HISTORY OF COTTON 5 



of the United States. Magellan found the 

 Brazilians using cotton for beds and fabrics 

 in 1519. 



The first record of its being grown as a fiber 

 in the United States was in 1621, and then only 

 in small quantities. Cotton seed was brought 

 from the Barbadoes to South Carolina in 1680. 

 The first foreign shipment of cotton from this 

 country was from Savannah in 1747 only 

 three bags. There seems to have been so little 

 grown that no authentic record of the crop was 

 kept'until 1791, at which date the entire Ameri- 

 can crop was 8,889 bales weighing 225 pounds 

 each. The lint had to be separated from the 

 seed by hand, which was a tedious and difficult 

 task. 



The cotton gin was invented by Ely Whitney 

 in 1793. The first saw gin was erected in 

 South Carolina in 1795, and from this dates 

 the beginning of an industry which, for rapidity 

 and volume of growth, has no parallel in the 

 world's history. 



The total crop of the United States in 1850 

 was, in round numbers, 2,500,000 bales. In 

 1860 it reached 4,500,000 bales. Then the 

 Civil War came on and so paralyzed all the 



