from the hold with pickaxes. Unless, therefore, means be devised for lessening the risk of damage during the voyage, there is little reason to think that Odessa wheat will ever be largely imported in ordinary seasons into Britain. (See the evidence of J. I. Lander, Esq. and J. Schneider, Esq. before the Lords' Committee of 1827, on the price of foreign corn.) We subjoin a

Statement of the probable Cost of importing 2.000 Chetwerts or 1,453 Quarters of Wheat from Odessa to London.

And in addition to the above, the charge for probable damage on the voyage may be estimated at 2s. a quarter.

And the factorage in London at Is. per quarter..

0 15 8

American Corn Trade. The prices of wheat at New York and Philadelphia may be taken, at an average, at from 35s. to 40s. a quarter; and as the cost of importing a quarter of wheat from the United States into England amounts to from 10s. to 12s., it is seen that no considerable supply could be obtained from that quarter, were our prices under 458. or 50s. It should also be remarked, that prices in America are usually higher than in the Baltic; so that but little can be brought from the former, except when the demand is sufficient previously to take off the cheaper wheats of the northern ports.

The exports of wheat from the U. States are, however, comparatively triding; it being in the shape of flour that most part of their exports of that grain are made. The shipments of this important article from Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, New Orleans, and other ports, have occasionally been very large, though down to 1839 they had been for some years rather decreasing. Occasionally, indeed, considerable quantities of corn and flour have been sent from Europe to the U. States. In 1837, for example, no fewer than 3,921,259 bushels of foreign wheat were iniported into the U. States, of which 792,675 bushels were from England. This, however, was a rare instance; and in years like 1847 and 1849, when there was at once an extraordinarily abundant crop in the States, and an unusually large demand and high prices in Europe, the exports are very large. We subjoin an

Account showing the Quantities of Wheat, Wheat-Flour, Indian Corn, and Indian Meal, exported from the U. States during the Year ended the 30th of June, 1849, specifying the Countries to which they were sent, and the Quantities and Values of the Supplies sent to each.

But exclusive of the above, considerable qu'mtities of rye and rye meal, pulse, and other grains, ship's bread, &c. were exported in the course of the above year. The total value of the exports of corn, flour, and meal, amounted to $22,895,783.

We doubt, however, whether this exportation can be maintained. Speaking generally, agriculture is little known as a science in any part of America, and but imperfectly understood as an art; and it could not rationally be expected that it should be otherwise. In all those countries in which, as in the greater part of America, portions of fertile and unoccupied land may be obtained for little more than a nominal price, the invariable practice is, after clearing and breaking up a piece of land, to subject it to a course of continuous cropping; and when it is exhausted, to resort to some other tract of new ground, leaving that which has been abandoned to recover itself by the aid of the vis medicatrix naturæ ! But in those parts of the Eastern or Atlantic States that have been long settled, and are fully occupied, this scourging system can no longer be advantageously followed; and there, consequently, a better system of agriculture is beginning to be introduced; and a rotation of crops, and the manuring of land, are practised sometimes with more and sometimes with less success. Still, however, it is certain that even in the best farmed districts agriculture is in a very backward state; and, except where the land is naturally of a very superior quality, the produce is scanty indeed, compared with what is obtained in this country. In illustration of what is now stated we beg to subjoin

An Account of the average Produce per Acre of the Corn Crops in the State of New York, as published in a late Report by the State Agricultural Society," in Contrast with what is believed to be the Produce of similar Crops in this Country.

It results from this statement that the returns per acre are about twice as great in this country as in New York, which has some of the best corn growing land in the Union. In Ohio, which is supposed to be the most productive of all the states, the results are similar, the produce of wheat and barley in it being respectively 154 and 24 bushels an acre. It is true, no'doubt, that these returns may be increased; but this can only be done, if it be done at all, by the employment of greater capital and skill in the culture of the land. And in the meantime the New York farmers, and those of the other Atlantic States, have to withstand the competition of their neighbours in the newly-formed states on the Mississippi and Missouri, where the best land is subjected to the scourging treatment already referred to. But in these states, though the land be cheap, the produce per acre is, in most cases, very small. In Michigan, for example, it appears, from a return published by the state legislature in 1849, that the average produce of wheat per acre does not exceed 10 and 1-5th bushels, being less than 9 bushels an acre when seed is deducted! It would further appear from the best attainable information on the subject, that if we take the produce of the new states generally at 12 or 13 bushels per imp. acre, we shall not be within, but beyond, the mark. And though it be very difficult and, perhaps, impossible, to anticipate with any degree of confidence what may be the ultimate result of this infertility, or in what degree it may be de feated or modified by future discoveries and improvements, we are, in the meantime, disposed to concur with Mr. Johnston in thinking that the wheat-producing powers of the U. States have been greatly exaggerated; and that at no very distant period their exports of wheat and flour will, if they do not cease altogether, become comparatively inconsiderable.

In the course of 25 years from this date the pop. of the Union will most likely amount to or exceed 46,000,000; and what with this enormous increase in the demand for corn, and the abusive treatment to which the land is subjected, we see but little ground for the fears so generally entertained in regard to the injury to be inflicted on the agriculture of Europe, and especially on that of England, by the importation of American corn. It is not so much, indeed, in the importations of wheat and flour as in those of maize or Indian corn, that the importance of the American supply has latterly been manifested. And these have been mainly occasioned by the failure of the potato crops, and the wretched state to which the pop. dependent on them has been reduced. Very few of those who have been consumers of wheat, barley, or oats, have resorted to Indian corn. And the presumption is that it will rarely be imported in large quantities, except when the potato is deficient, or to supply those who have no means of obtaining the higher-priced varieties of corn. (See Geographical Dictionary, ed. 1851, art U. STATES,) All sorts of flour, whether made of wheat, rye, Indian corn, &c., exported from the U. States, must previously be submitted to the inspection of officers appointed for that purpose. The law further directs, that the barrels, in which it is shipped, shall be of certain dimensions, and that each barrel shall contain 196 lbs. of flour, and each half barrel 98 lbs. The inspector, having ascertained that the barrels correspond with the regulations as to size, weight, &c., decides as to the quality of the flour; the first or best sort being branded Superfine; the second, Fine; the third, Fine Middlings; and the fourth, or lowest quality, Middlings. Such barrels as are not merchantable are marked Bad; and their exportation, as well as the exportation of those deficient in weight, is prohibited. Rye flour is divided into 2 sorts, being either branded Superfine Rye Flour, or Fine Rye Flour. Maize Hour is branded Indian Meal, flour made from buck-wheat is branded B. Meal. Indian meal may be exported in hhds. of 800 Ibs. Flour for home consumption is not subjected to inspection. The inspection must take place at the time and place of exportation, under a penalty of 5 dollars per barrel. Persons altering or counterfeiting marks or brands forfeit 100 dollars; and persons putting fresh flour into barrels already marked or branded, or offering adulterated wheaten flour for sale, forfeit in either case 5 dollars for each barrel. The fees of branding were reduced in 1832. They amount, in New York, to 3 cents for each hogshead, and 1 cent for each barrel and half barrel of full weight. A fiue of 30 cents is levied on every barrel or half barrel below the standard weight, exclusive of 20 cents for every pound that is deficient. Every barrel of wheaten flour imported is deemed equivalent to 384 gallons of wheat, and, under the old law, was charged with a corresponding duty.

The usual price of wheat in Canada, when there is a demand for the English market, is about 30s, a quarter; and adding to this 10s. a quarter for the expenses of carriage

See his valuable and important work, Notes on N. America, Agricultural, Economical, and Social, i. 172., ii. 334, &c.

Mr. Reuss (p. 120.) gives the following pro formâ account of the expenses attending the importation of a cargo of 5,000 bushels of wheat from New York, supposing it to cost 1 dol. 12 cents a bushel.

and warehousing, it will make its price in Liverpool, when delivered to the consumer, 40s.; and being spring wheat, it is not so valuable by 5s. a quarter as English wheat. We have already noticed the act of 1843 relative to the admission of Canadian wheat and flour. (See antè, p. 418.)

Inferences from the above Review of Prices. We may, we think, satisfactorily conclude, from this pretty lengthened review of the state of the foreign corn trade, that now that all restrictions on importation are abolished, the price of foreign wheat of about the same quality as average English wheat will, in ordinary years, be about 458. a quarter. But supposing it were to fall so low as 40s., it is easy to see that even the latter is a price at which agricultural improvements may be successfully carried on. The price of wheat in England, at an average of the ten years ending with 1820, was no less than 87s. 6d. a quarter; while its average prices during the ten years, and the five years ending with 1845, were respectively 57s. 11d. and 54s. 9d. a quarter. And yet, notwithstanding this tremendous fall of 32s. 9d. a quarter, an extraordinary improvement has taken place in agriculture since 1820, as is evinced by the fact of rents having risen greatly in the interval, and by our now providing for a very large additional population. And such having been the case, despite a fall of 32s. 9d., can any thing be more childish than to suppose that a farther fall of 12s. or even of 158. a quarter in the average price of corn should have any very disastrous influence over agriculture? Improvements of all sorts have seldom been more vigorously prosecuted than in 1834, 1835, and 1836, and yet the average price of corn in those years did not exceed 44s. 8d.; that is, it hardly amounted to its probable future price with open ports, and a nominal duty.

We feel pretty confident that these statements cannot be successfully controverted. A great deal of uncertainty must, no doubt, always attach to prospective estimates of prices; but in as far as a conclusion may be drawn beforehand on such a subject, the landlords and farmers may dismiss their fears and apprehensions of ruin from the repeal of the corn laws. They have triumphantly weathered far greater difficulties than there is any probability of its entailing upon them. Their prosperity does not depend on restrictive regulations, but is the effect of the fertility of the soil which belongs to them, of the absence of all oppressive feudal privileges, and of the number and wealth of the consumers of their produce."

We admit, however, as already stated, that we should have been much better pleased, supposing it had been practicable, that the question of the corn laws had been settled by opening the ports under a moderate fixed duty accompanied by an equal drawback: an arrangement of this sort, while it would have done no injury to any other class, would have effectually secured the agriculturists against the possibility of any injurious vicissitude. But as it is, there are at present (1851) no good grounds for supposing that the measures adopted in 1846, in regard to the corn trade, will seriously compromise their interests; or that agriculture will be injuriously affected by the change carried into effect in 1849.

COTTON (Ger. Baumwolle; Du. Katoen. Boomwol; Da. Bomuld; Sw. Bomull; Fr. Coton; It. Cotone, Bambagia; Sp. Algodon; Port. Algodão; Rus. Chlobtschataja bumaja; Pol. Bawelna; Lat. Gossypium, Bombax; Arab. Kutun; Sans. Kapasa; Hind. Ruhi; Malay, Kapus), a species of vegetable wool, the produce of the Gossypium herbaceum, or cotton shrub, of which there are many varieties. It is found growing naturally in all the tropical regions of Asia, Africa, and America, whence it has been transplanted,

* For farther and full details with respect to the progress of agriculture since the peace, the rise of rent, and the influence of the depreciation of the currency on prices, see Descriptive and Statistical Account of the British Empire, 3rd ed. vol. i. pp. 550-557, and pp. 532-584.

and has become a most important object of civilisation, in the southern parts of the U. States, and to some extent also in Europe.

Cotton is distinguished in commerce by its colour, but more especially by the length, strength, and fineness of its fibre. White is usually considered as characteristic of secondary quality. Yellow, or a yellowish tinge, when not the effect of accidental wetting or inclement seasons, is considered as indicating greater fineness.

There are many varieties of raw cotton in the market, their names being principally derived from the places whence they are brought. They are usually classed under the denominations of long and short stapled. The best of the first is the sea-island cotton, or that brought from the shores of Georgia; but its qualities differ so much that the price of the finest specimens is often three times as great as that of the inferior. The superior samples of Brazil cotton are reckoned among the long-stapled. The cottons of the U. States, with the exception of sea-island, belong to the short-stapled variety, as do those of India.

The estimation in which the principal kinds of cotton wool are held may be learned from the following statement of their prices in Liverpool in 1840, 1845, and 1850. The inferiority of Surat cotton is sometimes ascribed to the defective mode in which it is prepared; but a great authority, Mr. Horace H. Wilson, doubts whether it can be grown in India of a better kind.

Statement of the extreme Prices of Cotton Wool at Liverpool, per lb., in 1840, 1845, and 1850.

The manufacture of cotton has been carried on in Hindostan from the remotest antiquity. Herodotus mentions (lib, iii. c. 106.) that in India there are wild trees that produce a sort of wool superior to that of sheep, and that the natives dress themselves in cloth made of it. And similar statements are made by Strabo (lib. xv. § 10.), Arrian (Indic. c. 16.), and Mela (lib. iii. c. 7.). But though certainly referring to cotton, it is evident that the authors of these statements had no very distinct ideas either in regard to the wool itself or its manufacture. The latter obtained no footing worth mentioning in Europe till last century.

1. Rise and Progress of the British Cotton Manufacture. The rapid growth and prodigious magnitude of the cotton manufacture of Great Britain are, beyond all question, the most extraordinary phenomena in the history of industry. Our command of the finest wool naturally attracted our attention to the woollen manufacture, and paved the way for that superiority in it which we long since attained: but when we undertook the cotton manufacture, we had comparatively few facilities for its prosecution, and had to struggle with the greatest difficulties. The raw material, was produced at an immense distance from our shores; and in Hindostan and China the inhabitants had arrived at such perfection in the arts of spinning and weaving, that the lightness and delicacy of their finest cloths emulated the web of the gossamer, and seemed to set competition at defiance. Such, however, has been the influence of the stupendous discoveries and inventions of Hargreaves, Arkwright, Crompton, Cartwright, and others, that we have overcome all these difficulties that neither the extreme cheapness of labour in Hindostan, nor the excellence to which the natives had attained, has enabled them to withstand the competition of those who buy their cotton; and who, after carrying it 5,000 miles to be manufactured, carry back the goods to them. This is the greatest triumph of mechanical genius: and what perhaps is most extraordinary, our superiority is not the late result of a long series of successive discoveries and inventions: on the contrary, it has been accomplished in a very few years. Little more than half a century has elapsed since the British cotton manufacture was in its infancy; and it now forms the principal business carried on in the country,-affording an advantageous field for the accumulation and employment of millions upon millions of capital, and of thousands upon thousands of workmen! The skill and genius by which these astonishing results have been achieved, have been one of the main sources of our power: they have contributed in no common degree to raise the British nation to the high and conspicuous place she now occupies. Nor is it too much to say that it was the wealth and energy derived from the cotton manufacture that bore us triumphantly through the late dreadful contest, at the same time that it gives us strength to sustain burdens that would have crushed our fathers, and could not be supported by any other people.

The precise period when the manufacture was introduced into England is not known; but it is most probable that it was some time in the early part of the 17th century. The

first authentic mention of it is made by Lewis Roberts, in his Treasure of Traffic, published in 1641, where it is stated, "The town of Manchester, in Lancashire, must be also herein reinembered, and worthily for their encouragement commended, who buy the yarne of the Irish in great quantity, and weaving it, returne the same again into Ireland to sell. Neither doth their industry rest here; for they buy cotton wool in London that comes first from Cyprus and Sinyrua, and at home worke the same, and perfect it into fustians, vermillions, dimities, and other such stuffes, and then return it to London, where the same is vented and sold, and not seldom sent into foreign parts, who have means, at far easier termes, to provide themselves of the said first materials."—(Orig. ed. p. 32.) It is true, indeed, that mention is frequently made by previous writers, and in acts of the legislature passed at a much earlier period, of “ Manchester cottons,” “cotton velvets,” "fustians," &c.; but it is certain that these articles were wholly composed of wool, and had most probably been denominated cottons from their having been prepared in imitation of some of the cotton fabrics imported from India and Italy.

From the first introduction of the cotton manufacture into Great Britain down to the comparatively late period of 1773, the weft or transverse threads of the web, only, were of cotton; the warp, or longitudinal threads, consisting wholly of linen yarn, principally imported from Germany and Ireland. In the first stage of the manufacture the weavers, dispersed in cottages throughout the country, furnished themselves as well as they could with the warp and weft for their webs, and carried them to market when they were finished: but about 1760 a new system was introduced. The Manchester merchants began about that time to send agents into the country, who employed weavers, whom they supplied with foreign or Irish linen yarn for warp, and with raw cotton, which being carded and spun, by means of a common spindle or distaff, in the weaver's own family, was then used for weft. A system of domestic manufacture was thus established; the junior branches of the family being employed in the carding and spinning of the cotton, while its head was employed in weaving the linen and cotton yarn into cloth. This system, by relieving the weaver from the necessity of providing himself with linen yarn for warp and raw cotton for weft, and of seeking customers for his cloth when finished, and enabling him to prosecute his employment with greater regularity, was an obvious improvement on the system that had been previously followed; but it is at the same time clear that the impossibility of making any considerable division among the different branches of a manufacture so conducted, or of prosecuting them on a large scale, added to the interruption given to the proper business of the weavers, by the necessity of attending to the cultivation of the patches of ground which they generally occupied, opposed invincible obstacles to its progress, so long as it was conducted in this mode.

Dr.

It appears from the Custom-house returns, that the total quantity of cotton wool annually imported into Great Britain, at an average of the five years ending with 1705 amounted to only 1,170,881 lbs. The accounts of the imports of cotton from 1705 to 1770 have been but imperfectly preserved; but until the last half dozen years of that period the manufacture increased very slowly, and was of very trifling amount. Percival, of Manchester, who had the best means of being accurately informed on the subject, states that the entire value of the cotton goods manufactured in Great Britain, at the accession of George III. in 1760, was estimated to amount to only 200,000% a year, and the number of persons employed was quite inconsiderable: but in 1767, a most ingenious person, James Hargreaves, a carpenter of Blackburn in Lancashire, invented the spinning jenny. At first this admirable machine enabled eight threads to be spun with the same facility as one; and it was subsequently brought to such perfection, that a little girl was able to work no fewer than from eighty to one hundred and twenty spindles.

The jenny was applicable only to the spinning of cotton for weft, being unable to give to the yarn that degree of firmness and hardness which is required to the longitudinal threads or wrap: but this deficiency was soon after supplied by the introduction of the spinning-frame, that wonderful piece of machinery which spins a vast number of threads of any degree of fineness and hardness, leaving to man merely to feed the machine with cotton, and to join the threads when they happen to break. It is not difficult to understand the principle on which this machine is constructed, and the mode of its operation. It consists of two pairs of rollers, turned by means of machinery. The lower roller of each pair is furrowed or fluted longitudinally, and the upper one is covered with leather, to make them take a hold of the cotton. If there were only one pair of rollers, it is clear that a carding of cotton passed between them would be drawn forward by the revolution of the roliers, but it would merely undergo a certain degree of compression from their action. No sooner, however, has the carding, or roving as it

* In an act of 5 & 6 Edw. 6. (1552), entitled, for the true making of WOOLLEN cloth, it is ordered, "Thit all cottons called Manchester, Lancashire, and Cheshire cottons, full wrought for sale, shall be In length," &c. This proves incontestably, that what were then called cottons were made wholly of wool.