1908J 



Agriculture, in Argentina. 



587 



Threshing. 





r 



& 





At 0 — npr n'wt 



^i. L/%i|JCiL<Y>L. ... ... ... 





6 0 



Sacks ... ... ... ... ... ... 



0 



2 \\\ 



Cartage to railway station ... 



0 



1 1 if 



General expenses — 







Maintenance of labourers 



0 



7 1 



Land tax ... ... 



0 



0 6 



Depreciation of materials, 15 per cent. 



0 



2 \\ 



10 per cent, interest on capital ... 



0 



4 n£' 



Interest on cost of tools ... ... ... 



0 



1 5 



, y circulating capital, &c. ... 



0 



1 7h 





1 



8. 73 



The total cost of growing i acre of wheat is therefore £i 18s. yd. 

 and profit to farmers per acre sown is about 17s. ud. This 

 profit is increased where the farmer has a family to assist in the 

 work and so reduce labour, the expense of which is sometimes 

 very high. Experience shows that 25 acres of wheat can be 

 harvested in a day. 



Nationality of Grain Producers. — Farmers seldom cultivate 

 less than 250 acres with wheat, and it is as well to mention that 

 although the profit on grain growing, as shown by the foregoing 

 table, is satisfactory, up to the present the Northern European 

 has taken little interest in wheat-growing in the Argentine, 

 and it is doubtful if he could successfully compete against the 

 Southern Europeans, principally Italians and Spaniards, who 

 find surroundings and climate so similar to those of their 

 own countries. 



Method of Grain Culture .— Owing to the primitive and some- 

 what careless way in which land is cultivated, the crop yields 

 are not nearly so large as they would be were more attention 

 bestowed on ploughing, selection of seed, &c. Hitherto the 

 grain farmer has looked rather to obtaining quantity than 

 quality, but as the cost of renting land increases, better methods 

 are gradually being adopted. 



The wheat grower rents, as a rule, from 100 to 800 squares of 

 land (one square equals a little over 4 acres), reserving a few 

 squares for pasture and linseed. The latter crop is sown with 

 a view to guarding against losses in the event of a poor wheat 

 harvest, and with a favourable yield, gives excellent results. 

 . Linseed Culture —Only the well-to-do farmer can afford to 

 cultivate linseed on a large scale, as not only does its production 



