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CHAPTER XI 



the cloth I'eadily manufactured and the finislied product is 

 cheap ; moreover, the industry furnishes a great many useful 

 by-products. Of no small account is the fact that its imperish- 

 able nature renders it proof against depreciation in storage. 



Production. — The demand has been increasing rapidly 

 during recent years, and this has stimulated production. The 

 reasons for this increase are : — 



(1) Of the clothing actually worn to-day, nine-tenths 

 of the raw material is estimated to be cotton. The 

 spread of civilisation has had as a concomitant the use 

 of better clothing, so that to-day many races originally 

 partially clothed are clothed; in consequence, there is an 

 increased demand for more and for better clothing. 



(2) Cotton has lately been shown to be a successful 

 substitute for other raw materials, with the result that 

 articles previously made of hnen or silk are now made 

 from cotton. 



(3) New uses are being discovered daily, e.g., 

 webbing for motor car tyres, yacht sails, etc. 



(4) Lastly, there has been an extraordinary 

 improvement in the quality of cotton fabrics. At one 

 time ' ' cotton ' ' was a term of contempt applied to cheap 

 and obviously inferior goods, whereas to-day some of the 

 finest materials are made from cotton, and their value 

 is well recognised. 



The production of cotton is confined to warm countries 

 having an average frostless season of 200 days or more. At 

 present 97 per cent, of the world's cotton is produced in the 

 Northern Hemisphere, and 95 per cent, is grown south of the 

 37th parallel of latitude. Since 1830 the production of cotton 

 has centred in the southern part of North America, where 

 to-day 60 to 65 per cent, of the total crop of the world is 

 produced. 



Tlie world's crop for 1916-17 was obtained as follows : — 

 North America 12,500,000 bales. 



India 



Egypt 



Russia 



China 



Other countries 



4,500,000 

 1,200,000 

 1,500,000 

 2,000,000 

 1,200,000 



