620 CATTLE AND DAIRY I'^AIiMlNG. 



It will b6 observed that there in no item iiith(^ above (>xi)0il80 aO' 

 count for food, This is because the animals on tlio i)lace lurnish the 

 aliment, which is almost exclusively meat, while tlui sljiriH, liidcH, tallow, 

 an suet of the animals butchered lor conHumption pays nearly it not 

 all the small expenses ; and, as Mr. Niip says, " it is exactly in th(i 

 absence of small expenses that the principal RaiiiH of the pastoral in- 

 dustry are found iti the Argentine Kci)nl)li(!," no other provision what- 

 ever, save what the pampas furnish, being rwi nirod or at icawt over made 

 nse of for the maintenance of the animals wlion the pasturage gives 

 out. 



The above estimate is made on the basiw that the estancla is partially 

 stodied witii sheep — and I am informed that hucIi eslanoias aro n^iily 

 tlio most profitable— but many of those more remote from this city 

 are exclusively devoted to horned cattle. Throa thousand horned cat- 

 tle being th« number usually allowed to a leagno of land, it is easy to 

 "jliauge the calculations in the estimate to correspond to tliat basis. 



Whatever maybe the actual per cent. oC profit which is realized from 

 cattle farn)i !!{;•, it is yet certain that the business is luci'ati v<(, since those 

 who are engaged in this branch of industry liavt* bccatne the rich men 

 of the country, many of them having amassed immense fortunes. Jt is 

 true, however, that the increase in the value of tlicir lands has in some 

 (iases had more to do with their wealth than the product of the pasturage, 

 f icnow many cases where the value of well-si tjiated estancias has 

 doubled in the course of a few years, to say nothing whatever of the 

 product. 



PUTUEB OF THE OATTLB INDTJSTKY OF THE AKaENTINB EBPUBLIO. 



I have undertaken in the foregoing pages to furnish the l)ei>artment 

 with an exhibit drawn from the most reliable sources at my command 

 of this leading industry of the Argentine llepublic, its history, its won- 

 derful development, its details, Its products, and its profits. What I 

 have accomplished is perhaps hardly what might have been expected , 

 in reply to the circular which was sent to ine; but a strict (!oinj>lianc» 

 therewith was impossible, from the fact that there are no home 

 cattle in this country whose importation would be an imi)rovement ti~ 

 our existing breeds and to productions of the dairy. At the same time, 

 however, it has seemed to me that the manner in which the great cattle 

 estancias of the river a Plate are managed and made productive was 

 matterof suflicient interest, not merely to our cattle-brwfdors but to our 

 people generally, to warrant the extended mention i have made of tlKfm, 

 even though they offer but few points which it would bo worth while 

 for us to imitate. 



In my opinion^ however, the cattle industry of this country, if not in 

 its infancy, Ih still in its undeveloped state, and that it will liorcsaiUtr 

 assume far greater proportions and be prosocuLod with far better results 

 than it lias yet done. In the past cattle were only raised in this country 

 for their hides; at present they are raised for their hides and the prod- 

 uct of their carcaisHCN. The time is coming, with the i-illux of intelli- 

 gent labor from Europe, when to these the products of the dairy will 

 also be added. To this end it is necessary that an im|)roved breeit per- 

 haps the cross of tlie H(!n;for<l with the native cow, shiill take the phwto 

 ot the native {ereole) cattle, which at present constitute the tstcHjk of the 

 country. Ihis change is now gradually going on, and a fuw more v'-ars 

 will shown a vast differen.jo In the qualitieH of tlu* breed, while the pro- 

 duction of milk, butter, and cUoese will double, if not treblp, the prteseut 



