Kansas City journal. [volume] (Kansas City, Mo.) 1897-1928, 1898-12-11

filled with grease that when l thrust my
hand into a pile of it it came out shining.
as though it had been dipped in vaseline.
Inc shippers tell me that the wool crosses
the ocean better in its unwaShed state,
and that it thus brings u greater profit.
Wool loses from 80 TO 30 per cent of its
weight IN washing. and the Argentine
farmers ind it better TO sell at a lower
rate and allow the European buyers to
Scour il.
to France. Germany and Belgium, though
quite u lot has. until this year, been sent
TO the United States. Our last tariff; as
upon 1t as to keep ii out. although the
Argentine wool We buy is of u coarse va
fiety and does not. l am told. compete with
Cordoba wool, and is largely used for max
ing carpets.
The Argentine exports of wool are in
creasing in volume. In 1850 the clip amount
ed TO only 45.1p0,o10 pounds. In 1891 1t
was 3lo.Vo.OO pounds, and in lS. a.
er,1o pounds. or more than leo pounds for
sach man, woman and child in the repub-
lie. The product per sheep is also steadily
roWin and the average fleece of to-day
IS onerthird again as large as 1t was in
1850. The Argentine not only surpasses us
IN the number of sheep. but 1t promises to
surpass us in time in the quality of the
wool and mutton. AT present our average
Ieece per sheep is higher, but the ArSen-
tines are steadily improving their breeds
Dy crossing them with the best rams that
tti ne Imported. Every DAY OF SO there
Is an auction sale of imported rams in
BuenoS Ayres, and not long ago 4 fine Cali
fornia merino sold for 5000 in gold. L
have visited some of the auctions, and L
animals. They are superior TO anything
| nave ever seen in the United States.
farms and well known breeders of En-
gland. L am told that shipments of so
called fine stock from the United States
to the Argentine have usually resulted il
losses 10 orr simmer as the stock was
rot up to the grade demanded by the
Argentine buyers.
The wool of the Argentine is changing.
For q long time there was only coarse
wool. but now all kinds of fine woods are
produced. and the Argentine merinos are
Ihe merino sheep are. however, compara-
lively few. The chief breeds are the
Downs oxford ii" and C fiastH H There is a
cross of the Leicesters and the Merino
which gives such excellent wool that at
the last Paris exposition the Argentine
stood Trst as a wool exhibitor. receiving
l2 prizes. of which twenty-three were gold
medals.
In addition to the meat which is frozen
for Export. the Argentine republic is stead
lily increasing in its shipments of live stock.
AT the Buenos Ayres docks there are large
cattle and sheep yards. and the animals
are transferred from them to the steam
ers. L saw a number of ships loading dur
ing a visit there one day. The cattle are
80 - OfNAA i'1lt- Aidht VI III q pliit,
rudely Knocked up on the decks of the
steamers. Each animal has just enough
space to lie down. and is SO tied that its
head is away from the sea. The voyage is
such a warm one that no boarding is
done. and the cattle are to all purposes out
of doors. Above the cattle stalls, roofing
them as 1t We're, are the open pens. in
which the sheep are carried. These pens
have no roofs whatever. and the sheep are
packed in SO closely that there is scarcely
room for them to move about. From 1850
to 200 sheep and from 200 to 800 cattle are
taken in a single steamer. the result of the
overcrowding often being n considerable
loss. one of the ships ] saw loaded for
London had 300 steers and 1.00 sheep. and
another was loading a cargo of 800 steers
and lao wethers. In the first six months
of this year 333.G sheep and 1900 steers
were exported alive to Europe, and last
year about COCO cattle and 500. coo sheen
were sold in this way.
The ArSentines are now raising cattle for
milk and for export. and they are improv-
ing their cattle as well as their sheen.
There are several bulls in the country
which cost over 5000 gold. and during the
past year as many as 1.6t0 bulls We're i'm
which weighs less than 1870 pounds. ana
not a few are shipped which weight Loo.
The average price paid by the shipper is
about $50 gold.
The wild cattle of the Argentine pampas
OF which you have read in your geog-
raphies have long since disappeared. and
questions about them create considerable
laughter. A few months ago an American
resident of Buenos Ayres received a letter
from a professor of a leading American
college stating that he expected to take
a hunting trip to the Argentine and would
like to know if he could shoot the wild
cattle near Buenos Ayres without a
The man evidently had not learn
ed That every beast in this country has an
owner and that the stock is now as care
fully watched as our stock at home.
FRANK G.. CARPENTER.