South American Cattle

SOUTH AMERICAN CATTLE. The Rev. G. D. Carrow, some years since, when superin tendent of the missions of the Methodist Episco pal Church in South America, contributed a graphic account of South American Cattle, and cattle farming in the Pampas, which we repro duce, as showing the origin of South American Cattle, their management, and much other inter esting matter of general interest. The Reverend author writes as follows: There are two classes of men, discoverers by land and sea, and pioneers in uew fields of tillage and commerce,who though almost invariably distinguished for great and good qualities, seldom realize an adequate return for their services to their country and to man kind. The truth of this statement is confirmed by many facts belonging to the history of the discovery and colonization of this continent. Were we not so strongly assured of the contrary, we might suppose that the discovery and explor ation of the three greatest rivers of this continent and of the globe, were events certainly calcula ted to insure solid comfort to their authors during the brief period of their mortal life, as well as immortal fame on the pages of history. What are the facts which so sternly forbid this natural supposition? Fernando de Soto was the first white man who explored the banks of the Mississippi, and saw that father of waters roll beneath the boughs of the primeval forest to the sea. But only a few days after his passage of the mighty stream he had ceased to live; his body, to conceal his death from his enemies, was wrapped in his mantle, and, at the hour of midnight, was silently sunk in the middle of the current. The wanderer, says Mr. Bancroft, had crossed a large portion of the continent in search of gold, and found nothing so remarkable as the place of his burial. Francisco de Orellana, striking a stream that wound itself along through the rugged passes of the Peruvian Andes, built a mere raft of green wood, launched it, and drifted with the current. Onward it bore him through plain and forest, mountain gorge and fertile valley, ever growing deeper and wider, till, at the end of seven months, and at a distance of four thousand five hundred miles, his frail and rudely constructed vessel felt the heaving, and his experienced eye surveyed the great expanse, of the Atlantic Ocean. He called the river Amazon. Marvellous was the adventure, and immortal the fame. But, ten years later, the discoverer perished in an expedition designed to locate and further explore the river, whose course he had followed from its birth in the mountains to its death in the sea. In 1515, Juan Dias de Solis, crossing the equator, and steering boldly to the south, in the teeth of the terrific gales which sweep northward from the latitude of Cape Horn, entered what he soon perceived to be the mouth of a great river, and finding, or hoping to find, silver among its sands, called it El Rio de la Plata. But venturing ashore a few days after the discovery, he was put to death by the native savages. The explorers were in search of the precious metals, but died at the height of their career in poverty and disappointment. Posterity, however, was to reap incalculable advantage. Harvests of grain and cotton are now gathered in the valley of the Mississippi more valuable than the produce of the mines of Potosi. Harvests of fruit, corn and cotton are to be gathered in the valley of the Amazon worth more than all the gold which streaks the moun tains whence that river flows. And from the far reaching plains of La Plata's basin, supplies of meat and clothing might be drawn in quantities sufficient to meet the necessities of more than half the world. The pampas form the larger portion of that great river's basin. Of their wool-producing capabilities, and of the extent to which they are already laid under contribution, the writer has given some account in the report of 1864, Department of Agriculture. In the present communication his purpose is to give to agriculturists of the valleys of the North some information on the subject of horned cattle breed ing on the great plains of the South American continent. There were no horned cattle either in the northern or southern division of this con tinent prior to the discovery. The first ever seen in the new world were imported by Columbus in 1498. Respecting their importation into the northern section of the southern continent, Lieu tenant Gibbon, in• his Exploration of the Valley of the Amazon, says: This pampa looks like a great pasture field, enclosed by the Mamorg ditch on the south, and the Secure on the north. Under the shade of the trees stand the cattle of the field. They have gradually clambered over the Cordilleras from the flats of Guayaquil, through the table lands of Oruro, and from the salt district of Ch areas. The creoles drove them down by the side of the Mamore river, and let them out into the grassy prairie lands of Chiquitos and Mojos. When the cattle came among the Indians they knew not what to make of , them. There were no such animals in their wild lands. The fierce tiger, and the poisonous serpent which they had worshipped, were outdone. The cow interfered with the belief they previously had, that the largest animals were God's favorites, partic ularly those which had the greatest means for active aggression or self-defence. The cow helped to change such a religion. By degrees they learned that she neither bit, clawed, nor stung; that she carried a bag full of milk; that her teeth were given her to cut the pampa grass,' and not to devour the flesh of a human being; that she was docile and friendly to man, and not his enemy. The Jesuits (missionaries) taught the Indiana how to milk the cow and how to use her milk. They soon learned how to tend cattle, to lasso them, to yoke them by the horns, so that they may drag along a bundle of drift wood from the edge of the river to the middle of the plain. In this way they kept cattle near them, while herds roamed through the pampas, became wild, and are now so scattered through the lands that it is difficult to count them. The pampas de scribed in the lieutenant's report form the cen tral and southeastern departments of the present republic of Bolivia, and he is doubtless correct when he states that the first horned cattle intro duced into that part of the continent came from the Pacific coast. In 1551 horned cattle were first brought into Paraguay from the coast of Brazil. These Sir Woodbine Parish regard as the progenitors of the numberless herds that for three centuries have roamed the southern plains. For the original importation Paraguay was, doubtless, indebted to the Jesuits, as was that country, and, in fact, the whole interior of the southern continent, for almost all the elements of their early civilization. Sir Woodbine is mis taken, however, in asserting that the whole pampas stock originated from the breed imported into their mission grounds by the Jesuits of Par-' aguay. Prior to the date to which that importa tion is assigned, settlements of Europeans had been effected in southeastern Peru, and the colo nists, as Mr. Gibbon suggests, had brought cattle with them from the west coast. The present stock, therefore, may be regarded as the com bined results of the two original importations, one from the Atlantic, and the other from the Pacific shore. As to the particular character of the original,.. stock, it, no doubt, consisted of the common black cattle of Spain and Portugal. There is a very common mistake in regard to what some writers designate as the wild cattle of the south. The writers themselves are mistaken, and have led their readers to the same erroneous con clusion. The opinion is, that from an early period after the conquest, herds of straying and un claimed cattle were allowed to run wild, and that these were, in the course of many years multi plied into countless millions, roaming wild and fierce through the forests and over the plains. It is true that portions of herds, which had never received proper care, or that by some special and violent cause had been separated and scattered, have become wild in their habits and fierce in their dispositions. But being regarded as com mon property, both Indians and white settlers have hunted them till the breed can no longer be said to exist, and the only wild cattle now are the few, comparatively, that have wandered away from the farms during the absence of the herdsmen in times of revolutionary commotion. The general characteristics of the present native stock are about the same as those of unimproved stock in this country. The principal points of difference are in the legs and horns; the legs being longer, and the horns longer and wider at the tips than those cof our native breed. Their aver age weight is about the same as that of our ordi nary farm cattle. In a large herd almost all shades of color may be distinguished, the pre vailing hues being light and dark red, and black, and dark brown. Steers frequently, attain a fine 'size, are very symmetrical in their proportions, and when broken to the yoke and put to service are gentle in their dispositions, and rapid and graceftil in their motions. In regard to the qual ities of the cows for the production of milk, but little can be said with certainty. On the cattle farms milk is but seldom used, and so little atten tion is paid to the cows that are kept by milk men for the purpose of supplying the towns and cities, that the quantity of milk they yield can not be taken as a fair sample of their natural capabilities. The milk itself is very rich and has an excellent flavor. The town and city traffic in that article is somewhat noteworthy. Certain police regulations are made to prevent adultera tion; but they are not very effectual. Every morn ing quite a troop of milkmen's horses maybe seen in line before the door of the police officer, and after due examination, the charge of adulterating being brought home, the contents of the cans are condemned and confiscated. But the adultera tion of milk, like the adulteration of whisky, is found to pay so well that the rogues can afford to suffer the penalty of the law quite as often as a policeman can be found sharp enough to detect and sufficiently conscientious to arraign them. It must, indeed, be rather an extreme case of milk and water to be thought grave enough to be presented for the action of municipal authority. Hence it is worthy of note, as another peculiarity belonging to this traffic, that many of the milk men will confess to the faces of their customers the sin of adulteration. The vachero who sup plied the family of the writer, frankly acknowl edged that he regularly brought three kinds of milk to market. I have, said he, a double share of cream for my customers who pay me an extra price, no cream for those who pay the regular price, and milk and water for such as may not pay anything. For reasons that will be stated in connection with another point remaining to be noticed, no attempt has been made to improve the native stock by the cattle breeders of the pampas. This, to many, may seem strange; for, considering the facilities afforded for such an experiment by the climate and pasturage of the country, it might prove successful there beyond precedent in those countries where, by crossing and careful treatment, stock has been brought to its highest degree of perfection. If the writer mistake not, there is a handsome fortune in store for any intelligent, enterprising cattle farmer who would go to that country and invest a mod erate capital in the improvement of native stock, both for domestic supply and foreign exporta tion. An estancia, or cattle farm, varies in extent from one thousand to fifty thousand square leagues, the square league containing five thousand seven hundred and sixty English races. In the districts adjacent to the cities and towns, and in those which lie upon the margin of the Plate and Parana rivers, sheep are rapidly taking the place of horned cattle. The largest estancias for cattle, in fact, are now to be found only in the interior, and in such sections as are far from the great water-courses. The cattle farms abound in what the natives distinguish as strong grasses. grasses gradually disappear when ever the land is appropriated to sheep. In their place there comes a rich supply of smooth-stalked meadow grass, Poa pratensfs, and meadow fox tail, Alopecurus. Horned cattle, like sheep, pre fer these, but thrive very well on the trefoil, wild barley, and other varieties of coarse grass which abound throughout the plains. The coarse grasses are more hardy, and stand the dry season better than finer ones, but contain less nutriment; and while stock fed upon them are preserved in a healthy and plump condition, they neither fatten so quickly nor so abundantly as when favored with their choice pasture. Pasture is most abun dant in winter, the rainy season of that climate, and of best quality during the months of summer and autumn. On a single estancia is frequently pastured a stock consisting of a hundred thou sand head. The general herd is divided into smaller ones containing, each, from three to twelve thousand. A herd of three thousand can be properly cared for by one man. The entire herd is collected every evening at a spot near the farm house. This gathering place is called, in Spanish, rode& And one marked peculiarity to be observed when the stock has been assembled for the night is, that each animal is careful to select precisely the same spot on which it ]aid the night before, and every night, probably, since it took its place among its full grown compan ions. The immense herd will all lie or stand together thus, each in its own place, without enclosure of any kind, and will not separate for the day's grazing until eight or nine o'clock in the morning. Cows calve once a year; heifers as early as at two years old. With regard to the lon gevity of horned cattle, no exact information can now be obtained. Farmers have not recorded nor perhaps even made any observations on that subject. In the opinion of Mr. Van Blarcom, an experienced and intelligent observer, the average age of animals may be set down at fifteen or twenty years. Neither the proprietors nor the men they employ will eat the flesh of an old cow or steer, and as stock is not bred to any extent either for milking or labor, there is no induce-, ment to preserve animals till they have grown old, especially as the heifers and younger cows are preferred for the purpose of breeding. For these reasons but very few animals are allowed to grow old ; and such as receive this privilege are permitted to die of neglect, or are killed for the hide and tallow, the carcase being thrown to the dogs and buzzards. To secure comfort and success in cattle breeding, water is a prime con sideration. The most desirable land, therefore, for this purpose, is that which is situated in those slightly undulating districts of the great plains where large ponds of water collect during the rainy season. These, however, evaporate in most cases during the heat of summer, and water must be obtained from wells. In cases where care had not been taken to provide a sufficient number of these, great destruction of stock has sometimes been the consequence. In the prov ince of Entre Rios, in 1846, there was a general drought, unusually prolonged and disastrous. The grass was literally reduced to dust. Cattle, suffering from thirst, wandered off from their accustomed pasture grounds in search of food and water. Some farmers lost five thousand, some ten, and some as many as fifty thousand animals. It is stated, indeed, and is doubtless true that at one estancia, an English gentleman, lost one hundred and fifty thousand head. In

seasons of protracted drought cattle will stray in quest of water hundreds of miles. If they find water, and remain long enough in its neighbor hood to calve, they will never return. But if the drought ceases before they calve, they will return to the grounds of their owners. Protracted droughts are not of frequent occurrence; and yet they are sufficiently so, one would think, to induce the farmers to adopt all suitable precau tions. The immigrant farmers do provide wells sufficient to meet ordinary exigency. But the native proprietors in this, as in all things else, are disposed to take the world easy, and are per fectly willing that the morrow should provide for itself, or even prefer that it should be a day of disaster rather than to-day should be devoted to care and toil. Besides this, native labor is exceedingly scarce. The great pampas are very sparsely populated; and the necessaries of life are so cheaply and easily obtained that the few who are dependent upon their own exertions for a livelihood will do but little work. In one particular, both foreign and native proprietors are alike to blame. Dependent as they fre quently are upon their wells, they have not adopted any modern improvements for pumping water. The horse-bucket system still prevails. An author very familiar with the modes and customs of the pampa cattle farmers thus de scribe the process: Over the well is a frame work from which is suspended a pulley through which a rope is passed, one end being secured to the bucket and the other fastened to a horse. The bucket is made of hide, very long, and of a peculiar form; the adjustment of the rope is so secured that when the horse reaches the extreme length of the rope one mouth of the bucket leans into a cistern or trough, into which it empties itself. By this primitive and tedious process it takes one man and two horses eight hours to water two thousand head of cattle. So if there should be only fifty thousand head on a particular farm, and there is frequently double that number, it would require a day's work for twenty-five men and fifty horses to give the entire herd a single drink of water. There is one custom peculiar to horned cattle which the natives call standing rodes. The explanation is this: if one farmer lose a herd, or any portion of one, and sets out in search of the missing animals, every farmer he visits in the course of his search is required by an ancient law, enacted expressly for that purpose, to drive up his herd for the inspection of his unfortunate neighbor, that he may see whether he can identify any of his lost animals. This is what is meant by standing rodes. In a country where there are no fences, and causes are constantly occurring that tend to scatter the herds, it will be perceived that the law in ques tion is very proper and necessary. As there are neither ditches nor fences of any kind to separate adjoining farms, each animal must be stamped with the mark of its owner, so that in case of occasional straying, or a general stampede, or other causes producing an intermixture of herds and great consequent confusion, each proprietor may distinguish and claim his own. Patterns of the various marks or brands adopted by the estancieros of a political department are pre served in the office of the comandante, with the names of the parties that use them; and to coun terfeit or alter a mark is a penal offence of the same grade as forgery, or counterfeiting money. The season of marking is one of great sport for the young men and boys and even the girls of a family. It corresponds, in its way, to the corn huskings and quiltings that were so highly appreciated and keenly enjoyed by our grand fathers and grandmothers. The process is very simple. The cattle are driven into a large pen; a man or half grown boy mounts a horse; the Spanish saddle is fastened very strongly with stout and broad leather straps; in the central strap, about half way between the horse's back and belly, there is an iron ring; to this the lasso (a strong, plaited raw-hide rope) is attached; the other end is formed into a noose which the rider throws over the horns of the animal, and the horse dragging it from the herd its legs are then securely fettered, and being thrown upon its side the red-hot brand is produced and the owner's mark is stamped indelibly upon its smoking flesh. The catching of a single animal for domestic use frequently presents an exciting scene. The particular one desired is singled out, and perceiving itself, as by instinct it frequently does, to be the object of some dangerous design, it breaks from the herd and bounds off into the plain. The horsemen duly equipped with a lasso clasps the spur to his steed and bears down upon the flying fugitive. Having gained a point within convenient distance, he swings the lasso several times around his head to give it momen tum, and then throws the noose around the horns of his victim. This is done while horse and steer are at the top of their speed. The moment the noose lodges on the head of the steer the horse stops and wheels to receive the shock which is often so violent that the animal is thrown headlong and bellowing to the ground. The precision with which many horsemen throw the lasso can hardly be conceived by one not familiar with the customs of that country. The Indian's arrow or tomahawk scarcely speeds more directly to its mark. The performance is to be explained as are all the feats of human dex terity. Early training and long practice supply the horsemanship, the steady hand, and the unerring aim. The lasso is the native child's first toy; and one of his earliest amusements is found in throwing its noosg over the heads of the doge, cats, and tame sheep that follow him about his play grounds. Another method of catching cattle is with the bolas. This instrument is pre pared in the following manner: Three round stones or iron balls; each the size of an egg, are covered with raw hide; one is fastened to each end of a forked strip of hide, about ten feet long; the third ball is secured to a strip, attached to the main one, about five feet long. The horse man takes this in his hand, and, as in the former case, pursues the animals. When he comes within easy reach of his object, he takes hold of the end of the rope, and swinging the other, that has the balls attached, several times around his head, throws the whole contrivance at the animal's legs In an instant it is entangled, and the more it endeavors to escape the more securely it is fettered till it falls. The bolas may be thrown fifty or sixty yards with certainty; and if the pursuit be rapid, the fleetness of the horse adding force to the throw, an animal may be struck with tolerable precision at a distance of eighty or ninety yards. An ordinary herdsman, or other laborer, receives per month from twelve to twenty silver dollars. The entire estancia, with ali its arrrangements, is placed under the superintendence of an experienced and well tried major-domo, whose salary differs, according to the wealth of the proprietor and the responai bilities of the situation, from three to five hund red Spanish dollars per annum. In killing cattle for home consumption the butchers first ham string them, and then cut their throats. In dress ing them they are not suspended, but flayed on the ground. Some years ago the Buenos Ayrean city fathers prepared a slaughter-house of the same style and conveniences as are common in other countries, but the butchers refused to occupy it, and steadfastly adhered to the old custom of hamstringing and throat-cutting in an open pen. The carcase is divided in a mode somewhat peculiar. The tenderloin is taken out and sold by itself. Beef is never weighed in market, nor even measured, except by the butcher's eye, who acquires great exactness in subdividing the quarters of an animal so as to make the pieces suit the daily, bi-weekly, or tri weekly demands of his customers. The .beef market of the pampas was in former years probably the cheapest in the civilized world. So recently as twenty years ago an ordinary cow or heifer could be bought for one silver dollar, and a large fat steer for two dollars and a half. Now, the prices of the same animals range from eight to .twenty dollars. In 1858 a piece of sir loin, weighing ten pounds, could be purchased in the market of Buenos Ayres or Montevideo for fifty cents, and in the towns of the interior for half that sum. The natives are very partial to roast beef, which they term asado; but their mode of preparing it is peculiar to themselves. They take the best roasting pieces and cut away the flesh till the rib is reduced to nearly the thinness of an ordinary sparerib of pork, accord ing to our method of butchering. This is done to suit their mode of roasting, which is never in accordance with that which obtains in 'Paris, London, or New York. Instead of the oven, they still use the more primitive spit. This is a piece of iron about four feet long. It is run through the meat, and, if the meat be prepared in the open air, is stuck into the ground at such an angle as brings the meat into contact with the tip of the flame; or, if the meat be prepared in the kitchen, the spit is inclined against the chim ney in about the same position. The fire is kindled with weeds or small dry faggots cut from the paradise or peach tree. As this con sumes very quickly, fresh fuel is constantly sup plied. When the fat of the flesh ignites and blazes, the cook seizes the spit, blows out the flame, and then returns it to its place. This is repeated till the meat is nearly done, when the spit is laid across two large bricks, and the pro cess of cooking is completed by toasting a few minutes over the fresh coals. Meat cooked in this is somewhat smoked and a good deal blackened, but it has a juiciness and a peculiar flavor which could not fail to commend it to the palate of a finished epicure. Some travelers complain of the toughness of the native roast, but the writer's experience is altogether in con flict with their statements, and his impression is that they must have fallen into the hands of a very unskillful cook, or upon the carcase of an animal that had been toughened by poverty and leanness or unusual length of days. The qual ities of the beef are very superior, English resi dents, generally, do not esteem it; but this is owing to that intense national egotism from which few, even of traveled Englishmen, ever entirely recover. They will roundly assert that neither first-rate beef nor mutton can be found beyond the limits of the British isles. But many Americans, who have traveled extensively on both continents, consider the best pampas beef fully equal, if not a little superior, to the best beef ever brought to an English market. It has not the same amount of fat, nor is the fat so thoroughly distributed through the lean portions of the carcase, but it is sufficiently fat to meet the demand of any delicate and well-educated palate. The tissues are so fine as to render the flesh peculiarly tender, and, when cooked, it has a flavor akin to that which distinguishes the flesh of the wild duck from that of the flock which is hatched in the poultry house, and reared in the barnyard. It is also very easily digested. A feeble, dyspeptic atomach may take as much as the appetite of a hungry man will ever crave and not be oppressed by the indulgence. Pampas beef, as well as pampas air, might safely be pre scribed for all invalids who are suffering from dyspepsia, and assailed by its veteran ranks of horrors attendant on dyspepsia or ennui. An establishment for salting and curing jerked beef is called a saladero, literally, salting tub. The mode of slaughtering the cattle and pre'paring the beef is very simple. As in the case of mark ing, the herd is driven into a large pen. A man or boy, with a lasso attached to his saddle girth, throws the noose around the horns of the animal. The lasso traverses a pulley, suspended from a cross-beam resting on two strong upright posts. The horse draws the head of the animal directly up to the beam where a man or boy sits with a long knife. The moment the head touches the beam the knife severs the spinal cord just back of the horns, and the animal drops on a movable platform which runs on a tramway, and is im mediately drawn out of the pen by hand and placed under an open shed, where two men, without hanging the carcase, quickly flay it right and left; two others take out the intestines, cut off the head, divide the trunk into four quarters, hang them on hooks, cut them in slices, throw them into a handbarrow, and, while one wheels off the flesh to be salted, another conveys the hide, bones, horns, and tallow to their appropri ate places. In the salting shed is a large tank filled with strong pickle. The slices are deposit ed in this for a short time, in order to wash them from all blood. They are then hooked out and packed under the shed in alternate layers of meat and salt. The slices take sufficient salt in about a week. They are then removed to another part of the shed, turned, and piled again. This mov ing and piling is repeated several times. The meat is then hung on poles in the sun for a few days, when it is again piled for the last time, and looks in this, its last stage of preparation, in the separate pieces, very much like codfish or sole leather; and, in the aggregate pile, very much like a stack of cornhusks that has stood the storms of a New England winter. And now, perhaps, the reader is ready to inquire whether, in its finished condition, it is a savory article of food. In reply, he may be reminded, in general terms, that taste is almost altogether a matter of education. At first, but very few persons relish tomatoes; and yet there is scarcely any one who does not learn to esteem them as one of the most delicious of all vegetables. Codfish, to an un civilized palate, is at first about as agreeable as would be fine splints of pine board steeped in fermented and half putrid brine. Yet some civil ized people esteem codfish a dish worthy to be set before a king. Tobacco stands among the very first articles on the long and varied list of human luxuries. But who does not remember the retching that followed the first chew, or the first cigar? On the same principle we should not be surprised to learn that jerked beef is highly esteemed where it has been longest and most generally used. The people that manufacture it, however, will not eat it at all. It is mostly ex ported to Cuba and Brazil, and is appropriated to the use of the negroes who cultivate the sugar and coffee plantations. Cattle are in the best condition in March, which is the first month of autumn in that hemisphere. The principal killing season is from November to March. But most of the saladeros are continued in moderate oper ation all the year around. These establishments for the manufacture of jerked beef were first founded in 1815, and were among the first fruits of the immigration that flowed into the country immediately upon the achievement of its inde pendence. During the first few years of their existence, it was rarely the case that as many as a hundred animals were slaughtered at one estab lishment in a single day. Now, there are, prob ably, nearly a hundred such establishments, at each of which are slaughtered from two to four hundred head per day. The cost of a saladero capable of slaughtering four hundred head per day would be scarcely less than thirty thousand dollars. Take four men, skilled in such labors, and in fifteen minutes by the watch they will convert a living animal, standing in the pen, into jerked beef, salted in the common pile. The .................