Advantages in Agricultural Production » 257 
calculation of C09t of production of wheat, because the great itenl of labour 
is not to be estimated if you deal with an Italian who will plough by 
moonlight, and with all his family will work at harvest from 4 a.m. till 
7 p.m. in a blazing sun. 
But we are told that the farmers of the country have very 
little knowledge of agriculture, and do not practise rotation of 
cropping. Unless they improve their ways, then, they will find 
their land becoming less and less productive. As the native 
Argentines are greatly averse to agricultural pursuits, the 
extension of tillage depends mainly upon immigration. 
The great question is whether the bonus now enjoyed by 
the cultivators will continue or not. The Governor of Santa 
Fe, in his message to Congress last year, said : — “ Our grow- 
ing prosperity is mainly due to the depreciation of the paper 
currency, which is a great boon to the producer.” Referring to 
this bonus, Mr. Gastrell remarks : — “ Hence the possible doubt 
as to the continuance of agriculture on its present large and 
rapidly increasing scale, and of many now promising Argentine 
industries, should the premium on gold fall greatly and again 
approach par.” Even if it does not fall, is it not probable 
that, in course of time, the bonus will disappear, through 
everyone who is paid for land, labour or goods, demanding his 
gold premium ? Certainly the remarkable agricultural inflation 
in Ai’gentina cannot be said to rest upon a very secure foun- 
dation. 
The Production of Cattle. 
For the production of cattle several countries claim to be 
peculiarly well fitted. The United States, besides the advantage 
of vast tracts of cheap land and ranges which have been free, or 
practically free, have the benefit of comparative nearness to 
Europe. But the great wild tracts are being steadily settled, 
and the cattle interest has been badly depressed for some years 
past. In the greater portion of the country the winter is so 
severe that cattle perish by hundreds of thousands. For this 
reason the natural advantages of Argentina and other River 
Plate countries, and possibly those of the Alberta region of 
Canada, are superior to those of most of the States. Australia, 
in spite of having to set starvation by drought against starvation 
by frost and snow in the United States, has probably the better 
natural advantages for cattle raising, taking into account the 
rapidity with which the latter country is being settled. The 
number of cattle increased in Australia from 7,843,399 in 1882 
to 11,415,729 in 1892. In the Argentine Republic the number 
is said to have increased from 10,000,000 in 1861 to 18,200,000 
