10 



Table VII. — Showing siipplij and consampiion of cotton in the United States and Europe — 



surjilus stocks and prices. 



[lu bales.] 



18^2. — The area planted in cotton estimated at 6,300,000 acres. 



1854. — Backward spring, unseasonable rains, and early frosts in the South. 



1855, — Cotton consumed in Great Britain, 839,000,000 pounds. Great drought in 

 cotton States. 



1857. — Number of spindles in Austria, 1,533,243. Remarkable frosts in April 

 greatly damage the crops. Financial panic this year. 



1858. — The Cotton Supply Association of Great Britain recommends a Government 

 expenditure of $100,000,000 on internal improvements in India, with a view to 

 increasing cotton culture in that country. 



1860. — The census this year showed 1,262 cotton mills in the United States ; spin- 

 dles, 5,235,727. 



Prices. — Both planters and manufacturers enjoyed a period of unexampled pros- 

 perity during this decade. Although there were wars and political disturbances in 

 Europe and a financial panic both at home and abroad (1858), with a suspension of 

 specie payments in New York, consumption increased greatly in Europe and America, 

 keeping fair pace with the gradually increasing crops and thus maintaining prices 

 with unusual uniformity and profit to planters and manufacturers. 



