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and it will be necessary for all parties concerned to keep their heads if 

 the threatening danger is to be avoided. 



Unfortunately the Mexican buyers are very slow in learning to ap- 

 preciate articles of good quality, especially so far as our branch of in- 

 dustry is concerned. No such great importance is attached to quality as 

 is done in the leading markets of South America, but in many cases the 

 low cost-price of the goods is the only factor that counts, even when the 

 articles are such as should only be bought from absolutely reliable sources. 

 We have unfortunately on several occasions discovered unheard-of so- 

 phistications of essential oils and drugs (Peru balsam among others), and 

 we shall be glad if in all doubtful cases our friends will send us samples 

 for examination, in order that we may protect them from being victimised. 



The sale of our manufactures in the Argentine has remained satis- 

 factory, the purchasing power of this important consuming country having 

 undergone further improvement. In spite of this fact, the statistics are 

 of a less satisfactory character than in former years, for the meagre yield 

 of the wheat-harvest has caused a serious fall in exports, which was not 

 balanced by the increased outputs of the other staple-products of the 

 country. Unfortunately also the future prospects are for the first time 

 unfavourable, for so far as the information at hand goes, the harvest of 

 1910,1911 must be described as a failure. According to a report by the 

 German Consul General at Buenos Aires, dated December 16 th 1910, the 

 expectations of a favourable result which were entertained until the month 

 of November were destroyed when it became known that the crops in 

 the south of the province of Buenos Aires and in the territory of Pampa 

 Central had been a complete failure, and had placed the agricultural districts 

 in those parts of the Republic in a most precarious position. In the north, 

 wheatfields in good condition have been destroyed by hail, and in many 

 cases the threshing, especially of linseed, has brought disappointment. 

 The total yield of the harvest in the north will be below the average, 

 and the "Review of the River Plate" believes that the quantity available 

 for export will not exceed 2250000 tons of wheat and 700000 tons of 

 linseed. On the other hand the current year's crop of maize is expected 

 to yield a good result. The preliminary statistics of Argentine exports for 

 1910 show a decline in export-values as compared with the year 1909 

 (which, hov/ever, was the record-year for foreign trade), of nearly £ 5000000. 

 The import-figures for the same year are not yet available, but it is to 

 be feared that the great Argentine boom of the past few years has come 

 to a standstill, and according to all indications another lean year is to be 

 expected. There is no doubt whatever that the inevitable consequences 

 of an unfavourable harvest will also affect the imports of our products. 



From Uruguay the news is more satisfactory. There the harvest, 

 especially owing to the rich wool-crop, has been excellent, and its products 

 are bringing good prices. The country's finances are in a more favourable 



