United States Woollen Industry. 



335 



The returns show that the number of establishments engaged 

 in wool manufacture, including hosiery and knit goods, in 

 1900, was 2,335. The capital involved amounted to over 

 ,£80,000,000, and the number of persons employed in the 

 industry was 249,799, while the machinery in use included 6,605 

 cards, 1,451 combing machines, 3,511,099 spindles, and 74,190 

 looms. The chief seat of the wool manufacture is to be found 

 in the north-eastern States, Massachusetts leading in 1900 with 

 a product valued at £"17,000,000, although it occupied the second 

 position in 1890. Pennsylvania, first in 1890, was second in 

 1900, when its output of woollen goods amounted to ,£15,000,000 

 in value. Rhode Island was third in rank with a product some- 

 what less than half that of Massachusetts, followed by New 

 York with a product not quite half that of Pennsylvania. Phila- 

 delphia, Lawrence (Massachusetts), and Providence (R.I.), are the 

 chief wool-manufacturing towns in the States, their production 

 in 1900 being valued at ,£12,000,000, ,£5,000,000, and ,£4,000,000 

 respectively. The figures for Philadelphia show a decrease of 

 23 percent, as compared with the returns for 1890, but those 

 for Lawrence indicate an advance of 145 per cent, during the 

 decade. 



The greater portion of the wool used in the manufactories 

 is produced in the United States itself. The annual pro- 

 duction of the wool shows great variation in recent years. 

 In 1890 the quantity was 276,000,000 lb., and the returns for 

 subsequent years showed an annual increase, until in 1895 the 

 product was 309,748,000 lb. The next three years showed a 

 steady decline, the total of 259,000,000 lb. in 1897 being the 

 smallest production returned for any year since 1881. The 

 census reports for 1900 show a product for the year of 

 277,000,000 lb. of fleece wool, to which must be added 

 33,000,000 lb., estimated as the quantity of pulled wool pro- 

 duced, making a total of 3 10,000,000 lb. Over 961,000 lb. of 

 mohair, statistics of which were collected for the first time in 

 1900, were also produced, bringing the total of wool and hair to 

 311,000,000 lb. The exports of domestic wool during the year 

 amounted to over 2,000,000 lb., while 128,000,000 lb. of foreign 

 wool was imported for home consumption, so that there was a 

 net supply of 437,000,000 lb. available for manufacturers, as 



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