8,648 5
" 1906 812,500 612,500 50,000 48,183 ... 6,000 " 11,018 6-1/2
" 1907 812,500 766,500 50,000 82,700 ... 12,000 " 20,398 8
" 1908 1,000,000 812,500 50,000 91,463 ... 86,628[E] " 20,611 10
" 1909 1,000,000 812,500 50,000 115,375 ... 20,000 " 22,549 10 and
Bonus of 1-1/2

[Illustration: _Loading Timber at Wayside Station._]

FOOTNOTES:

[E] Including L76,623 from Share Premiums.

THE VALUE OF LAND IN ARGENTINA.

When one goes to a foreign country, and more especially when he intends
to settle there with the idea of making a fortune, he naturally turns
his attention to the value of the land, as from this he draws his views
of the prosperity of the country. Now, twenty-five years ago the
Argentine had comparatively very few railways; consequently, the lands
at any long distance from Buenos Aires (the capital) were at a very low
value. The province of Buenos Aires, the largest in the country, has
always been the most populated, and its lands have always commanded the
highest prices, and these have risen tremendously, but not so much of
late years in proportion as land in the northern provinces. During the
years 1885, 1886, 1887, and 1888, there was a great boom in land.
Foreigners were pouring in, bringing capital; great confidence was put
by foreign capitalists in the country, several railways had run out new
branches, new railways were built, new banks were opened, and a very
large extent of land was opened up and cultivated, and put under wheat
and linseed, harvests were good and money was flowing into the country.
Then came a very bad year, 1889; the harvest was practically lost owing
to the heavy and continuous rains which fell from December till July
with hardly a clear day. This, together with a bad government and the
revolution of 1890, created a great panic and a tremendous slump in all
land, from which it took a long time to recover. Where people had bought
camps and mortgaged them, which was the general thing to do in those
days, the mortgagees foreclosed, and, when the camps were auctioned
off, they did not fetch half what the properties had been bought for in
the first instance, some four or five years previously. This, naturally,
had a serious effect on the credit, soundness, and finances of the
country, but really, the crisis was not felt until some three or four
years after, and