GOSSYPIUM 



TRADE 



THE COTTON PLANT 



Prospects of 

 Improvement. 



Manufac- 

 ture of 

 Yarn. 



Increase in 

 Production 

 of Higher 

 Counts. 



Foreign Raw 

 Cotton. 



Exports of 



Indian 



Yarns. 



Tarn 

 worked up. 



Production. 



hand, went in for long-staple cottons in order to produce high-grade 

 goods. She found these in the United States, and thus gradually closed 

 her doors against the short-staple cottons of India. But that inferior 

 yarns might come to be refused both in India and China seems never 

 to have been contemplated, yet it may now be affirmed that the future 

 prosperity of the Indian cotton industry will turn very largely on whether 

 or not the Indian cultivator can produce cotton superior and cleaner to 

 that presently grown. With better-grade cotton it may in all fairness 

 be said that it can be but a question of time when the Indian mills will 

 claim a steadily increasing proportion of the supply of higher-count goods 

 not only to India but perhaps to the world. 



MANUFACTURES. Local Trade in Yarn. The PRODUCTION of yarn 

 by the Indian mills (British and Native) has progressed steadily, but not 

 phenomenally. The outturn (including Native States.) in 1895-6 came 

 to 432 million Ib. ; in 1900-1 it fell to 352 million ; in 1902-3 rose to 575 

 million ; in 1904-5 stood at 578 million ; and in 1905-6 at 655 million Ib., 

 with in addition 25 million Ib. produced by the mills located in the Native 

 States. Of the amount for 1904-5, Bombay Presidency claimed as its share 

 422 million Ib., being followed by Bengal with 38 million, Madras, 30 

 million, the United Provinces, 27 million, the Panjab, 11 million, and 

 lastly by the Native States with 22 million Ib. Of the total production 

 in 1904-5 about 110 million Ib. in the British districts and 4 million in 

 the Native States were in higher counts, that is to say, qualities above 

 20's. This was about 10 million Ib. in excess of 1903-4, and 43 million 

 in excess of 1900-1. One of the most significant features of the modern 

 traffic in Indian cotton manufactures is this increase of the outturn of 

 the higher-count yarn, for which a fair amount of foreign raw cotton is 

 being imported, and recently an increasing local production. In 1904-5, 

 192,544 cwt. of cotton were obtained from the United Kingdom, Germany, 

 Egypt and the United States, etc., and in 1905-6 this supply stood at 

 161,476 cwt. The production of counts in 1904-5 was 51 million Ib. in 

 excess of that of 1899-1900. Attention has been drawn (in the Review of 

 Trade) to the fact that the imports of high-count yarns have been almost in 

 the inverse ratio to the expansion of the exports of Indian-produced yarns 

 of that class (30's and over). By way of contrast with this prosperous 

 Indian industry, it may be pointed out that the weight of twist and yarn 

 imported in 1888-9 was 52 million Ib. ; in 1898-9 it stood at 45 \ million ; 

 in 1903-4 at only 28 million; though it rose again in 1905-6 to 45| million Ib. 



Indian Yarn. With regard to the EXPORTS of Indian twists and yarns, 

 in 1876-7 these stood at close on 8 million Ib., valued at 36| lakhs of 

 rupees ; in 1903-4, at 252 million Ib., valued at about 9 crores of 

 rupees (6,000,000) ; in 1905-6 at 297J million Ib., valued at over 

 12 crores (8,000,000); and in 1906-7 at 243| million Ib., valued at 10 crores 

 (6,931,021). Deducting these exports from the above-mentioned total 

 production of yarn at the Indian mills, in 1903-4 there remained 303 J 

 million Ib. plus the foreign imports of, say, 28 million Ib. of yarns, etc., as 

 the amount to be worked up by the Indian power and hand looms ; and in 

 1905-6 about 357 million Ib. plus the foreign imports, viz. 45| million Ib. 



Piece Goods. The woven goods produced by the Indian mills came 

 to 95 million Ib. in 1899-1900 ; 117 million Ib. in" 1902-3 ; 131 million Ib. 

 in 1903-4 ; 152 million Ib. in 1904-5 ; and 156 million Ib. in 1905-6, 

 with in addition 7 million Ib. turned out by mills in Native States. The 



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