SUB-TROPICAL SOUTH AMERICA

Dominion, Volume 32, Issue 66, 10 December 1938, Page 4 (Supplement)

SUB-TROPICAL SOUTH AMERICA

Beef-Raising Difficulties The account here given of beef-raising in Paraguay, north of the Argentine, is bv an Englishman ranching there, Mr. Alexander Gray. He has been improving the' "native" ‘type of cattle by using quality Hereford and Shorthorn bulls, with great success. . ,n„ The term ’•native as here used is rcaiij a misnomer, for the cattle so called aie humped, being of Zebu strain, originally

brought from India. Ou tlie right bank ol the hirer I Uruguay tile South American coiintri of that name is known as the Chaco, he sajs. Here I lie native type ”f cattle, or zebu, seems to lie immune from all diseases and capable of resisting any pest. He is savage and can run faster than any horse. "Mr Gray has experimented with Shorthorn and llcrel'ord crosses, and has managed to turn out cattle which fatten u year younger than the native and kill <»u between 48 and 56 per cent, ol their Ine weight. Some idea of the scale of the operations mav be gathered from the fact that the cattle are run al tile rale of 80 a square mile. Mr. Gray's range is abo.jt 100 square miles (6-1,000 acres , and lor bis finer / herds—for breeding bulls tor the main body of the stock—he has three “small paddocks,” the least of which is about three square miles m extent. (2000 acres'). , , , The fall of calves, as reckoned at branding time. is.generally about 60 to 6o per cent, of the breeding cows. For taxation purposes, the Paraguayan Government calculate the number of calves branded as 20 per eent. of the whole herd, counting both sexes. , , , Native steers are fattened on the better ranges and sold between four and five years of age. when they weigh 380 to 400 kilograms (about 7J to Scwt. live weight). Improved cattle reach this weight about a year sooner. , • , , Two of the major problems which have to be dealt with in the Chaco are blowflies and drought. The average annual rainfall is about 40 inches, most of which falls between November and ’March, but this rapidly runs off the impermeable

K Another great difficulty which has an adverse effect on the quality of the beef is the difficulty of marketing. Some are driven overland and others ferried downstream In this particular case it takes between 10 clays and a fortnight to deliver the cattle from the ranch to the market. So far Mr. Grav has tried both Shorthorn and Hereford bulls in his efforts to improve the quality of liis beef cattle, but is not as yet convinced that these breeds are altogether suited to tho trying climate in which he works. He is now considering the possibilities of the Sussex, and may try out some bulls of this breed in the' near future.