iSIoVGMBER 2, i8gi.] 
THF. TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
357 
rates, especially for strong liquoring kinds. The 
Produce Marlcets' Review says: — Tho qnantities of 
Indian tea brought forward sggre,iatei upwards of 
37,000 packages, iucludiag a good assortment of all 
grades. The market generally eiiowed greater sttarli- 
ueas, and with few excoptious former rates were msm- 
taincd. The teas from the Assam district wore 
actively competed for, the quality being up to tho 
average of previous seasons, and so long as this is 
inaiataiued, a good demand may be expected, as 
price.-i favour au increasing couBumption. There have 
been no changes of iraportaoce in Cevlou teas, but with 
a continuaiieo of aomovvhat small sales, prices thow 
consiiierable firmutss. Good fiivoury Pekoes at from 
9d Upwards are iu request, aud sell freely, whereas, 
Botne two months since, suoh a price as9d to 9id was 
almost uuprocurablo for leaf teas. Brokea teas have 
also been in bettor demand, and those at from SJ i to 
9Jd show a rise of from |1 to Jd from the lowest 
point. Fine to finest icinds .'!l''o show a distinct im- 
provement, and the finest lots of the season have lately 
passed the hammer. — U. and 0. Mail, Oct. 2. 
THE INDIAN COTTON INDUSTRY. 
The particulars of last month's exports of cotton 
from Bomb.iy, which our local corre.'pandent te'egraphs 
todiiy, show a decrease o.i ■Tuly as July did on June, but 
this is probably because the season is drawing- to a close. 
Now that the eud of Ihi long lane of depression 
in the markets of China and Japan appears to hive 
been reached, aud a brisk revival of trade in 1ho5e 
gieat markets for Indians goois hfiH commenced the 
piospccts of the Indian cotton industry sre more 
hopeful. The ('eve'opment of the Indian textile in- 
dustries hiis been remarliably rapid aud 3 et steady, 
aud there is no reason why, with reasonable caution, 
this advance fhould LOt continue. Six years ago the 
to al textile trade represented a value of a' out 531 
lakhs, and it has no'iv increased to 989^ lakhs, or 
over 8(i per cent, Thire sre 134 m Us at work of 
in course of erection in India, rout lining 33,51,094 
spindlo.-i, and 24,531 lojins. The e consume approxi- 
mately 4,200,000 cwt of cotto 1 and afford employ, 
ineut to 111,018 hands daily. Thirty-three years ago 
there were only 12 mills in Indi.f, with a .spindle 
power of 338,000, and consuming 227,500 cwt of cotton, 
Bombay is, of course, far ahead of tho other Presi- 
dencies and contains on Bombay Island alo ;o G7 
mills, with a spindle aud loom power of 1,909,123 
and 14,374 rtapectively, and employing 61,981 bands 
for a consumption of 762,562 bales (of 3i cwt each) 
of cotton. In lha Ptcsideuoy of Bombay there are 
further 24 mills, containing 451,004 spin Jlesand 4,140 
looDDS, and eniplojing 16^140 hands and using 130,158 
b,ile3 of coiton. Tho "Kingdom" thus accounts 
for 94 milli out, of the 131 in th) Indian Empire. 
Madras comes next, loii(/o inievvello, witli 11 milk, 
ootit'iiuing 243,512 spiudles and 555 looms. Bengal 
has 9 concerns, with a spindle power of 318,000 and 
200 looms. The Bengal mills, however, consume 
104,858 bales ot cotton against 04,614 in Madras. ' 
The mill industry in this county has raoeatly been read 
a very tevere lesson on the evils of excessive pruductiou, 
which has resulted iu a combined sliort tirao movement 
in Bombay. iSome steps were ab;olulely iie^er,sary, 
M tho Uhica markets, which are tie bitckboae of the 
Bombiy mill industry, aud become glutted with 
supplies fo Ihut sales could scarouly be forced even 
at cost price. There are only two ways of 
meeting a crisis like this, namely sboit time 
or a re. Suction of wages. The latter coarse, however, 
is impractioable in a country like India, where the 
wages of tho operative are a fix'-d quantity irres- 
pective of the state of trade ; so there was nothing 
else open to the millownera than to agree to short 
timo. This ttioy wisely determined to adop", aud 
out of the 00 luilla at work in Bombay 59 signed an 
agrcemout to suppond work for 8 days and 4 days 
pt r month (according to whether they were spinning 
mills only or spinning and weaving concerns aa well) 
from the 15th September to tho 31st December, 
1891 ; and tbe others were expected to sign in a few 
day?-. One great ditticulty in unanimous stoppage in 
varied concerns is offered by the different coaditions 
they work under. Some only spin, others spin, weave 
and dye ; others again have a purely local trade, and 
some mainly an export one. A refusal to co operate 
for short time is thus easily understood, unless odl 
tl'.e branches of trade are equally depreised. For 
example, take t. mill whioti spin<i, weaves aud dyes ; 
and one that only spins. The yarn trade being ut- 
terly demoralised, it might pay tho spinning mill to 
agree to short time, but not the other, which could 
get along with its eloth and dyed goods trade. This 
trouble lias been guarded against in Bombay by per- 
mitting spinning and weaving concerns to work four 
days p..r month more than solely spinning factories, 
and the Committee of tho Millownors' Association is 
to be congratulated on the success of its scheme, which 
cannot fail to place tho textile trade of Bombay 
on a much healthier basis. The China market has 
already recovered from its stagnation, and large 
transactions are repotted to have taken place at 
advancing rates. V/ith the safeguard of short time 
againt t a second surfeiting of the consuming centres, 
the pro.speots of the Bombay mills are decidedly 
cheerful. All exporters l:ave again entered the markets, 
and not Only has almost all the ready stock been 
taken up, tut extensive forward oonlracts, in some 
0 ises into the year 1892, have been made. Prices 
have advanced from a 1-lQth to a J of an anna per 
pound from tho lowest point touctied a month ago, 
and the sales during the first half of tho past month 
havp aggregated some 40,000 bales, mostly lO's. 16's, 
and 20's. Tae export yarn trade may therefore be 
said to be in a flourishing condition. A contemplation 
of the import trade in piece goods and yarns also 
offers some food for reflection. The figures show that 
there has been an immense decrease in piece goods, 
with a tlight incrcife in yarns. The insignificance of 
Madras trade iu piece good.', as compared with the 
fister Presidencies, is very remarkibhi. The statistica 
of exports ot piece goods and yarui from India in 
1890 and 1891 up to June 30th are eminently satis- 
faotoiy, pointing aa they do to a large increase iu 
both depurtmsnts. 
Having now dealt with manufactured goods, wo will 
turn to the raw materiab No reliable statistical data 
of tho imports and exports of cotton are published 
in Madras aud Calcutta, and we can therefore quote 
no figures of any value. In Bombay the case is diffe- 
rent, accurate statements being regul irly promulgated. 
From these we find tbat the inipirts ot cotton into 
Bombiy this year, (from Ist January to 16th Septem- 
ber) from the interior, show a deoreaae of over 45,000 
bales 0 imparL'd with 1890, spread over all varieties 
except Midras, Westerns, Khandeish, and Bengals. 
Thq exports also are very much lesa thau last year. 
As the exports to China and Calcutta show an inoreaae 
of 26 and 10;i per cent, respectively, the decline is 
solely attributatjle to European shipments, and is no 
doubt due in a gr<;at measure to the extensive adul- 
teration and fake packing so often alluded t). The 
season for cotton all over the country was a poor one, 
and the prospects of the coming cr 'p are infinitely 
worse. The are* under cotton this year shows a con- 
siderable decrease as compared with 1890-1, the main 
cause of which ia no doubt the character of the season, 
and the deficient rainfall, though the diminished 
European demand, combined with the poor prices 
obtainable for the Indian staple (due to large American 
stocks) may contribute to the result. Statisticians 
calculate that the yield of the coining crop will be 20 
per cent below that of last year, and that the quality 
will bo 5 per cent, inferior as to value. Here in 
Madras the outlook is not cheerful. In Ooimbatore, 
Kuruool; Dharwar, aud Bellury the rains have been 
so deficient aud biokward that the crop of cotton is 
likely to fall far short of last season, and as last 
Beaton's outturn was about 30 por cent, below the 
previous joar, more than an 8 anna yield can scarcely 
be counted on. To exporters this is the gloomy pros- 
pect, though mill owners can take cjmfort from the 
low prices ruling, which will enable them to till 
