El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1917-12-15

posed TO the car. Il was impractical IN
the country. it did not coincide with
. his conceptions Of q car, and Ii would
not last, A few demonstrations proved
otherwise. The car was driven over
every part Of the e5talcld- 1t was sold
to the estancier and TO his family as
we'll This selling campaign spread
from one part Of the pampas to an
other until it permeated every part OF
the cultivated country from the At
Iantio to the Andes.
% PERCENT OF AUTOS
GO To THE FARMERS
It is not surprising that with such
an Introduction during 1914 and 1913,
so TO 80 percent Of the American auto
mobiles sold in Argentina today go
TO the wealthy farmers. These ears
art receiving severe service. For
months at q time they are left IN the
open. They are rarely washed from
the date OF purchase until they are
finally discarded They are not ElTen
that delicate attention that the city
car receives Expert repairmen are
scarce through the Argentine camp
and only crude repairs on the gaso-
line engine are made. NOtWlthsranC-
ing these handicaps, the sales are in
creasing rapidly in spite Of poor crop
conditions and poor shipping 1aclll-
ties 10 Europe. There are today be-
tween 10000 and 10000 cars in Ar
geutina
The Argentine camp. or country set
Element, needs the automobile. 1t is Q
region Of great distances, and many
Of the farms being very large. speed
Ter transportation than the horse IS
required. While the large farm sys-
TEN Of ownership makes it easier TO
sell automobiles at the start, Il eyent-
ually will work a hardship in that
the selling market is limited as com
pared with a similar area OF cult
waited land IN North America
The field Of the motor truck in Ar
Eentina has not been developed 60 any
extent and the truck movement IS
tagging far behind the car movement
There is q good selling field Tor
trucks En- the city Of BCelos Aires and
. limited selling field in some Of the
other cities such as Rosario, Bahia
Blanca, Mendoza and Cordoba. In the
smaller cities street Dayements are
generally good, but wide streets are
not SO common as in BUenos Aires
There Is very big selling field with
the estanCierOs.
No country is better adapted TO the
use OF the motor farm tractor than
Argentina with long level stretches,
its entire freedom from stones, and
Its sparse farm population The farm
tractor was introduced by American
manufacturers on the pampas several
years ago, but unfortunately rs APP
plic1tion was not the greatest sue
cess. Seven or eight years ago me-
chanic1l farm help competent TO care
for the farm tractor was not to be
had and the machines proved 2 fail
ure. not owing TO faulty design, man
ufacture, or materials. but owing 70
lack OF competent operators. Those
tractors were largely Of the heavy
type. capable Of pulling eight 70 l.
plows. They are stiu to be seen bUc
are not in use because OF the high
cost OF fuel and the problem OF oper-
atOrs- Unfortunately they are not g
good advertisement for the American
tractor industry OF today
Today the estanciero is not favor
ably disposed 20 the farm tractor,
partly because OF past experiences,
but largely owing to the high price Of
gasoline, the cheapness OF horses, ana
the poor crops OF the last two years.
The small American gasoline tractor
capable Of pulling three or four ploWs
Is on the Argentine market but is not
selling In spite OF the handicap the
estancierO IS looking more favorably
on the small tractor. He sees in II
CuluVating capacity that viii make
up to some extent for the shortage Of
labor due TO the cutting off OF Immi-
grafton since the war and the emiEra- {
ton Of many Italian farm laborers
who have left 10 join the colors OF
their native land.