CONCERNING URUGUAY.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1387, 13 March 1912, Page 8

CONCERNING URUGUAY.

STOCK, LAND, AND GENERAL

When tho programme for a world-wide lour of agricultural students was dratted by tho Uruguayan Government, the claims of New /.calami as a country worth visiting were not considered. Possibly tho nurhoritics regarded the Dominion- merely as an insignificant dot in <tho Pacific Ocean. However, thanks to State advertising, the Commission was able to learn on its arrival in lingland that this covmtry had claims for attention which could not be overlooked, consequently New Zealand was included in the itinerary of the travellers... During the progress of tho Commission through i\ew- Zealand it was also very evident that wc havo a good deal to learn about tho Republic of Uruguay anil its possibilities and requirements. The Uruguayan students have, alter ten months' travelling in other parts of tho world, voted.New Zealand to be the mos*. similar geographically to their own of any of tho nine countries already visited by them, and further, that we in this country are carrying on tho same industries with regard to agriculture that they hope to establish and develop in their own. Tho area of Uruguay is estimated at about thirty-six million acres of undulating country with a very small percentage of waste land. It is now held m largo holdings, principally. . devoted to sheep and cattle-raising. .. •■ Dairying, fat-lamb raising, and fruit growing have as vet received little attention, but the inhabitants, numbering about ono and a half million people, have awakened to the great futuro that lies beforo tho country by tho sub-di-vision of estates and closer settlement. The land, which is all privately owned, is said to be rich and fertile and comparatively little of it has teen brought under tho influence of tho plough. At tho present time the stock returns show a total of 30 million sheep, 23 million of which are merinos, the remainder being crossbred Lincolns, Romneys, and Downs. Taking the returns over a period of years, the wool yield has been Gib. at an average prico of 9d. per lb Of the ten million cattle Herefords and Shorthorns are tho most favoured, although in late years Holstem, Jerseys, and Swiss dairy cattle have been introduced, but so far the production of milk and butter has only teen sufficient to meet local requirements, though it is hoped that before long to develop a large export trade. Eight hundred thousand horses, chiefly of native origin, and seven hundred thousand pigs, represent tho remainder of the stock. The Land Question. Land values vary from £o to .£3O an acre/ according to location, but any amount in good situations, capable of carrying two merinos to the acre in natural pastures can be obtained for .£9 on easy terms. Those estancias which have already been subdivided are sold in two hundred acre blocks, tho purchaser paving eight per cent interest on the total value for thirty years and at the end of that time the property becoming his own freehold, the Government assisting meanwhile bv remitting nil rates for the first ten years after allotment. Tho I average rainfall is 37 inches, but it is unevenly distributed and several months I of continuous dry weather in summer is a usual condition. ; The Principal Exports. "At the present time, the principal exports are salted beef, which finds a ready market in Brazil and Cuba, wheat, maize, and fruit. Tho fruit export consists chiefly of peaches which, find a good market in Buenos Ayres. A large business is done with Europe in tinned meat and tongues, the trade being controlled largely by a Continental company. Only suilicienL oats and barley are grown for home requirements, but maize and wheat arc exported to France in large quantities, the yield of the latter making an average of fifteen bushels, valued at as. It is expected that under a more advanced svstem of cultivation than that now prevailing tho wheat returns will be greatly increased. A great pest which has to be contended with is the locust, property owners being compelled by law to destroy the pest. The Uruguayan regulations in regard to tuberculosis aro very similar to those of New Zealand. The labour problem docs not enter into tho calculations of tho farmer in Uruguay. Labour is plentiful and willing, and there has never yet been a strike in connection with the agricultural industry. The Government is considering the farmers by not imposing any duty on agricultural machinery.