Ill 



than at present, and therefore more easily secured, or de- 

 mands were fewer for capital and therefore more easily 

 filled. I believe that the first hypothesis is the better ex- 

 planation . If demands for money are greater to-day than 

 ever they were equally so are the funds available for fi- 

 nancing the farmer; undeniably there is to-day more 

 money in the banks than at any other period of the his- 

 tory of the country, (Deposits in banks $2802 millions 

 m n. one half of which is in the Banco de la Nacion ; in 

 1914 at the outbreak of war there was only one half the 

 sum). 



The axiom that capital in the form of epersonal la- 

 bour yields twice the return as when employed in hired, 

 labour, has been vaguely understood by our small farmer, 

 or ' ' chacarero, " He launches out on his own whenever 

 he can and he limits his investments to movables,, horses 

 and implements, since they alone permit his working 

 whenever and wherever the circumstances are most fa- 

 vourable. He finds this the most remunerative form of 

 investment for a small capital as against the investment 

 in land, which apparently only appeals to him when he- 

 can purchase it in large quantities, and on long terms 

 of payment. He does not put his economies into land in 

 the ordinary way. 



If this is not the case then we must believe that 

 farming in the Argentine Republic is a very unsuccess- 

 ful business, indeed. Compared to the amount of land 

 owned by the farmers actually exploiting it elsewhere in 

 the world, in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, U.S.A. 

 of America, the Argentine farmer is a beggar ; he hold& 

 less than one third of that possessed by his competitors. 

 In proportion they are proprietors of three times more 

 land than the whole lot of Argentine farmers. 



Because our farmers put their money, then, into 

 money making implements, because this seems the most 

 suitable and common form of investment, it does not ne- 

 cessarily follow that it is very- profitable ; the continuous 

 call for remedying the cereals farmer's distress, and the 

 restricted improvement in agricultural methods seem ta 

 indicate that even with all the facilities of the present 

 system, profits from cereal farming are small as a rule. It 

 is a wel 1 known fact that agriculture progresses when 

 profits are good. 



In order to enjoy economical independence, our aver- 

 age farmer has saved ; and has to save . He abstain from 

 consumption,, by denying himself the present enjoyment 

 of his means, in the hope of future profits. He will not 

 economise unless he has some adequate advantage from 

 so doing, nor will he do so, unless he can attain these ad* 



