We left the pampas of Argentina, with the author, Frederick Simpich, mentioning the windmills in the article, Life on the Argentine Pampa, National Geographic Magazine, October, 1933. Next, he tells how settlement of the vast plains by European farmers changed the area. "Scarcely any small animal life was here before the advent of the Spaniards' horses and cattle. As for the puma and jaguar, they came after the herds. They moved to the pampa from Andean foothills simply to prey upon these new meat-bearing animals. With the colonists, too, came new kinds of rats and mice, as well as cats and dogs, from Europe," (pp. 471-473).
There were few roads in the pampa in 1933, and virtually no motorcars, due chiefly to the many and efficient railroads but also the fact that there were very few trees or rocks in the fields, which were usually deep dust which turned to mud in the rain. So then, can you picture this?: huge wagons that looked like the American historic cloth-covered wagons which transported many a family to the West, not using four ordinary wagon-wheels, but using only TWO giant ten-foot tall wheels, one each placed in the center of the sides of the wagon. "High-wheeled covered carts, drawn by SIX or more horses abreast, haul grain, wool, hides and baled hay," (photo caption, p. 474). This was developed as the only vehicle which could be pulled in the dust or mud successfully.
My Uncle Robert was a fine dairy farmer and cared for many animals. I never saw him feed his half-dozen or so hogs in the manner of the South American pampa: they turned hundreds of pigs loose in the alfalfa fields to save labor! No need for pens! No need to bring feed to the pigs: bring the pigs to the feed! (One time I asked Uncle Robert if he would let me watch when the pigs were slaughtered. He said, "No, that's no place for children!")
As is true for farmers everywhere, the severe lack of rain in droughts is very much dreaded. Another pestilence are swarms of locusts. "Coming in clouds, from the direction of Brazil, they cover ground, trees, fence posts, barns, corncribs, sides of houses, people's hands and faces. They devour not only every green thing; they eat wood, bark, clothing, stripping the country clean. A man who has not seen a locust army in action cannot even imagine its appalling magnitude and powers of destruction. . . But it is hail - not wind, lightning, or torrential rain - which wreaks havoc. . . Yet these are but variations, trifling and evanescent, in the steady, vigorous expansion of pampa life," (p. 476).
Mr. Simpich reports that, "More than ever the Midwest American feels at home here when he looks at the familiar farm implements. So many are "made in Chicago," (p. 482). In addition, "Though the crop may vary from year to year, the pampa is the world's chief exporter of corn," (p. 483).
In 1933, Argentina was a nation of immigrants, much like the United States, full of hope and promise. "But, as with us, immigrants of many races came early. They found a new land without a past, hindered by no traditions or old habits of thinking. So Argentinians grew up, a bold, restless race, audacious, like pioneer Americans, daring anything. When at last consolidated, the nation enjoyed a growth which is one of the economic marvels of the century. Older nations were amazed," (p. 488).
Unfortunately, Argentina has been held back since the time of this article by their series of political revolutions. There always seemed to be Communists lurking, trying to wrest control of the country. Some of the rulers of Argentina have been dictators with lavish lifestyles, like kings and queens. Somehow, the people survive!
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