AGRICULTURAL SURVEY OF SOUTH AMERICA 9 
and a portion of southern Brazil. It is about 800 miles long in an 
air line, is navigable for several hundred miles, and furnishes a water 
route for both eastern Argentina and western Uruguay. 
The majestic river system of La Plata and its tributaries drain 
the northern half of Argentina, the southern half of Bolivia, the 
southern third of Brazil, all of Paraguay, and the western half of 
Uruguay, a territory more than 600 miles wide and 1,200 miles long, 
containing about 720,000 square miles. This great region is nearly 
equal to the whole of the United States east of the Mississippi River 
(856,120 square miles). It is larger than the combined areas of 
France, Germany, Spain, and Italy (716,516 square miles). The 
Parana is very near to 10 miles wide. From Buenos Aires to Rosario, 
a distance of about 250 miles, it is navigable for ocean-going steamers 
drawing about 21 feet at low water; from Rosario to Santa Fe, a 
distance of 75 miles, by boats drawing 19 feet; and for smaller boats 
it is navigable to Posada, a further distance of 450 miles, or to Con- 
cepcion, about 550 miles. The Pilcomayo and Bermejo are navi- 
gable by small boats for several hundred miles at certain seasons. 
The Uruguay is navigable for ocean steamers as high up as Con- 
cordia, about 180 miles from its mouth, and by smaller boats 150 
miles farther. 
South of Buenos Aires is the curious river of Salado, which rises 
in the central Province of Cordoba and seeps its way through marshy 
spaces in the Pampa to the ocean, more than 400 miles southeast. 
At very few points in its course would it be recognized as a river or 
stream. It has no perceptible current and is really a succession of 
reed-grown lagoons and marshes, inhabited by countless numbers of 
water fowl. It varies in width according to the season and rainfall 
from a few hundred feet to several miles. It meanders through a 
prairie region of great fertility and probably the time will come when 
it will be economic to provide artificial drainage. 
Except for the Rio Salado, there are no rivers that reach the sea 
south of the La Plata until the Rio Colorado is reached, about 100 
miles south of Bahia Blanca, and still farther south is the Rio Negro. 
Neither of these rivers is navigable. Both flow through semidesert 
regions and the quantity of water discharged varies greatly with the 
season. A railroad and irrigation works have been constructed 
along the Rio Negro, and fruit growing and alfalfa, especially for 
seed, have developed rapidly. 
LAKES 
The most important and picturesque lakes of Argentina are situ- 
ated in the Andes Mountains west of Patagonia. There are 50 or 
more of these Andean lakes, generally narrow, relatively long and 
deep, with clear blue or green water, lying between high mountains 
with heavily wooded slopes. Their total combined area is approxi- 
mately 1,500 square miles. The largest of these lakes are Nahuel 
Huapi, San Martin, Viedma, Argentino, Ftalauquen, Buenos Aires, 
General Paz, La Plata, and Fontana. Most of them are from 1,000 
to 3,000 feet above sea le^el and lie in an east to west, or northwest 
to southeast direction. 
