The Dairy and Flour industries have likewise shown great improvement, whilst considerable promise is held out by the establishment and development of other industries, such as the cultivation and export of fruits, the breeding and fattening of hogs, poultry farming, bee-culture and the manufacture of vegetable and animal oil products.
The vigilant economic policy undertaken by the present government of the Republic is likely to exercise a very beneficial effect upon the future of these and other industries when normal conditions are restored. The questions of roads, canals, ports, transport charges and other matters which affect the development of commerce were all being considered with a view to improvement prior to the outbreak of war; and even at the present time work is proceeding for the deepening of existing channels and the extension of ports and docks. Immigration has necessarily been checked through the war, but when this disturbing element no longer exists, renewed vigor will be applied to a general extension of industrial establishments in every direction where the natural resources of the Republic can be made available.
THE ARGENTINE REPUBLIC IN THE SAN FRANCISCO EXPOSITION
Of all the great Expositions held in the United States to celebrate some distinct occurrence or achievement in the history of the country, none has assumed the importance or splendour of the World's Fair at San Francisco, created to commemorate America's immeasurable service to the cause of humanity by the construction of the Panama Canal to link up the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Conceived and decided upon in times of general peace, most of the nations of the earth were invited to participate; and though laboring at the time under certain difficulties induced by universally disturbed economic conditions, many of the countries subordinated these considerations to the higher purpose of cementing the bonds of international friendship by accepting the invitation of the United States to take part in the great Exposition of San Francisco, formed to crown the colossal work initiated by Ferdinand de Lesseps and carried into execution by American skill, labor and courage. Not least amongst the countries willing to make sacrifices to share in this noble work was the Argentine Republic which, in the face of many obstacles to adequate representation, at once entered into the spirit of the undertaking and after assembling its leading authorities in all the branches of national arts and industries, decided to assume its appropriate part in the glorification of the American Continent by the effort to show that the nations of the south were advancing step by step with the great Republic of the north. Preliminary action was at once taken to organize influential committees representing all the States and Territories of the Republic, an immense sum of money was voted by Congress and full preparations were set on foot to secure a practical and eloquent manifestation of the phenomenal progress and of the social and political economy of the Argentine Republic. No sooner had these measures been adopted than a series of perturbations, culminating in the outbreak of the war in Europe, occurred to create an unfavorable ambient and to sow doubts and mistrust forshadowing failure for the great enterprise. In spite, however, of the fears and even of the opposition thus created, the Argentine Government through its organized Committees proceeded uninterruptedly with the completion of its plans and has been able to organize the most important representation it has yet had in any foreign Exposition.
The Argentine section of the International Exposition of San Francisco admittedly holds high rank in every aspect of its participation, not excluding the magnificence of its Pavilion and the area of space allotted to Argentine exhibits, which reflect the indisputable importance and advance of the Republic. The spaces occupied in the various Palaces of the Exposition embrace an area of 3,000 square meters which, added to the 4,000 meters occupied by the Pavilion and Garden, gives a total area of 7,000 square meters and constitutes a space record over all previous exhibitions in which the Argentine Republic has so far assisted. The areas excluding the Pavilion and Garden are divided as follows:
| (1) | Agriculture | 1,140 | square | meters |
| (2) | Various Products | 550 | " | " |
| (3) | Food Products | 385 | " | " |
| (4) | Education and Social Economy | 320 | " | " |
| (5) | Liberal Arts | 230 | " | " |
| (6) | Mining and Metallurgy | 215 | " | " |
| (7) | Fine Arts | 160 | " | " |
| Total | 3,000 | " | " |
The Argentine Pavilion, which has been accorded a prominent position amongst other palatial constructions of the Exposition, conveys an expressive idea of the higher standard of national art, both from the architectural and decorative standpoints. In the centre portion of the Pavilion there is a beautiful Conference Hall and a spacious gallery in which there will be kinetoscopic and dioramic exhibitions of characteristic views of national life and activity and of some of the natural beauty spots of the country, such as the Iguazú Falls, the Nahuel Huapi and others. There is a Buffet for the testing and tasting of exclusively Argentine products, whilst other surrounding installations include a Library of national authors, a Reading Room, an Information Bureau, a Reception Hall and the various offices of the Commission. The principal frontage of the Pavilion is composed of two high laterals which coil on a central figure crowned by a handsome dome reaching to a height of 50 meters. Approach is obtained by a wide "stoop" which gives access to a porch adorned with caryatides forming a vestibule, the porch being decorated with a symbolic "vitrail" and enclosed in an imposing arch 21 meters high. On the right and left of this entrance there are two sculptured plaques, respectively, representing the profiles of San Martin and Washington, and throughout the graceful halls and buildings, all designed by Argentine architects and constructed by Argentine workmen, there are beautiful and graphic pictorial representations of the Port and City of Buenos Aires, of the Campo de Mayo, of the Puerto Militar, of the Immigrant Hotel and the natural fields and forests of Quebracho.
The main divisions of Argentine exhibits have been sub-divided into so many departments and classifications as to render it difficult within the necessarily brief limits of this work to describe in detail the character of each of the sub-divisions and of the respective exhibits they contain. It will, therefore, suffice for the object in view to furnish merely an outline of the plans adopted by the Argentine Commission to demonstrate the high grade of excellence and perfection of the national products and industries. The most important of the buildings comprising the Argentine section is the Palace of Agriculture, which covers an area of about 1,400 square meters and embraces a collection of about 2,000 samples of classified products covering the entire field of agriculture, including those of the crops of 1913-1914 and 1914-1915. In each sample of the collection there is specified the name of the product, the weight and measure in kilos and hectolitres, the weight in pounds per bushel, the output in pounds per acre, the zone of production, the name of the exhibitor and, in many cases, indications of the nature of the soil and other physical conditions. The arrangement of the exhibition of the various products has been moreover much simplified by the adoption of the plan of enclosing them in boxes with glass covers, giving to each product a unit of measure in a square of 15 centimeters, thus permitting the sample, once placed in its original packing, to remain unchanged and to be easily removed and classified, whilst by this arrangement space has been economized and facilities given for the addition of photographs and explanatory notes which serve the double purpose of giving useful information and decorative effect.