&reden, eto.-There are in Sweden and Norway about 300,0C3 spindles. The coarser sorts of yarn are produced, and the annual consumption of C. is about 18,000,000 lbs., or 43,650 bales of 370 lbs. each. The C. is imported partly from Liverpool, and partly direct from the United States.
United States. -The first cotton-mill built in the United States was in 1791; the second, in 1795; the third, in 1803; the fourth, in 1804; followed by 11 more during the next three years. In 1810, there were 31,000 spindles; in 1831, 1,246,503; in 1850, 3,633,693; in 1860, 5,035,798; in 1868, 6,600,000; and in 1874, 9,415,000. In 1831, the consumption of C. amounted to 182,000 bales; in 1850, 613,000; in 1860, 843,000; in 1368, 963,000; in 1871, 1,173,000; and in 1874, 1,313,000. In 1851-52 (average of two years), the consumption represented 21 per cent of the C. grown, but in 1871-75, 28i per cent! Europe has therefore had to look to other countries to supply her increased require ments, as we have already shown in a previous portion of this article.
Down to 1845, supply kept constantly ahead of demand, and, at the close of that year, the stock of C. in Europe reached 1,219,000 bales, or about 27 weeks' consumption, the average rate at that time being about 45,000 bales per week. The result was a very serious fall in prices-middling Orleans descending to 31d.per pound. The produce of America had almost driven the growth of every other country out of the market, and in 1846, the imports from the United States represented 86 per cent of the total arrivals! The great decline in values naturally led to a serious reduction in the rate of production, which reduction was further aggravated by unfavorable seasons in the south, and in 1846 the imports from the United States fell to 401 million pounds, and in 1847 to 364 millions, against 626 millions in 1845. Then followed a sharp reaction in prices, and ultimately an important recovery in the amount of supply. Between 1845 and 1856, however, consumption encroached upon production to such an extent that the stock in Europe at the close of 1856 was only 439,000 bales, or about six weeks' consumption, against 1,219,000 bales, or 27 weeks requirements, at the end of 1845. In the autumn
of 1857, therefore, middling Orleans touched 91d. per pound. Thence to 1860, there was a gradual recovery in stocks, and a corresponding decline in prices; but even at the end of 1860. the stock was only 782,000 bales, or about 9 weeks' consumption, and though middling Orleans had, in the interval, declined to slightly below 6d., the average price for the five years ended with 1861 was 7d. per pound. Then followed the American war, of the effects of which we have already written.
The following table furnishes particulars of the consumption of C. in Europe and the United States in average periods from 182G down to 1874. (The total import of C. into the United Kingdom amounted, in 1877, to 12,100,723 cwts.) In the healing art, C. and the cloth and wadding made from it are used for wrapping up and keeping warm, and of late much more than formerly for binding up burns and wounds. A prejudice formerly prevailed against the use of C„ as irritating to wounds; but experience has shown this opinion to be unfounded, and C. is now used in many hospitals quite as freely as linen.
Cotton Mannfactum—It has already been remarked that the modern system of C. manufacture dates no further back than about 1760. Prior to the mechanical inventions of Ilargreaves, Arkwright, Crompton, and Cartwright, the arts of spinning and weav ing. were entirely domestic, and the instruments of manipulation much the same as those which had been in use in the east for centuries before. By means of the ancient distaff and spindle, or the more recent spinning-wheel, only one thread at a time was produced, and the process, as may be imagined, was tedious, and not very remunerative; besides which, only a very inferior yarn was the result;' for whilst a tolerable thread could be spun from flax, the produce of C. was soft, weak, and uneven, and in weaving was used for weft (or transverse yarn) only, with linen, woolen, or worsted for the warp (or longi tudinal yarn). Altogether, in the middle of the 18th c., the machinery for spinning was much more. imperfect than that for weaving, and the weavers of the time were often at a stand for want of yarn to go on with.