SHEEP IN ARGENTINA.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLI, Issue 228, 26 September 1907, Page 3

SHEEP IN ARGENTINA.

A paper on the above subject by Mr Herbert Gibson, of Buenos Ayres, was read at the eighth International Conference held at Lincoln. In the course of the paper Mr Gibson remarked that a quarter of a century ago the sheep-breeding industry had received an important stimulus from tha introduction of the frozen meat trade. It was at that time that the Lincoln breed obtained its first triumph in Argentina, its cross with the merino producing not only an excellent mutton sheep but a good vool producer. For a series of years thereafter sheep breeding was highly profitable, and—as a not unnatural result—the sheep country became overcrowded. Thus it befel towards the close of the century that the sheep stock began to decrease in numbo:\3, and were no longer regarded tho most profitable branch of farming, though during these years of depression there still remained a riumbcr of breeders faithful to their old Jove and willing to pay high prices for good typical sires. As regards the total number of sheep in the country at any given period, no statement other than conjectural can be produced. The statistics drawn un from time to time in one or another of the federated Provinces are themselves derived from local information, based on estimos only. A more approximate calculation, is that based upon the annual wool parcel, and an investigation of this output entitles us to estirciato that the total sheep stock of the Republic, which at the end of the 'eighties had reached to about ninety millions, had shrunk at the commencement of the century to about seventy millions. At this latter date also wool had dropped to a minimum price, foot-and-mouth disease had closed the British ports to sheep on the hoof, and considerable

loss arose from the effects of this disease on the flocks—and particularly with ' regard to the lamb crop—while local floods and other unfavourable eircu instances contributed to the pastoral depression.. It is difficult to beliuve to-day, when sheep-breeding in Argentina is in a more flourishing, condition than ;t has been since the foundation of the Republic, that only five short years ago sheep were being sold for the value of their skins, and breeders were competing in their haste to get- rid of them. Fortunately for the future of the industry, the British ports remained closed Argentine live stock. This measure has been of positive benefit, both to the sheep and cattle industries. The disappearance of the live stock exporter created, for a time, a dro^ in the values of wethers and steers; and the profits obtained by the freezing industry, left with only local consumption as a competitor, encouraged those engaged in this industry to increase their plant, and led to the construction' of new freezing works. The freezing establishments of the Argentine are now capable of handling over 200,000 tons of meat per annum. The stimulus given to the trade has created competition; the quality of the carcase has improved, and commands a better price in the consuming markets; and breederSj'Vhose record local prices in the palmiest days 6i the live stock export trade were lss for sheep and £8 for steers, now obtain up to 20s for the former and up to £10 for the latter. Apart from the fact that Argentine stock raisers have not Jost but benefited by the closure of the British ports, the country at large has gained through the capital invested in the buildings and plant of the freezing establishments, the labour employed in the works, and the by-products and offal, which remain at the :Argentine end or are elaborated for export. The result of securing to the meat-freezing industry the handling of all the export butcher stock of Argentina has been to bring to that Republic an equipment of plant and modern methods for placing fresh meat on the European markets which is equal to that of any other country in the world. The present outlook for sheepbreeding in Argentina is more favourable than ever it was before. The present market value of wool and mutton is remunerative. Large sums of money have been expended oil the improvement of the flocks. The plough has sweetened the old lands, and the sheep are returning to them. The great pastoral country to the south and the west is being opened up. Patagonia the mysterious is becoming Patagonia the sheep country. The sheen capital of the Republic is once more on the increase.

A factor not yet recognised, but which is leading to the appreciation of live stock values in Argentina, is the increasing demand for local consumption.. We have now an agricultural population which consumes meat and does not produce it. The Argentine people are a meat-eating people. There has of late been much comment by statisticians upon the limitation of live stock available for export in the'shape of frozen or chilled meat, and they have pointed to a presumable decrease in our capital as the cause. It is not so. We are not producing less; we are consuming more.