92 TUCUMAN AND MENDOZA 



in four years, from 1876 to 1880. But the Central 

 Cordoba was a narrow-gauge line, expensive to use 

 and necessitating a transfer of goods at Cordoba. In 

 1891 the broad-gauge line from Buenos Aires to Rosario 

 was extended to Tucuman ; and in 1892 the narrow- 

 gauge line from Rosario to Santa Fe, San Cristobal, 

 and Tucuman was also brought into use. The following 

 years were marked by rapid advances of the sugar 

 industry. From 1891 to 1895 the area planted with 

 canes rose from 14,200 to 40,700 hectares, and the 

 manufacture of sugar from 31,000 to 135,000 tons. 

 At Mendoza, also, the development of the vineyards 

 dates from the completion of the San Luis Railway 

 in 1885. Plantations were at once started, and three 

 years later they came into touch. In 1887, the railway 

 carried 27,000 hectolitres of wine from Mendoza to 

 the coast ; in 1890-91 it carried 268,000 hectolitres. 

 Production had increased tenfold in that short space 

 of time. 



As the home-production of wine and sugar increased, 

 the imports from abroad fell. As early as 1885 Tucuman 

 was able to meet the home demand for raw sugar, 

 and refined only was imported. In 1888, a refinery 

 was erected at Rosario to deal with Argentine sugar 

 which came by rail, and foreign sugar which came up 

 the river. Import ceased at this date, or there have 

 since only been occasional years of import, to meet 

 a scarcity. The imports of ordinary foreign wines 

 continued to increase until 1890 (800,000 hectolitres), 

 or as long as the wine produced at Mendoza did not 

 suffice to meet the demand. They have steadily 

 declined since that date (350,000 hectolitres in 1913), 

 and are now only seven per cent, of the national pro- 

 duction. We should add that, even in regard to ordinary 

 wines, the Mendoza and the imported wine are not 

 strictly comparable, that the competition between them 

 is not simply a matter of price, and that some customers 

 continue to prefer foreign wine. 



