In Europe the depletion of the flocks and herds has 

 taken place but not to the extent generally supposed. 



In horses and mules the importations for war pur- 

 poses have been enormous, and the disposal of these ani- 

 mals by the respective Governments at any thing like 

 remunerative prices is out of question. 



Animals which were sold here to the Allied Govern- 

 ments at $500 m n. and which cost nearly $800 by the 

 time they were landed in Europe, hardly fetch one quar- 

 ter according to the latest reports of the sales of war 

 animals. 



It is quite another question when we turn to agricul- 

 tural products such as wheat, maize, etc., the grain crops. 



Here the situation is different, since, unlike the 

 stock breeders, grain producers can and have rapidly 

 augmented production, till to-day the situation might be 

 summed up in "over-production." 



That this point of saturation for wheat and grain, 

 has not been absolute we have to thank the disorganisa- 

 tion of the chief grain exporting countries of Europe, the 

 Bolshevism in Russia, etc. : nevertheless it is patent that 

 the situation is uncomfortable for sound business. 



It is in regard to the present condition of the world 's 

 markets, and to the position of the Argentine grain grow- 

 er in particular that the following pages are dedicated. 



In them I have endeavoured to trace the future pros- 

 pects based on the past and present, guided partially by 

 the experiences of other countries in the past, and com- 

 paring with the progress elsewhere, I seek to indicate 

 the lines along which future development must take place 

 if success is to crown the efforts of the farmer here to 

 keep his place in the world's markets. 



ARGENTINA ON THE OUTBREAK OF THE WAR. 



The outbreak of the war was the cause of consider- 

 able disturbance in the commercial relations of the Re- 

 public, its progress caused many changes and its close 

 promises even greater alterations. 



Great expectations were raised immediately the first 

 surprises were recovered from, some five years back, and 

 many and varied were the prognostications, but all unit- 

 ed in predicting unexampled prosperity for the land, and 

 the situation of the country outside the sphere of direct 

 action led the majority to prophecy that of all lands, 

 the Argentine Republic was to be exceptionally favoured. 



It was universally accepted that the chief articles in 

 demand would be articles of food, and wheat and meat 

 being the staple exports of the Republic they would be 



