230 



COTTON. 



From the above, it will be seen that the 

 average gro>s weight per bale in 1877 was 

 468.28 Ibs., against 471.46 Ibs. in the preced- 

 ing year, which indicates a decrease in weight 

 of nearly 7 per cent. Hence, if as many 

 pounds had been put into each bale in 1877 

 as in 1876, the number of bales in the crop 

 of the former year would have been 31,000 

 less than the present total. The weights, 

 however, were unusually large last year, as 

 will appear from the following comparison 

 (gross weight): 



The production of Sea Island cotton in the 

 past season amounted to 17,823 bales, as fol- 

 lows: Florida, 11,214 bales; Georgia, 1,669; 

 South Carolina, 4,911 ; Texas, 29. The annual 

 production and movement of Sea Island cotton 

 since the war have been as follows: 



The total exports to foreign ports for six years, ending August 31st, have been, with the 

 points of shipment, as follows : 



The annual cotton crop since 1830 has been 

 as follows : 



According to the authority above cited, the 

 past year was not a satisfactory one for spin- 

 ners, notwithstanding that they manufactured 

 goods in increased quantities, and sold all of 

 them. They began the season with a favora- 

 ble outlook and very hopeful anticipations, but 

 several circumstances combined to produce 

 their disappointment. All trade in the coun- 

 try was unusually depressed; hence the de- 

 mand for cotton goods was, in general, quiet, 

 and not favorable to full prices; it absorbed 

 the production, but in such a way as to keep 

 the seller almost constantly under the disad- 

 vantage of having to force his goods ; more- 

 over, the vagaries of the cotton market helped 

 to increase the indisposition among buyers to 

 purchase, When the year began, the price of 

 cotton, statistically, appeared very low. The 

 consumption of 1876, and the prospective sup- 



* Including what has been burnt in the United States. 



