114 THE ]V GRID'S MEAT FUTURE 



URUGUAY. 



Latitude from 30 deg. to 40 deg. South 



Uruguay is bounded on the north by IJi-azil, on the south l)y 

 Argentina, the west by Paraguay and Argentina, and on the east 

 by the Atlantic Ocean. The area of the country is 72,210 

 square miles, and the population about 1,750,000. It is the 

 smallest of the South American States. It luis a wide almost 

 unbroken sweep of park-like plains with no big mountains. Tt 

 has a network of rivers, so is splendidly watered : 700 miles of 

 the rivers are navigable. The camp, or grazing country, is 

 of a gently rolling nature, and it is difficult to find any large 

 part of it unprovided with a bountiful water supply. The 

 soil is deep and arable, and supplies good i)asture for the herds 

 of cattle and sheep grazing on it. The climate is mild, with no 

 extremes of heat or cold, and the live stock industry is the chief 

 source of the country's commerce, 37,500,000 acres of the total 

 area of the Republic being given over to pasturage. 



For a long time the preparation of jerked beef (tasajo^ was 

 a leading industry in Uruguay, and during one year over 

 700,000 cattle were slaughtered for this product alone, making 

 over 113,000.000 pounds of meat, with a value of about 

 £1,300,000. 



The number of cattle are about 8,000,000 and sheep about 

 24,000,000. My last visit to T^ruguay, in 1913, showed me 

 that very great improvement has taken place in recent years 

 in the flocks and herds through the introduction of stud 

 cattle and sheep from Great Britain. ^lerino sheep predomi- 

 nate, and the wool industry is a large one. Refrigeration has 

 stepped in, and the exports of meat are jumping ahead. As 

 most of the cattle are beef cattle, there is no reason, except 

 shortage of freezing works, why the export of beef should not 

 amount to 1,500,000 quarters per aninuu even at the in-esent 

 time. 



There is another process by which cattle meat is utilised. Few 

 people are aware that much of the beef extract on the markets 

 comes from the special establishments in Uruguay erected for 

 that purpose. The word Liebig is now actually synonyuious 

 with beef extract; and the company's factory is at Fray Bentos, 

 on the Uruguay River, about 100 miles above Buenos Aires, 

 hut where there is a depth of water sufficient to allow the 

 entrance of vessels of a draft of 20 ft. Fray Bentos has been 

 called the greatest kitchen in the world, and on some days 

 2500 head of cattle are slaughtered and treated. 



