23S ARGENTINA 



The process of churning by equitation demanded the 

 roughest of trots, and the cowboy of Argentina describes 

 the rude gait associated with this interesting function as 

 a trote lechero — a milkman's trot. 



Men who are still young have seen a horse-hide vessel 

 containing cream secured to a rough sled, and dragged 

 at break-neck speed over the pampa. When the wild 

 chase ended, and the hide vessel was opened, butter was 

 revealed. 



A few years ago a leading estanclero took up the trade 

 of the dairy supply of Buenos Aires. He erected buildings 

 on his estate, and equipped them with separators, refriger- 

 ators, and all the most modern appliances of dairy science ; 

 introduced milking herds of which the Dutch Holstein 

 and the Shorthorn were the predominant breeds ; opened 

 numerous supply stores in the city, whose cool white-tiled 

 rooms speedily became popular with the man in the street, 

 and in a year the Basque, with his clattering cans and the 

 street cow, had faded into the past. 



This was the beginning of the dairy trade. The drop 

 in wool, particularly in the strong cross-herds which con- 

 stitute the bulk of the Argentine wool parcel, induced 

 live-stock breeders to give more attention to their herds 

 of cattle. The outbreak of foot and mouth disease and 

 its effect on live-stock trade was a further incentive to the 

 estanclero to study the profitableness of the dairy business. 

 Central butter factories, receiving cream either by direct 

 purchase or on the co-operative system, were established 

 in many districts. In 1898 the production of butter 

 barely exceeded the local consumption. In 1902 over 

 4,000 tons were exported, almost entirely to the United 

 Kingdom. The importance of producing a uniform 

 quality has made the farm dairy and churn give place to 

 the central factory, and the result has been a corresponding 



