ARGENTINA 109 



and turf will afford a partial relief, but these nuisances will 

 continue, in a more or less degree, as long as the pampa remains 

 pampa. 



" Animals are liable to loss from bloat if fed carelessly on the 

 rank growth during springtime, and their meat is' pronounced 

 by butchers to be less attractive than that of stock fattened on 

 natural grass pastures. Furthermore, unless money has been 

 freely invested in storing the summer growth, an estanciero 

 may find himself in a veiy serious quandary at the first touch 

 of winter. Standing feed that would have supported 1000 

 head of cattle will barely suffice for 200 after a few nights' 

 hard frost. The stock must be smartly handled during the 

 summer season in order to take advantage of the paddocks at 

 their point of maximum nutrition, i.e. just before the flower- 

 ing stage of the plant, and when it is eaten bare the stock 

 should be taken off at once in order to allow the plant to 

 sprout again in the shortest possible time. A natural corollary 

 to this rule is that it is impossible to have too many paddocks 

 on an alfalfa farm, and fencing means a heavy outlay on an 

 item which is constantly deteriorating in value. If the home 

 stock is not sufficient to eat down the summer growth, it 

 should be cut at once, or fresh stock purchased, for in a fort- 

 night more the standing crop will have lost 40 per cent of its 

 feeding value, and in another month it will have altogether 

 vanished, leaving no profit, and retarding the growth of its 

 successor. The estanciero must, therefore, reserve at least 

 30 per cent of the capital at his disposal for emergencies, which 

 are certain to arise at the shortest notice, and which will only 

 admit of a ready -money solution. It is this reserve fund which 

 will probably make the difference between handsome profits 

 and none at all. 



" Previous remarks will have made it clear that in the region 

 of which we have been treating agriculture is dependent for 

 its ultimate success on the planting and cultivation of alfalfa. 

 Cereal crops, however, form a large proportion of the annual 

 product and wealth of the district. 



