Argentine Republic.

Northland Age, 18 October 1904, Page 3

Argentine Republic.

Australasia’s ChM Competitor. (Continued from last issue.) The next freezing-worl s I visited, those of the Campania ! Jansinena de Carnes Conegladas, are the largest, in the Argentine. Through the ki adness of Mr. M. Leishman Runciman, jf Runciman and Co., I was shown through this institution, and a marvellous plice it is. It was started a year later (than the River Plate Works, and has been many times enlarged and added to both in buildings and plant. This works is 'situated at the Barracas, Buenos Aires, i The Sansinena Company are canny aboijt giving much information regarding the operating of their business. I was, however, able to see how they handle the sheep and steers during the killing process; At most of the works in the Argentine! including the River Plate Factory at Campana, they have a system of placing nt'An at different i'obs, such as carrying the sheep to the •leeding-benches, and others to do the bleeding. Then they are carried to the hooks, where they are skinned by a different man from the one yho takes the internals out. The same is the case with steers —for instance, they blave a special

DMWrB X\JL IUBWUIUC, KXiCJ <• UJJCV.JIW man for skinning and cutting the knuckle part of the leg, a c. In my opinion, there serins to be too much handling of the sheejp by hand in most of the works in the Argentine. I am also convinced that we jhave not much to learn from the Argentin|e so far as the killing of beef and sheep is concerned; The exact capacity of jthe Sansinena Works I was not able to get, but was informed that they had a Jrilling-capacity of over seven thousand sheep and four hundred to five steers per day. There are other important freezingworks in the Argentine. There is the Las Palmas Produce Cjompany (James Nelson and Sons, Limited), which is a fairly large ooncem. Three new and important freezing concerns were started in 1902: one at Bahia| Blanca, by the Campania Sansinena de! Carnes Congeladas; also a new one, La Blanca, at the Boco, Buenos Aires. This latter company only started operations in April last. They have a first-class works with an improved plant, and have a killingcapacity of 4,000 sheep and 300 cows or steers per day. The next works visited was the La Plata, at the town of La Plata, on the La Plata River. This works was in course of construction when I was there. They are; putting up enormous buildings, and equipping the place with an up-to-date pljant. From information reoeived, and frjom the appearance of the various cattle* districts in the neighbourhood of La Plata, and also the thousands of fat cattije one sees in this part of the country, I am of the opinion that this works may become one of the most important in tl e republic. Mr. C. A. Macdonald, own t of the Hercules refrigerating busines! in Australia and South Africa, was irtotalling three large freezing-machines at the time of my visit. These three m achines will have a capacity of 120 tons etch. Mr. McDonald is also installing thrqe Hercules machines of enormous capacity in a new freezingworks on the River Plate, quite close to the City of Buenos Aires. Mr. McDonald has had the planning of this latter works, and I think it is the finest laid-out or designed works in the country. The engine and freezing-room is going to be the most complete I have ever seen. In connection with thdke works they have erected an enormouw building where the hides will be treand by different processes. This hide find fellmongery department will be in charge of an expert from Germany. T see the great smokestacks in course of erection at these new works would give one the idea that the company intend ( oing some business. After travelling f ‘r a few days in the Argentine I came to the conclusion that it was the country >f smokestacks. Often you will see in the listance a great stack towering high in! the air, and upon inquiry you may by informed, “ Oh! that at one time was af boiling-down works,” or perhaps it miJht be a brewery or a soap-factory. Before leaving the question of the last I two new works just described, I wisW to express my deepest appreciation of tl e kindness extended to me by Mr. C. A. dacdonald and his son during my stay u the repubHc. To see the mill ons of fat cattle dotted all over the coun ry, and such an abundance of grass cud water late in the autumn, X could.w not help but think that some day the Argentine will down the world in the gr t wing of beef. According to figures ) iven in the Year-book, the Argentine ii working under better conditions in tho growing of live-stock than any of the British colonies. It is claimed that at (present the majority of the freezing coitjpanies are working with much less expense in the administration, &c M taking it tlje year Tound, and their output is much greater, thereby enabling them to pay lin proportion enhanced values to the f-stanciero (farmer). Another strong poi;nt in favor of the Argentine estancieros iis that they work steadily throughout the whole year, whereas according to si atistics the upwards of fifty stations in the British colonies are only able to wonk on an average, taking them all round,j a little over one-third of the year. So enormous is the business of growing fat stpek in the Argentine becoming, that if; is estimated, by reliable authorities thalt within very few years they should be able to export two million steers either alive or through the freezing:works. In order to give our people some idea of what they have to compete against, I quote the following figures from the Argentine Year-book for 1902 and 1903: In 1902 the exports of cattle or steers from the Argentine was -118,303 head. The number of cattle exported in 1903 is Baid not to vary much from 1902. The number of wethers shipped in 1902 was 122,501; horses, 16,008; frozen mutton, 80,073 tons; sheep-skins, 41,405 tons; salted cow-hides, 35,343t0n5; dried cowhides, 26,558 tons; salted horse-hides, 135,685; dried horse-hides, 282,138; wool, 197,936; jerked beef, 22,304; frozen beef, 70,018; tallow, 49,095. I have much pleasure in quoting a few of the statistics just issued by the Ministry for Agriculture for 1903—-that is so far as the meat industry is concerned. The principal exports in this industry were frozen sheep and lambs, 2,445,993; frozen beef, 84,628 tons; wool, 192,989 tons; sheep-skins, 41,475 tons; hides, 37,239 tons; horse-har'r, 2,241 tons; tallow, 39,000 tons. The bulk of the frozen meat in Tffo3 was shipped to the United

Kingdom and South Africa, but most of the wool went to France. The sheepskins went to Germany, Belgium, and the United States, the bulk to the two former countries. The value of the wool exported from the Argentine in 1903, estimating it at 2*61 dold per 10 kilos., was 50,424,168 dollars gold, or, say, over £10,000,000. Last year 1,202,100 cattle were slaughtered for dried beef. In addition to this, 269,000 were slaughtered for making extract and preserved beef. I landed in the Argentine in February, and I noticed that the exports of frozen sheep and lamb for the previous month, January, were 194,731 carcases, and of frozen beef 72,150 quarters. It may be interesting to New-Zealan-ders to know the conditions under which men may start pastoral farming. I now speak of people with a small oapital. The landowner, as a rule, provides a house, pens, and the necessary fittings, and camp land sufficient to carry stock and 800 sheep. The shepherd or estanciero buys a further 800 sheep. He takes charge of the whole flock and provides his own food, mutton excepted, which is to be taken from the flock. Whatever the profit from the flock may be it is divided equally between the landowner and the shepherd, after deducting the shearing and dipping expenses, which are advanced by the landowner. The shepherd or farmer is allowed to plant vegetables required for his family, also to keep poultry, milch-cows, bees, etc., and he can also plant fruit-trees. Contracts of this kind are generally entered into for a term of three years. At the end of each year the produce of wool, wethers, sheep, and skins sold is divided. The increase is divided at the end of the contract, when the shepherd may either take his share or capital in sheep, or renew his contract. The necessary capital for such a plan as this is very small: 800 sheep at Idol., 800 dols.; six horses at 15 dols., 90 dols.; furniture, utensils, and general expenses for first year, 250 dols.; total, 1,140 dols. With this capital, and with sheep shearing s£lb. to 61b. of wool, the shepherd’s portion of the profit may be estimated at from 450 dols. to 550 dole., without counting what he could make from butter, cheese, poultry, honey, etc.

The State lands which are available for sale or for renting, as given by the 1903 Year-book, number nearly a hundred million hectares, situated as follows: In Santa Cruz, 24,949,976 hectares; Chubut, 22,545, 742 hectares; Rio Negro, 15,087,470 hectares; Chaco, 13,025,450. hectares; Neuquen, 6,174,158 hectares; Formosa, 8,676,180 hectares; Pampa, 3,124,802 hectares; Tierra del Fuego, 1,886,809 hectares; Misiones, 792,000 hectares; total, 96,262,487 hectares. One hectare is equal to 2J aefes approximately (2*471 acres). Seventy-five per cent, of the wool in the Argentine is of white-faced longwool sheep (Lincolns and Leicesters), 20 per cent, of merinos, and only about 5 per cent, of black-faced and criollo sheep. (To he Continued,J