ARGENTINA 336 



for the needs of its people at the former 

 low prices; Argentina's plains are ample for 

 the raising of many millions of head of cattle, 

 and beef from that land is reaching the mar- 

 kets of the world in increasing quantities. 

 The cattle of the republic are worth (1916) a 

 little more than $700,000,000. The shipment 

 of meat and of live cattle from Argentina has 

 assumed enormous proportions. The exporta- 

 tion of animal products in 1913 reached the 

 value of $300,000,000. Great Britain received 

 much the larger part of this, but the ship- 



ARGENTINA 



MONT 





GRAIN ZONE 



The lightly-shaded section indicates Argen- 

 tina's total area as compared with the United 

 States. The heavily-shaded section represents 

 the proportion of the total area on which various 

 grains are raised. In South America this ex- 

 tends from 28 S. to 41 S., corresponding roughly 

 to the distance from Galveston to Central Kansas 

 and from the center of Arkansas and Louisiana 

 to Central Texas. It is thus seen that Argen- 

 tina's wheat lands extend only to 41 S., while, 

 by contrast, Canada's wheat area extends to 

 about 55 N. 



ments to the United States are growing rap- 

 idly. There are ten freezing and chilling 

 establishments for meat, and more are under 

 way. Argentina was the first country to send 

 frozen meat to Europe, and its salting of 

 meats is declining. 



Wheat is a great crop in Argentina, and 

 the acreage is rapidly increasing. About 15,- 

 000,000 acres are in this cereal, and millions 



of bushels of wheat are exported annually to 

 Europe. Of corn, the second crop in impor- 

 tance, there are annually over 10,000,000 acres 

 under cultivation. Next in importance are 

 flax, oats, barley and rye. Of Argentina's 

 730,000,000 acres, 255,000,000 are fit for culti- 

 vation or for cattle industries. Some day 

 irrigation will greatly increase the latter area. 



Almost all minerals needed for industrial 

 development lie in the mountains of Argentina. 

 There is much gold and there are also coal, 

 iron and tin. Mining has not materially de- 

 creased the country's mineral riches, for there 

 has not been much development of these 

 resources. Oil has been found in paying quan- 

 tities. 



Communication. The distance from Buenos 

 Aires to New York, 4,370 miles, is covered 

 by steamers in about twenty-three days; about 

 the same time is required for a trip to Liv- 

 erpool, England. There are two regular mail 

 steamers from and to each of these cities 

 every month. The trip from Rio de Janeiro 

 is made by steamboats in about five days. 

 With one exception, the Uruguay, the rivers 

 of the republic flow southeast or east; the 

 direction of the Uruguay is nearly south, 

 along the eastern boundary. Three of the 

 rivers, the Paraguay, Uruguay and Parana, 

 form the great La Plata system (see LA PLATA, 

 Rio DE LA) ; these encourage commerce be- 

 cause they are navigable for several hundred 

 miles into the interior, and unite to a degree 

 the business interests of Argentina, Paraguay 

 and Uruguay (see map, with article SOUTH 

 AMERICA). The bulk of the commerce of the 

 country enters and leaves by the Rio de la 

 Plata, and Buenos Aires is the center of nearly 

 all the trade. But the best natural harbor, 

 by far, is 500 miles south, at Bahia Blanca, 

 where the government has established a great 

 naval station. 



In 1857 Argentina possessed six miles of 

 railroad; in 1914 there were 21,880 miles; and 

 during the next two years, over 3,000 miles 

 were ordered built. Over 45,000 miles of tele- 

 graph lines, with 140,000 miles of wires, are 

 in operation, and there are thirteen wireless 

 telegraph stations. The government controls 

 the telegraph monopoly, and owns 3,500 miles 

 of the country's railroads. 



Education and Religion. Spanish traditions 

 and Roman Catholicism are inseparable. The 

 Roman Catholic religion is in part supported by 

 the government, but there is freedom of other 

 worship. Before 1884 only Church marriages 



