ARGENTINA

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 72, 15 September 1911, Page 7

ARGENTINA

AGRICULTURE AND DEFENCE. IMPRESSION* OF A NEW ZEALANDER. London, July ■2B. Colonel Robert Logan, of Dune'din. who for many years past has been an officer of the New Zealand Mounted Rides and has come over to London '"- the purpose of taking part in the coming summer manoeuvres of the Imperial forces, spent some months in South America on his way from New Zealand. Below are some impressions that he has kindly written of the country. "The remarkable extent of rich land, an area in which New Zealand might be lost, brings home to one the potentialities of the country.

"By whichever railway on e travels from Buenos Aires there is the «ame seemingly boundless extent of rich alluvial deposit, the railway cuttings sho—. ing many feet in depth and the miles upon miles of alfalfa paddocks fairly stocked with magnificently bred cattle making a sight which must be seen to be appreciated.

"With a range of climate extending from the tropics to the extreme of the temperate zone, and from the seaboard to the far inland Cordilleras, he would be an extremist who could not find something to satisfy him. "From what can be gathered the value of the rich lands well served by railways has gore up to a price which," with present methods of working, only pays bank rate of interest, and this principally in the last five years, so anyone who was fortunate enough to invest here five years ago must have quadrupled his capital. Variation in value is due '- distance from the capital and the depth at which water is found, and its qualit'when found. Some of the land is tint suitable for alfalfa, but this generally grows fine native grasses.

"Much of the country near the capital shows signs of continuous cropping, and our old friend 'fabhen' or soap-weed is in evidence.

"The country has suffered from a prolonged dry spell in parts, with failure of the maize and wheat crops, and as the returns from wheat are never large it might appear that the land was deficient in phosphates, but this is discounted bthe fact that such fine largo framed bulloeks are produced on it. A very shallow system of ploughing prevails, and probaibly deeper ploughing might produce better results.

"The labor question has its difficulties here as elsewhere, but the countrv peon Appears to be a happv-go-lu<?k<-good-natured individual, and, if tactfully handled, supplies what is wanted, v.* his disposition to procrastinate necessitates a lot of supervision. "The price to which land in the home provinces has risen necessitates new methods to produce the former results, and will probably in the near future lead tf) the subdivision of the large estancias. _ At present the holdings nre large, and in many instances are lot on cropping terms to' small farmers, but as this means a yearly tenancy, it is not conducive to progressive methods.

DAIRYING AND SHEEP-FARMING. "Wore dairying on a large scale organised, I am afraid our North tshintl friends would suffer, as the possibilities of production are boundless, and Hip short distance from the London market would give a great advantage to Argentina.

"Sheep in the home provinces are not numerous, those seen being mostly too heavy, the land being evidently too rich for satisfactory sheep farming, and *■'■- laok of legislation to compel the eradiction of scab making good management impossible.

"A review of troops on Anniversary Day, May 2.L was most imposing, the Field. Artillery being particularly'good, and the stair arrangements perfect." To soe_ some 10,000 fine athletic young men training for the defence of their country is a sight which does one good, and the display is particularly creditable when it is remembered that'the large majority of these young men joined'the colors since the beginning of the year, and are practically still recruits.

"National sentiment is fostered in the young, one of the best stands being reserved for schoolboys, and the enthusiasm ivith which-the boys cheered when the colors of each regiment were carried past their stand augurs well for their efficiency when the arrive at the age for. service.

"The huge erowd of spectators, probably veil towards 100,000 persons, shows that military service in Argentina is popular, and it is to be honed that the people of New Zealand will come, in time, to take an equal pride in iheii defence forces.

HORSE TAMING DISPLAYS. "An intorprovincial display of horse tamincr, whkli the writer was fortunate enough to see under the aegis of the president of the Sporting Club, was carried out with groat eclat. It is onlv ii matter of time till this species of back blook rough riding will ocaso to be. as all the cattle on the improved ostaneias are ouiet, and most of the working done in the yards (corrals). "Of the kindness and hospitality of the people on« moots, it is difficult to speakin terms which would not he fulsome. Even acquaintances met at hotels gave facilities for seeing the country, and placed their estancias under the' observation of the visitor; and British and Argentine friends to whom one ohinrcd have introduction made one sad to think that, acquaintance begun in so extremely pleasant a fashion was to be one of so short duration. "Of the capital itself impressions are necessarily so numerous and varied that it is difficult to know what to sav. The beautiful plaxas and aviedas. with their tropical trees and splendid statuary, are counterbalanced by the narrow streets and congested traffic, which, however, in extremely well directed by the police. a member of the force being on duty at each corner. THE PEOPLE.

"There is a saying in ISiienos Aires that there are only two classes of people, the onick and the dead, and if yon are not rfuick you will soon he dead, and this is brought home to one when an automobile shaves your back and yon have to jump to get out of the way of an approaching car. The c«l> drivers also rely on the foot passengers to get out

lof their way, and as they have no brakes on the cabs they cannot, nor do they wish, to pull up. "The large numbers of automobiles on the streets attract one's attention, and the way they are handled is .beyond praise. The roadway is twenty-one feet wide and the footpaths four to five feet each, and one day a driver was observed to turn a long-coupled automobile on a seven-yard wide roadway with one double turn of the lock,'and that in face of a tram car approaching at high speed. "The traffic is frequently blocked on these narrow streets, but accidents arc few—all things considered. "The pavements are extremely slippy after rain, and horses are continually fairing and have difficulty in getting up, nnd the manner in which thev are treated is certa/inlv a discredit. Tt is : not an infrequent sight to sec the wheel come off a cab, due, no doubt, to want of oil, and on one occasion a cabby was seen shoeing a horse on the street, to the detriment of the traffic. With only four or five •feet of sidewalk it seems strange that vendors of cigars and cigarettes are allowed to sit on the pavement, occupying more than half of the already too small space.

"The draught horses are light in build but staunch, accounted for, some say, bv the fact that their drivers kill them if they will not pull. ; The cab horses arc mostly weeds, hut some of the private carriage <pairs would do credit to any city, as also would a few of the Pecheron hor"=es one sees in the waggons. "Were one a millionaire looking for pleasure he would have a first "rate time in Buenos Aires, but it would be hard to find a city where a 'man on his uppers' would fare worse, unless he had sufficient sense to go to the British Consulate, where the darkness- would probably be lightened for him."