Evening star., 1915-03-28

June or July. and sometimes as late
as August.
The crop grows rapidly. and along
about the middle OF November or De
cember It is ready for harvest About
four-flfths OF all the wheat of Argsn-
tina Is cut and threshed in December.
although in the south the harvesting
season may continue until the end Of
January
] have made some inquiry .. to tho
cost and profit of wheat raising. Here
are some figures from the Department
of Agriculture estimated on a farm OF
500 acres. OF which 500 acres were
sown to wheat the remainder being in
pastures and buildings. The yield was
fifteen bushels per acre, and the amount
of capital invested I'm farm buildings
and tools was just about 5000. The
rent Of the farm was 81 goo per year,
and The seed cost s4l5 1t cost $50 to
break the land and plant the wheat ant
500 10 reap and bind 1t The stacking
cost s34h, and the thrashing in the
ueighborhood OF $1,000. An additional
$500 was spent in getting the wheat I"
the station. and altogether. including
the interest on the capital invested
taxes and insurance. the cost of pro-
duction was $3.50. The crop Amounted
to $50 bushels. so that the aversgc
cost OF production was about 66 cents
bushel. That crop sold for 50 cents
a bushel ard even al that low price 4
gave profit of more than 81 600. Witt
the present prices. caused by the war.
the pro1t would ne three times that
amount
And stil1 l do not advise the ordinarv
American farmer to come to Argentine
He might make some money. but without
a large capital he could do as we'll o.
better at home Moreover. he coula
not be happy without ne brought his
friends with him. For the small farm
er the country life of this land is dead
" dreary. In most places ther. are no
trees. Tho little mud hut of the colo
mist stands alone the Sonlher land
scape, and IL has not a sign oe comfort
about il. Ones only neighbors are
Italians and Russians. who have late',
arrived. and who care Tor nothing bu'
the crop they are raising Most Or
them have no gardens. aad there are
no flowers or vines about their homes
They run accounts at tho nearest gro
Gerry and make annual settlement
when they sell their wheat The me
drink to excess, and their families ar"
kept in the cheapest and meanest o.
ways.
With the small wheat farmer. it l.
the size of the family that gauges the
profit When planting and harvestin-
are going on the whole family works
The women go out into the fields and
pillow and reap, and boys of eight and
girls of nine or ten do their share OF
the labor. The work goes on from sun
rise to sunset, and of moonlight night
YOU NAV see them out under the stars
binding and reaping. You may see the
same at planting time. Between sea
sons is one long vacation whom the
people loaf and when nothing is done
They live then upon credit or the
prohts of the last crop. If drought
comes or crop fails they Increase
their debt and an invasion OF the To-
Gusts may bring ruin and famine.
What the American would miss most
is the lack of social life and also the
loss OF standing such as he has in the
United States. There is sharp dis
tinction here between the poor and the
rich, and the small farmer or the labor
ing man is not on an equality with the
rich estanciaro When the farmland
talks to his employer he takes off his
hat and he looks up to him as his
master The tenant houses are poor
and il a man has a mud hut of two
rooms he does well. Transient labor IS
comparatively scarce. The bulk of the
land is owned in large blocks and the
owners desire to have their estates as
far from the village as possible so that
there may be little danger OF thei.
losing their employees. For these rea
sons my advice to the man OF small
capital or to him whose chief capital IS
his muscle or clerical ability is to sta
at home. Just now. with the hard times
brought about by the war in Europe.
this is not a good place for strangers.
FRANK G.. CARPENTER.