UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
DEPARTMENT BULLETIN No. 1409 
Washington, D. C. 
June, 1926 
AGRICULTURAL SURVEY OF SOUTH AMERICA 
ARGENTINA 1 AND PARAGUAY 
By Leon M. Estabrook 
Agricultural Commissioner, Bureau of Agricultural Economics 
CONTENTS 
Argentina: Page 
Our competitive agriculture 1 
Need for understanding conditions in South 
America 4 
Position and size of Argentina 4 
Topography 6 
Natural regions 11 
Climate 13 
Soils 17 
Vegetation 18 
Animal life 23 
Population 26 
Industries 29 
Economic factors 66 
Argentina— Continued. Page 
Future of Argentina 71 
Sources of information relating to Argentina. 72 
Paraguay: 
Geography and climate 73 
Population and political subdivisions 79 
Land suitable for agriculture 80 
The agricultural bank 80 
The botanical garden 80 
Production of principal crops 80 
Livestock 87 
Prices of agricultural products 89 
Potential agricultural production 90 
Sources of information relating to Paraguay.. 90 
ARGENTINA 
OUR COMPETITIVE AGRICULTURE 
Farming is a competitive business, local in the case of highly 
perishable fruits and vegetables, national and international in the 
case of products which can be transported, such as bread grains, 
meats, dairy products, cotton, and wool. 
The United States is facing two important problems: (1) An 
adequate food supply for an ever-increasing population and (2) 
the utilization of her own agricultural resources and the maintenance 
of a high standard of living in her farm population in competition with 
other industries and with agriculture in other countries. The first 
is a problem of the future and will not become serious so long as 
agricultural competition with other countries is active. The second 
is a problem of immediate importance. To the extent that prices of 
agricultural products in this country are influenced by world supply 
and demand, the welfare and prosperity of 6,500,000 farm families 
in this country will be influenced by the surplus agricultural produc- 
tion of countries having cheaper land and cheaper labor. The 
1 The statistics here presented were collected principally in Argentina. The agricultural statistics of the 
Argentine Government have in some cases undergone revision and the methods of collection are being 
reorganized. The figures as here given will not always check with previously published official figures. 
83919°— 26 1 
1 
