One department of the foreign trade of the Argentine cannot be precisely classified; namely, that of the products which are loaded on vessels which make seawards, and those which, coming from the river custom-houses, are transported to Buenos Ayres, there to be transhipped for foreign countries. The value of such exports was £19,252,891, in 1907, and £27,085,119 in 1908. This sum includes the value (£18,654,153 in 1907) of agricultural products, wheat and maize, despatched to order but without exact destination, whether to Saint Vincent in the Cape Verde Islands, Las Palmas in the Canaries, or Falmouth in England.
The following table shows, in the order of their importance, the products exported by the Argentine during the three
years 1906-1908 and the first six months of 1909, so that we may see at a glance what branches of production have most rapidly increased:
| 1906. | 1907. | 1908. | 1909. (1st six months) | |
| Products of Stock-raising | £24,827,397 | £24,764,041 | £23,023,691 | £16,213,533 |
| Products ofAgriculture[80] | 31,530,938 | 32,818,324 | 48,335,432 | 32,986,430 |
| Forestal products | 1,184,372 | 1,068,471 | 1,269,447 | 794,772 |
| Various | 908,168 | 590,037 | 272,497 | 359,952 |
| ————— | ————— | ————— | ————— | |
| Totals | £58,450,875 | £59,240,873 | £72,921,067 | £50,354,687 |
| ————— | ————— | ————— | ————— |
[80] The agricultural exports for 1906 wore sensibly lower than those of 1905, on account of a decrease of £3,864,392 in the exports of wheat.
We see that agricultural products were responsible for the enormous increase in the trade statistics of 1908. They represented 66 per cent. of the total exports, and had increased nearly 50 per cent. in one year. The products of stock-raising have not increased; on the contrary, there is a falling off of more than £5,000,000 between 1905 and 1908, the value in 1905 being £28,208,597.
We see from the preceding data how greatly agriculture has developed in the Argentine during the last few years. To realise precisely how great this development has been, we need only recall the fact that the exportation of corn is now 10,000 times greater than it was thirty years ago: maize has increased by 800 per cent.; fodder, by 80 per cent.: linseed, by 70,000 per cent.; flour more than 600 per cent.[81] These figures show how rapid the growth of the Argentine has been, and what progress has been realised in spite of temporary crises.
[81] Latzina, work already cited, p. 510.
If we now consider the progress of external trade, not from year to year and in detail but as a whole, and over a large period, we can no longer doubt that this trade is destined to accomplish still greater development. Importation too, the field for which is somewhat restricted, may also realise a greater progress as the population increases. Again, once the Argentine develops her industries with greater energy, it is only natural that larger quantities of raw material will be imported, to be transformed into manufactured articles.
As for the increase of exports, we have only to turn to the data already given concerning the annual increase in the area of sown land, and the importance of those lands which have yet to reach their true value, but will do so as soon as the stream of immigration supplies them with settlers and colonists.