THE CATTLE TRADE 57 



and Jujuy, who get their goods at the large importing 

 houses of Buenos Aires, It is the first form under 

 which the influence of Buenos Aires reaches the valles. 

 It gets their custom before it begins to absorb their 

 produce. 



A large proportion of the stock sent to Chile now 

 comes from the Andean valleys themselves. The most 

 arid and desolate regions round the oases breed only 

 goats and asses ; but as soon as the soil improves 

 sufficiently to give a better vegetation, it is found good 

 enough for a hardy and tenacious breed of horned 

 cattle. The land is divided into large ranches, and 

 the owners have also lucerne-farms, either individually 

 or communally, the tillers of the oasis each putting 

 in their beasts, which wander about in small groups 

 without control. During the summer they go of their 

 own accord up to the cerros, where the rains have 

 brought out the vegetation, and drinking-water is 

 found in the ravines for several months. In the winter 

 they return to the valley, within range of the reservoirs 

 and permanent acequias. Bodenbender gives us a few 

 details about movements from place to place owing to 

 such differences, as they are in vogue in the western 

 part of the province of La Rioja, in the district of 

 Guandacol. There the herds are taken during years 

 of drought up to the mountains of the west. 



Apart from the Andes, the zone which used to feel 

 the influence of the trans-Andean markets has been 

 steadily reduced in the last forty years. At one time 

 it comprised the whole range of the scrub, and even 

 overflowed upon the prairie region, but it is now 

 limited to the nearest cantons to the fringe of the 

 mountains. Over the greater part of the monte the 

 cattle are now sent in other directions ; either to 

 Buenos Aires or to other Argentine towns with a 

 growing population, such as Cordoba, Mendoza, and 

 Tucumdn. 



The rupture of commercial relations with Chile has. 



