Of this enormous area some 185 millions might be sown at once with cereals and fodder, notably in the coast Provinces, in Córdoba, and the Pampa, and there remains as much more for stock-raising, without taking into account the millions of animals that might be nourished by intensive culture in the cultivated zone. This extension would allow of the existence of 40 million cattle and 200 million sheep.
Results of the Census of Stock taken in 1908
What is the amount of stock at present in the Argentine Republic? We are in a position to answer this question, one of the present writers, Señor A. B. Martinez, having been appointed Director of the last agricultural and pastoral census, which was taken during the first fortnight of May 1908, according to a law passed by Congress. The work which sums up the results of this important undertaking is in three volumes, and is at present in the press; thanks to which fortunate circumstance we are able to anticipate its publication, and to give our readers the benefit of this investigation.
The census of agriculture and stock-raising, undertaken over the entire territory of the Republic, has revealed the existence in Argentine territory of 29,116,625 cattle, 7,531,376 horses, 465,037 mules, 285,000 asses, 67,211,754 sheep, 3,945,086 goats and 1,403,591 swine.
If we compare these results with those of the two previous censuses, that of 1888 and that of 1895, we obtain the following table:—
| Census. | Cattle. | Horses. | Sheep. | Swine. |
| 1888 | 21,963,930 | 4,262,917 | 66,701,097 | 403,203 |
| 1895 | 21,701,326 | 4,445,859 | 74,379,562 | 652,766 |
| 1908 | 29,116,625 | 7,531,376 | 67,211,754 | 1,403,591 |
We see from these figures that in twenty years, between 1888 and 1908, the number of cattle has increased by 7,152,695 head; and in thirteen years, between 1895 and 1908, by 7,415,099 head. The number of horses has increased by 3,268,459 between 1888 and 1908, and by 3,085,517 between 1895 and 1908. Sheep have increased by 510,657 between 1888 and 1908, but decreased by 7,167,808 between 1895 and 1908. Swine, far from numerous if we compare their numbers with these obtained from other countries, present a continual increase: 1,000,388 between 1888 and 1908, and 750,825 between 1895 and 1908.
The decrease of 700,000 in the numbers of sheep in thirteen years is in keeping with what has been observed in the principal wool-producing countries. Authorities assure us
that of the 400 millions of sheep which existed in various parts of the world in 1873, there remain to-day barely 300 millions. In Germany, for instance, to go by the Journal des Économistes, the number of sheep has dropped from 19 millions to 7 millions in a space of twenty-five years.