218 



CO T T OK 



and Great Britain, which seems to have been establish- 

 ed solely for the purpose of benefiting the latter : we 

 do not deem it necessary to enter into argument on the 

 subject, but we shall state facts which speak for them- 

 selves. 



The monopoly both of the supplies and of the pro- 

 duce to the colonies, is one of the chief sources of the 

 high expenditure in cultivating cotton in the British 

 West India possessions. This, however, has been 

 adopted with a view of enforcing the ends of the na- 

 vigation laws, and therefore are not to be opposed. 

 Every article of clothing, of luxury, and even of the first 

 necessity, is derived from the united kingdoms; unless, 

 indeed, under the most distressing circumstances, when 

 the governors of the colonies are authorised to open 

 the ports to American vessels during peace. But in 

 general no permission is granted. Now every article 

 of food in America may be procured at one half, or 

 even a third of the sum it actually costs when brought 

 from England. The monopoly of the produce also is 

 disadvantageous to the British cotton grower, particu- 

 larly in the time of war, when he is obliged to incur 

 all the war charges without any reciprocal advantage, 

 while if permitted to choose his own market, the supply 

 would be regulated, and the price be in consequence 

 rendered equal to the expenditure. 



This then is the predominant cause of the expense of 

 cotton plantations in British settlements ; and unless it 

 be regulated, the British planter can never enter into 

 competition with the foreigner. We might, did our 

 limits permit us, enter largely into the subsidiary causes; 

 but it is impossible to do so, without exceeding the ob- 

 ject of this work. (c. m.) 



On the different Kinds and Qualities of Cotton. 



Cotton is now so extensively used, as the raw material 

 of a most extensive and useful manufacture of cloths of 

 many different kinds, that a short account of the differ- 

 ent kinds imported into the British market, with re- 

 -marks upon their respective qualities, and the estima- 

 tion in which they are generally held by the manufac- 

 turers who use them, may perhaps be the most useful 

 introduction to the account which we propose to give 

 in this article, of the various stages of this most exten- 

 sive and beneficial application of British industry. 



Smyrna Wool. — This kind of cotton wool was for- 

 merly imported from the Levant, in quantities propor- 

 tioned to the trifling demand which then existed for it, 

 and was almost the only kind then to be met with, 

 excepting a few bags occasionally imported from the 

 West Indies. It is now rarely to be met with, the price 

 which it commands affording no encouragement to the 

 importer to trade in it. This is little to be regretted, as 

 it is short in the staple* and very weak in the fibre. 

 Although soft and silky in appearance, therefore, it is 

 neither well fitted to undergo the fatigue of the many 

 processes to which cotton is subjected in the course of 

 manufacture, nor does it produce an article of either 

 beauty, strength, or durability when finished. 



West India. West India. — The cotton wool of the West Indies is 

 various in quality, but is in general a strong coarse ar- 

 ticle, pretty long in the fibre, and sufficiently well adapt- 

 ed for the manufacture of the stouter and coarser fa- 

 brics of cloth, to which it is generally applied. It is 

 totally unfit for the lighter and ornamental goods. 



East India. East India. — No great quantity of this has ever been 

 imported into Europe ; the company perhaps consider- 



DifFerent 

 kinds of 

 cotton. 



Smyrna 

 wool. 



South Affle. 

 rican. 



ing a great importation of the raw material as likely to Cos:»A, 

 prove injurious to their more lucrative traffic in finished *** *~y~**' 

 goods. What has been imported is very various. That 

 known by the name of Bourbon is generally of a very 

 superior quality, both in strength and fineness. It is 

 still the only wool used for yarn of the finest kinds. A 

 coarser kind of wool is also sometimes brought from 

 India, generally in large square matts or bales. It is 

 fine, silky, and glossy in appearance ; but is so very short 

 and weak in the fibre as to be hardly capable of being 

 spun. 



South American. — The wool brought from the differ- 

 ent settlements on the continent of South America, ranks 

 higher in general estimation than any we have hitherto 

 enumerated, excepting the Bourbon. The chief kinds 

 are the Brazil, which is distinguished by the names of 

 Pernambuco and Maranham, from the districts where 

 it is produced. The Pernambuco wool is rather short 

 in the fibre, white in the colour, and in quality is su- 

 perior to any imported, the Bourbon and Georgia ex- 

 cepted. The Maranham is similar in quality, but in- 

 ferior both in strength and cleanness to the Pernam- 

 buco. 



Demerary. — Which is a fine white glossy wool, pret- Itinerary, 

 ty long in the fibre, and generally very well cleaned 

 and picked before packing. It forms a clean stout 

 yarn, and is very fit for what is of a moderate fineness, 

 but it is too long and coarse in the fibre for very fine 

 yarn. The Cayenne cotton is not much imported. It 

 is a strong clean white wool ; but the fibre being of un- 

 common length, it is found difficult to card and spin by 

 the modern process. The others, viz. Berbice, Surinam, 

 &c. are of trie same general description, but inferior to 

 those mentioned, and pretty nearly on a level in quality 

 and price with the West India wools. 



Georgia. — It is not many years since the cultivation Georgia, 

 of cotton was introduced into Georgia and South Caro- 

 lina. Its superior qualities, however, soon raised it to 

 a very high rank in the estimation of the British manu- 

 facturers. The Georgia wool is not the produce of the 

 common gossypium or cotton tree, but of a small shrub, 

 which after two crops decays and is rooted out. The 

 Georgia is called either Sea Island or Bowed. The first 

 is decidedly superior to any known, the Bourbon ex- 

 cepted. The Bowed Georgia is a short fibred weak cot- 

 ton, inferior even to the West India wool. 



To the -above short account of the mercantile estima- 

 tion in which the different kinds of cotton wool usually 

 brought into the British market are held, we need only 

 add, that perhaps a common price-current list will be 

 found the best criterion to which we can refer as the 

 standard of then respective values. But this must also 

 be taken cautiously, as the prices are often greatly af- 

 fected by casual interruptions of the supply, either from 

 failure of crops or political vicissitudes. The coarse 

 wools from our own colonies do not of course suffer the 

 same interruptions as those belonging to foreign powers,; 

 and in point of quantity these furnish by very far the 

 greatest proportion of the supply, from being applied 

 to the coarser and thicker fabrics, which not only re- 

 quire the greatest weight of stuff, but from their dura- 

 bility are consumed by the great mass of the people. 



Besides the vegetable qualities of the wool, a con- 

 siderable difference in its value arises from the mode in 

 which it is prepared for the market by the cultivator. 

 In the Dutch settlements, that patient and laborious 

 care for which those people are so remarkable in all 



• By the word staple, cotton dealers and manufacturers mean the fibre or hair of tbe colto* 



