Maize 721 6,882 9,600 10,742 Wheat 34,246 50,379 73,245 47,566 Flax 1,115 3,636 5,584 10,757 Barley 83 368 1,361 1,695 Oats 1,688 3,624 6,685 15,737 Hides and skins 17,713 18,541 17,115 22,371 Other products 1,786 1,838 1,804 2,155 Besides these products, in 1906 there were 87,400 tons of wool entered at the market; in 1907, 84,600 tons; and during the first nine months of 1908, nearly 43,000 tons. If the year 1908 seems to show a great decrease in the entry of wools, the fact is really due to the larger amounts entered in October, November, and December, which are not included in the figures for 1908. These figures show the importance of this establishment to Argentine trade. It is not a mere depôt, as one might suppose, but a veritable Exchange, where important transactions take place in all the chief products of the country. The port of Buenos Ayres owes its rapid development to this excellent equipment. In 1880, before the scheme of works was commenced, its trade amounted scarcely to 660,000 tons; since then it has maintained a constant increase, and now reaches the figure of more than 13,000,000 tons. Below is the inward and outward trade of the port of Buenos Ayres:—— Years. Tonnage. 1897 7,365,000 1898 8,115,000 1899 8,742,000 1900 8,047,000 1901 8,661,000 1902 8,903,000 1903 10,269,000 1904 10,400,000 1905 11,589,000 1906 12,582,000 1907 13,295,000 1908 15,111,000 To appreciate the value of these figures, we must compare them with those relating to the principal ports of the world, where we shall see that Buenos Ayres occupies, in matters of tonnage, the twelfth place among the ports of the world. The tonnage of Hamburg and Liverpool, which occupy the first two places, is only about 40 per cent, greater than that of Buenos Ayres. The importance of the port of Buenos Ayres is chiefly due to the fact that it handles nearly all the imports of the Republic——84 per cent, in 1908——while of exports it handles 51 per cent. This confirms what we have already said of the absorption, by Buenos Ayres, of a great portion of the vital forces of the country, which develops it disproportionately to the rest of the country. The equipment of the new ports of Rosario, San Nicolas, and Santa Fé, and the enlargement of the port of Bahia Blanca, will constitute a useful task of decentralisation, favourable to the economic future of the country. La Plata has the advantage over Buenos Ayres of a deeper basin, which renders its harbour accessible at all times to ships of the highest tonnage. Until 1903 it was the point of call for the large transatlantic liners outward or inward bound, which observed fixed hours of arrival and departure.