These few facts will give an idea of the point to which the dairy-farming industry in Uruguay may develop in the near future, since there exist several millions of cows of a type eminently suitable for the purpose.
In the Republic there are actually twenty saladeros in existence, of which thirteen are situated in Montevideo, seven on the banks of the River Uruguay, and one at Paso de los Toros, in the interior of the country.
The number of the animals slaughtered at these saladeros will give an idea of the importance of the industry. During the years 1904 and 1908 the total amounted to no less than 2,763,855 head of cattle, thus making the average for the year over half a million head. During these five years 223,872,000 kilos of _tasajo_, or dried meat, were prepared, which represent a yearly average of forty-five million kilos. The average yield of the steers was ninety kilos of tasajo, that of the cows sixty kilos.
The manner in which this dried meat is prepared in the saladeros is fairly simple. After the cattle have been slaughtered and the veterinary examination has proved the absence of any taint or disease the bones are separated from the meat, which is then shaped into various portions known respectively as _mantas_ and _postas_. Once dried, these are placed in brine-pans, and piled up, well covered with salt. According to the state of the weather and the condition to which the meat is required to attain, it is placed in special vessels in the sun for a period varying between four and six days, until it is perfectly dry and ready to be baled.
As will be seen from this, salt and sun heat are the two principal agents that enter into the manufacture of tasajo, two powerful agents that, it is claimed, perform their task in the simplest and most hygienic fashion possible. The slaughtering season in the saladeros generally begins in the month of November, and is continued until January of the following year.
Tasajo, when its manufacture is completed, is classified into four grades, in accordance with the fatter or leaner propensities of the meat. The former kinds are exported principally to the markets of Brazil, while the latter are for the most part destined for consumption in Cuba. Beyond these, however, there are various other fields in which tasajo plays a popular part. It is, for instance, sent in fairly large quantities to the Portuguese colonies, to Puerto Rico, and to Spain and Portugal themselves, as well as to numerous less important places whose inhabitants have learned to appreciate this particular form of dried meat. The product contains certain advantages in that its treatment is simple throughout. Thus, when once in the hands of its actual consumers, the salt has merely to be dissolved from the meat in order to render it in a condition prepared for the oven.