238 



THE YEAR-BOOK OF AGRICULTURE. 



occasioned by the pernicious practice of wearing cottons) assembled in a body, and dressed 

 the criminal, hangman, and the gallows in cottons, in order to discourage the wearing thereof. 

 And at the place of execution the criminal made the following remarkable speech : 



" ' Give ear, good people, to the words of a dying sinner: I confess I have been guilty of 

 many crimes that necessity compelled me to commit, which starving condition I was in, I am 

 well assured, was occasioned by the scarcity of money, that has proceeded from the great dis- 

 couragement of our woollen manufactures. Therefore, good Christians, consider-that if you 

 go on to suppress your own goods, by wearing such cottons as I am now clothed in, you will 

 bring your country into misery, which will consequently swarm with such unhappy male- 

 factors as your present object is, and the blood of every miserable felon that will hang, after 

 this warning, from the gallows, will lie at your doors. And, if you have any regard for the 

 prayers of an expiring mortal, I beg that you will not buy of the hangman the cotton gar- 

 ments that now adorn the gallows, because I can't rest quiet in my grave if I should see the 

 very things wore that brought me to misery, thievery, and this untimely end ; all which I pray 

 of the gentry to hinder their children and servants, for their own character's sake, though 

 they have no tenderness for their country, because none will hereafter wear cotton but oyster- 

 women, criminals, hucksters, and common hangmen.' " 



What would poor Micky say now, could he rise from his dishonored grave, and learn that, 

 despite his prophecy, almost every man, woman, and child, in the civilized world wore that 

 same hated cotton that brought him to the hemp, and that it dispensed happiness and comfort 

 to millions of the human race, who earned their subsistence by its culture and manufacture ? 



The following tables, furnished us by J. T. Stewart & Co., Cotton Brokers, of New York, 

 exhibit a comparative summary of the cotton crops of the United States, since the year 

 1823-4, in bales of 400 pounds : 



Crop of Bales. Crop of Bales. Crop of Bales. 



1854-55 2,847,339 1843-44 2,030,409 1832-33 1,070,438 



1853-54 2,930,027 1842-43 2,378,875 1831-32 987,477 



1852-53 3,262,882 1841-42 1,683,574 1830-31 1,038,848 



1851-52 3,015,029 1840-41 1,634,945 1829-30 976,845 



1850-51 2,355,257 1839-40 2,177,835 1828-29 857,744 



1849-50 2,096,706 1838-39 1,360,532 1827-28 720,953 



1848-49 2,728,596 1837-38 1,801,497 1826-27 957,281 



1847-48 2,347,634 1836-37 1,422,930 1825-26 720,027 



1846-47 1,778,651 1835-36 1,360,725 1824-25 569,249 



1845-46 2,100,537 1834-35 1,254,328 1823-24 509,158 



1844-45 2,394,503 1833-34 1,205,394 



The comparative product of the United States, by decades, since 1824, is as follows : 



1824 569,249 I 1844 2,394,503 



1834 1,254,328 | 1852 3,262,882 



The annual quantity of cotton consumed and in the hands of manufacturers, north of Vir- 

 ginia, for the past twenty-six years, is as follows : 



Crop of Bales. Crop of Bales. Crop of Bales. 



1854-55 593,584 1844-45 389,006 1834-35 216,888 



1853-54 610,571 1843-44 346,744 1833-34 196,413 



1852-53 671,009 1842-43 325,129 1832-33 194,412 



1851-52 603,029 1841-42 267,850 1831-32 173,800 



1850-51 404,108 1840-41 297,288 1830-31 182,142 



1849-50 487,769 1839-40 295,193 1829-30 126,512 



1848-49 518,039 1838-39 276,018 1828-29 118,853 



1847-48 531,772 1837-38 246,063 1827-28 120,593 



1846-47 427,967 1836-37 222,540 1826-27 149,516 



1845-46 422,597 1836-36 236,733 



The comparative quantity consumed in 1854 and in 1855, south of Virginians as follows : 



1854. 1855. 



North Carolina Bales 20,000 18,500 



South Carolina 12,000 10,500 



Georgia 23,000 20,500 



Alabama 6,000 5,500 



Tennessee 6,000 4,000 



On the Ohio, Ac 38,000 16,000 



Total to September 1 105,000 85,000 



