The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1898-12-11
Copyright, 1885, by Frank G. Carpenter.

buenos AyreS. NOV. 4. leSS
TOW would you like mutton chop
two months Old? Hundreds OF
tons of such meat is sold in the
- - markets Of Europe every month
Some OF it comes from Austria
ma. not little from New Zealand, and OF
late great deal from the Argentine re-
public. 1t is shipped in q frozen state
and. II properly cared for, will keep for q
year. and taste as fresh and juicy at the
end OF that time as when cut from the
dying sheep.
We ship vast quantities OF beef to Eu-
rope every year, but the passage across
the Atlantic is so swift and the waters so
cool that the meat Is merely chilled and
Kept In cold storage. In going from the
Argentine to Europe the ships must steam
over the seething equator. 1t requires
from twenty to thirty days for the voy-
age, and ali meat must go either alive or
frozen. Living animals are expensive
freight. and the result is the Argentine is
now freezing its mutton for shipment. 1t
has millions invested in frozen meat fac
tories and il has one establishment which
Is said to be the largest frozen meat fac
tory Of the world.
Before describing my visit to this place
let me tell you something of the Argentines
as sheep raisers. We know little as to
their grain output. Their wheat, when
they have fair crop, makes our wheat
fall in the markets of Europe. Still, the
wheat farms are q bagateile in the con-
sidefation OF the products of the Argen-
tine. These people are stock farmers
rather than grain farmers. When a locust
invasion comes there is considerable dis
tress but should a stock famine occur the
country would have a panic. At present
not l per cent. of the Argentine is agri-
cultural. The sell is in many sections thin
and poor. The grain producing areas are
limited. The pastures. however. are the
largest Of the world. No such extent OF
grazing lands exists anywhere else, and
the area OF the stock farms increases ev-
cry year. The character of the grasses
improves by pasturing them with sheep
and cattle, and the fiocks and herds stead
lily grow. 1t Is estimated that ope-half
of tho republic Is adapted to sheep raising
This makes an area of 5sl, 600 square miles.
territory greater than Ten states the
size Of New York.
How many sheep the land will support
Is not known. but the number will run
into the hundreds Of millions. Some parts
OF the province Of Buenos Ayres. in which
four-fifths OF the sheep OF the Argentine
now are. will feed two or three sheep to
the acre. and other parts further south
need from two to four acres for a single
$50 sheep to the square mile. or that num-
Der to q section of land. The total num-
Der Of sheep in the Argentine is now 1885,
0o0,0O0 more than twice that OF the United
States. 1t is enough to give every familyj
in the country flock. of 100 sheep, and
have some millions for export. The sheep,
however, are not divided up in this way.
They are In the hands OF comparatively
few know Of men who each own 10000.
and there are one or two nabobs who have
/ am told. as many as million.
The usual size OF a fock OF sheep num-
bers from 1900 to 1000. This many are
put in charge of one shepherd, who
watches them on horseback, letting them
Craze about as they please. The sheep
are never fed They live out OF doors
from one years end to the other. They
get all they need by grazing. for there is
no such thing as barn or stack of hay
on an Argentine stock farm. The sheep
wander off grazing In the direction whence
the wind blows in the morning, and they
return in the evening to sleep about the
hut OF their shepherd. In some cases the
fields are fenced with wire, but the greater
part OF the sheep farms are the pampas
as the Lord created ,nem 1t is the
herder's business to keep his sheep from
mixing with those OF other fiocks and to
see that they are free frvn diseases. He
also keeps off the dogs, and has the gem
eral care OF the 1ocks. For this and his
work at shearing time he is paid SIG to
$50 gold a month. or he may work on
the shares for one-fourth of the profits
The Argentine shepherd has a life which
Is dreary in the extreme. He lives In a
mud hut away out on the prairie. He
may have a garden. but. as usual thing.
he Is too lazy TO make one. and his chief
food Is mutton. his employers allowing
him to kill enough sheep to supply him
with meat.
Raising sheep for mutton has until now
not been done by the Argensines. In the
past their profits have been from the wool.
hides and tallow Sheep and cattle were
and are still killed for their skins and
taiiow, the meat being thrown away.
Where the fiocks have multiplied too rap
idly thousands OF the older sheep have
been driven over the rocks into the sea.
They have at times been used for fuel.
and In the days when the Spanish ruled
this country an edict was published max
ing IL a crime to drive living sheep into
the fires Of the brick kilns At present
IL Is estimated that the Argentine repub-
lie raises one and one-halr billion pounds
more meat every year than she can con-
sumo or enough waste meat 70 give ev-
cry man, woman and child in the world
q full pound and have . hundred million
pounds or to spare.
II is this great surplus that has brought
about the establishment or big meat fac
tories-factories which turn out millions
of dollars worth of beef extracts every
year-and factories for freezing meat 90
that II viii not melt until thayed out for
sale 10 the retail butchers of Europe
The chief branch OF the industry now Is
In frozen mutton. Frozen beef Is also ex-
ported for such meat is not SO good when
thawed as when fresh killed. The mutton
tastes as juicr and sweet as though
fresh from the fields. and / am assured
that the frozen article cannot be distin-
Suisxed from that OF Old England.
How fast the business is growing can be
seen by the comparative shipments OF the
last few years In 1858 only sli 90 worth
OF sheep carcasses were Gent across the
ocean. In nine months Of last year the
sales amounted 10 si.5ooso. and the num-
her @. frozen wethers shipped 10 TWO and
one-haif millions. At present about 3se.0o
sheen are being exported every month.