44 



Argentina's Agricultural Progress. 



Men who are still young have seen a horse-hide vessel con- 

 taining cream secured to a rough sled and dragged at break-neck 

 speed over the Pampa. When the wild chase ended and the 

 hide vessel was opened, butter was revealed. 



A few years ago a leading cstanciero took up the trade of the 

 dairy supply of Buenos Aires. He erected buildings on his 

 estate and equipped them with separators, refrigerators, and 

 all the most modern appliances of dairy science ; introduced 

 milking herds, of which the Dutch Holstein and the Shorthorn 

 were the predominant breeds ; opened numerous supply stores 

 in the city, whose cool, white-tiled rooms speedily became 

 popular with the man in the street ; and in a year the Basque 

 with his clattering cans and the street cow had faded into the 

 past. 



This was the beginning of the dairy trade. The drop in wool 

 values, particularly in the strong cross-breds which constitute 

 the bulk of the Argentine wool parcel, induced live stock 

 breeders to give more attention to their herds of cattle. The 

 outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease, and its effect on the live 

 stock trade, was a further incentive to the estanciero to study 

 the profitableness of the dairy business. Central butter factories, 

 receiving cream either by direct purchase or on the co-operative 

 system, were established in many districts. In 1898, the pro- 

 duction of butter barely exceeded the local consumption. In 

 1902, over 4,000 tons were exported, almost entirely to the 

 United Kingdom. The importance of producing a uniform 

 quality has made the farm dairy and churn give place to the 

 central factory, and the result has been a corresponding improve- 

 ment in the market value. In 1900, Argentine butter was sold 

 at a price inferior to that obtained for the French, Dutch, Danish, 

 Swedish, and Australasian article ; to-day, Argentine butter 

 obtains a price second only to that of Denmark and Sweden. 



At the present time the cows are entirely grass-fed on the 

 natural pasturage of the eslancia. The calf is kept at foot and 

 not weaned. From forty to fifty cows are allotted to each dairy 

 hand. The average return per cow is estimated at 262 gallons 

 of milk per annum, though that figure is one which may be 

 expected to increase as the dairyman proceeds to throw out the 

 poor milkers from his herd and gets more conversant with the 



