The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1914-01-06

egular from Germany call
at the ports.
You might think that the white
mar could not live as far down as the
Strait Of Magellan. That strait IS q
thousand miles farther south than
Cape Town, in Africa. 1t is away
down on the globe, below Australia
and New Zealand, and nevertheless
it's climate is SO mild that cattle and
sheep can feed out Of doors there all
the year round. The great Island OF
Terra del F'uego is now devoted to
sheep, and the whole country about is
a summer resort compared with the
lands Of central Alaska. AS to that
part of South America, / speak from
personal experience. have been at
the Strait of Magellan in the heart of
mid-winter, and ave rramped around
in the mud, the weather being SO
warm that there was no frost in the
ground. / do not mean to say that
this is SO all the time, but the winters
are mild.
Filling Uncle Sans Bread Basket.
Speaking Of the sheep at the strait
brings to the Investigations I hope to
make as to whether South America
cannot cut down the cost Of our legs
of mutton and our tenderlOin roasts.
There is no doubt hat frozen meats
can be shipped from there to our
country and be served just as fresh
as though they came from the farm.
l have seen them loading ships with
frozen mutton in New Zealand for
London. The distance between the
two countries is far greater than that
between New York and the South
meat sells readily in the markets Of
Europe, and the same Is true OF the
beef which goes to London from the
Argentine pampas. There is nc rea-
son why the vast sheep and cattle
ranches Of southern South America
should not aid in the supply Of our
American markets and still less rea-
son why we should not get cattle
from the selvaS Of Venezuela n
Columbia. ! am told hat Bolivia has
SO many wild cattle that beeves sell in
parts of the plateua for 81 OF So q
piece, and that some OF the cattle are
killed for their hides ard the meat
thrown away.
Paraguay has fine pasture lands.
which are now sold by the square
league and some of which are being
exploited by American capital, and
the same is true Of interior Brazil.
The bread possibilities Of South
) the meats. Argentina has potential
wheat lands as grea, as those Of the
United States n Canada combined
{ and it now exports thousands of tons
: of grain every rear to the countries
: of Europe. Uruguay is shipping grain
Southern Brazil raises wheat anl
Chile has vast estancias devoted to thu
: cereals There is probably a grea:
e future for the highlands Of the Ande.
as to the harder varieties OF such
products, and our Agricultural De
e partment has sent down experts t,
S investigate what can be done. The,
/ are also going into the meat coun
I'D ~~.-A -
: h cattle and sheep and upon Othe
r foods which may be sent to the Uni
e ted States. l expect TO make inves
e legations along the same lines. a
we'll as to report upon what they hav
n found.
a New for the American Farmer.
n Another part Of my mission is to de
scribe how farming is done in the va
rious countries and to report upo
q new grains and fruits which may pos
q S1bly be used in our country. TIL
o Ande mountains are the home of tn
X potato and upon the plateau ST Be
'r 1ivia there are many varieties whic
le are unknown in North America. Som
OF these date back to prehistoric day
al The common people ruled by the Ir
a, cas- were raising .spuds" long befor
Ireland was thought Of and ever
d ube of the potato variety we eat he
III a genealogical tree whose roots al
ID ouIieu 4 the s OF the AnOeS.
" Further down the mountains tt
Ia people have a vegetable known as tt
yucca This Is a with branch,
re like an underground tree and thel
Sc may be varieties equal to that While
st Luther Burbank found when a BIO
ca and from that discovery continued h
ne Investigations to fame and to 70
Id tune.
nd want to investigate the guano i
is landS of the o. Of Peru, and al
so go into the nitrate fields Of the gre
ey South American desert, which nc
DIS SO largely supply the nitrogen for o
'e- American farms Those deserts ha.
nd already yielded several hundred M
lie lion dollars worth OF that fertflfz<