138 STATES OF THE RIVER PLATE. 



greatness ; and it is especially the ' porvenir ' of these 

 countries, and in none to a greater degree than Buenos 

 Ayres, Santa Fe, Entre Eios, and the Banda Oriental. On 

 the alluvial plains of some of these there is certainly no 

 other source of wealth ; they are, as it were, designed by 

 the Almighty for agricultural and pastoral pursuits. 



Men on all sides are asking, what is to be done ? How 

 are we to give increased value to, or utilise to greater ad- 

 vantage, this or that stock ? The answer lies undoubtedly 

 in what I have said. Ponder and speculate as we may, 

 there is no other answer, and I assert this truth em- 

 phatically. The wisest heads need not be ashamed to 

 make a permanent guest of this ' little truth,' and bend 

 their best intellects to the solution of the problem it gives 

 rise to. Our live stock is the sole source of wealth in the 

 country. We must increase its value by feeding, care, and 

 improved breeding, or all ' property ' in the country will 

 stand at a low level a level commensurate with the value 

 of stock. 



III. 



To practice to a maximum advantage any of the arts 

 which have their roots in physical science, it is necessary 

 to have a knowledge of the theory of the science with 

 which such arts are connected ; and I purpose explaining 

 briefly the fundamental principles of the same, which, as 

 I have just stated, I believe to be the essential element in 

 the development of the resources of this country. 



The object of tillage is to destroy an existing vegetation 

 so as to supply its place with a better one ; i.e. with 

 higher class varieties, and to produce more largely from 

 an equal space, to multiply the surface of the soil as it 



