34 THE WORLDS MEAT FUTURE 



Vasl areas between Bahia Blanca the big seaport south of 

 the river Plate and the Straits of Magellan, are still available 

 for cattle and sheep, and as their wonderful railway systems 

 spread, these lands become stocked and of more value to the 

 country. This is where private railways are so much more 

 beneficial to a young country than hide-bound State-owned 

 systems which keep a country comparatively stagnant. Again, 

 t litie i^ ample room in the far west, in the northern territories, 

 and even beyond their boundaries on the sub-pasture land of 

 the Paraguayan Chaco, and in the great cattle country of 

 Southern Brazil, to breed far more stock than at present exist. 



West of Bahia Blanca, considerably beyond the termini of 

 the railroads, in the foothills of the Andes, where there is 

 plenty of water and good grazing all the year round — although 

 the winters are quite severe at times — land may be rented 

 from the Government at a very moderate rate indeed. 



Cattle can also be purchased in that territory, in almost any 

 desirable number, at a few pounds per head. It is the custom 

 there to graze the cattle all the winter, and then in the spring 

 to drive them, by easy stages, to the railroad centres, either 

 east or north, although at times ranchers have taken them 

 across the Andes for marketing at Valparaiso, Chile ; but, as 

 a rule, the cattle are pastured on alfalfa lands in the province 

 of Buenos Aires before being marketed. 



Although, practically speaking, cattle raising can be 

 carried on in any part of the Argentine Republic, there 

 are regions which, for climatic and topographical reasons, are 

 in nic favourable to the industry than others. Chief amongst 

 such regions is the Pampa district, the climate of which is 

 sufficiently mild to allow of breeding all the year round. 

 Under the denomination of " Pampa " may be included 

 the whole of the province of Buenos Aires, the greater part 

 of Cordoba and Santa Fe, and parts of the adjacent provinces 

 and territories, which constitute one immense natural plain, 

 without any greater .obstacle to the transit of stock than 

 gradual slope-, small ridges, or, in some districts, woods of 

 greater or Lesser extent. The central portion of this region has 

 been known for some years as the alfalfa zone. Alfalfa culti- 

 vation, however, has expanded to such an extent on every 



