In 1866 the Argentine Rural Society was founded by a few leading estancieros. Still a private society, its admirable and constantly progressive efforts, usually crowned with success, have given it a status which is practically official.
The Society has a Registration Office which keeps authoritative Herd and Flock Books in which are entered the pedigrees of all the pure-breed cattle, sheep and horses in the country whose owners have applied for such registration; except thoroughbred horses and merino sheep, the breeders of which last have not yet arrived at the definition of the purity of that class of sheep. The walls of this Office are lined with the Herd and Flock Books of the Breeding Societies of Great Britain and her Colonies, and, as Mr. Herbert Gibson, himself a prominent member of the Society, tells us, “there is not in the whole world an analogous office which covers so diverse and numerous a registration.”
The latest (1908) official Argentine live stock Census gives the following tables of, respectively, the importation of pedigree bulls and cows and pedigree rams and ewes, from 1880 to 1907.
PEDIGREE BULLS AND COWS
| No. of Head. | Official values. $ gold. | |
|---|---|---|
| From the United Kingdom | 14,624 | 3,770,031 |
| ” France | 583 | 120,724 |
| ” Belgium | 325 | 75,235 |
| ” the United States | 169 | 41,200 |
| ” Germany | 153 | 27,770 |
| ” Chile | 113 | 27,034 |
| ” Italy | 62 | 9,553 |
| ” Holland | 50 | 5,300 |
| ” Spain | 40 | 5,700 |
| ” Other countries | 40 | 13,870 |
| 16,156 | 4,492,372 |
PEDIGREE RAMS AND EWES
| No. of Head. | Official values. $ gold. | |
|---|---|---|
| From the United Kingdom | 65,724 | 3,141,971 |
| ” Germany | 3,327 | 207,833 |
| ” France | 1,184 | 60,154 |
| ” the United States | 502 | 33,250 |
| ” British Possessions | 223 | 15,500 |
| ” Belgium | 209 | 19,829 |
| ” Australia | 125 | 5,100 |
| ” Spain | 128 | 8,165 |
| ” Italy | 56 | 540 |
| ” Holland | 10 | 30 |
| 71,488 | 3,492,372 |
Total value of cattle and sheep imported for breeding purposes during the above indicated period $7,588,780 gold—£1,517,756. These animals have proved worth vastly more than the prices paid for them.
Prior to this, in 1858, the first Rural Show was organized at Palermo. It was not a success. As Dr. Zeballos has written, “It was held in the midst of public indifference and passed utterly unnoticed by the press.” However, it seems to have only been a sort of fair at which all kinds of other wares jostled some rural produce. In face of this fiasco it is not surprising that no other Rural Show was held until thirteen years later; when a really Rural Show was held in the City of Córdoba. This appears to have had as much success as was to be expected after taking difficulties of transport into consideration.