1895-96101,059
1896-97107,073
1897-98100,839
1898-9996,648
1899-0084,783
1900-0194,745
1901-02105,694
1902-03120,127
1903-04125,949
1904-05101,278
1905-06121,693
1906-07120,334
1907-0899,737
1908-09117,176
1909-10101,843
1910-11108,297
1911-1283,294
1912-1383,922
1913-14103,774
1914-15113,632
1915-16110,000[78]

TRAIN-LOAD OF CANE EN ROUTE TO THE INGENIO LA MENDIETA, ARGENTINA

UNLOADING A CAR OF CANE, TUCUMÁN, ARGENTINA

ARGENTINA

The Argentine republic occupies the southeastern extremity of South America, and extends from 21 degrees 55 minutes to 55 degrees 2 minutes south latitude, and from 53 degrees 40 minutes to 73 degrees 17 minutes west longitude. From north to south its length is 2285 miles, and its greatest width is 930 miles. Its area is 1,135,840[79] square miles, and the population, including the nomadic peoples, numbers about 8,000,000.

Physically, the surface of the country comprises three great divisions: the Andes and the high plateaus to the west, the vast plains of the east and the desolate, barren wastes of Patagonia. Only the northern part lies within the latitudes where sugar cane can be grown, and owing to the mountainous character of that region the area available for cane culture is limited. The provinces of Tucumán, Jujuy, Salta, Santa Fé and Corrientes, and the territories of Formosa, Chaco and Missiones produce the entire sugar crop.

Argentina’s great length and the range of altitude within her borders, from the lofty, snow-clad peaks of the Andes eastward to sea-level, give a widely varied climate, upon which the prevailing winds and the mountain barriers exert a further influence. In the extreme north there is a stretch of country extending about ninety miles into the torrid zone and running from the Pilcomayo river, five hundred miles west, to the Chilean border. The eastern part of this region consists of a low, wooded plain where the mean annual temperature is 73 degrees Fahrenheit and the average annual rainfall is 63 inches. The western end is a dry plateau where the temperature drops below 57 degrees Fahrenheit and the rainfall is only about two inches during the year. In the cane-growing district the rainy season is from October to March. At times during the winter the frost is severe enough to partially wither the cane leaves, but it never wholly kills the cane.