This book sought to investigate the background to the construction of the Rural Code of 1865, and to explain why that project was abandoned by the provincial government in 1858. The realization of this work was promoted by the politician and jurist Valentín Alsina, being minister and then governor of the province of Buenos Aires. On March 26, 1856, Alsina sent a note to the Commission of Landowners requesting the preparation of a report on points and issues of interest for the life of the countryside, which would serve as a basis for the construction of a unified rural legislation. The reading and analysis of the institutional correspondence between the government and the landowners showed the commitment and attention that the creation of such report deserved, which allowed to see the existing problems in the countryside, and the different perspectives that were held about the complex rural reality of the River Plate.