. AGRICULTURAL SURVEY OF SOUTH AMERICA 71 
FUTURE OF ARGENTINA 
It is always hazardous to attempt to forecast the future develop- 
ment of a country and a people, especially of a country of sparse 
population and great undeveloped natural resources, in an age of 
epoch-making inventions and scientific discoveries, rapid communica- 
tion, mobile capital, and shifting populations of different nationalities. 
Argentina has a cereal region as fertile and as large as the Corn Belt 
region of the United vStates, but only about 16.2 per cent of this 
region is in cultivation. Except for limited areas that are too wet 
for cultivated crops, the whole region is ideal for crop production and 
can be brought under cultivation merely by breaking the sod, with 
no unproductive land except that used for roads and necessary 
buildings. The wet areas can easily and profitably be drained 
whenever economic conditions justify. 
Since the potential cereal area is now used as alfalfa pasture land, 
livestock production will probably decrease in quantity with the ex- 
pansion of agriculture. On the other hand, the quality of livestock 
may improve and dairy production may be expected to increase 
greatly in quantity, quality, and value. 
Natural conditions are favorable to the development of a prosperous 
cotton and tobacco industry in northeastern Argentina. The future 
of the sugar-cane industry will depend almost entirely upon increase 
in population and the domestic demand. Highly specialized crops 
such as wine grapes, fruits, and alfalfa under irrigation in the north 
and west may be expected to increase whenever freight rates are 
reduced and market conditions are favorable. The production of 
high-quality apples and pears in the Rio Negro country to the south 
should develop into a profitable industry. The production of oil 
seeds, such as cottonseed, peanuts, soy beans, and castor beans, in 
addition to linseed, may be expected to increase greatly with increase 
in population and facilities for crushing the seed. 
Land is abundant, fertile, easily brought under cultivation, and 
prices are about one-third to one-half those in the United States. 
For present-crop areas and production the supply of labor is ample 
and wages are low. The average size of farms in the cereal region is 
large, modern machinery is used, and the management and control 
of labor, equipment, and farm operations is economical, so that the 
average production is large per man and per farm organization, but 
is small per unit of land. Cost of production of crops, livestock, and 
livestock products is low, and distances to ports are relatively short. 
Rail and water transportation facilities are good, but country roads 
and schools are poor. 
The forest resources in the north of Argentina are being rapidly 
depleted, but in the Pampa region considerable areas in the aggregate 
have been planted to trees that are flourishing. The mineral resources 
of the country are almost wholly undeveloped. Manufacturing 
industries are increasing steadily, but their expansion is limited by 
lack of fuel, waterpower, and certain raw materials, especially metals, 
woods, fibers, and chemicals. 
To an observer from the United States much of Argentina at the 
present time suggests conditions in the newly settled portions of 
Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska, 25 or 30 years ago, except 
that the smaller towns usually have an ornamental park, electric 
