ALFALFA IN SOUTH AMERICA. 351 
when mown. On the other hand, close feeding and 
hard seasons will destroy its value in about three or 
four years. Native grasses come up in it and ulti- 
mately weaken it. In some colonies, notable upper 
Santa Fe, it is more permanent. There at the Jewish 
colony there are fields 15 years old yet in fine con- 
dition. The climate there is hot, with dry summers. 
It is a curious commentary on the absurd rela- 
tion between what the farmer gets and the consumer 
pays that in Buenos Aires alfalfa hay retails at 
about $10 to $15 per ton, the freight, baling, haul- 
ing and commissions absorbing the difference be- 
tween that and the $2.40 that the rancher receives. 
Corn also is being increasingly grown and fed in 
Argentine. The beef is all killed and frozen there, 
exported then mostly to England. Good steers are 
worth around $30 to $60 each. Feeders, about two 
years old, are bought for from $8 to $12 per head, 
very thin in flesh, and placed on alfalfa pasture for 
six to ten months or sometimes a little longer. 
Cattle Carrying Capacity.—Alfalfa never does 
less than double the capacity of pastures however 
rich they may be. Often it multiplies the capacity 
of the pasture from three to six times. In some 
parts 3,000 cattle are being fattened on one league 
(6,672 acres) of land, and another thousand or more 
might be added if breeding cattle were carried. Once 
these camps would carry only about 800 cattle to the 
league. 
It is found impossible to cut as much alfalfa as 
