The Challis messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1912-current, 1924-02-20

prepared by the National Geographic So
ciety Washington. D. c.
The name Brazil" to the average
North American, conjures up a pic
ture of coffee, tropical forests and rub
Der. But it is a tremendous coun-
try, this United States of the South
American continent, and the usual con-
ception takes no account of Brazil S
south, and especially Of Rio Grande
do Sui. That state, mentioned in dis
patches because of the revolution
which it has had on it's hands, gives a
different picture, and presents a Brazil
into which hundreds of thousands of
citizens of the United States could fit
in peace times with little violence to
their daily routine.
Reverse directions in. comparison
with the United States, and you have
an explanation of the Importance of
Rio Grande do Sui. Brazil's North has
tropical climate; and there is the
Brazilian "black belt" where live mil
lions of negroes. The South has a
temperate zone climate at its best
and Rio Grande do Sui, most distant
from the equator, leads all the rest
of the states in climatic agreeableness
from the point of view of northern Eu-
ropeans and North Americans. This
has been white mans country" from
the first, and it has been the leader
in many ways in Brazilian develop
ment.
But there is marked difference be-
tween Brazil's South and our own
North. This southernmost of Brazil's
states has Its closest affiliations with
our West, for it is a Cow country"
without peer. On the $1,000 square
miles of Rio Grande do Sui are more
than a quarter as many cattle as in
the entire United States. Water and
grass are abundant, droughts are prac-
tically unknown, and the rolling coun-
try with its numerous tree-covered
hills furnishes a charming and slim
ulating countryside in contrast to the
dreary and often dry level of many
of the worlds great cattle-raising re-
gions. Travellers who have visited all
the leading live stock countries assert
that Rio Grande do Sul's pasture lands
are superior to those of Argentina,
South Africa, the United States and
Australia; and that here, under the
Southern Cross, is the coming Cow
country" of the world
But although fortunately situated in
so many respects for the raising of
cattle, Rio Grande do Sui has no mo-
nopoly on the cattle industry, accord
ing to one Brazilian authority. Next
to that state in the number of head of
cattle is the interior state Of Minas
Geraes. This Is the center of the dairy
industry, as Rio Grande do Sui is the
center of the packing, sailing and
leather industry.
Other Good Cattle Regions.
Most recent estimates place the num-
Der of cattle in Rio Grande do Sui at
100000 head, while Minas Geraes
presses the leading state with herds
that number only one million head less.
1t is said that there is not a single
state or territory of the country in
which there is not some land favor
able to the growing Of live stock.
Curiously enough the well-watered
tropical states of Maranhao, Para, and
Piauhy share honors among the lesser
producers with Geara, relatively arid
state. But the real future of the cat
tie business in Brazil is believed to
be in the interior states of Minas
Geraes and Goyez. There are millions
of acres of fertile ideal land waiting to
support great herds in these districts.
Particularly in the latter state the
parallel between the American cow
boy west and the Brazilian COW coun-
try is very close. There are no fences
on the vast plains carpeted with sue
culent grass. Herds are rounded up
once year and delivered on the hoof
after journey of sixty to ninety days
to the neighboring state of Sac Paulo.
There they are sold to packing-house
agents who fatten them for nine
months before shipping them by rail
10 the slaughterhouses.
Until fairly recently Rio Grande do
Suls cattle were neglected by COM
panies in search Of beef to transport ]
and the state had to content itself with |
millions of dollars worth Of |
'jerked beer and hides. Recently |
tremendous freezing plants have been
erected, and now Brazilian bsef Is