ARGENTINA.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13657, 28 July 1908, Page 7

ARGENTINA.

A RF.TI'UN'KD NEW ZLIALANDF.iI.

\ '• Herald" representative hud an intesting chat yesterday with Mr Hubert Craharn! one of Mr S. Grahams three so on who went to Argentina, a few years ago, and who has returned to .South Canterbury becati.-e the climate of Buenos ■V.IIVS, where hi; occupation as an agricultural machinery agent required thejn to live, did not suit his family. Mr Graham would not condemii the climate of the country. Id ha» all varieties, as must be the case with so large a country, stretching from the tropics to the far south and from sea level up to eternal snows of the Amies. His experiences were chietlv within the central province** of Buenos Aires anil Pampa, and inland, he savs, the climate is very line, except that every - wind seems to be cold, though the thermometer says othervise. I wore more clothing there than I have ever done in New Zealand," was un indication of the difference. In the grea.' city of Buencti Aires the sea breezes liil iho air with moisture and the muggy heat is very trying to English constitutions. The winds are mostly from the south or west. The west Minds seem to conue from the Andes, but there is nothing like our nor-westers about them. Central Argentine is a va*t plain, gently sloping upwards to the west, but with a couple of low ranges in the south of Buenos Aires. There is nothing like our down country. The soil varitii. Near the coast a good deal of it is like our clav soil ; a good deal ha-s a subsoil of soft, whitish rotteu rock, called Tosca, that one can dig with a spade; in the West and north there are large areas of sandy soil, some tiller, some <ojrser. This is the alfalfa country; alfalfa will not grow well on the clay or tosca land. Water can be got almost anywhere by digging wells to moderate depths—five or six to 23, 50, or 40 feet. There are few livers, and the plain is :so tlat that rains lie on the curta.ee and make big lagoons till they evaporate and sink into the subsoil.

As a machinery agent Mr Graham sjvnl a good ileal of his time in the wheat country. the centre and port of which is Bahix Blanca, where millions of "bags" are shipped. The " bug" holc'.« 2| bushels, and is made of light stuff like Migar-bagging. Last year the wheat produced quite overpowered the railway ti'uisport facilities, and large quantities rotted in stacks of hags at the stations. A Jarge proportion of the cropping is done act a shares -systnin. The landowner supplier everything but the labour, and lakes -an agreed on share of the produce, usually M-ith 3, iixed minimum, to that Umj man who does the work takes tlie biggestrisk, and he may lose all his labonr by a hailstorm, or by locusts. The landowner. benefits even if he gets nothing. He geta his land turned over and sweeteueil. • The utsual thing is to take out foilr crops of wheat and then kt» the grass come again. Russians are said ,u> lie the best croppers, as they work th? land more before sowing. Steam is iu*ed to some extent in cultivation. '"I have seen a 14 h.p. American tractor drawing 21 furrows behind it." The cost of fuel is an obstacle in the way of 5,t(-am traction and steam cultivation in tiie wheat country. There is no coal in Argentina, and every pound that is burned m Buenos Aires and on the railways and steamers haa to be brought from England. The big. Tail way companits have each a fleet of colliers. In ,j.he country the threshers burn straw, and it answers very well. Bricks also ha»>re to be burned with straw. Ak< a sheep country Argentina cannot be compared with .New Zealand. The inajori\v of the sheep stock are Lincoln?, esc-ablielvd in the first instance for the «ake of tve woo!, nml thev do not make a. nice carcase for freezing. The country is infected with scab, and with a deadlv lung disease that kilL* oil 40 or 50 per cent. x>f the lambs, and sets buck the rest so that they cannot be gob .awav as good hoggets. The Argentine mutton therefore is mainly two or threeyear wethers. A change in the methods is being made that will no doubt change ttfae results. The diseases can be reduced if not got rid of by cultivating the ground—much of it has "been stocked for over a hundred years—and by growing rape. Kapu grows splendidly—as ■high as a man's shoulders sometimes—without any manure. In spite of the drawbacks the export of frozen mutton is » big business, and the freezing works are as busy on beef. Nearly three million carcases of mutton and lamb and over .two million quarters of beef were sent to A'ngland in 1906. The cattle are very Clinch superior to the sheep. The old nafvve cattle are fast being replaced by welt bred shorthorns and Herefords, and the cv.ttle shows are something to see. A railway map of Argentine which .Mr. Graham produced shows the country to be well gxidironed with lines; bob the distances between them are great. A commercial "J'ear Book" which Mr Graham brought 'with him, shows that the total mileage is about 11,000. The Government have made a few short lines; -the rest belong to fourteen or fifteen Uritish companies. Hie more important Biaes are sft. Bin. gange, others 4ft. BJin., and others again the metre (39 inches). The railways are much used for the transport at live stock. For sheep the trucks are "end-loaders," and Mr Graham says these are much more convenient than the side-loaders for big lots. The whole enii is opened out, tlie gates forming side fences between the tracks and a hinged Jap is hoisted or let down to make a, gangway. If the sheep will not run through' readily, one is dragged along and the others follow. Mr Graham said lie itexer met a New Zealander out- there who {lid not think the ron-through trucks better

than side-loaders. 1 lift sheep-trucks are two decken;, ami the middle deck can be leo down to make a cuttle truck. For lack of metal the lines are generally ballasted with will: and for lac4c of timber, except, what can be goti from the north at great exj>ense. iron flerjiers are uwd. A great drawback is the absence of material for road-making over most of the country. There are no roads such a* we have anywheie in the country, only fenced tracks, 50 yart'j; wide, on the natural surface—net even formed. These are bogs in weti weather, and thick with dust- in dry. The rainfall is less than in New Zealand —" but when it rain» it rains."

Buenos Aires is a great city of 1,100,000 inhabitants. It is well laid out in square blocks, and for the most part the streets are numbered, and ihe houses in each block aie numbered, beginning with the successive hundreds, from the main central avenue of the city. There are numerous tine plazas or squares and several goodsi/.ed parks within the c-itj-. Buenos Aires is probably the only » in the world wheie you can walk off th« ship straight into a park. Everything is up-to-daie, electric cars, telephones, postal deliveries many times a day, pillar boxes everywhere, a policeman at every coiner, wood-blocked or asphalted main streets, and stone-paved side streets. The latter are generally abominable, because no foundation was made for the flags and heavy traffic tilts the stones all ways. Hie social life of the English in the city is not entirely commendable. The young n>en who come there think it their duty to " keep up the reputation" of the British, and they try to do this by spending their money 100 freely on sports anil otherwise wastefully. Buenos Aires is not a nice city for a woman to go about alone in; she can'b do it without being insulted by nuen who think it smart to do it. That, however, is being put a ft op to. A special corps of police has been appointed to look after street manners, and to insulk a woman means a tine of £5 and name and portrait in the papers. That should soon cure that evil. The English do not congregate in the city that is, there is no " English Colony " ; thty are scattered all over (ho place. But it is worse f< r English women lip country, as they may be 50 miles from an English neighbour. The old native Spaniards of the country are a fine people, the most hospitable in the world; but they are not industrious. The bulk of the workers are Italians. They do not get much pay, and they take care notto earn that. Their cheap labour is really dear, there must be gangers paid to do nothing but keep them at it—or try to. "It would make you ill to see them 'work.'" But give the same fellows contract work and they will' do as much as anybody.

The Argentinos are a sober people. on see very little drunkenness in the city except near the port. The people drink a lot of wine, made in the country, but it is not strong. Men who are in a

.hurry can go to a bar for a drink, and there are bars everywhere; those who are not in a hurry (and this is «i common complaint) sit down at little tables. If' one man invites another to take lt-fresh-ments with him, it is quite a usual thing for the other to have a tea or coffee instead of wine.

"Is Argentina a good country for a | New Zealander to go to?"—Mr Graham said yes —with large exceptions. . A man who understands all round farming has a good chance. "The Argentinos are 50 years behind as in farming, and all the New Zealanders I knew there.; are doing well, including my two brothers. One is farming himself, the other managin gan estate for Gibson Bros., 'the biggest- runholders of the countiy. I,iub the new chum must be prepared to put in from six to twelve months at learning the language. There are a few chances of clerkships and for typists, but of course clerks and typewriters must know ,ihe language thoroughly. For the rest (apart from men with capital) there is nothing in Argentina for New Zealanders. The Italians and other Mediterranean peoples work for low wages and set the standard of pay for manual labour, as- artizans of all* sorts as well as unskilled labour. (The " Year Book" states that the last return then available showed that in 1905 177,000 immigrants landed, and that of these 89,000 were Italians). It is not a bad country to live in, and if a man minds his own business he can keep out of rows. The Government is well settled anil life and property are reasonably safe, ihongh some anarchists have caused rows and riots in connection with strikes. Tlieso fellows are now being shunted out of the country. Mr Graham said he sometimes carried a revolver, a common practice, but never had occasion to use it. As for " natural enemies" of the human race, there are mosquitoes, thick, a terrible nuisance, small flies that annoy, and others that can sink drive wells throughout cue's clothes; ants everywhere, some that strip tlie gardens if not destroyed, and make plain tracks through the grass paddocks, some that get into the houses and steal food, especially sugar; Snakes too, hup these are harmless; and a few pumas or small leopards, that kill some sheep in their neighbourhood till hunted out. ""

Putting good and bad in the balance, Mr Graham says he wonld like to be liack again From Mr Graham's "Year Book" we extract- the following:— Of the 600 million acres or thereabouts forming the Argentine, about one-third are arable, one-third suitable for cattle raising, and the rest covered with woods, rivens, mountains, lakes, salt maish-es, arid regions, towns and cities. The typical Argentine estancia, ranch, or stock farm, is a tract of land varying in size from 3000 to 700,000 acres.' The average may bs estimated at 25,000 acres. The following are the prevailing condi-

tions under which per>oi.« with email capital commence pastoral farming: ihe owner of the land provides a hour*, pens, troughs, ihe necessary camp (land) to carry stock and 800 sheep, the sliepbeid buys further 800 sheep, takes charge of the whole" llock, and provides his own food (mutton excepted, which is taken from the llock, old ewes or inferior sheep), whichever the flock yields, is divided equally between the laud-owner and the ehephei'd, after deducting the shearing and dipping expenses, which are advanced by the landowner. The fcheplierd may giow what# vegetables lie pleas*. e> for his own family, and keep cow-, poultry, and bets.' Contracts of this nature are generally made for three years, and are renewed if the parties are agreeable. Indications of some of the drawback*; to agriculture are given in abstract's of a (stringent, "Animals' Sanitation Law"* to provide for the restriction, and, if possible, the eradication of animal diseases, and of another stringent law requiring nearlv ■cverybody in the neighbourhood of a visitation t° locusts to turn ouiJ to help to destroy them. If called upon, any farmer must send half his employees'" to kill locusts on an adjoining farm; in bad cases the national troops may be sent on that duty; and the post and telegraph .services are to work free in this cause. A land law of 1903 directs that, the State lands shall be ex pi or d ;;nd surveyed, and all lands suitable for the purpose nhall be reserved for towns, farms and pastoral lots, and the rest leased or cold afc a fixed maximum, rat© each year. The size of the town lots is not! mentioned, but the price is to be not less than 10 dollars currency or 4 dollars gold for each. Farm lots are not to exceed 200 acres, and iJio minimum price is about 15d an acre (gold) jjayable by six annual instalments. Pastoral lots are not to exceed 6200 acres; no price is stated. Fencing and building on town lots, and improvement and stocking of farm and pastoral lots, are conditions of each transaction and failure to improve involves forfeiture of tbe holding. No one is to become possessed of more than four town lots, two farms or one pastoral lot until the full price has been paid. j There is a-land and property' tax of j per cent, on the valuation, and business houses and shipping of all kinds pay a | license fee. Retail traders pay front 20 J to 20.00 dollars, wholesalers from 150 to 3000, co-operative societies 3000 to 4000, banks from 7000 to 60,000 dollars. Foreign insurance companies pay a per centage on premiums, Tip to 7 per cent., and local companies ah much smaller' rates, but neither class is taxed on agricultural insurance. Each company pays in addition an annual license fee from 2000 dollars upwards, and foreign companies must make deposits in the national funds,