The case of Agricultural implements is curious. While in axes the United States have increased their already large export, though under the heading of spades, picks, &c., their export of 680 tons in 1905 is 8 tons greater than in 1904, the value is £1900 less, while the English 590 tons is 167.5 tons more than in the previous year with an increase in value of £8080. In cotton goods there is again a natural monopoly--the preponderating Italian influence among the working classes encouraging the trade with that country in the special line of goods which appeals to them. But perhaps the most important factor in international trade is the nationality of the importers. In 1823 nearly all the merchants in Buenos Aires were Scotch, and the preponderance of British houses continued until recent years. Then, however, for various reasons--the development, perhaps, of the wool trade on the Continent and the allurements of finance, owing to which many British merchants invested in land and other enterprises, in preference to the less congenial uncertainties of trade--a large number of foreign, especially German, houses appeared, turning the current of trade more in the direction of that country. Whatever the reasons may have been, at the present moment Germany is firmly established in the country, and its trade is continually increasing. It must be added, that although German firms have a natural preference for dealing with their own country, they are always ready to do business with English houses provided that the latter make it profitable for them to do so. It will be convenient to deal here with the complaints made by importers in the Argentine, of English exporters, and the faults that the latter have to find with the conditions of trade in that country. Briefly, the chief complaint made of the English manufacturer and merchant is lack of adaptability--the well-worn objection that appears in every Consular report, and is repeated even by tradesmen in this country. The ways in which he shows his stubbornness may seem trifling, but their importance is sufficiently great in practice. Price-lists published solely in English, with those measures and prices which are a continual nightmare to the foreigner, get-up packing that do not quite meet local taste, all these are apparently trivial, but they affect the balance of trade nevertheless.