Not Until I Stand By The "River Of Life" Shall I
Behold The Reality.
The inhabitant of these treeless, trackless solitudes, which, with
their waving grass, remind one of the bosom of the ocean, develops a
keen sight Where the stranger, after intently gazing, descries
nothing, he will not only inform him that animals are in sight, but
will, moreover, tell him what they are.
I am blest with a very clear
vision, but even when, after standing on my horse's back, I have made
out nothing, the Gaucho could tell me that over there was a drove of
cattle, a herd of deer, a troop of horses, or a house.
It is estimated that there are two hundred and forty millions of
acres of wheat land in the Argentine, and of late years the prairie
has developed into one of the largest wheat-producing countries in
the world, and yet only one per cent, of its cultivable area is so
far occupied.
The Gaucho is no farmer, and all his land is given up to cattle
grazing, so chacras are worked generally by foreign settlers. The
province of Entre Rios has been settled largely by Swiss and Italian
farmers from the Piedmont Hills. Baron Hirsch has also planted a
colony of Russian Jews there, and provided them with farm implements.
Wheat, corn, and linseed are the principal crops, but sweet potatoes,
tobacco, and fruit trees do well in this virgin ground, fertilized by
the dead animals of centuries. The soil is rich, and two or three
crops can often be harvested in a year.
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