The farmer and mechanic., 1915-03-16
FRESH MEAT EOR .>-
EUROPEAN SOLDIERS
Chilled Beef From Argentina Going BY
Shiploads to England and France

south America as the worlds Futufc
Meat RaSkct-Its Cattle Can BE In |
creased 500 Per Ccnt-Alfalfa Dy
the Million of, Acres-ImprOying |
the Breeds Bull That Sold tor
81. a Pound-What Our American
Packers are Doing I'm the Parana
Basin-Thcy Already Ship More
Than Half of the Argentine Out
put and Are Building New Plants
Something About Freight Rates
and American COmpctition-Do
We Eat Too Much Veal.
Copyright, 1915, by Frank q. Car
BUENOS AIRES.
The war in Europe is increasing
the demand for the cattle of the Ar
gentine Republic. Meat prices are riS-
ing and in some places horse heSh is
sold All of the chilled meat factories
at and near Buenos Aires are running
at their fullest capacity and steamers
loaded with beef and mutton are leav-
ing almost daily for England. Some
millions of pounds are now weekly
exported, and Of this about one-fourth
is going northward to the United
States. The rise in prices is bring
ing in the young cattle. and In some
places cows are being slaughtered for
the local supply. The latter condi-
Argentina as the worlds meat bas-
ket of the future. The country has
vast areas Of land, but it has to keep
its breeding animals, if it would in
crease it's cattle supply, and laws may
eventually be passed providing Sc
we're penalty for the killing Of cows.
Already laws have been enacted
against the killing of calves.
There are now about 100000
cattle in the Argentine Republic. This
is half as many as we have in the
United States, and it is within two or
three million Of the number in Rus
sia in Europe, the only other coun-
triea excepting British India, that
lead the world in stock of this kind.
1t seems strange to me that the Brit
ish Indies should have more cattle
than any other land on the globe. We
AL know the sacred cows Of HinduS-
tan but We do not know that that
country has more than twice as many
cattle as we have and three or four
times as many as any other on earth
According to the figures given me by
the Argentine department Of agricul
ture, India has 100000 cattle anG
buffaloeS. It's beef stock alone mum
bers $4,000, 900. and it easily leads th'
world AS u cattle producer. Next il
rank comes the United States, mex
Russia, and then Argentina. In rount
numbers Germany has 10000, 90
beef cattle, France 100000 and tn
United Kingdom 100000. Austria
liza has about as many as Great Brit
ain. and Ireland and the other cOun
tries of the world have much less
ranging from 100000 in Urugua
down to a million or so in JapaI
Switzerland, Chile and Holland. o
all the cattle countries, the possibili
ties Of increase are chiefly with thos
Of South America The United State
= n rs " ha
duct of Europe, owing to the slaugt
ter now going on to feed the arrne
in the field. will be on the decline.
The future OF South America as III
great meat basket of the world is {
bright as the sun of the tropics. Thel
are tens OF millions of acres of pa
lures in Bolivia on the eastern sloI
ot the Andes where cattle are no
running wild, and where fat beev'
can be bought for few dollars
head. Brazil has highlands that WI
feed other millions, and Uruguay AT
Argentina, ii their lands were inter
sively used, could support ten head
stock where they now support on
Paraguay. just north of here, is OF
vast pasture field. and almost II
whole of this Parana basin is fitt'
for raising alfalfa. None Of the be
here is corn fed, and until lately mo
of the cattle were raised on the n
tive grasses. Now they are broug
up on grass and fattened on alfali
The latter crop is being sown by t
tens Of thousands of acres. The
are single fields of alfalfa in Arge
tina that contain more than O
thousand acres, and I know men w
have ten thousand and twenty thou
and acres OF alfalfa in one pate
Coming across TO Buenos Aires frC
the foothills of the Andes 1 70
through a tract OF country which
rev years ago was supposed to
desert. Then some of the Itali
wheat farmers from the east NOV
out and broke the land up for gra
However. the soil was found to
SO light that it could not be farm
Then alfalfa was tried, and the de
roots of that plant went down to~i
water they they now have there {
OF the best alfalfa lands on the glo
i rode through great fields VIII
hundreds of cattle were feedinp 2