The fresh-fruit trade is not, in the Argentine, as it is in the United States, favoured by the existence of refrigerator cars, placed at the disposal of the producers by the railway companies, and capable of transporting enormous quantities of fruit from one end of the country to the other. But this innovation, like so many others demanded by industry and commerce, will come in time, when the population has increased, and new markets will be permanently opened to the producer. At the present time such fruits as are intended for home consumption, like those selected for exportation, have not far to travel before reaching their destination, as they are usually grown near Buenos Ayres; particularly the peach, which is the fruit most in demand on account of its superior quality. Although the entire Argentine territory lends itself admirably to the production of fruit, there are particular districts which by nature are especially fitted for the plantation of fruit-trees. Among such districts we may cite the islands which form the delta of the Parana, which are covered with an extremely rich soil and magnificent growths, and are irrigated during certain seasons of the year by the waters of the river, which deposit on them a richly nutritious silt, like that which the famous waters of the Nile leave upon its Egyptian banks. There flourish a great variety of fruit-trees, from peach and apricot, pear and apple, fig and quince, down to the “diospiro kaki,” and many other species. Another region which has commenced to attract attention by reason of its magnificent fruits is that of the Rio Colorado; it will one day be as famous for its peaches and apricots as California is to-day. At a short distance from Buenos Ayres is another favoured district, producing in especial magnificent peaches; it is that of the village of Dolores, in the Province of Buenos Ayres, whose exquisite fruits figure on the best tables of London and other European capitals. As we see from these data, fruit-farming is making rapid progress in the Argentine: it may succeed in time in capturing not only the home markets, but also the most important foreign markets. As for the preparation of fresh fruit in syrup, as well as the manufacture of dried fruits, both of them industries well developed in the United States, they still exist in the Argentine only in a rudimentary condition; but in view of the rapid progress achieved each year in the Argentine, in this as in other industries, we may hope that they will soon develop and establish themselves securely. PART III THE ARGENTINE FROM THE COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL POINT OF VIEW CHAPTER I FOREIGN TRADE