Buenos Ayres. This establishment, formerly a private firm, but now a limited company, has grown steadily. Commencing in a comparatively modest manner, it has, according to reliable information, succeeded in taking one of the most prominent positions in the frozen mutton trade in the world.

No. 3 started in 1886 at San Nicolas, a port on the River Paraná. No. 4 began work in 1886 at Lima, a railway station on the Buenos Ayres and Rosario line, close to Zarate, a port adjacent to Campaña and likewise on the River Paraná.

In 1885, a frozen-meat industry was started under the auspices of the Argentine Rural Society, the shareholders being principally cattle farmers anxious to find a profitable outlet for their production. Two shipments resulted in heavy losses. The carcasses were of animals of five or six years and of late castration, unfitted for the requirements of the English market, and the freezing process was done on board the steamer, fitted for the purpose, the result proving the error of freezing elsewhere than ashore. The company liquidated. A fresh concern for the preparation and export of frozen meat is now seeking capital to operate in the Province of Buenos Ayres.

CAPITAL.

The total capital of the four factories is declared at $5,934,380 gold, comprising value of land, buildings, machinery, plant, etc. All four are now formed into companies, three working with English and one with native capital.

MACHINERY.

Originally, Nos. 1, 2, and 4 used that employed in the cold-air system, the machines being manufactured by Haslam (Derby, England) and by J. S. E. Hall (London). This system was found to be very expensive; so that almost simultaneously Nos. 1 and 2 discarded both the Haslam and Hall machines to a great extent, adopting principally the system covered by the "Lavergne" patent, owned by Messrs. Stern Brothers of Glasgow. The result, in the case of No. 2, was a reduction in coal consumption from over 15 tons daily to about 31⁄2 or 4 tons. The "Lavergne" system comprises dry air, ammonia, and brine. No. 3 uses German machinery, in what is known as the ammonia process.

The total number of machines in use is 60 (of which No. 2 employs 35), equaling altogether 1,652 horsepower.

LABOR.

The workmen employed number 1,225, and may be classified as foremen, earning $1.50 to $2 gold per day; slaughtermen, skinners,

skin dressers, and general workmen, averaging about $1 gold per day.

SUPPLY.

Sheep are procured from the Province of Buenos Ayres, the breeds most sought for being the South, Hampshire, Shropshire, and Oxford Down, Cheviot, and Romney Marsh; also those from native sheep, crossed by Lincoln or Rambouillet. Nevertheless, the best selling results have been obtained in the few cases where pure Hampshire Down could be procured, although it has lately been stated that excellent results are obtained for frozen-mutton purposes from a cross between the Merino and Shropshire black face. Steers are supplied chiefly from the Provinces of Buenos Ayres, Cordoba, and San Juan. The trade is limited, owing to the difficulty in obtaining the class of animal required by the process.

The average weight of the wether, before killing, is 50 kilograms (110 pounds), and when dressed the carcass weighs about 25 kilograms (55 pounds). One notable dressed Hampshire Down carcass, shipped to England by No. 2, scaled 1211⁄2 pounds. The steer alive weighs 740 to 750 kilograms (1,731 to 1,757 pounds), and when ready for shipment 370 to 375 kilograms (866 to 876 pounds).

PRICES.

The wether, alive at the factory, costs $2 to $2.30 gold; the steer about $20 gold.

PREPARATION FOR EXPORT.

After separating the heart, kidneys, tongue, etc., leaving only the bare carcass, the meat is subjected to the freezing process, 15° to 20° F. below zero, about 50° of freezing being applied. When thoroughly hard, the carcass is sewn up in thin cotton cloth and transferred to the refrigerating chambers in steamship. At Campaña and San Nicolas the steamer receives alongside; in the Riachuelo, two small steamers transship, and at Zarate it is received by trolly in refrigerated car.

The system of chilling, instead of freezing, is on trial and requires, I understand, only 4° F. below freezing point. From one company, I learn that experiments with this system have failed, owing to the temperature on crossing the Equator. The advantage of the chilling system is that the meat preserves its natural condition. Frozen meats are free of export duties.

FREIGHTS.

Two of the companies ship in steamers belonging to their agents. in Liverpool; the others charter with two or three lines. In the

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former case half a penny (1 cent) per pound would be paid, and in the latter either a lump sum or up to three-fourths of a penny (11⁄2 cents) per pound. The United Kingdom has the giant's share of the carrying as well as of the meat trade, but one French company— the Chargeurs Réunis-takes large quantities, principally mutton, both to London and Havre, for account of No. 2, whose frozen meat reaches even as far as the Franco-German frontier.

STOWAGE.

This is of the highest importance, great care being required in piling the meat so that no crushing takes place. It requires considerable experience, especially in the case of mutton, practiced stevedores fitting one carcass into another in such a manner as to save one-third of the space in the chambers.

RECEPTION AT DESTINATION.

On arrival of shipment, if the wholesale market be slack, the meat is dispatched to the different towns in England, Scotland, Ireland, and even France, in which the companies have depots and shops, where it is retailed, thereby avoiding the possibility of loss.

BY-PRODUCTS.

The entrails are sold here, to be boiled down for tallow and grease for candles and lubricating purposes. The long gut is pickled in salt and exported to Germany, Italy, and the United States for sausage casings, for which there is a good demand. There is also an Italian firm which buys largely for conversion into strings for stringed instruments.

The shin bones are converted into knife handles, buttons, combs, etc. The kidneys and hearts are frozen and the tongues salted or frozen for export.

Hides are generally salted. Sheepskins are dried and baled for export.

Horns and horn piths are exported as broken stowage. Hoofs are boiled down for glue or grease.

PRODUCT.

The present rate of slaughter is set down at 2,300,000 animals per annum for freezing purposes.

The quantities and value of the exports from the inception of the industry up to the end of the third quarter of 1897, taken from official returns, were as follows;

From the foregoing tables, it will be seen that, while the export of mutton has continued steadily on the increase, the export of beef has been very variable, attaining large proportions only in the years 1889, 1890, and 1893.

THE COMPANIES.

No. 1.-The enterprise is the same as the San Nicolas, both being run on English capital. Hence the difficulty of getting figures. It is acknowledged that the pioneer company has lost heavily from time to time on its working capital through various causes, and report does not say what profits have been earned in the fifteen years of its existence, or if there are any; but the concern is a strong one, and, I am informed, is now beginning to pay.

No. 2. As stated before, this was originally a private firm, and as such was making very large profits on its original capital, nearly all being employed for the enlargement of buildings and machinery. The result is that it is now a colossal concern, and the largest exporter of frozen mutton in the country. The unfortunate failure in 1890 of the senior partner in sundry outside speculations caused the others to convert the whole concern into a public company, the creditors of said partners entering as shareholders. The yearly balance sheet published for 1896 showed the declaration of a dividend of 5 per cent, besides a good balance added to the reserve fund; and this in an exceptionally unfavorable year.

No. 3.-The San Nicolas factory changed owners over a year ago. The former proprietor got into serious financial difficulties, and the business was purchased by a Buenos Ayres firm with financial and influential relations in Great Britain. The business has been almost exclusively in mutton export, and has been conducted on a large scale. What it paid in former years is kept private, but no doubt profits were at times realized.

No. 4.-The "Estacion Lima" company is formed with English capital. These companies are reluctant to give information as to their profits or losses; but I have ascertained accurately that in 1895 this concern paid 13 per cent, but nothing last year, owing to the fluctuation of the currency, which entailed a loss of some $50,000 gold. Thirteen per cent is probably the highest figure yet earned by the industry. An experienced authority in the freezing business states, however, that any of the establishments which earned 5 per cent last year could be considered fortunate and prosperous.

A new company is spoken of as in course of formation, to work on the south side of the Riachuelo, in the Province of Buenos Ayres, and nearer to the mouth of that creek than the one referred to as No. 2, which would naturally suffer considerably by the competition. The starting of a new enterprise in this line would point to an anticipated improvement in business generally.

The following tables show the comparative importance of each concern at the present time: