The Argentine in the Twentieth CenturyMartínez, Alberto B.
History
The Argentine in the Twentieth Century
Martínez, Alberto B.
Argentina -- Commerce; Argentina -- Economic conditions; Finance -- Argentina
The Province of Córdoba has furnished another of the Argentine’s
agricultural surprises. Neglected, not so long ago, by the stream of
immigration which set in for preference towards Santa Fé or Buenos Ayres,
Córdoba began to attract the attention of labourers when the latter
(discouraged by some calamitous years in Santa Fé) were drawn thither by
the fertility of its soil, the scarcity of swamps, the regular rains,
the cheap land, and the proximity of centres of consumption and ports of
embarkation, and by the facilities of transport offered by an extensive
network of railways. There the labourers set up their tents, and their
numbers increased day by day; there they devoted themselves to the
strenuous task of reclaiming the virgin soil, and there, in return, they
obtained magnificent harvests, a veritable benediction of grateful nature.
The results surpassed all expectation; to such a degree, that to-day
the Province of Córdoba is one of the first colonial centres of the
Republic, and the Province which offers the most brilliant future to the
cattle-breeder and the agriculturalist. To-day the transformation of the
soil progresses so rapidly as to astonish both natives and foreigners.
To give some idea of the enormous development of this Province, it is
enough to say that in 1898-1899 it counted 176 colonies and 71 settled
estates. In 1905-1906 these figures were respectively 348 and 190.
The size of these colonies has increased in the same proportions; in
1898-1899 their area was roughly 3,800,000 acres; it increased to
8,910,000. Of this enormous area, reclaimed and cultivated at the time
of harvest in 1898-1899, some 3,150,000 acres represented wheat, 434,500
linseed, and 355,000 maize. We must also mention another important crop,
which covers a large area of the Province of Córdoba; lucerne, which is
represented by some 2,240,000 acres.
But the most surprising fact concerning the Province of Córdoba is not
the vast area under the plough, but the prodigious increase of crops
of every kind. Thus the area sown with wheat, which in 1898-1899 was
1,588,800 acres, was 2,417,920, in 1903-1904 and 2,695,620 in 1904-1905.
It is the same with linseed; in 1898-1899 184,490 acres were sown; in
1903-1904, 439,830 acres. These figures give some indication of the vast
agricultural future which lies open before this Province.
Another agricultural revelation has been afforded by the Territory of
Pampa Central, which in 1888 had only 14,900 acres under the plough;
some 11,000 being in maize, 2100 in lucerne, and 300 in wheat. In 1895
it contained 25,520 acres under culture, and in 1903 308,750 acres were
bearing crops of various kinds; wheat, 71,630 acres, and maize, 419,900;
and in 1908-1909, the Pampa contained 913,900 acres of cultivated soil;
790,040 under wheat, 74,000 under linseed, and 49,400 under oats.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account