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]
[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.
From the time of the Spanish Conquest, says Carlos Girola, the engineer, our competent guide in the matter of industrial crops, the silkworm was raised in the Province of Cuyo, and silk was woven there on the hand-loom; but, on account of the facilities of transport, imported silks brought such a competition to bear upon the hand-made native article that the silkworm industry gradually dwindled and finally became extinct.
Numerous experiments have of late years proved that the silkworm can be raised over a great part of the country; and that it has the best chances of development where the population is densest, labour most abundant, and the houses of the workers largest and most comfortable, as in the Provinces of Buenos Ayres (North) and Santa Fé, and in parts
of Entre Rios and Córdoba. So far, however, there is no demand for the native cocoons, and it is so difficult to place them that at present one cannot recommend the silkworm industry except as an experiment or a speculation.