8 On an EHxtraneous Meat-supply. | Jan., 
(short-horn cross) cows are kept. Oxen are also fed up (as stated 
by Mr. Prange as well as Mr. Latham) for the use of farmers, and 
the latter gentleman informs us that the produce of crosses of short- 
horned and Hereford bulls. with selected native cows, when some- 
what extra care is taken to secure the even growth, is, as he has 
seen and proved, highly satisfactory, especially in the third or more 
advanced crosses, and “on the same feed, they will make nearly 
double the beef and fat that can be attained from the native breed.” 
As to sheep, Leicester, Lincoln, Southdown, and Shopshiredown 
varieties have been imported and successfully intercrossed with 
native breeds. 
Then with regard to the feeding process. The natural resources 
of the country appear likely to suffice, without the necessity of im- 
porting artificial food. There is “succulent, as well as tall, sedgy, 
and hard grass,”* and the grasses are more tender and less coarse in 
the province of Buenos Ayres than in the other provinces. We are 
informed also by the owners of large Estancias that some of the 
pastures teem with rye-grass and clover. Moreover, we find that 
many flesh, as well as fat-forming grains, such as wheat, barley, aid 
Indian corn, are largely grown, whilst the oleagimous seeds, such as 
linseed, &c., could easily be cultivated. Mr. Latham even speaks 
of a wild thistle growing in “camps,” and covering immense tracts 
of land, on the oleaginous seeds of which the sheep feed and grow 
fat. All the requisites for artificial feeding are therefore accessible, 
and there is really no reason why the finest stock should not be raised 
there, as it is in England. Nevertheless this work should not be 
left to untutored hands, and we cordially endorse Mr. Latham’s re- 
commendation, that if the attempt be made to produce and fatten 
stock for exportation, alive or dead, “such an initiatory and experi- 
mental undertaking must necessarily be placed under the direction 
of men who have a good practical and theoretical knowledge of 
cattle feeding, and also of the country, its climates, products and 
agricultural capabilities, together with perseverance and zeal.” + As 
to the difficulties of conveying the meat to England when a good 
quality is obtained, those will, we think, be found to diminish year 
by year. If it has been possible to transport selected stock in safety 
from England to the Plate for breeding purposes, it is obvious that 
there can be no serious obstacles to the importation from thence of 
live stock, more especially if large steamers are fitted up for the 
purpose. In fact the Liverpool steamers to the River Plate have 
already commenced to carry deck-loads of live sheep from thence 
to Rio. The next plan is that of preservation in closed packages 
as already described, in which case the meat should be lean, and 
flesh-forming food should, we think, be largely used in the feeding 
* ‘States of the River Plate,’ p. 16. + Ibid., p. 46. 
