However it may seem, these two facts--the interruption of immigration and the accumulation of capital--cannot be considered independently of each other. The inquiry opened by the Social Museum of Argentina (_La inmigracion despues de la guerra_, Museo Social Argentino, "Bol. Mensual," viii, 1919, nos. 85-90) show that a speedy restoration of immigration is expected in the Republic. Certainly it seems clear that the political and social insecurity in Europe, the misery of the old world, will probably enhance the attractions of Argentina. We must remember, however, that the stream of emigration from Europe to the Republic in the nineteenth, and the beginning of the twentieth, century was provoked by a complex combination of economic conditions which were closely related to each other. High wages in Argentina were connected with the high interest on money; that is to say, in other words, with the scarcity of capital. The future will decide whether immigration, and the rapid progress of colonization and production, which characterize pre-war Argentina can be adjusted to the policy of accumulation of capital to which the war has condemned the country. CONTENTS PAGE INTRODUCTION 5 CHAPTER I THE NATURAL REGIONS OF ARGENTINA 17 The physical environment--Colonization and the natural regions--The struggle with the Indians--Argentine unity--Argentina and the world. CHAPTER II THE OASES OF THE NORTH-WEST 36 The inhabited zones of the Andes in the north-west--_Valles_, _Quebradas_, _Puna_--The irrigation of the _valles_--The historic routes--Convoys of stock--The breeding of mules and the fairs--The struggle of the breeders against drought--The Sierra de los Llanos. CHAPTER III TUCUMAN AND MENDOZA 68 Tucuman and the road to Chile--The climate and the cultivation of the sugar-cane--The problem of manual labour--Irrigation at Mendoza--Water-rights--Viticulture--Protection and the natural conditions. CHAPTER IV THE EXPLOITATION OF THE FORESTS 96 Manual labour on the _obrajes_--The land of the _banados_ and the agricultural cantons of Corrientes--The timber-yards of the Chaco and the tannic-acid works of the Parana--The exploitation of the _mate_--The forestry industry and colonization. CHAPTER V PATAGONIA AND SHEEP-REARING 119 The arid tableland and the region of glacial lakes--The first settlements on the Patagonian coast and the indigenous population--Extensive breeding--The use of pasture on the lands of the Rio Negro--Transhumation.