706 The Agricultural Resources of Argentina, [dec, 



250 to 90 miles and of a total length of 600 miles. It 

 extends from the 28th to the 38th degree of latitude S., and 

 westerly from the seaboard of the Atlantic to the 65th 

 meridian W. The area within this belt available for the 

 cultivation of cereals may be estimated, very roughly, at 60 

 million acres. To the west of the curve of 24 inches of annual 

 rainfall, lying between that and the curve of 18 inches of 

 rainfall, is a belt of an average width of 100 to 120 miles and 

 stretching from the 40th to the 28th degree of latitude S., in 

 a N.W. to S.E. direction. The soil of this drier belt, though 

 lighter than that to the east of it, is also available for the 

 cultivation of cereals, and the area may be estimated at 30 

 million acres. West and south of the curve of 18 inches the 

 rainfall becomes less, and cultivation — except by irrigation — 

 offers little encouragement to the colonist. East of the curve 

 of 32 inches of rainfall lie the alluvial soils of the River 

 Plate and its tributaries, including the Provinces of Entre 

 Rios and Corrientes, and the major part of the Province of 

 Santa Fe, and here the rainfall increases up to 40 inches per 

 annum. Described broadly, therefore, the agricultural zone 

 of the Argentine Republic stretches from the Atlantic sea- 

 board in the east to the 67th meridian west, and from the 

 28th to the 40th degree of latitude S., and is represented, 

 very roughly, by an area of 120 million acres. 



An estimate of the total acreage within this area available 

 for wheat-growing can be at best but conjectural. It excludes 

 zones where, notwithstanding the scant rainfall, irrigation 

 can be called to the aid of the agriculturist ; as, for example, 

 in the Chubut Valley (lat. 43 0 S.), where a^hardy colony of 

 Welshmen, toiling in a remote and ungenerous region, have 

 made fertile a barren and arid soil — a lasting monument to 

 the restless energy of the Celt. It includes zones where local 

 conditions favour other branches of agriculture, or where the 

 excellence of the permanent pasture keeps the plough from 

 the land. It is, indeed, almost superfluous to say that where- 

 ever wheat can be grown it does not necessarily follow that it 

 will be grown, or will be grown continuously. Although 

 the cultivation of wheat has naturally followed the line of 

 least resistance, and has been introduced to the zones where 

 the soil, climate and transport facilities combined to offer 



