CHAPTER III 



COTTON PRODUCTION IN THE PRINCIPAL COUNTRIES 

 AND THE CHIEF COMMERCIAL VARIETIES 



PRODUCTION IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 



IT is generally supposed that the cotton plant is not 

 indigenous to the United States but was probably 

 introduced from Mexico. It is stated that the plant 

 was not grown as a fibre crop until about 1620, and its 

 cultivation underwent comparatively little develop- 

 ment until nearly two hundred years later. The 

 industry may be said to date from 1 794, the year in 

 which Eli Whitney's saw-gin was patented (see 

 page 46). From that time forward the production 

 and exports increased at a remarkable rate, as is 

 shown in the following table, which gives the approxi- 

 mate quantities of ginned cotton for 1790, and each 

 tenth year thereafter as well as for the years 1911- 

 1915. The only serious check which the industry 

 encountered was during the Civil War of 1861-1865. 



year Production. Total Exports. 



Millions of 15. Millions of Ib. 



1790 ... ij * 



1800 ... 35 20 

 1810 ... 85 59 

 1820 . . 160 120 



1830 -. . .350 265 



1840 . . . 644 506 



1850 . . .1,021 886 



1860 . . .1,836 294 



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