As for maize, we see that in 1904-1905 5,648,988 acres were sown, a figure which represents an increase of 27 per cent. over the 4,450,060 acres of 1902. Yet the yield was only 131,155,000 bushels in 1904-1905, whereas in 1903-1904 it was 163,300,000 bushels. This sensible decrease was felt chiefly in the Province of Buenos Ayres, where the loss was one of 31,490,000 bushels, out of the total loss of 32,145,000 bushels, while in the Province of Santa Fé the yield was almost unaltered. The average yield in 1904-1905 for the whole country and the entire area of land under seed may be estimated as 23 bushels per acre, as against 31.4 bushels in 1903-1904. The harvest of 1904-1905 would thus have left a large deficit, had not the increase of sown lands compensated in part the diminished yield of the soil per acre. This fact is a witness to the truth of the important fact to which we have elsewhere drawn attention: that the Argentine need no longer as before fear a bad total harvest, by reason of the enormous increase of sown lands.[42] [Footnote 42: Years hence, when the limit of expansion has been reached, or expansion for any cause has diminished, the inevitable exhaustion of the soil may cause some bad years, unless more scientific methods take the place of the policy of obtaining large yields at any cost; but the change will probably be gradual. TRANS——[.]] Since 1905 the agricultural expansion of the Republic has assumed considerable proportions, thanks to the splendid harvests, which have not only attracted a greater number of cultivators, but have also enabled these already established to take in and cultivate new land. Examining only the figures relating to the harvest of 1908-1909, we find that the area sown in wheat, linseed, and oats has increased to 20,342,920 acres, which are divided, according to the figures issued by the Statistical Division of Rural Economy of the Ministry of Agriculture, in the following proportions:—— Acres under Acres under Acres under Provinces. Wheat. Linseed. Oats. Buenos Ayres 6,184,139 1,090,750 1,431,839 Santa Fé 3,210,050 1,631,188 34,539 Córdoba 3,711,930 421,870 10,068 Entre Rios 793,610 565,630 37,050 Pampa Centrale 780,400 74,100 49,400 Other Provinces 185,250 6,370 1,235 and Territories ------------ ----------- ----------- Total 14,865,379 4,489,908 1,564,151 If we add to these figures the 7,042,710 acres sown with maize in 1906-1907, and the 7,410,000 acres of lucerne which were already in cultivation, we obtain a general total of more than 35 millions of acres of land bearing the principal Argentine crops at the end of 1908. These figures reveal the large increase of 10 millions of acres over these relating to the harvest of 1904-1905.