COTTON. 



251 





Tliose totals show a decrease in actual con- 

 sumption this year of 80,184 bales, while they 

 i'Heato the rapid progress which this in- 

 dii.stry ha-; mu.lc witliin the past five years. 

 In the following tables of the capacity and 

 mption of the cotton-mills of the United 

 States, only those mills are included which 

 ]iin cotton. In New York, Pennsylvania, 



and other States, there are many mills which 

 only weave the yarns which other mills have 

 spun ; they, therefore, consume no cotton. 

 Tlio number of spinning-mills, with the num- 

 ber of looms and spindles, the amount of cot- 

 ton consumed, and other items of importance, 

 for the year ending July 1, 1874, was as fol- 

 lows: 



The cost of manufacturing varies from four 

 and a half mills to six and a half mills per 

 number per pound in different mills, according 

 to their organization, condition, and manage- 

 ment. The rate of four and a half mills is 

 extremely low, and is reached by very few 

 factories; while six and a half mills is an ex- 

 travagantly high cost. The mean or average 

 is probably five and a fourth or five and a 

 half mills per number. Including the cost of 

 the cotton, and two per cent, for selling, the 

 cost of printing-cloth is 5.02 cents per yard ; 

 light sheeting, 7.41 ; and standard sheeting, 

 8.94. From the above table it appears that 

 the number of spinning-spindles in the United 



States on the 1st of July, 1874, was 9,415,383, 

 against 7,114,000 at the same date of 1870, and 

 6,763,557 at the same date of 1869, as follows: 



