nder the control of the administration at
San Cristobal. The office there and the offices on the various sections
have recently been connected up by telephone. These sections are
Polvareda, Michelot, Los Moyes, and Lucero (which lie to the North and
North-East of San Cristobal), and Las Chunas, which forms the
North-Western corner of the Company's lands.

[Illustration: _Loading Wheat at Rosario from the "Barranca."_]

[Illustration: _San Cristobal Estancia House._]

SANTA CATALINA AND LA BARRANCOSA.

In January, 1897, the Company rented the estancia of Santa Catalina,
which is situated about five miles from Los Cardos on the Central
Argentine Railway and about 150 miles South of San Cristobal. Here the
stock which was brought down from San Cristobal was fattened before
passing on to the markets. At the same time the Company continued the
sowing of alfalfa which had been begun by the proprietor, and ultimately
decided to buy the camp and use it as an establishment for breeding fine
stock. The terms of the purchase were that the price should be paid by
way of an annuity, payable during the joint lifetime of the owner and
his wife. In 1909 this method of payment was compounded and satisfied in
full by an allotment of shares of the Company.

The practice has been that the male calves born on this estancia should
be sent North to the general herds kept at San Cristobal and the
adjoining sections, and that the progeny of these animals should in turn
be sold as fat cattle.

To facilitate this business the Company found it necessary to acquire a
camp specially adapted for fattening purposes in the Southern part of
the Province, so that they might be brought into closer touch with the
markets of Rosario and Buenos Aires. They accordingly bought the
estancia La Barrancosa in 1906, and have been constantly increasing the
area there under alfalfa, equipping it with a full complement of wells
and fencing. This estancia lies half way between the towns of San Isabel
and Venado Tuerto, from the latter of which it is distant about sixteen
miles. But, during the year 1909, a new broad-gauge railway line was
opened, leading from Rosario to Bahia Blanca. It passes right through
the estancia, and by means of a station just outside the boundary the
Company have fresh means of despatching their animals to Rosario.

VERA DEPARTMENT.

The headquarters of the Woods Department is situated about eight miles
N.W. of the town of Vera,