288 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



As evidence of what has already been done in the improvement 

 of stoclc, I may refer to one estate in tlie Pampas, not one of the 

 great estates, either, which has some 3.5,000 Herefords, 85,000 Short- 

 horns, 140,000 sheep of a half dozen breeds, and more than 6,000 

 horses, Thoroujjhbred, Hackney, Shire, Clyde, and Sufl'olk Punch ; 

 every animal, with hardly an exception pure bred and ''home raised." 



Occasional efforts have long been made to improve the saddle 

 horses of the continent, all horses until well within the present 

 generation, having been used for riding when used at all, except 

 the insignificant few used in cities. Incidentally, surplus and culls 

 furnished hair, hoofs, hides, and tallow for export. The improve- 

 ment, however, was at no time general, chiefly because the only 

 markets were local, with a very limited demand for a really good 

 horse. In a few instances coach and draft horses were experimented 

 with but without adequate financial rewards until within the last 

 dozen years. As saddle racing has ever been one of the chief amuse- 

 ments of South Americans it is n6t surprising that the improve- 

 ment of running horses received more attention prior to the close 

 of last century than any other class, but even here advance was con- 

 lined to a small number of the most wealthy urban districts. Thirty 

 or forty years ago a bunch of Morgan horses was taken to the 

 Pampas, but they were not especially profitable to the enthusiastic 

 admirer of the breed who imported them from his native land, al- 

 though one may to-day discern the Morgan characteristics in the best 

 carriage horses of Buenos Ayres. With present-day means of quickly 

 and safely reaching the markets of the Old World, experiments are 

 being made with the best European breeds of horses. The outlook 

 is very favorable for the utility of a number of these in different 

 parts of the continent from which horses are not barred by the 

 diseases of hot latitudes. 



One of the Pampas surprises to the foreigner is the great annual 

 stock show held in the suburbs of Buenos Ayres. About 3,000 

 cattle of the beef breeds, preponderatingly Shorthorns, are on ex- 

 hibition, as well as hundreds of sheep, sometimes nearly 4,000 of 

 them, chiefly Rambouillets and Lincolns, with a sprinkling, however, 

 of eight or ten other breeds. There are usually from 600 to 700 

 horses, less than half a hundred dairy cattle, a score or so of swine, 

 a few pens of poultry, and frequently some dairy and crop exhibits. 

 For example, there was one year a display of Argentine-grown 

 tobacco, cotton, silk, and fruits that would have attracted marked 

 attention in New York or London. There are also vast displays of 

 implements and machines, for the Pampas needs constantly increas- 

 ing quantities of the best that our inventors and manufacturers 

 can produce. The show is made one of the notable events of the 

 season, attended by high government officials, foreign diplomats, 

 and the leaders of society, for the wealth of most native Argen- 

 tines, the aristocrats of the country, lies in their lands and live 

 stock. 



Late in the sixties of last century some Swiss colonists discovered 

 that some of the Mediterranean wheats would yield fair crops on 

 their Pampas farms. Their success gradually led to experiments 

 with similar seed in other districts, the outcome being equally good, 

 and proving that excellent crops are possible in a territory compre- 

 hending many million acres. To-day a part of the Pampas, only 



