ARGENTINA 107 



placed at two tons of hay, or 20 tons of ensilage, per annum. 

 The process of making ensilage is as yet very little practised 

 in Argentina in spite of the excellent results it yields. Large 

 fields cut for hay, which might be utilised in this manner, are 

 left to rot owing to an unexpected shower. If the two opera- 

 tions were carried on side by side, it is safe to say that the 

 summer yield of two tons would be augmented by at least 

 five tons ensilage per acre. The total yield for one league 

 (which does not by any means represent the maximum yield 

 in a good season) then becomes 12,000 tons hay and 30,000 

 tons ensilage per square league. There is left a sufficiency of 

 short feed to support two sheep to the acre during the six 

 remaining winter months. 



"The foregoing figures will give an idea of the growth of 

 green stuff that a bountiful Nature puts at the disposal of the 

 farmer in this region in an average year. Of the most ap- 

 proved methods of converting this food supply into mutton, 

 wool, and beef, I have no space to treat. Local conditions 

 and a consideration of individual ways and means must always 

 be set before any ' counsel of perfection.' I only give it here 

 to show what are the capabilities of the alfalfa region if com- 

 petition should ever drive the easygoing estanciero of to-day 

 to the more intensive farming practised in less favoured parts 

 of the globe. 



" I give a rough summary of the chief points to be regarded 

 in the establishment of an alfalfa estancia : — 



" 1. The plant should, if possible, be laid down in a district 

 which will ensure the owner a return on his money while the 

 ground is being broken up, i.e. he should not settle too far 

 outside. On the camps, within a day's carting of a station, 

 his only indispensable outlay will be that of fencing and 

 alfalfa seed, which is at once returned to him in the increased 

 value of his property. 



"'2. If grazed with judgment, the plant will last indefinitely. 

 I have seen paddocks that were over fifty years old. Disking 

 will often renew an apparently worn-out paddock. 



" 3. As the habit of the plant is to renew its sprouts directly 

 through the crown, it will die out if continually grazed during 

 its growing season by close-feeding stock, such as sheep. In 



