Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1902-12-31

o suo hoiizeh ol our foreign trade all
ready large enc Ugh to be threaten
ing. = Argentine competition is
the new condition to be met in the
worlds meat trade" He proceeds
to show that, while in 1898 the
United States shipped 274,76s,074
pounds of beef to Europe, to the
IArgentines 11,875,0O0 pounds, in
1902, when our own exports had in
creased only to 30l,s24,478 pounds,
the Argentine had increased its beef
exports to 161,375,0OO pounds and
adds: .These figures show that,
while in 1893 Europe took nearly
twenty-five pounds of our beef for
one of Argentine, for the present
year Tie ratio is only two to one,
and In eighteen months more, should
the increased ratio for the last three
years be maintained, this country
will be crowded into o>second rank in
fresh beef expectation.
No WINTER IN ARGENTINA.
aIn natural advantages fore~ stock
raising Argentina has advantages
over the United States. Perhaps
the chief one is that there is practi-
cally no winter. Snow is unknown
and no preparation is necessary for
winter feeding. There being little
cold weather and no snow, all food
consumed goes to build up muscle
and fat. On the other hand, the
summers average little, if any
warmer than ours, so cattle grow
and fatten without care each month
OF the year. In nutritious quality
their grasses are no better than our
Buffalo grass, but they grow more
luxuriant and have one great advan-
tage. If our buffalo grass is killed
out by over-pasturing or by the
plough it is gone for all time. Ar
gentine ranges ploughed, cultivated
for few years and left will regrass
with the original varieties. Another
strong point is that cattle fatted on
the grasses of the country, without
being fed for a day on grain, will
produce a quality of meat that for
ordinary trade will compare favora.
bly, with our corn-fed beef. These
various advantages make it possible
to breed, rear and fatten animals
with minimum of attention and at
small cost, producing beef at
cost below any thing we can do.
The writer has seen 1,40O to 1900
pound steers in slaughter yards at
Buenos Ayres in 1900 as smooth as
our own export type that had never
been fed pound of grain and that
cost the packer in his yards only $50
head. Cattle and sheep form the
principal wealth of the country.
The natives, through 800 years of
training, prefer the nomadic life of
the herder and will not practice set
tied agriculture"
A CHANCE FOR SOUTHERN STATES.
Mr.. Shows conclusion is that elf
we are to maintain our position it
can only be done by cutting the
cost OF production to the lowest pos
sible limit" and suggests that this
may be the object of the merger of
the packing interests which is re-
ported in process. What this might
mean to the American stockman ia
indicated by a comparison of the
cost of beef to the American packer
with cost to the Argentine packer.
Mr.. Snow says the latter pays $50
tor 1,5OO-pound steer of the Ameri.
can export type, or 2 cents pound.
The lowest price paid for beef of
best quality at the Union Stock
Yards, Chicago, during the last
twenty-five years is $4.60 per hun
dred, between $72.75 and $50 cannot
be made up average price for twenty
four years of 1900 to 1,500-pound
beeves has been $4.85 per hundred,
or $72.75 for 1900 pound animal.
Now it is clear that the difference
between $72.75 and $50 cannot be
made up in the internal economies
OF the packing houses, merged or in
dependent; and the American stock
man will go out Of business before
he Will consent to aay large cut in
present prices, if corn continues TO
receive fair price. Some Of the
Southern States might take up stock
raising with hope of meeting Ar
gentine prices, but not in the North
could it be done. There are some
things more important than main.
tanning our foreign trade, and one of
them is the preservation of Ameri-
can manhood. We should neither
consent to the dominationsof huge
beef trust nor to reduce prices for
American farm products below a
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