according to the distance of the land from the railway.  The colonist brings his agricultural tackle along with him, and establishes his house (usually a most primitive affair), digs his well, and then proceeds to plough.  In this work the whole family joins; the father leads the way, followed by the eldest child, and all the others in rotation, with the wife bringing up the rear; she keeps a maternal eye upon the little mite, who with great gusto and terrific yells manages somehow to cling to the plough and to do his or her share with the rest.  Is it to be wondered at that work progresses fast under these conditions?  There is but one idea prevalent in the family, namely, that time and opportunity are with them.

The first crop grown on newly-broken ground is usually maize; the second year’s crop is linseed, and perhaps a third year’s crop—­probably wheat—­is grown by the colonist before the land is handed back to the owner ready to be put down in alfalfa.  The colonist’s cultivation of the land will have effectually killed off the natural rough grasses which would otherwise grow up and choke the alfalfa.  Sometimes the alfalfa is sown with the colonist’s last crop, and in such cases the landowner finds the alfalfa seed, and during the sowing of this crop it is very advisable that either he or his agent should be in constant attendance, because the after results greatly depend upon the care with which the seeding has been done.  When the colonist’s contract is completed he moves on to another part, and the owner, who has year by year received a percentage of the crops, takes back his land.  Considerable outlay has now to be made in fences, wells, and buildings; the more there are of these the better, the land will carry a larger head of cattle and the control of them is easy when the camp has been properly divided.

The colonists are generally Italians.  They are an industrious and kindly people, hardy and quiet, well content with their surroundings, careful and frugal in their living, and many thousands could go back to their own country with wealth which has been acquired by constant and assiduous attention to the economies of life.

It has often been said that an Englishman will starve where an Italian will thrive, and in some respects this is true; but it would be better expressed if it were stated that an Italian can adapt himself to circumstances better than an Englishman.  At the same time, I doubt if an Italian would come off best were the two placed on a desert island where instantaneous action, grit, and endurance were called for.

Many things are said of an Englishman, and none fits his character better than that which gives him the privilege of “grumbling,” and this characteristic becomes more marked when he is able to grumble with one of his own kith and kin.  I have heard Argentines praise Englishmen, who, they say, manage their estancias far and away beyond all others, but at the same time they have told me that they would never allow two Englishmen on their place at once.