----------------+----------------------+--------------------- | Wheat Area | Maize Area | (in kilometres). | (in kilometers). Departments.[98]|------+-------+-------+------+------+------- | 1889 | 1895 | 1908 | 1889 | 1895 | 1908 ----------------+------+-------+-------+------+------+------- Las Colonias }|1,623{| 1,307 | 1,621 |} 82 |{ 24 | 31 Castillanos }| {| 1,845 | 3,425 |} |{ 4 | 7 S. Jeronimo }| 664{| 854 | 849 |} 65 |{ 15 | 264 S. Martin }| {| 964 | 1,884 |} |{ 22 | 35 _Iriondo_ }| 971{| 929 | 442 |} 65 |{ 81 | 641 _Belgrano_ }| {| 1,137 | 638 |} |{ 37 | 296 _S. Lorenzo_ }| 652{| 387 | 1,390 |} 178 |{ 150 | 1,169 _Caseros_ }| {| 1,139 | 468 |} |{ 83 | 970 Gal. Lopez }| 12{| 888 | 1,370 |} 51 |{ 373 | 1,558 _Constitucion_ }| {| 227 | 165 |} |{ 575 | 736 S. Justo }| 12{| 732 | 2,345 |} 48 |{ 7 | 34 M. Juarez }| {| 1,504 | 1,442 |} |{ 53 | 92 ----------------+------+-------+-------+------+------+------- Restricted in the south by the extension of the maize belt, the region of the colonies has now a very distinctive character amongst the agricultural areas of the Pampa. [98] The names of departments which belong in their entirety to the maize region are given in italics. The department of San Jeronimo straddles the maize region and the region of the colonies. The General Lopez territory also extends, in the south-west, far beyond the limit of the maize belt. This originality is not so much in virtue of its crops (hard wheat and flax) as on account of the age of colonization and the division of property. Most of the colonists are owners, and estates of 50 to 200 hectares are the rule. The houses are comfortable; they are surrounded by orchards and kitchen-gardens. Moreover, the rural economy has been complicated, and it has assumed a familiar aspect for the European observer, owing to the introduction of cattle-rearing on a small scale by the farmers. The number of horned cattle doubled between 1908 and 1914 in the Castellanos department, and increased by a third in Las Colonias. The area of lucerne has extended in proportion. The farms have been multiplied on the low lands (_canadas_), unsuitable for wheat, which the older colonists had disdained; but they are now regarded as the best bits of land. The recent rise in the value of land in the region of the colonies is connected, not with an increase of agricultural production, but a development of breeding. A few co-operative dairy societies have been established. In general, however, breeding is solely for the meat-market. The cattle-trade goes on very different lines from those of the large estates and ranches. It has remained in the hands of small dealers (Jews of Moisesville).