ALFALFA IN SOUTH AMERICA. 



It is in South America that alfalfa grazing has 

 reached its greatest development. From the special 

 report of Frank W. Bicknell to the United States 

 Department of Agriculture in 1904 and from letters 

 I summarize the following information : 



Alfalfa has redeemed to profitable use millions of acres of 

 Argentine land that would otherwise be unproductive. Alfalfa 

 sends the Argentine steer to market a year younger than when 

 the native grasses were relied upon exclusively. In many parts 

 of the country, especially in the north, it has made money for the 

 small colonists or farmers who have cut it and sold it for export 

 or for domestic use. Cattle raisers have learned its value in a 

 dry cold winter when the pastures have failed, and but for the 

 alfalfa hay, put up by the provident against such an emergency, 

 hundreds of thousands of cattle would starve. 



It is the ambition of nearly every ranchman or estanciero to 

 get as much of his place into alfalfa as possible, and the area 

 of pasture is increasing enormously every year. As soon as a 

 brief experiment demonstrates the adaptability of a new region to 

 alfalfa there is a grand rush to get in and land jumps up incred- 

 ibly in value. Thousands of acres often change hands several 

 times in a year with valuations doubling at each exchange. 



John Benitz went to Argentina from California 35 years ago 

 and with his brothers has been successful with alfalfa and cattle. 

 On their home ranch La California, about 70 miles northwest of 

 the city of Rosario, they were the pioneers in the planting of 

 alfalfa. He now (1904) is working about 60,000 acres of alfalfa 

 in southern Cordoba. He says: "You can buy a league (6,672 

 acres) of virgin land for $11,000 or $1.65 per acre, and by spend- 

 ing as much more in putting it in alfalfa have a ranch that 

 will carry 3,000 cattle and keep them practically fat all the year 

 round, with very little risk from drought or severe winters." 



The seasons are reversed in Argentine, so that 

 sowing in the fall they sow in March or April usually. 

 Sometimes it is sown later with some cereal, usually 



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