--------------+--------------------- | TONNAGE. PORT. +----------+---------- | Entered. | Cleared. --------------+----------+---------- Rio Gallegos | 41,266 | 42,239 Bahia Blanca | 799,198 | 783,272 Puerto Madryn | 19,921 | 12,666 C. de Uruguay | 603,818 | 646,411 La Plata | 855,950 | 840,548 Diamante | 375,779 | 449,492 Santa Fé | 440,466 | 481,948 Parana | 636,091 | 635,064 Erquina | 374,037 | 373,596 Goya | 404,917 | 377,227 Bella Vista | 399,667 | 402,235 Empedrado | 306,136 | 309,635 Correntis | 504,433 | 494,693 Rosario |1,924,808 |2,029,596 Buenos Aires |7,555,574 |7,562,055 --------------+----------+---------- [114] The various authorities almost always differ slightly, sometimes considerably, in their figures. Thus the _Statesman's Year Book_ gives the tonnage of Buenos Aires in 1908 as 4,760,316, while the _Bulletin_ states it at 4,888,741. [115] "Politica Comercial Argentina," p. 42. [116] Art 74 of the Custom Law of 1905. [117] "Politica Comercial Argentina," p. 367. CHAPTER XVIII AGRICULTURE AND NATURAL PRODUCTS Argentina is now one of the leading agricultural countries of the world, and her importance is likely to be enhanced in the near future, because the United States and other sources of food supply are rapidly diminishing their exportable surplus, while in South America population is unable to keep pace with natural production. Wheat, as is well known, is the most important crop. Unlike the pastoral industry, arable cultivation is comparatively modern. In 1854 there were only 375,000 acres under tillage of all kinds, and the area increased very slowly until the beginning of the present generation. The promise of the country was always recognised, but it was long before foreign capital ventured to trust itself to a land possessing the political reputation of Argentina; and thus, without railway development, the export of agricultural produce was impossible. "All the cereals," says a pamphlet published in the sixties, "do remarkably well, and such is the fertility of the soil that double crops are often taken from the same land. In Santiago del Estero the wheat produced is of the most excellent quality, and although but little care is bestowed in cultivation, it generally yields eightyfold." The encouragement of emigration and the introduction of capital, and thus of improved methods of communication, caused progress to be very rapid; and whereas in 1874 the wheat area was only 271,000 acres, in 1884 it was 1,717,000. By 1899 this had expanded to 5,500,000 acres, and now it is about 14,000,000. The following figures will show the progress of recent years:--