Ill 



PART V. 



OBSERVATIONS ON THE UTILISATION OF RIVEK PLATE 



BEEF. 



I. 



There is a subject in connection with one of the great 

 rural interests of the Eio de la Plata, which is attracting 

 much attention both in the country and in Europe, more 

 especially in Great Britain. 



The vast herds of cattle that graze on our plains are 

 pointed to as an inexhaustible source of food. Here, in 

 the River Plate, the utilisation of the meat, or its nutritious 

 matter, of the hundreds of thousands of the animals an- 

 nually slaughtered — the food part of the majority of which 

 is wholly lost, yielding little or nothing to the breeder — 

 is a matter which essentially touches the interests of the 

 country at large as well as of individuals, and it is 

 anxiously canvassed in all circles. In England, with 

 increasing scarcity and rising prices of meat, there is 

 naturally a longing and expectant look cast towards this 

 land of cattle and beef ; and persevering efforts are being 

 made in numerous districts to introduce for consumption 

 South American salt-beef These efforts are only partially 

 — and apparently transitorily, even when they are partially, 

 — successful. When there are craving multitudes able to 

 pay a fair price for the nutritious food they require, viz. 

 flesh meat, which is annually becoming a greater necessity 



