100 THE WORLD'S MEAT FUTURE 



BRAZIL. 



Brazil extends from latitude 9 south to 30 south. It is bounded 

 on the north by British, French and Dutch Guiana, and Vene- 

 zuela; on the west by Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and 

 Paraguay ; on the south by Uruguay and Argentina ; and on the 

 east by the Atlantic Ocean. It is a mountainous country, with 

 vast stretches of undulating country with wide valleys containing 

 rich pasture. It covers an area of 3,292,693 square miles, with 

 a population of over 23 millions. 



According to statistics published by the iMinistry of Agricul- 

 ture, there exist 30,000,000 cattle, 7,000,000 horses, 3,207,000 

 asses and mules, 10,000,000 goats, 7,500,000 sheep, and nearlv 

 18,500,000 pigs. 



The richest pastoral states are Rio Grande do Sul, IMinas 

 Geraes, Sao Paulo, Matto Grosso, Coyas, Piauhy. 



The urgent world demand for beef has given the live stock 

 industry of Brazil a tremendous impetus, and the development 

 of live stock raising and the packing house industry will probably 

 make great strides within the next few years. 



Until recent years, no serious attempts had been made by 

 ranch-owners to improve their cattle breeds or the general 

 conditions of the grazing lands. Entire lack of transportation 

 facilities and consequent low selling prices gave no stimulus 

 to the industi"y. The completion of many new lines of 



railroads, and the recent great increase in the price of live 

 cattle all over the world, have given the greatest impetus to the 

 cattle industry, with the added fact that more attention is being 

 paid to the conditions of production and converting into meat 

 products. Until recently, the losses among cattle annually were 

 enormous, due to diseases and the lack of proper attention on the 

 ranches. Salt is scarce, as the State has no natural deposits, 

 and this aggravates the situation in the case of epidemics. 

 Floods in the low-land section have also been an important factor 

 in annual losses. 



With the development of the railroads of the State and the 

 consequent opening of easier foreign markets through Buenos 

 Aires and Monte Video, and national markets through the ports 

 of Rio de Janeiro, Santos, Rio Grande do Sul, Pelotas and Port 

 Alegre, the cattle industry has become more stable and the im- 

 provement in the type of cattle has been marked in recent years. 



