

INTRODUCTION 



In the following chapters I have endeavoured to indi- 

 cate the essential aspects of colonization in modern 

 Argentina : the conquest of the soil by man, the 

 exploitation of its natural resources, the development 

 of agriculture and cattle-breeding, and the growth 

 of the population and enlargement of the urban 

 centres. 



For a new country like Argentina it is not convenient 

 to adopt the strictly regional plan which seems to be 

 the best means of giving a complete and methodical 

 description of the historic countries of western Europe, 

 where it is the only way to keep in close touch with the 

 geographical facts. In western Europe each region is 

 really an independent unity. It has for ages lived 

 upon its own resources ; each population-group has 

 its horizon definitely limited ; and the complex action 

 of the environment upon man, and of man upon the 

 country, has proceeded in each district rather on the 

 lines of an isolated and impassioned dialogue between 

 the two. It is quite different in Argentina. There, 

 many of the facts which we have to record consist in 

 an expansion of the population, a spread of methods 

 of exploitation from zone to zone of the country, 

 and the influence upon colonization of commerce 

 and of the varying needs of the markets of the 

 world. 



It may be well to reply in advance to a criticism 

 which my Argentine friends are sure to make. They 

 will complain that I have paid no attention to the 



