the word campo, 

 the Spanish equivalent of the English word "country." 

 It is applied by the denizens of the towns to every- 

 thing lying beyond their outskirts. The people of 

 Buenos Aires, the Portenos, as they call themselves, 

 with that self-complacency which is characteristic of 

 the inhabitants of all large municipalities, are in the 

 habit of thinking and speaking of everything beyond 

 their limits as being a part of the camp. The word is 

 also used in a more restricted sense to designate a large 

 holding of agricultural land. On my way home from 

 Mar del Plata I was introduced to a German gentleman, 

 who informed me that he was returning to Buenos Aires 

 after having paid a visit to "his camp." He said to me : 

 u lch habe einen Kamp nicht sehr weit von Cafiuelas. ' 

 A recent writer has said : ' ' The Camp is the mainspring 

 of Argentine prosperity. The marble palace of the 

 millionaire, as well as the rnud hovel of the immigrant, 

 has to thank this rich soil of the campo for its founda- 

 tion. " x At the time of my arrival in Argentina spring- 

 plowing was being carried on. In every direction men 

 could be seen, generally with three or even four horses 

 abreast, engaged in the work of breaking up the soil. 

 Steam-plows are also used. The absolute flatness of the 

 land, and its freedom from all stones, makes the use of 

 modern agricultural machinery easy. The plowing 

 which was going on was mainly for the corn, or maize, 

 which is planted in September or early October. Wheat 



T Nevin O. Winter, Argentina and her People of To-day, p. 48. 



