The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1898-12-11

The shippers tell me that the wool crosses
the ocean better in its unwashed state,
and that 1t thus brings greater profit.
Wool loses from so to 70 per cent. OF its
weight in washing, and the Argentine
farmers And it better to sell at a lower
rate and allow the European buyers to
scour IL.
Two thirds OF the Argentine wool goes
to France Germany and Belgium, though
quite a lot has. until this year. been sent
to the United States. Our last tariff. as
1t was interpreted. laid 30 heavy duty
upon ii as to keep /, out. although tho
Argentine wool We buy is Of a coarse va
rtety and does not l am told. compete
with that raised at home. II Is known as
the Cordoba wool. and Is largely used for
making carpets
The Argentine exports OF wool are In
creasing in volume. In 1860 the Gin
amounted to only E.ooeoo0 pounds. In
1891 II was 2l0.000.o0o pounds. and In 1897
900 pounds. OF more than loo pounds
for each man. woman and child In the
republic. The product per sheep is also
steadily growing. and the average fleece
OF today Is one-third again as large a. Il
was In 1850. The Argentine not only sur
passes us in the number OF sheep. hut it
promises to surpass us in time in the quail.
ity OF the wool ana mutton. At present
our average fleece per sheep II higher hut
their breeds by crossing ynem with the
best rams that can be imported. Every
day or so there Is an auction sale Of inn
ported rams in Buenos Ayres, and not
long ago a fine California merino sold
for 5000 In gold. l have visited some Of
the auctions. and I am surprised at the
fine quality OF the animals. They are
Superior to anything i nnve ever seen in
the United States. the most OF them COM
ing from famous farms and well-known
breeders OF England. / am told that ship
ments or so-called fine stock from the
United States to the Argentine have usu
ally resulted in losses to our shippers. AZ
the stock was not up to the grade de-
manded by the Argentine buyers.
The wool of the Argentine Is changing.
For a long time there was only coarse
wool. but now all kinds fine WOODS are
produced. and the Argentine merinos are
considered as fine as any In the markets.
The merino sheep are. however. compare
lively few. The chief breeds are the Lei
cesters Romney Marsh, Black-faced
Downs Oxfords and Chcviots. There Is
n cross of the Leicesters and the merino
which gives such excellent wool that at
the last Paris exposition the Argentine
stood first as q wool exhibitor. receiving
102 prizeA of which twenty-three were gold
medalA
In addition to the meat which Is frozen
for export the Argentine republic Is stead
lily increasing In it's 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
steamers I saw a number of ships load
Ing during visit there one day. The cat
tie are put In open pens, made Of Afnert-
can pine, rudely knocked up on the decks
~ zsx(~r 4.s..A
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 board
ing is done, and the cattle are to all pur-
poses out of doors. Above the cattle
stalls roofing them, as ii were. are tina
open pens III ~hich 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 10 move
about. From 1900 to 1000 sheep and from
go to 800 cattle are taken In single
steamer, the result OF the overcrowding
often being considerable loss. One OF
the ships saw loaded for London had 800
steers and i,5o0 sheep. ana another was
loading q cargo of 600 steers and 100
wethers. In the first six months OF this
year 1888 900 sheep and el.000 steers were
exported alive to Europe. and last year
about quarter OF a mi.ion cattle and
half a million sheep were sold In this way.
The Argentines are now raising cattle
for milk and for export. and they are i'm
proving their cattle az we'll as their sheep.
There are several bulls In the country
which cost over 5000 gold. and during tho
past year as many as 1880 bulls were im-
ported. No steer Is accepted for ship
ment which weighs less than f.s2e pounds,
and not few are shipped which weigh
LOO. The average price paid by the ship
per Is about $50 gold.
The wild cattle OF the Argentine PAM
pas 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 Ayrcs received a LETT
ter from a professor of one OF our leading
American colleges stating that he ''cx-
pected to take hunting trip to the Ar
gentine. and would like to know II no
could shoot the wild cattle near Buenos
Ayres without a license The man evil
IDENTIFY had not learned that every beast
In this country has an owner. and that
the stock is now as carefully watched
as our stock at home.
FRANK G. CARPENTER.