Cattle and sheep are raised all over the Pampas and far to the north and south; but, generally speaking, cattle keep to the eastern side and sheep to the west, while Patagonia is almost exclusively devoted to sheep. The cattle industry is very different from what it was in the memory of men still living. In the old days animals were killed for their hides and the carcase was left to rot on the ground; their flesh was eaten only by those who tended them. In 1873 the export of meat was under 1,500,000 dollars, and little of this found its way to Europe. In 1907 the exports of beef and mutton amounted to 222,273 tons. The prosperity of the meat industry, however, is due not only to improved methods of transport, packing, and preserving, but also to the wisdom of the estancieros in importing valuable bulls. It is said that even the smallest among them are convinced of the value of good blood and insist upon having it. Between 1899 and 1903 Argentina imported 3,005 bulls, principally from England, and in 1907 the value of live animals imported was over 2,000,000 dollars. We have seen the huge prices that rich Argentines give for the best stallions, but, relatively, breeders are quite as eager for the best bovine sires. Uruguay is better known to the world than Argentina as a seat of the meat industry, but, as a matter of fact, the latter has infinitely more stock of every description. However, in 1908, the Uruguayan beef-salting factories slaughtered three times as many cattle as the Argentine.
A great many estancias are in English hands; all over the Pampas are great numbers of young Englishmen managing the estates. A warning note has lately been sounded to the effect that Beef Trusts and other United States Trusts are attempting to acquire land and meat factories and to control the supply of meat. It is needless to say that if these organisations make headway, neither the estancieros, nor our traders, nor the meat consumer, will have any reason to congratulate themselves, and it is to be hoped that the Argentine Government will take energetic measures to keep the country out of the grip of the octopus.
The sheep industry has not maintained its old relative importance. In 1830 Argentina had 2,500,000 sheep and exported 6,000,000 lbs. of wool; in 1883 the figures were 69,000,000 sheep (somewhat more than now) and 261,000,000 lbs. of wool. In 1908 the shipments were 175,538 tons, and Argentina is of great importance in the world's markets, but the conditions of the industry have changed considerably within recent years. In the old days Spain prohibited the export of her valuable merino sheep to foreign countries, but the colonies were fortunate enough not to be included in the prohibition, and in 1550 the first merinos appeared in Tucuman from Peru.[99] Professor Clapham, in his valuable work, "The Woollen and Worsted Industries," says: "There, together with an inferior, long-wooled breed, also of Spanish extraction, they ran wild and deteriorated for over two hundred years; so that eventually the Argentine flocks were as sorely in need of new blood as were those of France, Germany, or Russia, which, until the middle of the eighteenth century, had never had the benefit of a cross with the old Spanish strain. Between 1760 and 1840, thanks to a change in the commercial policy of Spain, such crossing took place in almost every country of Europe and in many European colonies." About the beginning of the nineteenth century pure-bred Spanish rams were brought to Argentina, and others from France and Saxony. By 1846 the wool had so greatly improved that it was exported to England. Forty years ago the exports consisted almost entirely of merino wool, but now seven-eighths is cross-bred. For this change there are two reasons--firstly, the rich, loamy soil does not suit merinos, which are apt to deteriorate in rank pastures, and, secondly, the trade in frozen meat has made such enormous strides that estancieros are anxious to obtain mutton breeds, especially Lincolns. The Lincolnshire breeders drive a flourishing trade with Buenos Aires, and as much as 1,000 guineas is often given for a ram. There used to be a prejudice in Bradford against Argentine wool,[100] but it is disappearing, although the Australian product still fetches a somewhat higher price.