302 Agriculture in the Argentine Republic, [july, 



The production of linseed has increased from 232,000 tons 

 in 1895-6 to 1,101,000 tons in 1907-8, and Argentina 

 now produces more linseed than an}?- other country. Except 

 for the quantity required for seed, the whole of the Crop is 

 exported, and in consequence the influence of the country on 

 the market is considerable. Of 2,067,000 qrs. imported into 

 the United Kingdom in 1908, 1,205,000 qrs. came from 

 Argentina. 



The cultivation of lucerne, which, apart from natural 

 grasses, is the principal fodder crop, is also reported to have 

 extended rapidly. No annual returns are obtained, but it 

 is estimated that more than 10,000,000 acres are under this 

 crop, compared with about 1,760,000 acres in 1905. 



The number of live stock in the country has also increased 

 very considerably as regards cattle, horses, and pigs, though 

 a decrease of 10 per cent, has taken place in the case of sheep. 

 Some particulars as to their distribution were given in this 

 Journal in February last (p. 850), where it was noted that 

 there has been a marked transference of the sheep-breeding 

 industry from the more thickly populated districts, where 

 land has risen in value, to the interior and less cultivated 

 regions. Cattle, which appeared to have increased in all 

 parts of the Republic, numbered 29,117,000 head in 1908 

 as compared with 21,792,000 in 1895. The export of frozen 

 or chilled beef last year was equal to 573,946 head of cattle, 

 a higher figure than in any previous year, while in addition 

 247,500 were exported in other forms, and 60,916 on the hoof. 

 The export of frozen sheep represented 3,297,667, compared 

 with 2,802,000 in 1907, while 103,792 were sent from the 

 country alive. Chili, Uruguay, and Brazil are the principal 

 customers for live cattle, while in 1908 a large proportion of 

 the sheep went to Belgium. The United Kingdom takes 

 practically the whole of the frozen meat. 



Mr. C. Russell, Secretary of the British Legation at 

 Buenos Ayres, observes in a recent despatch that the annual 

 live stock show at Buenos Ayres attracted an increased 

 number of exhibits in 1908, especially in the classes of 

 horses and pigs. The chief honours fell, as usual, to those 

 farms where the best English blood has been introduced, 

 regardless of expense. Argentine patriotism derived much 



