THE COTTON TRADE. 273 



If to the aggregate exported be added from five to six mil- 

 lion pounds worked up in the country, a liberal estimate of 

 the annual amount of the cotton crops of Egypt will have been 

 made. The factories established by Mehemet Ali are, it is 

 stated, going rapidly to ruin. The cotton goods manufactured 

 are coarse " caftas" or soldier's " nizam" uniform. Much cot- 

 ton is used also, in making up divans, the usual furniture in 

 Egypt. The Egyptian bale is estimated at Alexandria at 

 300 Ibs. The United States consul-general at that port, in a 

 dispatch dated the 1st instant, from which are derived the 

 above facts, says : " The new crop is now coming in, and is 

 supposed to be a little above the average." 



CAPACITY OF THE COTTON BALE. 



The commercial standard of quantity in the cotton trade is 

 generally the bale. The weight of the bale, however, is by 

 no means uniform. Indeed, scarcely any weight, measure, or 

 standard of capacity may be considered less so. It varies, from 

 different causes, in different countries, and in different sections 

 of the same country, at different periods, and according to the 

 different kinds or qualities of the article. Improvements in 

 pressing and packing, to diminish expense in bagging and 

 freight, tend constantly to augment the weight of the bale. Thus, 

 in 1790, the United States bale was computed at only 200 Ibs. 

 In 1824 the average weight of bales imported into Liverpool 

 was 266 Ibs. ; but, increasing constantly, twelve years later 

 the average was 319 Ibs. McCulloch, however, in 1832, con- 

 sidered 300 to 310 Ibs. a fair average ; and Burns 310. At 

 the same time, the upland cotton bale was estimate at 320 Ibs., 

 and the sea island at 280 Ibs. According to Pitkins, the 

 Egyptian bale weighed at one time but 90 Ibs., though it now 

 weighs more than three times as many. At the same period 

 12* 



