62 THE WORLD'S MEAT FUTURE 



present very slight dift'erenees as regards climate aud soil. The 

 Argentine ]\Iesopotainian provinces of Entre Rios and Cor- 

 rientes, likewise constitute an admirable cattle-raising region^ 

 due to favourable climate, abundant i)asture, and ample Avater 

 supply. Lastly, Patagonia, cold and windy, is gradually 



attaining a position as one of the healthiest sheep-rearing 

 districts of tlie world. 



Argentina is divided into 14 provinces and 10 territories. It is 

 largely composed of innnensely rich plains with great depth of 

 river deposit soil, and is almost bare of trees, except round the 

 numerous estancias, where the owner invariably plants largely. 

 In the Chaco will be found dense forest country. Cattle and 

 sheep are to be found all over the Pampa, from the extreme 

 north to the extreme south, where are the territories of Rio' 

 Negra, Chubut and Santa Cruz. However, the bulk of the good 

 cattle are to be found in the east, or Atlantic, side, and sheep 

 on the west and south. Patagonia is almost entirely devoted 

 to sheep, nearly all of which are of the various British breeds, 

 or crossbreds. 



It is recorded that the first appearance of cattle on the 

 River Plate was early in the sixteenth century, when seven cows 

 and a bull were brought from Brazil, through Paraguay, by two 

 Portuguese, the brothers Cipriano and Vicente Goes; but soon 

 after, large numbers were imported by Juan de Galazary 

 Espinoza, treasurer to the Government. The first sheep were 

 introduced in 1550, and large numbers of horses, cattle, and 

 sheep, in a semi wild state, .strayed down south to Argentina's 

 rich pastures, from Peru and Brazil. 



Roughly, Argentina may be divided into three divisions, and 

 in each separate portion almost all the cattle of one class in 

 the Republic are included. The principal herds of Durhams 

 are held within the province of Buenos Aires, the southern half 

 of the province of Cordoba, the southern portion of Santa Fe, 

 the south-east corner of San Luis, and a small portion of the 

 territory of Pampa Central. 



Entre Rios and a part of the south of T'orrientes holds the 

 main breeding place for Herefords. 



The outskirts of the country are chiefly devoted to Criolla and 

 grade Criollas, these being cattle bred from the original Spanish 

 importation of hundreds of years back, and afterwards allowed to 

 become wild. Down south there are very few cattle, the country 

 being chiefl>' devoted to sheep. 



