A. S. Forrest

THE rapid strides of progress made by the Argentine Republic have been accelerated by the increasing consumption in the United States of the products of her own Western cattle lands. Every year, as the population of the world increases, the heavy demands made upon cattle-producing countries bring newer fields into use. From the middle of the nineteenth until the beginning of the present century, the vast prairies of the Western States produced more than enough meat to supply their own needs and a large export canning business rapidly came into existence, whilst even live cattle were sent yearly to England (the largest consumer) and turned out to fatten on her rich pastures and meadow lands. But the enormous growth of the packing business and the increased home consumption in the States has put an end to the export of live stock or even of frozen meat. This changed situation was Argentina’s golden opportunity, and her entry into the world’s market was well described by General BartolomÉ Mitre,[2] who towards the end of the last century wrote as follows:

“The natural pastures [of Argentina] allured the inhabitants towards the pastoral industry. Its vast littoral placed it in contact with the rest of the world by means of fluvial and maritime navigation. Its healthy and mild climate made life more enjoyable and labour more productive. Thus it was a country prepared for live stock breeding, appointed to prosper through commerce, and predestined to be stocked by the acclimatisation of all the breeds of the earth. So it is seen that the occupation of the soil began to be carried out by means of the cattle brought overland from Peru and Brazil, that the commercial activities of the interior are converging little by little towards the River Plate, abundance and prosperity are diffused by this means, and that the first foreign operation of the colonists after the foundation of Buenos Aires in 1580, was the exportation of a cargo of produce of their own labour (hides and tallow) that led up to the import business and induced immigration.”

The author of these words saw the sound basis upon which future developments and progress might be securely founded, for the natural advantages of the country were such as to justify the most sanguine hopes, the Republic being destined to become a great, wealthy, and civilised nation. The cattle which were brought down from Peru and Southern Brazil, where they had been introduced by the early Spanish settlers, prospered well upon the great plains of the South; plains favoured with such fertile soil and mild climatic conditions, that a rich supply of nourishing grasses is their natural inheritance. The early part of the last century saw the growth of the dry-salting industry and the beginning of a large export trade in salted meats, hides, and tallow, and the “Saladeros” of the Argentine and of the countries immediately contiguous to its northern border enjoyed a period of rich prosperity, supplying the markets of the northern states with large quantities of “jerked” or salted beef. But although they still have a standing in the country, these Saladeros are rapidly being supplanted by the modern methods of meat preserving carried on by the great freezing establishments, and in the province of Buenos Ayres these freezing factories or “Frigorificos” consume so much live stock that the Saladeros find difficulty in existing alongside of them.

The “jerked” beef of the Saladeros, unappetising to the senses of both sight and smell, is found in the stores throughout South America, and a large quantity finds its way into the islands of the Caribbean Sea. The strong odour of this meat proclaims its proximity, and its would-be purchasers need only follow their noses in almost any village to discover the commodity. The method of its preparation is both ancient and simple, the carcase of the slaughtered animal being cut into pieces, and the bones, fat, and tendons removed. The pieces of meat are then powdered with salt and maize and placed in the sun until they become shrivelled and nearly black in colour. Sometimes the meat is subjected to a smoke-curing treatment in addition, and in any case requires to be well soaked in water before being cooked, and even then it is far from tender, but soups made from it, although highly flavoured, are said to be very nutritious.

This trade, however, is now almost entirely dependent on cattle from the northern plains of Corrientes, Missiones, Uruguay and Paraguay, and the southernmost states of Brazil, for the introduction of better breeds of cattle into the Argentine, which has been going on for over fifty years, has made it more profitable to export the higher grade beef to more remote markets in a superior form.

A PRIZE HEREFORD BULL.

This became possible to an almost unlimited extent since the establishment of the “frigorificos,” seeing that the better prices brought about by the increasing demand induced capital to be employed in the grading up of the cattle and the improving of the breeds until they yield the greatest possible quantities of beef of the highest quality. The “creolia” or native cattle are rather thin and scraggy animals, although they are hardy and well fitted to survive without care or attention, but so great is the tendency to replace them by better breeds, that in time they are likely to disappear altogether. The “Saladeros” confine their attention to the “creolia” cattle and the establishments are generally primitive and dilapidated, the owners caring little about appearances, but compelled by the Government inspectors to keep their premises from becoming insanitary or too unclean. In the grounds which surround the buildings, rows of rough wooden fences are erected, upon which the beef is hung to dry in the sun, whilst the hides are pegged out flat upon the ground and dry-salted for export. In every part of the cattle area the presence of these hides, stretched out upon the ground or hanging over fences, proclaims the national industry, and even at the smallest hut or wayside shed one or two hides are sure to be in evidence. The banks of the Parana and Uruguay rivers are the true home of the “Saladero,” for in early times the sailing vessels that traded between Montevideo and Spain and the West Indies took cargoes of the “jerked” beef to the Brazilian ports and Cuba, there to be exchanged for the commodities that furnished freight for the homeward voyage. Montevideo became the most important port for these vessels, and the ease with which cargoes could be floated down the rivers to the port led to the establishment of hundreds of factories along the banks of the Uruguay and Parana rivers. In the Southern Brazilian State of Rio Grande, the “Saladeros,” protected by a high tariff, still flourish, but they have not enough cattle to supply the needs of their own country, although they slaughter an increasing number every year, and at the present time are not far behind Uruguay in their output. Argentina, on the other hand, is falling off in her output of “jerked” beef owing to the demand made by her “Frigorificos” for grazing land upon which to pasture cattle of a higher grade. In all, about one and a half million animals pass through the “Saladeros” of the three States every year, this large figure not including the cattle consumption of the factories engaged in the extract manufacture and canning business. This latter is another form of utilising the native cattle which are unsuitable for the freezing establishments, as well as the improved breeds which are constantly being introduced, and the industry has attained a very solid and world-wide reputation through the operations of the Liebig Extract of Meat Company, which was the pioneer of the extract and concentrated meat trade, and established the first factory for this purpose in South America.

Their business is so extensive that they now slaughter about two hundred thousand head of cattle annually at their factories on the banks of the River Uruguay, where they prepare their extracts—Lemco, Oxo, Concentrated Soups, Preserved Beef, Tongues, Beef Meal, and Canned Meat. No rivals come anywhere near them in output, for they utilise many times the number of animals disposed of by all their competitors put together.

Their factories at Frey Bentos and Colon are most extensive and adequately equipped, and are models of what such places should be, and very different from the native “Saladero.” Going through the various departments of these two factories, the visitor would not be surprised if told that he was in an engineering, joinery, or almost any kind of industrial establishment; for all branches of the modern workshop are carried on in different parts of the premises. Nearly everything required for upkeep and packing is made upon the spot in the foundries, machine shops, carpenters’ shops and the marvellous tin can factory with its elaborate machinery that is almost human. Here tins of various sizes are cut out, shaped and soldered for the packing of preserved meats, tongues, etc., whilst in another department the machinery for filling and hermetically sealing these tins is equally ingenious and interesting. Large coopers’ shops turn out hundreds of barrels for packing the by-products, such as hides, fat, and tallow. Boilers (mechanically fed), engines, pumps, and electric plant for light and power, occupy their allotted places, and the wharves in front, busy with steamers, sailing vessels, and barges, give the place the appearance of a town of no mean importance.

The appointments of the slaughtering and flaying beds offer a marked contrast to the old-fashioned methods, and the equipment of the factory for boiling and evaporation is the outcome of experience and the highest engineering skill in its thousand and one details, so complicated as to be bewildering to the mere layman.

During the six months of the year when the cattle are coming in, the factories are in full swing, and the animals pour into the corrals by the thousand, to be driven through the “drives” or “races” into the small corral, where each one in turn is lassoed. The rope is then given a turn round the drum of a small electric motor, and the animal drawn firmly into a small box, the floor of which is a movable truck. The fatal stab is given just behind the hard ridge where the horns grow from the head, the executioner despatching the animals at the rate of two per minute. The blow is sudden, swift and sure, for the men who perform this task are skilful and their services well paid. It is no uncommon thing for one of them to earn as much as £200 during the six months of the year that the killing goes on, and still less uncommon for him to spend it all in the six off months, returning the following season practically penniless.

The animal having been despatched, the carcase is flayed upon the cemented beds which slope slightly to the channel which conducts the blood to a central tank. The meat is then cut up and the bones removed, the flesh being hung in a large, dark, funereal chamber, the walls of which are painted black. This, I was told, was to keep the flies away, for flies, it seems, detest darkness, although their deeds are evil.

Every part of the animal is used; nothing is wasted. The flesh being cared for, the fat goes one way, the hides another; the offals a third and the blood a fourth. Some of the bones are boiled with the meat to make a particular kind of extract; whilst portions of the meat are boiled alone for tinning, other portions are cut up fine by machinery, and made into extract. The bones are carefully sorted and exported for the making of combs and knife handles. The horns are sold to manufacturers in Europe, who split them up, and by processes of their own turn them into such articles as combs, brush handles, boxes, etc., so closely imitating tortoise-shell that an innocent and indiscriminating public mistakes them for the genuine article. Such parts of the animals as are good for nothing else are made into manure.

It need hardly be said that the Liebig Company’s organisation has by no means overlooked the needs of the large number of work-people engaged at their factories, and the settlements both at Colon and Frey Bentos provide accommodation far superior to any to be found in any of the villages in the country-side. The houses and plots of ground allotted to the workers at Frey Bentos form quite a rural settlement, whilst Colon, a more recent and very inviting colony, is a town built upon approved modern lines. The houses, which are all kept painted white, are built in squares, their backs looking on to a large courtyard. This keeps all the fronts free from the unsightly domestic pots and pans and other paraphernalia usually to be seen crowding the fronts of village houses and shacks. Stores, schools, and a doctor’s shop are provided, and each household has its own plot of ground for the growing of vegetables and flowers, and is also provided with the very necessary baths which the architects and builders of the peons’ houses (generally the owners themselves) invariably forget.

Large recreation rooms and club houses are provided, and the company give an annual feast to their workers, a feast unlimited as to beef and wine, and followed by dancing and singing to the accompaniment of an instrumental band also provided by the employers. There is also available land for those of the workers who care to go in for cattle-raising and farming on their own account; indeed, everything is done to induce and encourage them in such effort, and there is an attractiveness about these colonies which keeps them well populated. A more varied and pleasing life is held out here than that offered by a residence on the great distant melancholy camps, where social intercourse is necessarily restricted, and where the monotony of existence is only broken by the arrival of some chance visitor from a neighbouring camp or an occasional excursion to one of the “pulperias” for a glass of “boliche” and a gossip with similarly situated companions.

In addition to being big consumers of cattle, the Liebig Company are themselves land-holders and stock-raisers on a large scale, their farms or estancias in Uruguay, Corrientes, and Missiones being typical of each of the states, although all managed from headquarters at the two factories. In the Republic of Uruguay they own six estancias and rent two, comprising in all 252,871 acres, whilst in the Argentine province of Corrientes they control 329,941 acres, and in Paraguay 118,584 acres, making a total of about 700,000 acres, upon which close upon 200,000 head of cattle are maintained.

No less than from three to six hundred tons of extract of beef are annually exported from their factories, in addition to the tongues, soups, and preserved meats for which they are noted. If one takes in the whole of the River Plate littoral, the dry-salting and meat extract business consumes about half a million animals yearly, a figure which is destined to grow larger year by year. This consumption of cattle is quite apart from that of the freezing trade, which is on a still larger scale, and in which a capital of nearly four million pounds sterling is invested, much of the money coming from Britain and the United States.

The first shipments of frozen meat from the Argentine were made in 1877, and so successful was the experiment, that within eight years the first large freezing establishment was erected in Buenos Ayres. Others followed in rapid succession, and the combined turnover of the “Frigorificos,” as they are called, has reached the enormous sum of twelve million pounds sterling per annum.

These “Frigorificos” having been for the most part built during recent years, their builders have been able to take advantage of all the experiments and improvements made by hygienic science, and no pains are spared to keep the reputation of Argentine meat above suspicion. The stock slaughtered for foreign markets undergoes a careful examination by veterinary inspectors, the animals being subjected to a severe scrutiny before they are permitted to leave the paddocks and pens adjoining the factories, and allowed to pass along the “race” to the slaughterhouse. In not a few of the factories the “race” has a long, deep trough of water in it, through which the animals pass to cool and cleanse their bodies before they reach the narrow box in which they receive the coup de grÂce. Directly this has been given, the truck-like floor of the box is wheeled quickly out, and placed in a favourable position to allow of the carcase being hoisted by the hind legs to a transport rail. The bleeding takes place over a channel which conducts the blood into a large underground tank, and the carcase is then placed upon the flaying beds alongside. Very rapidly the hide is removed by highly skilled and well-paid operators, who are fined for every flaw made by them in the skins they remove. The carcase is next opened up in the presence of the Government inspector, who pronounces his verdict as to the soundness or otherwise of the animal. Having been thoroughly cleaned, the meat is sawn in halves and each side hauled up on to a transport rail and run along to another shed where the trimming is completed before it enters the chilling or freezing chamber, as the case may be. For twenty-four hours the meat is subjected to the freezing process, and then each side is quartered, covered first with a cotton wrapper and then with a stouter one of jute, and the quarters, thus protected from dust and dirt, are shipped into the cold chambers of barges which deliver them to the specially fitted steamers bound for Europe.

As the killing goes on day after day, a seemingly endless procession of “sides” is hurried along the transport rails to the great freezing chambers, which are filled and emptied day in and day out all the year round. The only disagreeable parts of the whole operation are the killing pens and the flaying beds, and the visitor to the Frigorifico, if at all squeamish, will do well to give these a very casual inspection as he makes his tour.

The hides, wet-salted and packed in barrels, are shipped to the tanneries in England, the United States, and Germany; but London is the principal market for the frozen meat of the Argentine, its consumption of home-killed and foreign frozen meat exceeding one and a half million tons annually.

The Argentine has attained her present enviable position at the head of the list of beef exporting countries by giving an intelligent attention to the improvement of her herds of cattle. As far back as 1848 the importation of the best stock from England was commenced, and since then hundreds of prize animals from the British shows have been shipped to the grazing lands of the republic. In 1857 the first live-stock show was held in Buenos Ayres, and in 1875 the Rural Society of the Argentine held the first of the series which has continued annually since that date. The Rural Society has done much to justify its existence, organising, holding together and encouraging the stock-raising interest. Every well-known class of stock is exhibited at its shows, sheep of the Lincoln, Rambouillet, Blacknose, and other varieties, and cattle of the Shorthorn, Durham, Hereford, and Polled Angus breeds. The keen competition amongst exhibitors has led to a high standard of exhibits, of which there is always an abundant entry. This is equally true with regard to the horses which are now bred in the Argentine, the breeders being justly proud of the fine animals they can produce. The same care has been exercised in the choice of sires and mares which have been purchased in England and on the continent of Europe, with the object of obtaining the best breed possible. The thoroughbred race-horse is particularly popular, and many famous race winners have been purchased by the Argentine dealers, sportsmen, and breeders. “Diamond Jubilee” was purchased from the late King Edward for 30,000 guineas, “Val d’Or” from the French breeder, Edmond Blanc, for £12,000. It has been estimated that 400 thoroughbred stallions and 3000 brood mares are in service in Argentina, producing about 1500 foals annually. In the last fifteen years the sales of young stock have increased from 90 animals in 1895, realising on the average £126 apiece, to 483 animals in 1910, yielding an average price of £639. This gives some idea of the importance and growth of the industry of horse-breeding in the republic, and a glance at the list of well-known horses which have been produced, several of them winners of tens of thousands of pounds in prize money, indicates the excellence of the results attained and the profitableness of the occupation.