The farmer and mechanic., 1915-04-27
EASTERN PATAGONIA
New Developments in Railroads and Stock
RAISING in the BackWoods of Argentina.

breeding and horse breeding go on: |
The province raises much corn ana |
oats, and it annually sells more than |
three million pounds of alfalfa seed. |
at an average price of about so cents |
per pound The capital is Santa Rosa |
de Toay, a town of 500 inhabitants. |
which is connected by rail with this
port The distance from Bahia
Blanca is about twelve hours, ana
there are three trains a week.
I have seen something Of the terri
tories of Rio Negro and NeuQuen.
The latter will be opened up by the
trunk lines, which are to cross the
continent from Bahia Blanca to the
| Pacific, connecting this region with
| lower Chile and making a short route
| from ocean to ocean. The railroad
has already been built as far as the
| town of Neuquen, the capital OF the
territory, and it is now being pushed
toward the Andes. One road will cross
the mountains, leaving the Argentine
near the beautiful lake of Manuel
| Huapi and entering the lake region
Of Chile, which in beauty compares
with those of northern Italy and
Switzerland. This will be one Of the
| scenic routes of the world. The road
/, from Bahia Blanca to Neuquen passes
| through a country much like Arizona
| and New Mexico. The land is pract-
| cally a desert, and it needs irrigation
or dry farming to make it thrive. The
only cultivated portions are in the riv-
| er valleys of the Colorado and Ne
gro, and the chief vegetation is sage
| brush and scrub. About the only ami
mails to be seen are the guanacos and
rabbits, and the chief birds are the os-
triches, which are found almost every
where in the South American desert.
Further west there are many sheep in
the valleys, and as the mountains are
reached there are many green spots.
Lake Manuel Huapi is surrounded by
pine-covered hills, and the most of the
southern Andes are wooded.
The lake itself is famous for it's
| beauty. 1t is $50 miles long and in
some places more than 1900 feet
deep. 1t has fiords like those of
Norway, and Mount Tronador, with
its snow and glaciers, is in plain view.
5 1t is now planned to create a ma
t uonal park about this lake, and sal
l mon and trOust eggs have been plant
e ed in 1t. The lake now has stemaers
S and it will eventually be a touris,
o resort 1t is only about 120 miles ir
:. a straight line across the mountains
t from the Pacific ocean.
II Two of the most important terri
d tories of Argentine Patagonia ar
r Rio Negro and Chubut. Both OF thes,
s territories run to the Atlantic from
). the boundary of Chile, and both hav,
J., rich lands that can be made availabl
n by the Rio Negro and the Rio Chubut
n Rio Negro is especially fitted for frui
IS growing, and it's irrigated vineyard
N are now producing more than a mil
e lion pounds Of grapes and $4,000 gal
,e Ions of wine every year. There ar
al | Slxty-one factories in operation.
I'd The Chubut territory has many ric
N valleys and it's mountain slopes ar
g. we'll fitted for grazing. The countr
already has more than 100000
sheep, 100000 cattle and 10000
81 horses. One district alone has NOR
i than 100000 sheep and there is
I'll single sheep farm that annually Pre-
ne duces a quarter of a million pound
wv of wool. There are 10000 sheep O
is. that farm. The capital Of Chubut
lis Rawson, situated on the coast nea
AL the mouth of the river Chubut, an
W. the chief port is Madryn, on a litt
90 gulf not far from the peninsula Va
ur dez The population of the terrific,
20, is made up chiefly of Beers an
is Welsh. Rawson has a weekly new
ca paper published in Welsh, and tt
n colonists speak Welsh, English ar
as Spanish. The town has a foot ba
IS club and cricket and tennis clubs
.rs This part of Chubut is one of b
re sheep farms. There is one shee
Oh ranch that has about $4,000 hes
,e- feeding on something like 5000
ite acres; another that has $500 Ran
ate bouillet sheep on $4,000 acres, al
he another which has 1000 sheep on
nd similar acrea. Altogether there a
M more than 100000 sheep in the +
yro gion surrounding the Valdez peni
he sula.
serl
lta Almost all southern Patagonia
big more or less fitted for sheep raisin
WO 1T is said one can start On the mai
The land north Of the Strait of Magell
IRA and travel to Buenos Aires, stoppi
lu- over every night at the house of
)Od farmer. There are sheep static
wherever there is water, and t
sheep feed on the bushes and scar
the grass of the pampa@
his The province OF S;s.Ita Cruze, lust /