The Argentine section in the Palace of Agriculture showed the enormous development of the dairy industry, including the manufacture of butter and cheese. Two large Argentine establishments exhibited natural milk, pasteurized, sterilized, and maternized. Both of these companies each day produced 6,000 gallons of milk, for which 5,000 cows are milked daily. In eight years the export of butter has multiplied twelve times. The product exhibited was excellent, having been tested by examination and analysis made in various colleges of agriculture in the United States.
Numerous samples of wheat, corn, and cotton were shown also. There were samples of wheat weighing 67 pounds to the bushel. Statistics show that the annual harvest of wheat reaches 120,000,000 bushels. Argentine linseed also deserves consideration in this description, the Republic producing almost one-third of the linseed consumed in the world. Flax in abundance indicated the existence of an important textile industry in connection with the enormous production of linseed.
There were exhibited also various fibers extracted from native plants, and excellent samples of cordage showed what industry can get out of the rich Argentine textile material.
The Argentine section of the manufactures offered many interesting exhibits, among which figured a large variety of tanned leathers. In the same section was exhibited foundry work executed in the Arsenal de Guerra, of the city of Buenos Aires. There were also artistic medals, ornamental shields, and munitions of war. One of the industries of Buenos Aires is the manufacture of wax matches. The exhibit in the section of manufactures spoke eloquently in favor of the position reached by the industry in Buenos Aires. Exhibits of this industry showed that Argentina is rapidly passing into the rank of industrial nations. This suggestion was confirmed by the display of the other manufactures exhibited in the Argentine section, which consisted of furniture, textiles, hats, footwear, etc. The Republic also displayed an interesting collection of minerals, which generally are shown in the Departments Nacional de Minas Geologia, in the city of Buenos Aires. There were samples of gold, silver, and copper on exhibition; also an excellent display of coal.
Another Argentine section of great interest was that in the Liberal Arts Palace, where an extensive collection of plans and relief models were displayed, showing notable works undertaken by the Argentine Republic to facilitate river as well as ocean navigation. One of the models showed the harbor of Buenos Aires, which now occupies the second place in the South American continent.
An interesting exhibit representative of the Argentine Republic was that of the national press, which in the number of publications presented and extent of space covered was one of the most important displays of the kind in the exposition.
In consequence of the size and importance of the exhibit, it was found necessary to install it in a special section. The credit for the collection of the press exhibit was due principally to the Circule de la Prensa, or National Press Association of the Argentine Republic, one of the principal literary and journalistic institutions in the southern continent. Models of dams, as constructed in the interior of the country to facilitate irrigation, were also shown. The same section contained excellent lithographic and engraving work.
The Argentine Republic had two rooms in the west wing of the Palace of Fine Arts. The Argentine paintings received as many awards in this department as any other country in proportion to the number of exhibitors.
The intellectual development of the country revealed itself in the Palace of Education. A graphic statistical exhibit in the Argentine section showed that that country spends as much money per capita in public education as any other nation in the world. Another statistical display demonstrated the number of teachers employed. A diagram showed that the Argentine Republic comes next to France and among the Latin countries in respect to the number of students attending schools. The scholastic works, especially the needlework, ranked well with that in many of the advanced schools of the United States.