THE ARGENTINE.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIC, Issue 14003, 11 September 1909, Page 2

THE ARGENTINE.

A TtMAJUI" MAX'S OPINION. Mr A. Mcl'hedran, who returned to Timuru 011 Thursday from » four years' sojourn in Argentina? in a conversation with a " licra'd representative showed tliut has a very high opinion of that much talked of competitor of New Keuland in tin; frozen meat trade. Mr Mcl'hedran w:is ill the employment ot Drysdale's. the largest importing liuuse ill Buenos Ay res. especially in connection with the supply of Nicholson and Morro«\s Australian harvesters, Such a. calling, of course, gave him peculiar advantages for seeing the parts of tho country where wheat is largely grown, and equally of course liii heard a great- deal of talk about regions where wheat could be grown. In tho Argentine, said. Mr Mcl'btdran, wheat grows well. hut docs not become so plump as the same varieties would do in New Zealand, and the yield is not so good in proportion to the straw. A crop that in South Canterbury would be estimated on inspection to be good for forty bushels." over there would not bo likely to yield more than twenty. One enemy of the South Argentine wheat grower is late frosts, which damage tho wheat when in ilower. Next to that is hail. Hailstorms are verv destructive, but patchy, and it is now eustmmfry to insure against loss by hail. The companies have a maximum limit-, of . about 30s an acre, and the premium is l something like - fivo per cent, Tlio crop is harvested with tliy Utmost- speed when lit-, and a method growing in favour is the use of tho Australian machine, which threshes the grain olf tho straw, cleans and bags it at once, A team of eight light horses work a 6ft. machine. Thcro aro bigget outa, u_> to lui t.; theio arc pusUetU from behind. luo Mra»V has no value, ana u' is eitner burned ' olf 01 ploughed ill. A- great deal of wheat is groivn under a contract system, as it used to he 111 the early uuys 111 St.ln.ll Canterbury, but tho terms are different. The contractor takl-s olf several crops ot wheat, and gives the landowner an average of 10 per cent, of tho yield, or.Jio pays a stated rent. The contractor does not feed his horses, but is allowed a piece of land for grazing. The usual practice ui ploughing is to work\two. shifts of lioracii. ,tho first starting at daybght, the. second after '"breakfast," tho first solid meal of the day, about 10.30 or 11 a.m., and work ceases at 2.30 or 3 i).m., in order to let .the .'horses cool and dry before ,thb chill of evening sets in. isorae harvesting is done, wJien the crop is dead ripe, witli tho ' 'header,'' a machine that cute off tho heads low enough to "catch them- all, and an elevator lifts them into awagon" drawn alongside the machine." and from the wagon the heads are stacked ;like hay. There is a big demand for labour in harvest tiiiie of courst, but it does, nut come in alt over 1 tho country-;'at ; the same season, and I many Italians come to the Argentine 1 for harvest work aiid then go home 1 to 'their''f&nilies again, the passage rates being/low.v! Many however, stay, 1 and absorbed in the country. - The 1 threshers are English and Americans, of the common kinds. The wheat is bagged in liphtr bags holding about two bushels, 'tho material' being similar to 1 that used here ■ for sending oats to [ South - Africa.] JA [ good deal. of wheat 1. is now exporteditf bulk, from elevators | erected at the ports. Traction engines | are ■ used with the- threshers, • but not 1 much used on the roads. For haulago i hiig teams of horses—twelve or sixteen —hitched to big-wheeled wagons are used. The hitching would amuse you at first, for. some' of the horses are hitched to ropes from theaxles, and pull not-by-a collar but by one side'of. a cudh tsinsh) or girth" fixed " very tight.- A lioree bo lixed lias to pull sidewise, and people say they have v moro powcr -that Avay. When a Clock, of land'has been cropped four or five years,- tho contractor moves off to a [ fresh block, grasses ; spring up, and "sheep are' put on tlie hmd. That is in tho back'blocks.

■ In the more settled districts there is more careful, farming, but not tho rotator practice'.*-that wo have here. Turnips' do not-do ."well, and there is not-much rape. Alfalfa (lucerne) is the great > green feed -icrop. On Suitable -land it lasts 10|to 15 years. , It requires a- free soil, and water- not far '.beneath the; surfaee;\The soil. over vast areas of tho province of, Buenos Aires is a friable silt, something liko the silt of tho\Pareora riverbed, "and several feet - deep. :. In- other- areas there is a . soft rock.. called; tosca, a little below the -rorfajcejand/coming to tho surface, like our/shlnglov bars. This makes poorer land when ...near the surface. Wool is handled: tlie re very differently from-our style. ' Some of the big estanchieros" bale their-, wool as . we do, bat most of-The wool goes to sorting houses at the ports in big juto sheets with'the corners tied' together. Shearing machines . aro'' becoming common. .The Argentine offers no attraction to Australasian shearers, as the pay is low—about X2s per .100. A humourous [■point about .the shearing is that the ' cheep's legs are :tied., - There is a. good deal of.scab in. the' Country, " and the law is not *0 strict "for its eradication as it might be—not like tho locust law for .instance.. - Locusts have been a great scourge in. the northern section. and one of tho greatest activities of tho State is directed to their destruction wherever they appear. _ Cattle and horso etock 011 tho best farms are magnificent! The wealthy farmers do -not/mind what they spend to . get- the best stud-stock frpm England and the Continent. Durhams, liowevcr, are the most -popular stud cattle, though there are lancidrs for all breeds. • At the National Stock Shows the'cattle and horses are something to usee, tliey could jiot 'bu beaten anywhere. . ' Country roads ? They are what you might expect, in a country of light soil and no shinglo or metal available, aiitl some .of. them - running through wide hollows that aro lagoons after rains. You-know where the roads are by the wire, fences on each side of vou. The railways, however,; are a splendid institution. ; They gridiron tho country, and practically ail belong to British and you don't see any wobden'slied stations such as we have in-New Zealand.. They are all nice ' buildings of-"brick, often with a flower garden' about them. The first-class carriages are very comfortable. In May next they expeci . to have the railway, completed over the Andes, ami -this will help to celebrate the centenary pf the liepublic. There is to be a big Contennial Exhibition at Buenos Aires too. It will bo worth seeing. Buenos Aires is worth seeing at any time. It is a big city—a million and a quarter of inhabitants, electric trains everywhere. Building sites are costly,' and rents are high; a six or seven-room-ed houso in a good suburb costs. Toviflily £IBO a year. Tho houses aro quito cosy, the 'common style having the rooms opening off a. central open space with tiled floor, and the roofs arc n>ostlv flat and in the city tho clothes-lines are fixed up there. Brick is tho principal building material in tho country, with iron for roofs; that is for permanent homes; rougher ones have cob walls, horses being used to tread the [Regarding the suitability of the A rppntine as a place for British colonists, Mr McPhedran said that if a group ~1 ffitv to one hundred practical rolonml farmers went over, took up a block of land, and forired a colony of their own, thpv could not help well, 110 had met several New Zealanders

there, niui ait were prospering- Hj ,s very difficult, however, said Mr McPliedran, for a person of small mcails to get 011 .well alone, 111 tho country, he would meet with so maiiy obstacles, tho Innguape to begirt with, want or society of tli'o kind lib lias been. Used to, for another. A colony of colonials would make a. society of their p« ii. That is a common thflig with people or other nationalities of all sorts. LsiiUl i.s becoming dear, but there are plentj ot opportunities of buying large l cheap eiioUgh to returil a handsome protit on il farmer's labour and investments: A eoloiiy ot that sort "°" ld have its own school, storey etc.. and could be very comfortable deed. There are communities ot Ucinians. Russians, Italians and others, ot that kind, who do not tneak Spanish. One or two of tliem learn the language <lo tiie business fur the colony. The Australian Socialist colony Cosmo, in Paraguay : j Yes, those who stuck to it are doing very u cll, I btlievc. I do not • know whether thej stuck to Socialism or not. . Britishers aro very welcome 111 the Argentine, colonials especially. I . IUC1 * experience is just what is wanted, una any man who knows anything • about stock need not look long foi cniploj inent at good pay. . 1 I would liko to say, said Mr JlcPhedran, that speaking as an abstainer and a prohibitionist-, I very much prefer the Spanish system of liquor trallio to ours. 111 the towns of tho Argentine the respectable liquor shops arc open to everybody} and aro frequented by respectable women as well as nicii, for you get coifec or anything you like there, and sit down at little tables aud cliat. You ask a man to go with, you to one of them for .a cliat, and 111 line weather vou probably sit out of, doors under the trees in the wide street. There is *no lounging over bars, and asking "Will you have another.-"' It is very seldom indeed that one sees a. drunken man or a drunken brawl m Buenos Aires. They may occur 111 the back streets of course. ' But I saw more drunkenness in ton minutes in London than in four vears in tho Argentine. 1 don't think X saw a dozen drunken men, and-I'm afraid 'that most' of those wero English. The nativo wine is a common beverage, and drinking does not seem to have the deteriorating effect on tho people that it lias here. It is not considered infra dig for an abstainer or a woman to go into a. place where drink is sold. <. The Continental Suiidav ? Oh. quite so. Sunday is the great day for races and other recreations. You see they have 110 Meekly half-holiday, and aundav afternoons aro given up to games, theatres and so on. And it does not seem to hurt anybody. n r Well ves. I have come back to Jimaru, not because I disliked the counI trv or have anything at all against it. I hut for domestic reasons. My business I kept me too much away froni I and in making a cliansp I thought 1 would try South Canterbury flga.n. If I do not get just what I want here. I shall go back ogam. -