The value of live-stock in Argentina in 1908 was made up as follows:—­

Cattle ... ... ...  L82,000,000
Sheep ... ... ... 25,000,000
Horses ... ... ... 18,000,000
Mules ... ... ... 2,000,000
Pigs ... ... ... 1,368,000
Goats and Asses ... 1,000,000

A few years ago it was common on an estancia feeding 50,000 or 60,000 cattle to find the household using canned Swiss milk.  To-day 425,000 litres of milk are brought into the city of Buenos Aires each day for consumption, and no less than two tons of butter, one ton of cream, and three tons of cheese are used there daily.  Argentina also exports butter.  This trade has sprung up entirely within the last fourteen years, and in 1908 she exported 3,549 tons of butter, the value of which was L283,973.

Until 1876 Argentina imported wheat for home consumption; in that year, when for many years past agricultural labourers had been arriving at an average of 25,000 per annum, she began to export wheat with a modest shipment of 5,000 tons.  Thirty years later the export had mounted up to 2,247,988 tons, and in 1908 the wheat exported amounted to 3,636,293 tons, and was valued at L25,768,520.  Agricultural colonies had sprung up everywhere, and cattle became of second-rate importance; to-day the value of the exports of corn, which term includes wheat, barley, maize, oats, etc., is more than double that of cattle and cattle products.  It is interesting to follow the evolution wrought by labour, intelligence, and capital in the prairie lands of Argentina.  First, let us note the developments on those wonderful tracts of splendid prairie lands lying between the River Plate and the Andes:  fifty years ago these lands were of little account, and only a few cattle were to be found roaming about them, but upon the advance of the railway they came under the plough, and, without much attention or care, produced wheat and maize.  After a time improvements in the method of cultivation produced a better return, and to-day a great deal of attention is paid to the preparing of the land, and thought and care are given to the seed time, the growing, and the harvest.  When it is found desirable to rest the land after crops of wheat and maize, etc., alfalfa is grown thereon.  Alfalfa is one of the clover tribe, and has the peculiar property of attaching to itself those micro-organisms which are able to fix the nitrogen in the air and render it available for plant food.  Every colonist knows the value of alfalfa for feeding his animals, but it is not every colonist who knows why this plant occupies such a high place amongst feeding stuffs.  Alfalfa is easily grown, very strong when established, and, provided its roots can get to water, will go on growing for years.  The raison d’etre for growing alfalfa is for the feeding of cattle and preparing them for market, and for this purpose a league of alfalfa (6,177 acres metric measurement) will carry on an average 3,500 head.  When grown for dry fodder it produces three or four crops per annum and a fair yield is from 6 to 8 tons per acre of dry alfalfa for each year.  A ton of such hay is worth about $20 to $30, and after deducting expenses there is a clear return of about $14 per acre.