The exports are insignificant: 37,983 lb. in 1906, and 16,612 lb. in 1907, of the respective values of £539 and £226. The lack of care brought to the cultivation of the plant and to the preparation of the leaf, together with incomplete experience from the industrial point of view, have contributed to check the increase of plantations, which ought to occupy a far larger area than they do. Tobacco is grown chiefly in the northern region composed of the Provinces of Corrientès, Salta, and Tucuman; it is also grown to a less extent in the Provinces and Territories of Misionès, Formosa, Chaco, Catamarca, La Rioja, and Jujuy. It may be grown equally well in the central region composed of the Provinces of Buenos Ayres, Entre Rios, Santa Fé, and Córdoba; and even further south. There were formerly, and are still, tobacco plantations in the Province of Buenos Ayres, which appeared to promise a fair future for tobacco-planting; but all is as yet in a rudimentary condition, and the industry makes no appreciable progress. The areas planted with tobacco in 1895 and 1907 were as follows:—— 1895. 1907. Acres. Acres. Province of Corrientès 16,287 27,910 Province of Salta 2,277 8,645 Province of Tucuman 6,880 7,410 Territory of Misionès 5,705 1,976 Territory of Formosa and Chaco (South) 1,294 1,235 Province of Córdoba 3,348 1,729 _Other Provinces——_ Buenos Ayres, Santa Fé, Catamarca 3,631 2,470 —————— —————— Totals 39,422 51,375 —————— —————— The agricultural census of 1895 affirmed the existence of 3348 acres of tobacco in Córdoba, while the _Bulletin_ of the Division of Statistics at the Ministry of Agriculture announced only 1729 acres; in short, everything leads to the conclusion that we have to deal either with gross blunders or with erroneous information. As it has not been practicable for us to verify these figures we must suppose that in 1895 there was not so large an area planted as the figures would lead us to believe.[69] [Footnote 69: See _La Culture des Plantes industrielles dans la République Argentine_, by Carlos D. Girola.] _The Mulberry._——The culture of the mulberry-tree should perhaps be included in that of industrial crops, since its leaves are the food of the silkworm.