AGRICULTURAL SURVEY OF SOUTH AMERICA 57 
there is no market for them. Sugar beets are not grown because 
of the hand labor required, the lack of beet-sugar mills, and the 
fact that the cane-sugar industry is already established with a capac- 
ity sufficient to meet the domestic demand. 
A crop peculiar to a narrow stretch of country in northeastern 
Argentina east of the Parana River and extending northward through 
Paraguay and southeastern Brazil is yerba mate {Ilex Paraguensis) 
or Paraguayan tea. This is a small tree found growing wild. It 
prefers the red sandy clay soils which in Brazil have been found 
best adapted to coffee. The leaves have been used for making tea 
from time immemorial by the Indians, from whom the Spanish 
settlers adopted it. The leaves and small twigs are gathered and 
put through a primitve drying process over fire and then ground and 
put in bags. Since 1910 orchards of yerba mate have been planted 
and are proving profitable. When cultivated the trees resemble 
those in a young apple orchard. The yerba mate trees are said to 
be practically immune from insect pests and plant diseases, easy to 
propagate from seed, and make rapid growth under cultivation. 
Another crop peculiar to Argentina is the tree crop in the cereal 
region. The Pampa is, of course, naturally treeless for distances 
of 500 miles or more. Throughout this region groves of trees, espe- 
cially willows, cottonwoods, Lombardy poplars, eucalyptus, locusts, 
chinaberries, and conifers, have been planted for wind-breaks, shade, 
fuel, fence posts, lumber, poles, and crates. Many of the islands in 
the delta of the Parana that are extremely fertile but subject to 
inundations, are planted thickly with Lombardy poplars that are 
cut periodically for fuel and. for crates and packing cases. Trees 
make rapid growth throughout the Pampa region and the tree crop 
is a profitable one. In Santa Fe the chinaberry tree (Melia azedarach 
L.) is preferred because it is practically immune from attacks of the 
locust. Apparently few nut trees have been planted, although soil 
and climate appear to be ideal for walnuts and pecans. 
Natural conditions are favorable for all the miscellaneous crops 
mentioned in this section, but they are not grown on a more extensive 
scale because of lack of population, marketing facilities, and effective 
demand. A great increase in the production of cotton and a con- 
siderable increase in the production of tobacco may be expected, 
because there is a ready market for these products. A considerable 
increase in the production of citrus fruits and other miscellaneous 
crops referred to can take place whenever market conditions make 
an increase profitable. 
Dry-Land Farming u 
The system of dry-land farming that was developed in the United 
States in the last quarter of a century is beginning to be followed 
along the indefinite margins of the semiarid regions, and especially 
along the various lines of railway. The Western, the Pacific, and 
the Central Argentine Railways are particularly active in encourag- 
ing dry-land farming methods in order to increase the traffic over 
their lines. But aside from the narrow strip of territory along the 
railways which it is desirable to develop, it is a real economic waste 
11 Ferrocarril central Argentine Nueva zona agricola sobre la linea del F. C. C. A. en la Provincia de 
Santiago del Estero. Buenos Aires, 1924. Publicacion n°. 36, junio de 1924. 
Molins, W. J. Por tierras de secano. Buenos Aires, Establ. grafico "Oceana," 1918. 
