AGRICULTURAL SURVEY OF SOUTH AMERICA 69 
much per head. Imported articles, such as cigarettes and cigars, 
for example, are often subject to the payment of three duties, one 
each to the national, provincial, and municipal governments. 
COST OF PRODUCTION OF CROPS 
Some data on cost of production of principal crops have been 
collected by the National Department of Agriculture and by the 
Rural Society of Argentina, but these are based largely upon in- 
dividual estimates rather than a systematic study. The bureau of 
statistics and rural economy has prepared a circular and blank 
forms for keeping records and computing costs, and in the course of 
time these records will supply fairly accurate data. Many of the 
large country estates employ accountants to keep systematic records 
but they are not uniform and important items are often omitted. 
Compared with farmers in the United States, the Argentine 
producers have the advantage of cheaper land, cheaper labor, cheaper 
power, and a relatively short haul to the seaboard. The land is held 
in large tracts, which permit the economical use of large machines. 
The land is uniformly fertile and no artificial fertilizers are necessary. 
The standard of living of the farm laborers is low and wages are con- 
siderably below farm wages in the United States. There is an ample 
supply of horses that require no feed other than pasture and that 
receive no shelter and very little care. The distance from the sea- 
board is not over 150 miles on the average. Because of the short 
land haul, the combined freight rates from the grainfields of Argentina 
to Europe are probably less than from the grainfields west of the 
Mississippi River. Ocean freight rates on grain from Argentine 
ports to western Europe are but little higher than from the Atlantic 
ports of the United States. The distance by water from Buenos 
Aires to New York is about the same as from the Pacific coast cities 
by way of the Panama Canal. 
It seems probable that the present system of farm and ranch 
management in Argentina is more efficient and economical so far as 
concerns cost of production per man or per unit of product than a 
tenant system of farming or greater subdivision of land among small 
owners, because of the large areas, the organized force of employees 
controlled systematically by a single management, the use of large 
modern machinery, and economies which result from a semifactory 
organization. It is a system highly economical in use of men, but 
prodigal in the use of land and is therefore well adapted to the 
present situation of a superabundance of land and scarcity of popula- 
tion. 
CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE AND BOARDS OF TRADE 
Chambers of commerce and boards of trade have been organized 
in the principal cities, especially Buenos Aires, Rosario, Santa Fe, 
and Bahia Blanca. The most important gram exchanges are the 
Mercado de Cereales a Termino de Buenos Aires and the Bolsa de 
Cereales at Rosario, Santa Fe, and Bahia Blanca. A livestock 
exchange was organized in Buenos Aires in 1924. The Mercado 
Central de Frutos de Avellaneda at Buenos Aires is the principal 
exchange or market for hides and wool. No exchanges nave yet 
been organized for cotton, tobacco or fruits. 
