Economic and financial section > Agricultural crisis > Volume 1

305
Number of Head of Horned Cattle and Sheep per Head of Population, set out
by Countries. 1
Country
Year
Number of head
of horned cattle
(in thousands)
Number of head
of horned cattle
per head
of population
Number of head
of sheep
(in thousands)
Number of head
of sheep
per head
of population
Argentine. . .
Uruguay . . .
Brazil ....
Australia . . .
New Zealand .
Union of South
Africa . . .
Canada....
United States of
America . .
1923
1927
1921
1925
1925
1924
1925
1925
37,065
8,432
34-271
13,305
3,503
9,606
9,307
59,829
3- 3
4- 7
— 0.8
2.2
2-5
1.2
— 0.8
— 0.4
36,209
22,500 2
7,933
88,979
24,547
32,000
2,755
40,748
3-2
12.7
— 0.1
153
17-5
4.2
— 0.2
— 0.3
1 Official figures of the International Institute of Agriculture at Rome and the Agricultural Economy
Office of the Department of Agriculture in the United States.
3 The number of cattle and sheep per head of population for 1927 is an estimate.
The prospects of extending the cattle-raising industry in Uruguay without involving
a rapid rise in costs are steady and certain. They are based on many factors, among
others the progress made in the improvement of breeds, the increase in the area under oats,
the production of more meat as a result of the extension of the small-ranch system as is
happening in the United States of America, the development of transport, the better
organisation of the commercial side, co-operative societies, etc.
Many thousand head of cattle are now grazing on the vast natural pastures of
Uruguay. The 1924 census shows the following distribution according to species:
Species
1924 Census
1916 Census
Horned Cattle . .
Sheep
Swine
Horses
Mules and donkeys
Goats
8,431,613
22,500,341
25U253
504,000
i8,576
18,888
7,802,442
11,472,852
303,958
554,871
17,537
12,218
Improvement of Stock.
The progress achieved in the improvement of Uruguayan stock by cross-breeding,
selection and other advanced scientific methods is nothing short of extraordinary; no
animal of the native breed has been sent to the Tablada of Montevideo since 1912.