The production of the ohief cotton states in the years 1859-60 and 1878-9 respectively, stated in bales, was as follows :—Mississippi, 1,202,507, 660,000 ; Alabama, 989,955, 650,000 ; Louisiana, 777,738, 610,000 ; Georgia, 701,840, 600,000 ; Texas, 431,463, 900,000; Arkansas, 367,390, 570,000; S. Carolina, 353,412, 350,000. The American cotton acreage in 1880 was as follows :—Alabama, 2,292,215 acres ; Mississippi, 2,180,614 ; Texas, 1,886,786; Georgia, 1,883,571 ; Louisiana, 1,336,660 ; Arkansas, 1,212,188 ; S. Carolina, 1,054,345 ; Tennessee, 875,679 ; N. Carolina, 661,534; Florida, 229,386; total, 13,612,978 acres.
The area occupied by cotton, and the quantity of the staple produced in the United States, in the years 1875-8, were as follows :-1875-10,803,030 acres, 4,600,000 bales; 1876-11,677,250 acres, 4,438,000 bales ; 1877-12,600,000 acres, 4,750,000 bales ; 1878 —12,266,800 acres, 5,216,603 bales. The greater portion of the crop of Louisiana, Mississippi, N. Alabama, Arkansas, and Florida, is taken to New Orleans, which receives about one-third of the entire produce of the country. The ever-increasing Texas crop is concentrated in a great measure at Galveston. The N. and S. Carolina exports, in bales, in 1878, were :—From Charleston : to Great Britain, 123,322; France, 70,355; N. Europe, 60,344; S. Europe, 43,420; American ports, 132,964. From Wil mington : to Great Britain, 35,007 ; France, 1780 ; N. Europe, 19,890 ; American ports, 88,530. The foreign exports from Mobile, during the year ending 31 Aug., 1879, were as follows : To Great Britain, 56,649 bales, or 27,753,535 lb. ; France, 35,583 bales, 17,744,562 lb.; Germany, 8,940 bales, 4,463,398 lb.; Holland, 8428 bales, 4,210,240 lb. ; Russia, 6612 bales, 3,309,286 lb. ; Spain, 6442 bales, 3,229,246 lb. ; Italy, 3058 bales, 1,520,760 lb. ; Austria, 925 bales, 462,066 lb. The ship ments to Great Britain in 1878 took place from the following ports :—New Orleans, 822,492 bales ; Now York, 342,384 ; Galveston, 173,481; Savannah, 163,099 ; Norfolk, 156,687 ; Charleston, 123,322 ; Mobile, 88,083 ; Wilmington, 35,007 ; other ports, 197,417. The New Orleans export of 1877-8 was thus distributed :—To Great Britain, 822,492 bales ; France, 325,406; coastwise, 251,673; N. Europe, 238,271 ; S. Europe, Mexico, &c., 66,952. New York exported 442,577 bales to Great Britain in 1879. Savannah, in 1879, exported 458,208 bales of Uplands, and 1784 bales of Sea-Island ; of the total, 202,625 bales came to British ports. Of the entire cotton-crop of 1875-6 (1 year), Great Britain took per cent. ; N. Europe, 10.80 ; France, 9'90 ; other porta, 4.70 ; leaving for consumption by American spinners in the north and south, 29.52 per cent.
The cost of raising cotton, upon a plot of 150 acres devoted exclusively to that culture, is thus estimated 150 acres, at an average yield of 216 lb., produce 32,400 lb., equal to a cost of about 51-1,-c. a lb.,
delivered at the railway stations. The expenses, from the interior to the shipping ports, average about lc. a lb., making the cost at the ports about equal to about 3*d., to which about 11d. are added iu expenses of shipment and delivery at Liverpool, making the total cost of the production of cotton delivered at Liverpool about a lb., for average strict good ordinary.
W. Indies.—Before the present century, England obtained her chief supply of cotton from the W. Indies. The sort there grown was the Sea-Island, known also as Anguilla, and said to he indigenous to Honduras. The product was highly esteemed, and has probably never been surpassed in quality ; but the cultivation has had to give way before the sugar-cane, and the pro duction is now trifling. The exports from the Spanish island of Puerto Rico have declined from 2506 quintals (of lb.) in 1874, to 150 quintals iu 1878.
Central and S. America.—Several of the countries of Central and S. America figure as cotton producers. A variety of the plant largely grown is G. peruvianum (acuminatum), the " tree-cotton " of Peru, an arborescent kind, attaining a height of 10-15 ft., yielding large crops for 4-5 years, lasting for 8-10 years without renewal, and, in the Andes, hearing cotton while frosts whiten the ground ; it furnishes the cottons known in the market as " Pernams," "lVIaranhams," die.
In Brazil, where the plant thrives well from Para, to Rio Grande, much cotton is now raised from New Orleans seed, and is known as " Santos." The cultivation in the province of Bahia is falling off, owing to the excessive cost of carriage from the interior ; the little that comes to market is taken up by local mills. During the financial year 1877-8, Bahia exported 34,177 kilo, of raw cotton, of which more than half came to Great Britain, and the remainder went to Portugal. In 1878-9, the quantity was 37,371 kilo., and the proportion to Great Britain was increased to over y. Ceara, in 1878, exported 468,051 kilo. to England, 3217 to Hamburg, and 1420 to Havre. Maceio, in 1877, shipped 58,801 bags (of 75 kilo. each) to Great Britain, and 155 to New York and Lisbon ; in 1878, the figures were 37,384 to Great Britain, and 3590 to Russia. In Paraiba, the crop of 1877-8 was only 1150 bags. Cotton is one of the staple productions of the province of Pernambuco. The shipments from the port, in the year 1877-8, were :—to Great Britain, 2,443,505 kilo. ; Spain, 1,236,929 ; Portugal, 589,426 ; France, 363,277 ; Russia, 198,026. In 1878-9, the figures were :—Great Britain, 2,060,607 ; Spain, 1,046,061 ; Portugal, 511,545 ; France, 284,573 Russia, 176,742.