U1J CATTLE AND DAIRY FARMING. 



horned cuttle, for the manner of subjecting tln i m to the dominion of man 

 is so easy and so perfect that it lias never been improved on by the 

 numerous foreigners who have turned their attention to cattle-breeding 

 in this country. 



CATTLE YEESrs; SHEEP. 



Tin- rearing of cattle is much less laborious in the Argentine Repub- 

 lic than that of sheep : but the latter pursuit is considered as the most 

 lucrative, for the reason that live or six sheep can be maintained on a 

 pasturage that would feed only one bullock. Notwithstanding this ad- 

 vantage and the fact that sheep reproduce themselves in a much shorter 

 time, the natives prefer rattle tanning, either from the fact that a much 

 smaller outlay of money is needed, or because no care or study is neces- 

 sary to render ihe pursuit successful. The, two industries, however, do 

 not at all conflict, for the reason that, while sheep are raised only in 

 pans of the eountry \\here the soft grasses abound, the cattle farms are 

 farther out and consist of the harder grasses. In many places, however, 

 the two industries, as also that of breeding horses for slaughter, are 

 more or less combined. The management of an cstanciais a very simple 

 routine of daily care, involving no hard work whatever. Almost every - 

 thinu'is ('one on horseback, every man, woman, and child belonging' to 

 the eMablishment having their own horse, which is generally kept sad- 

 dled all day long at the jmictujiic (a row of posts -with a horizontal bar) 

 ready for service at a moment's notice. No one thinks of walking even 

 a few hundred yards ; and it is not uncommon to see a man mount a 

 horse to go to the opposite .side of the road. 



MARKING- THE YOUNG- ANIMALS, 



The great business of an cutancia is the marking and castration of the 

 animals. This occurs generally in the months of May and June, the 

 season when the llies have disappeared and the weather has become 

 cool. The young cattle are altered at two years of age, and the losses 

 resulting Irom ii are about 4 percent. The marking is done at the 

 same time, and i: is a season of great amusement in camp-life. All the 

 peons of the establishment and many others from the neighborhood as- 

 si-mlilr in full force. The cattle are driven into the corrals, and each 

 animal in turn is caught over the horns with a lasso by a man on horse- 

 baek : another lasso (or the u bolax : ') is quickly passed around his hind 

 legs, \vliich at once throws him to the ground, and the operation is com- 

 pleted in a moment. Then a red hot iron bearing the. owner's monogram 

 or mark, the purport of which is duly registered in the proper office, is 

 lirmK planted upon the poor brute's Jlank, while a- blue smoke curls up- 

 v.aid lro:a the palpitating llesh, thus leaving a mark which is indelible. 

 This is the only way that the owners can distinguish their cattle, there 

 being no bounds or fences to the various cxtdnciaN, and in case of sale 

 ihey must also have the brand of the purchaser. These, brandings are 

 oil en done so biingingly, or made so deeply that they great ly injure the 

 hide lor commercial purposes. The day's work, called ycrru, always 

 winds up with a feast of meat, cooked in the hide (carnc con cucro), than 

 which nothing can be more savory or delicious. No coals or wood, but 

 only bones are employed in cooking it, each man with his o\vn sheath 

 knife cutting oil' the piece that suits him best. 



HORSEMANSHIP AM) DETERITY OF THE GAUCIIO CATTLE HERDERS. 



T he jirn.ix or ijc.uf'tinx generally take advantage of these merry male- 

 ings to .show off their prowess or their accomplishments. The horse- 



