168 COTTON 



The different kinds of cotton are many and various. Some 

 of them are as follows : calico, muslin, dimity, corduroy, 

 gauze, nainsook, ticking, madapolam, flanelette, fustian, 

 chintz, cretonne, sateen, grenadine, zephyr, silesia, tape, 

 lamp-wicks, pique, jean, mull, lace, lace curtains, and many 

 others. 



Cottons have many valuable qualities. In the first place 

 they are cheap, and are therefore procurable by the poorest 

 classes of the populations of all the world. Besides this they 

 lend themselves to various methods of treatment, so that they 

 can be manufactured into cloth of an almost infinite variety 

 of texture and colour, and, in consequence, are increasingly 

 popular among the more well-to-do classes in our own and 

 other countries. 



As a result of this the demand for raw cotton continually 

 increases. 



Our average annual import of raw cotton is two thousand 

 two hundred and ninety million pounds, 1 and ' there is no 

 industry in Great Britain, except agriculture, which affords 

 so much employment, directly or indirectly, for the masses 

 of the people, as the manipulation of cotton, or which is of 

 more importance to the whole mercantile and industrial 

 system of England '. 2 



SOURCES OF SUPPLY. The modern system of cotton manu- 

 factures dates from the middle of the eighteenth century, 

 and was largely the result of the series of wonderful inventions 

 which took place at that time. 3 



In early days Lancashire manufacturers bought their raw 

 cotton from the West Indies (as late as 1790 only 300 bales 

 were bought from the United States), but conditions rapidly 

 changed, and later on the States became the chief source of 

 our supplies. 



1 Calculated on the five years, 1909 to 1913. 



2 R. J. Peake, Common Commodities of Commerce. 



3 For instance : 1709, Arkwright's machine for spinning by rollers ; 

 1770, Hargreave's spinning jenny; 1779, Crompton's Mule; 1785, Watt's 

 steam engine applied to cotton manufacture. 



