196 THE PLAIN OF THE PAMPAS 



west of the lucerne belt (Pedernera department and 

 San Luis) is the only place where the cultivated area 

 was reduced. The contracts by which the ranchers 

 entrust their lands to the colonists, on condition of 

 returning them sown with lucerne, were gradually 

 modified as the stream of colonization developed. 

 The land was at first left to the colonist rent free, the 

 rancher being paid by the creation of the lucerne 

 fields. But in proportion to the increasing volume of 

 the stream of immigrants, and the keener competition 

 of the colonists, the rancher asked better terms. There 

 are similar contracts in regard to the restoration of 

 lucerne fields which have been worn out by pasturage, 

 so that the land has to be ploughed up periodically. 

 The men who clear the land in the lucerne belt have 

 mostly been recruited in the district of the old colonies 

 of Santa Fe, where the new generation had begun to 

 feel the pinch. The crops which they raise during the 

 four or five years of their lease are chosen without any 

 idea of sparing lands which they are not to keep. Wheat 

 succeeds wheat, and the first and last crop is often 

 flax. The proportion of flax is lower only in the southern 

 part of the lucerne belt. In the Buenos Aires province 

 the colonist grows lucerne on his own account, either 

 to sell as dry fodder or for breeding or fattening. 



Colonization does not in these parts correspond with 

 the division of property. Not only does the farmer 

 not become the owner of the soil, but he does not live 

 on it permanently ; he is a veritable nomad. His 

 house has a temporary look that strikes one at the 

 first glance. The area cultivated is almost stable, 

 if the region is considered as a whole. But cultivation 

 passes periodically from one section to another, and 

 its removals cause sudden alterations or crises in the 

 railway traffic and the development of the urban 

 centres. 



The lucerne belt has been peopled by Santafecinos, 

 and it has in turn sent colonists to the western agricul- 



J 



