GOSSYPIUM. 



GOSSYPIUM. 



both are primarily to be traced to a defective 

 staple, arising from diseased plants; that the 

 artificial nitter may be generated even by the 

 common method of preparation, unless the cot- 

 ton be judiciously dried; and that the means 

 to which the manufacturer is obliged to resort 

 are evidently calculated to bring about the 

 same results. 



" Of these samples, Nos. 1 and 2, which are 

 'illy got up,' are lumpy and stringy, of a deep 

 3'ellow tinge, and weak and uneven in fibre. 

 The cottons from which these are taken, it is 

 likely, were never dried; it is still more pro- 

 bable that they were the produce of a scanty 

 harvest. No. 3 is of natural colour, open, and 

 in texture strong and long. It is necessary 

 here to remark, that the stringy appearance of 

 cotton is not always, or even mainly, the fault 

 of the planter. It arises principally from the 

 same cause to which the nitter is referable: 

 the imperfectness of the staple, or the imma- 

 turity of the fruit. This was especially true 

 the last year. 



"To two considerations, pertinent to the 

 matter under review, it may be proper to ad- 

 vert. In every field, no matter under what 

 sinister circumstances the crop has grown, 

 there are small sections in which the plants 

 come to perfection and bear healthy fruit. 

 From these the cotton that is picked is marked 

 perhaps by every characteristic of the best 

 staple, yet, almost from necessity, it is thrown 

 into the general bulk. Again, in harvest sea- 

 son the labourer cannot stop to examine, if he 

 had the ability to know, the variant qualities 

 of the cotton he is engaged in gathering, but 

 promiscuously the bad, the fair, and the good 

 are blended. This is unavoidable. Subse- 

 quently the stained is separated from the white, 

 but the weak and strong continue together; a 

 part only of the most deficient of the former 

 being afterwards detached by the whipper. 



" On the immediate topic of inquiry, the com- 

 mittee ask leave to conclude with the follow- 

 ing suggestions : 



" 1. The necessity of drying cotton in the 

 sun for 3 or 4 hours, as its dampness may 

 seem to indicate. 



" 2. Select seed for planting, not with a view 

 to superiority of staple, but the production of 

 sound cotton. For that purpose, choose from 

 healthy stalks those pods that are fully blown. 



" 3. The first pickings should be set apart, 

 and not mixed with the general crop. The fibre 

 is weak and short. The same course ought to 

 be pursued with cottons gathered after a storm 

 or much rain. 



" 4. Cotton ought to be thoroughly cleansed 

 before it is carried to the gin. If it be well 

 done the after-labour will be trifling, and the 

 fault of over-handling avoided. Too much 

 pressure on the roller gives to the cotton a t 

 matted appearance; if the pressure is unequal, ' 

 it will be stringy. 



"Before closing this report, the committee 

 would offer a few reflections, not irrelevant, 

 they trust, to the occasion. For many years | 

 the sea island crop has scarcely repaid the toil ! 

 and perseverance incurred in its production. | 

 From highly unpropitious seasons, the ravages 

 of worms, and the cultivation of a plant pecu- ' 



liarly delicate and unfruitful, it may in verity 

 be said that it is annually a subject of congra- 

 tulation with the planter if his necessary ex- 

 penditures do not exceed his profits. Except 

 1826, when the exportation was about 6,000,000 

 Ibs., from 1833 to 1835 inclusive the produc- 

 tion was less by from 1 to 7,000,000 than at 

 any former period since 1821. 



Number of pounds of sea island cotton exported in 



1821 - 11,314,066 1829 - 12,833,307 



1822 - 11,250,34 1830 - 8,147,165 



1823 - 12,136,688 1831 - 8,311,762 



1824 - 9,525,722 132 - 8,743,373 



1825 - 9,655,278 1833 



1826 - 5,972,855 1834 - 8,085,935 



1827 - 15,140,798 1835 - 7,755,736 



1828 - 11,268,419 



" From these facts, added to the wonderful 

 machinery which enables a workman now to 

 perform the work required of 2 or 300 men 60 

 years ago, the increase of population in those 

 countries where the finest goods are used, and 

 the decrease in the rates of duties in Great Bri- 

 tain, it was reasonable to infer that an aug- 

 mentation of price, in some measure propor- 

 tional to the diminished production, would have 

 taken place. From 1821 to 1829 inclusive, 

 when the average export was 11,016,418 Ibs., 

 the average price in Liverpool was 19rf. From 

 1830 to 1835 (excluding 1833, the export of 

 which year is unknown to the committee), 

 when the average export was reduced to 

 8,208,194 Ibs., the average price was as low 

 as 



1821, 12} to 30<f. 



1822, 10 



1823, 11 



1824, 11} 



1825, 15 



1826, 10 



1827, 9| 



1828, 10 

 1*2'>, 9 



281 



20 



14} 



16 



15 



1830, Hi 



1831, <4 



1832, 9J 



1833, loi 



1834, 131 



1835, 14 



1836, 14 



1837, 12 



to 20<f. 16d. 



18 13| 



18 13f 



22 ir| 



26 19? 



33 24} 



36 25 



40 26 



2j. 1 !</. per cwt. In 1821 the duty was 6 per cent, ad val. 



"The table from which the above (to 1833) 

 is taken, was published in 1833, by Messrs. 

 George Holt & Co., of Liverpool. It exhibits 

 the extreme prices of cotton and wool in that 

 place from 1806 to 1835 inclusive. The state- 

 ment of prices from 1834 to 1836 inclusive, is 

 extracted from a Liverpool circular, published 

 in January last. The difference between the 

 extreme prices has been assumed as the me- 

 dium price. What the average price really 

 was cannot with certainty be stated. 



'The long staple is generally used for the 

 twist or warp, and the short staple for the weft. 

 In this way, the black seed is made to partici- 

 pate in the changes which, no matter from what 

 cause, mark the market value of the green seed. 

 This, perhaps, is the strongest reason why 

 a more decided inequality in price between 

 he fine and superfine qualities of long staple 

 cotton ought to exist, to which may be added 

 the variety of uses to which the former, alone 

 or mixed, is applicable. From these conside- 

 rations it is apparent that, in relation to those 

 two descriptions of vegetable wool, the one is 

 really worth from two to three-fold more than 

 the other, instead of from 30 to 50 per cent, 

 which continues to be paid. 



" One pound of cotton usually makes 8 yards 

 of coarse muslin, and is then increased in value 

 from the raw cotton eight-fold. But, if spun in 



561 



