238 To the River Plate and Back 



is generally planted in the fall, that is to say in March or 

 April. So also is flax, which is an important crop in 

 the republic. It gave me pleasure to watch the plow- 

 men, and to see the rich black soil coming up and rolling 

 over before their shares, as the bow-wave rolls up and 

 turns over before the prow of a boat. The soil is a deep 

 humus. It is so rich that up to the present time little 

 care has been taken to return to it any of the wealth 

 which is annually being extracted from it. I spoke of 

 this to the owner of a large place, whose acquaintance I 

 happened to make. He told me that thus far he had 

 not felt the necessity of employing fertilizers to any 

 extent. ' I have been cultivating this land for many 

 years, and my father did the same before me, " he said, 

 'but all that seems to be necessary is to get deeper 

 plows, and go down a little further, and bring up a 

 little more of the rich subsoil. ' It is the story of our 

 rich western prairie-lands over again, but there will 

 inevitably come an end to this process of robbing the 

 land. The rotation of crops is followed to a consider- 

 able extent, and this has a conserving effect. The 

 favorite grazing crop is alfalfa, as I have elsewhere 

 observed. Such alfalfa fields I have never seen any- 

 where else in the world. Four crops of alfalfa hay are 

 annually taken from the soil, and on the cattle-ranges 

 the plant grows up as fast as the cattle eat it down. 

 The yield of wheat is enormous. The best wheat -lands 

 are not in the immediate vicinity of Buenos Aires, but 

 more to the west and southwest, nevertheless a great 

 deal of wheat is grown quite near the capital. 



I was interested in studying the ways of the guachos, 

 the 'cowboys'' of the country. They are mainly 

 half-breeds, and adhere to the picturesque costume of 

 their forefathers. They are expert riders, and use the 



