J'une 1895.] CATTLE RAISING IN THE ARGENTINE REPUBLIC. 13 



ending with 1894, together with the number of Argentine 

 cattle returned by the Board of Customs as having been landed 

 in Great Britain : — 



Year. 



Number of Cattle 

 exported from 

 Argentina. 



Number of Argentine 

 Cattle imported into the 

 United Kingdom, 



1890 - 



150,00R 



653 



1891 



171,105 



4,190 



1892 - 



125,458 



3,500 



1893 - 



201,645 



6,884 



1894 - 



220,490 



9,546 



In the three months ended March last, 5,005 head of cattle 

 from Argentina were received in this country, as compared with 

 an entry of 3,174 head in the first quarter of 1894. 



Besides the trade in live cattle, large quantities of beef 

 preserved in various ways are exported from the Republic, of 

 which the larger portion is shipped to Cuba and Brazil in the 

 form of jerked beef or " tasajo." 



The prospect of a greater development of the trade in 

 Argentine live cattle is referred to in a recent number of the 

 South American Journal in the following words : — 



" Up to lately, attention was practically limited to the refining 

 of the native cattle, whilst the fattening was trusted entirely to 

 the native prairie grasses, the consequence being that a steady 

 supply of fat cattle could not be counted on for export all the 

 year round, and but comparatively few were sent to England. 

 The Argentines were satisfied with their dried beef trade with 

 Brazil and Cuba, which enabled them to dispose of about 

 1,000,000 beasts per annum. Now that the estancieros or 

 ranchmen are growing Shorthorns, Herefords, Polled Angus, &c., 

 by the 100,000, and that graziers are laying down thousands of 

 acres of alfalfa grass (lucerne) to fatten them, a rapid augmenta- 

 tion of the meat trade is being efiected by the exportation of 

 live stock to Brazil, Chili, and England, Belgium, France, and 

 Germany taking some also." 



The cattle in the Republic are to a large extent fattened on 

 alfalfa, either in the form of pasture or in a dried form as hay. 

 In 18^3, the estimated area under this crop was reported to be 

 about 3,000,000 acres. 



In a report published by the Foreign Office in 1893, it is 

 stated that four acres of good alfalfa are considered to carry two 

 animals in winter and four in summer ; but these numbers may 

 be largely increased after heavy rain. Alfalfa appears to be 

 particularly suited to a great part of the Republic owing to its 

 not requiring much surface damp or rain. Its roots penetrate 

 deeply into the soil even to the extent of 15 feet, so that the plant 

 depends more upon the moisture of the subsoil than on the 

 weather conditions for its nourishment. With a suitable subsoil 



