The thread may be subjected to the additional processes of gdzing and polishing. The object of gazing is to singe off all the loose fibres and mo produce a very smooth yarn. This is accom plished by passing the thread through a very fine jet of gas. as it is wound from one bobbin to another. The yarn is polished by applying a sizing made of starch, beeswax, or other ma terials. This not only gives the yarn a gloss, but increases its strength and weight. The process of weaving cotton into cloth does not differ materially from that of silk and wool, and is treated in the general article on WEAvixu.
The bulk of the world's cotton is shipped into foreign countries and often across the ocean twice, once to the factories to be transformed into yarn and cloth, and again. perhaps, back to the very region where it was first raised, in the form of cotton goods. The best example of this fact is offered by the United States, which raises nine tenths of the world's cotton, yet exports less cotton goods than the republic of Switzerland. which raises not a pound of cotton and has not even a seaport. Of course the United States is an enormous consumer of cotton, and this fact must be remembered in considering the extent of her export trade. Obviously the amount of cotton goods imported, and the amount produced and consumed at home, are also important factors.
exported and in the actual amount produced. It is interesting to note that this enormous is concentrated about Lancashire, in a district whose area is about 50 per cent. greater than that of the State ofill ode Island. In the United States, the most marked development of the last decade of the nineteenth century is the relative importance of Southern factories, situated in the very locality where cotton is produced. In this period the number of spindles increased 245 per cent. and became nearly one-third of the whole number in the country. Other industrial condi tions besides the nearness to I he cotton crop pro duced this growth, chief of which has been the general industrial awakening experienced by the South. Capital, however, in this section, line shown greater progress than labor, so that the latter is still cheap: a working day is long, and there are comparatively few labor laws restrict ing the age, sex, and other conditions of labor.
Table 111. gives the value of the world's export trade in cotton, by countries, for 1897, 1898, and 1899. The table is taken front a pamphlet. en titled The World's Export Trade, published by the Philadelphia Commercial Museum, April, 1900. Of more value, however, as showing the
actual extent of the cotton industry, including both home and foreign consumption, and its geographical tendencies as well, arc the Tables IV. and V., showing the number of cotton-mills and spindles, the amount. consumed, and the value of the output. By studying these tables, certain facts and tendencies in the cotton trade are appa rent. Great Britain is and always has been at the head of the cotton trade, both in the amount During the closing years of the nineteenth century the manufacture of cotton was much advanced in China and Japan. In China cotton has been made into cloth since 1•60, and for four centuries it usurped the place' of silk. Steam power was introduced into Chinese cotton-fac tories in 1S65-67, and into Japan in 18S9. Great difficulty has been experienced in both China and Japan in getting laborers. There is no factory legislation in either country limiting, the hours of labor, and in China children begin to work at a very early age. The working day is eleven cr more hours long, and the factories run seven days in the week. Labor is also very cheap, as estimated by the amount of money paid for a.
day's work, which averages from 10 to 15 cents: but the Aandard of intelligence and faithfulness among operatives is so low that, measured by the amount and quality of the product, the real cost of labor is high. In Japan, it is particu larly hard to keep steady employees. The girls are used to the freedom and out-of-door life of the country and will not stay long at their situa tions, so that mill operators are constantly ham pered with green bands. In Japan the weaving of cotton and other fabrics is still largely a house hold industry. In 1890, according to the French consul at Yokohama, 660.408 dwellings or estab lishments contained 949,123 looms, at which 1,043,806 persons were engaged in weaving. The yarn used in this household art is largely factory spun. thus increasing rather than diminishing the demand fur cotton-factories.
t t is t ics.—Shepperson, Cot ton Facts (New York, annually) ; Statistical Abstract of the United Stales (published annually) ; United States Department of Agriculture, Office of Experi ment Stations, Bullet in 3.3, and Publications of the Statistical Division and Section of Foreign Markets, Twelfth United States Census (Wash ington, 1902). See COTTONSEED AND ITS PROD ITTs ; SPINNING; WEAVING; :MUSLIN.