TEMPERATE SURPLUS-PRODUCING REGIONS 67 



planned intensive methods of production ; except for improve- 

 ments in stock and the extensive cultivation of lucerne, in both 

 of which the large " estancieros ' have been foremost, very little 

 progress has been made beyond the simple pastoral system. The 

 dairy industry, therefore, has developed to a quite limited extent, 

 being confined to part of the Argentine province of Buenos Aires ; 

 while feedstuffs such as maize, linseed, oats and bran, produced in 

 the river provinces of Argentina and Uruguay, are mainly exported. 

 Outside a region lying within a radius of about 400 miles from the 

 city of Buenos Aires, stock-rearing industries are still in the initial 

 stages. 



In recent years the production of wheat in those parts more 

 accessible to the ports has increased rapidly. This form of agri- 

 culture, however, probably represents an intermediate stage between 

 the pastoral system and the more intensive methods of rearing 

 animals. The land is now too valuable for the former, and the 

 present stage of general development is not ripe for the latter. 

 The question of soil fertility will probably make a return to stock- 

 raising necessary in those districts that have been cropped to 

 partial exhaustion. In any case, the competition of cereals is 

 felt at present only in Central Argentina, and may be less serious 

 in the future, because, apart from the above-mentioned factor, the 

 general conditions of soil and climate seem more favourable to 

 stock-raising. 



Altogether this geographical region is now the most considerable 

 source in the world of surplus meat, and will remain so. In spite 

 of the recent decline in the numbers of live stock in Argentina and 

 Uruguay, a general advance in the output of meat may be expected 

 under the stimulus of high prices, in the whole area east of a line 

 drawn from Asuncion in Paraguay to Concepcion in Chile. Ac- 

 cording to all authorities there still remain enormous areas of 

 pastoral land of sufficient rainfall throughout the more remote 

 parts of this region, which are as yet either partly or wholly 

 undeveloped. 



In order to reach the full capacity of its output this great region 

 requires, first and foremost, capital for internal development in 

 the form of railways, irrigation works, improvements in live stock 

 and pastures, and farm equipment ; second, greater technical 

 knowledge and more systematic methods on the part of ordinary 

 stock-raisers ; third, some increase in the agricultural population. 

 Each of these conditions may take some time for its fulfilment. 

 However, the prosperity of this region, owing to the high prices 

 of stock during the European War, may lead to a more rapid 

 development than would otherwise have been the case. There 

 is no likelihood of any considerable mining or industrial population 

 springing up in this part of temperate South America in the near 

 future, and this fact, together with a consideration of the general 

 resources and circumstances, makes it appear that this region will 

 furnish a steadily perhaps rapidly increasing surplus of meat 



