The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1915-02-23

LOT the cavalry, the supply
or the Argentine horse fl sh is more
IMAM one-thlrd as large as that of the
Tilted States. According TO the lat
est figures, the worlds total OF horses
Is about $4,000. 900, and OF these one
tenth are feeding on the Argentine
alnHas. The United States has about
Il 100000 horses and Russia has a
ike number. In round numbers Ger
many and Austria have about 5000
Gee, France. 100000 and Great Bri-
tain 10000 900. Canad h about g.
100000. Australia a like number, and
Argentina about $500. 900. During
the Boer war many thousands OF
horses were shipped from Buenos |
Aires to South Africa and the outlook
is that if the sea route car be kept
open for the allies a large proportion
Of the present supply will go to
Great Britain and France.
The origin Of the Argentine horse
is Of especial interest to US. AS YOU
know u hemisphere had no horses
until after Columbus came; and the
first horses Of both North and South
| America were imported from Spain.
They were descended from those pro
duced by the Moors from the cross
between the Barb and the Arabian.
Some were SEN to Mexico, where
they ran wild, and formed the wild
horses of our western plains. Others
were brought to South America and
some OF the first came over in the
sixteenth century. A part of the lat
ter lot belonged to Pedro de Mendoza,
who. when attacked by the Quer-
randi Indians, had to abandon his
settlement on the panpas He then
left behind him five mares and seven
~stallionS. and it is said hat these
twelve animals were the p~rogenitorS
| OF the great troops OF Argentine
horses. The animals increased in
/ such numbers, that the wild drOves
almost covered the plains. There
were SO many horses that mares and
geldings were sold to the government
for two or three shillinSs each to
supply the Indians with horses. Later
tens Of thousands OF animals were
killed for their hides and tallow.
bringing from fifteen to twenty shill-
; ings a head and it was not until re-
cent years that horses became worth
: from $50 and upward apiece. The
early Argentines were too proud tC
E ride mares and during the first quar-
ter Of the nineteenth century more
2 than a half million mares were butch
cred for what they brought in horse
hair, fat and hides. Now the mare
is almost as valuable as the stallion
and horse breeding is exceedingl,
profitable.
? In riding over the country one see
: large droyes Of horses feeding inSid'
: the great fenced Enclosures and Their
is a steady importation Of all kind
of fin re animals, including the Clyde
dales and Percherons for draft pun
poses. The number of horses i
steadily increasing. It has more tina,
= doubled within the past twenty years
- and it is estimated that there is stlI
" room here for many times the sup
ply now on hand.
- Indeed, the possibilities OF Argen
tina in stock development are beyon
> conception. AS it is now. less tina
y ~one-seventh Of the land is under Gu
:, tivation, and / am told that 100000,
600 animals could De fed and sti
leave room for more.
b The Criolla mare, which served q
70 the base for the native horse stoc
e Of the republic, had excellent bloo'
and today it shows some evidences {
J. is Arabian ancestry. 1t was dwarfe
by being born and bred in the ope
Or without any other food than the ne
le tive grasses. Still it is strong an
rs willing and capable Of extraordinal
exertion. 1t is irregular in shaI
0. and color, ranging from the slend'
is type to the short, stocky one, ar
An from a dusky brown to a fantast
blossom COLOR.
The native stock might have bee
os improved by selection and broug'
back to it's original excellence. l a
We told tina some Of the estancieros ha'
in tried it successfully n that il an
er mails Of the same breeds had be-
a imported from Spain they might ha-
renewed the DID stock. The natl
of horses, however. form excellent on
we for breeding, although crossing the
m, with the racing blood seems TO ia
in away their muscular strength a.
we s%rurdiness and to make them nervo,
thy For working cattle, the lassooers
ID horseback need brawny. quiet hors
,us and not quick nervous ones. Cross
res with the PercherOn. Clydesdale a
ng Shire the Criolla ia a good. gene
81 D horse, fitted for draft or t
a carriage; and. crossed with the thu
oughbred, it makes an animal VIII
of Is especiailv fitted for cavalry pI