In the matter of cross-breeding the Argentine has made astonishing progress, the proof of which is to be found in the comparison of the figures for 1895 with those of 1908. It is enough, for our purpose, to mention that in 1895, in the Province of Buenos Ayres, out of 100 cattle, 6 per cent. were of pure blood: 49·2 per cent. were cross-bred, and 50·2 per cent. were of native breeds; and that thirteen years later these figures were transformed into 6·2 per cent. of pure blood, 85·1 per cent. of cross-bred cattle, and 8·7 per cent. of native breeds. This improvement in the Province of Buenos Ayres is repeated in the other more productive Provinces, and in the case of other species of animals. We have stated that the number of cattle in the Argentine Republic is over 29 millions; this number may be analysed, according to sex, age, etc., in the following manner:—— _Year_ 1908. Male calves 3,820,443 Heifers 3,511,412 Bulls 886,450 Bullocks 4,687,027 Cows for breeding 12,825,904 Milch cows 2,163,900 Oxen 1,221,489 —————————— 29,116,025 —————————— It now remains to consider the value of the animals registered as existing in the Republic in the year of census 1908. In 1895 this value was estimated at 1,136,780,411 piastres (paper), which with the exchange at 300 per cent. was equivalent to 378,926,803 piastres (or dollars) in gold, or £75,785,360, 12s., while the latest census gives a value of 1,481,282,245 piastres in paper, which with exchange at 2·27, is equivalent to 651,764,187 piastres in gold, or £130,352,835. If now we analyse these figures, dividing them among the various species of animals, as given by the censuses of 1895 and that of 1908, we obtain the following table:—— Species. 1895. 1903. Cattle £44,568,493 £82,604,353·4 Horses 5,099,281·4 18,112,761·4 Mules 666,159·6 1,985,374·6 Asses 131,914 251,235 Sheep 24,525,101 25,287,598·6 Goats 389,139 732,322 Swine 405,272 1,379,192 ------------- -------------- £75,785,360 £130,352,837 We see from this that, in spite of the moderate valuation of the stock in 1908, its value had increased, in thirteen years, by nearly £54,600,000. Knowing the numbers and the value of the live stock of the Argentine Republic, a last question arises of the highest interest. What place does the Argentine hold among those nations in which stock-raising has reached its highest development?