The Timaru Herald TUESDAY, JULY 28, 1908. THE ARGENTINE.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13657, 28 July 1908, Page 4

The Timaru Herald TUESDAY, JULY 28, 1908. THE ARGENTINE.

An-interview with Mr H- Graham, who has relumed to South Canterbury after spending some years in the Argent,n<v will command the interest of many of our readers who Have been accustomed to regard the South American Kepublic as one of the most formidable future competitors of our own country. In his cliab with our importer, Mr Graham lias managed to convey a large amount of information about; this "bogey land" which shows that -it is possessed of immense possibilities both for its own development and for the advancement of the proper sort of immigrant'. But it is impossible within the limits of a brief interview for the' most observant of men to convey an adequate impression of what the Argentine really is, or of the progress it has made of late years since its awakening after a long period of si agnation. In :l book published ,:i few months ago, "Modern Argentine," Mr W. IH. Koebbel compares its recent progress in wealth, population and material development to that of the United States and Canada. It has aa area not much more than a third of that of Australia, but it has a population equal to the combined population of the Commonwealth and New Zealand. Of its five million inhabitants, over a fifth, as Mr Graham tells us to-day, are congregated in the capital city of Buenos Aires. Commercially, "the principal advantage it enjoys over t-llese southern colonies is in nearness to England and the Continent. There is scarcely a port of the dirst rank in Europe which has not direct steanv communication with the Argentine. As showing the growth of its trade, the tonnage of one English line alone engaged in the service has increased from 85,144 tons in 1901 to 165,511 tons in 1906. Wiier traffic is not confined to the ocean, for the great river system of tlu> Argentine—the La Plata, and its tributaries —carries a very lai-ge steamer service, several of these vessels accommodating as many as 200 saloon passengers. The country, in the words of our interview, is also well " rrridironed" with railways, practically all of which belong to British companies, whose lines provide a sen-ice across South America from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The magnitude of 'the traffic appears from the fact that the Buenos Aires and Pacific Ba.ilway, from June 1905 to Juno 1906 dealt with 710,478 tons of cereals, compared with 649,50/ tuns in the previous year. Last year, from what Mr Graham

of this business must hare been very much greater still, as the railways -were unable to copa with the grain offering for transport, and much of it rotted at the stations. Ona begins to understand from this what on littportairt infiutiicd tiio Af•gentine exercises upon the -world's market values of -wheat, and what a» insignificant factor the New Zealand produe-

t.ion of grain must be. Tlva mainspring, of the. Argentine's prosperity is the. " i'amp " —the .vast, plain: which spreads fur hundreds of miles in every direction, ■with no elevation higher than an ant-hill anil no depression deeper than a cart-rut. Wheat, maize, lucenw (alfalfa) linseed and live slock are all products of tho " camp." Unlil comparatively recent times this great, plain was chiefly known to thrt world as a purely pastoral country. Immense herds of cattle roamed over. tli« plains —long-homed, rakish and bony—but ■they .have been improved out. of alt recognition by the introduction of superior strains —Herefords, Shorthorns, and Polled Angus—until .the cattle shows of the> Argentine, as Mr Graham says, are now something to see. Lucerne, . introduced about eighteen years ago, h:»s played an important, part, in the beef industry, as without, ih tho vast improvement, in cattle would have been impossible. The value, of "camp" land is now judged for the most parti by its capacity for bearing lucerne. According to the information in our interview, rapo is to do for sheep what lucerne lias done for eat'-le, but for the present, sheepbreeding in the Argentine is far behind what it. is with us, though the emigration of New Zealanders who have gone to the republic; in fair numbers wit.liin tho last few years will assist to improve the pastoral industry .there. Even now tha flocks are a considerable advance ■ upon the original sheep, described by Mr lCoebbel, as " scrubby ovino adventurers, grim in •, aspect, sans breed, sans meat, .sans everything." Lacking the grasses which gtow to such perfection in Canterbury, it is doubtful whether the Argentine will ever reach our standard in mutton, but. there can be no question about it. that with her handicap ill distance, her great extent of country, lier cheap labour, .and' her command of great amounts of capital for investment., she is a competitor •whom wa cannot- afford to hold in contempt.