focused on agro-export policies, especially meat and cereals. By 1925, Argentina covered 72% of world flax exports, 66% of corn, 50% of meat, 32% of oats, and 20% of wheat and flour. Industrial crops such as cotton also increased exponentially, from 2,000 hectares in 1914 to 122,000 in 1930. In addition, the area planted with yerba mate, peanuts, rice, grapes, sugar cane and tobacco grew. In addition to the growth in agriculture, industrial development also spread — albeit to a lesser extent —, installing in 1922 the first Ford automotive production plant in Latin America, with an investment of $240,000 for its construction. Just one year later, the state-owned YPF installed the first gasoline pump, on the corner of Bartolomé Mitre and Rosales, in the city of Buenos Aires. In 1925 the popular Ford T went on sale; after two years, production reached 100,000 units. Starting in 1925, there was a huge increase in foreign investments from the United States, carried out through companies related to the refrigeration industry, with energy distribution and production organizations, and consumer goods. This sudden "invasion" of US capital created competition with capital from the UK. That rivalry was reflected in areas such as transportation, as the automotive products exported from the United States competed with the British railways. But competition with refrigeration companies linked to these two countries also intensified. These conflicts led to the deterioration of relations with the British. Social policy A number of reforms were carried out during Alvear’s presidency, amongst which included the creation of a Children’s Bureau, a law that ended night work for bakers, a law intended to protect women and children factory workers, legislation forcing the payment of salaries in money and not goods, and a pension plan for bank employees. Law No. 11,357, which was signed by the President on September 22 1926, granted to women “(single, divorced or widowed) of legal age all the civil rights and functions which the law grants to men who have attained their majority.” In 1926, the government started to take cognizance of agricultural cooperatives in 1926, with the Banco di la nacion legally empowered that year “to grant financial assistance, arrange amortization of loans, and otherwise aid in the formation of cooperative societies.” Law No. 11388 was also passed by the government, “which officially recognized the cooperative movement and set forth regulations to guide the formation and operation of