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THE COTTON MANUFACTURE

GREAT BRITAIN.

T»E

COTTON MANUFACTURE

GREAT BRITAIN

SYSTEMATICALLY INVESTIGATED,

AND ILLUSTRATED BY 150 ORIGINAL FIGURES.

ENGRAVED ON WOOD AND STEEL;

WITH AN INTRODUCTORY VIEW OF ITS COMPARATIVE STATE

IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES,

DRAWN CHIEFLY FROM PBR80NAL SURVEY.

By ANDREW URE, M.D., F.R.S.

» •

Member of the (Seologieal and Astronomical Societies of London, M. Acad.

N. S. Philad^ Corresponding Member of the Pharm. Soc. North Germany,

and of the Societe Industrielle of Mulhausen, &c.. See, &c.

VOL. I.

LONDON:
CHARLES KNIGHT, 22, LUDGATE STREET.

MDCCCXXXVL

LONDON :

Printed by William Glowss and Son,
9taBifiMNl Strecft.

»/

THE MOST HONOURABLE

THE MARQUESS OF LANSDOWNE,

nauDHiT 09 Hii KAjmr'i right sonoukablr nirvT counoil.

4rc. ^. Sfc,

My Lord,

The extensive survey of the industry
rf nations which I have had occasion to make,
both at home and abroad, in composing the
following description of its most productive
province, has brought before me in auspicious
perspective those recent improvements in laws,
manufactures, and commerce, which must render
the reign of our Graciourf Sovereign, King
William IV., the golden age of Great Britain.

The Textile Factories, which impart to cotton,

fJ^OO

iv DEDICATION.

wool, flax, and silk, forms of countless variety
and value, had become, in the course of their pro-
digious development, the subjects of some abuses,
and of much unfounded obloquy. Under able
Commissioners, selected by the Crown, factory
employment was thoroughly investigated, and
it has been since placed by Parliament under
judicious regulation. Pauperism, that cancer
which had long corroded the heart of English
industry, and had eventually become so malignant
as to be regarded by the ablest economists of
Europe beyond the reach of cure, has been
skilfully separated from the sound parts of the
Commonwealth, and subjected to healing mea<»
sures, successful beyond the hopes of the most
sanguine philanthropist. The reluctant tasks of
our Colonial Slaves have been converted into the
cheerful labours of freemen. Our complex
and restrictive code of fiscal laws has been
so simplified and liberalized as greatly to
facilitate foreign trade ; while the vast empire
of China has been made freely accessible to its
operations.

DEDICATION,

These five legislative achievements, which
come within the range of my researches, have
aheady given an unparalleled impulsion to
manufacturing enterprise, and will shed im-
perishable glory upon the Statesmen by whose
wisdom they were planned and made prac-
tically effective.

Of productive industry, thus enfranchised and
encouraged, to guide the ingenious toils by the
lights of science and the lessons of economy, is
my humble aim ; — yet not inglorious, should it
haply co-operate with His Majesty's Ministers
in promoting our country's weal, and ame-
liorating the lot of humanity.

If the analysis of the cotton machinery and
processes, now respectfully inscribed to your
Lordship, at all corresponds with my endeavours,
or their intrinsic excellence, the work will form
the choicest gallery of mechanical invention ever
laid open to the world ; displaying that mighty
system of the production, distribution, and con-

VI DEDICATICOi.

sumption of national wealth, in its mature state^
of which the elements were first developed in
the Political Arithmetic of your Lordship^s
illustrious ancestor.

I have the honour to be.
My Lord,
With the highest consideration.

Your Lordship's most obedient

And very faithful servant,

Andrew Urk.

London^ May 18, 1836.

CONTENTS OF VOL. I.

Intboduction • Yii

BOOK I.

Origin and Pboorbm op thk Cotton Hamvpactubk in m
Handicraft Statb . 1

BOOK II.
Natural History and Husbandry op Cottons

Chaptbr I.
NtUural Uiitory •.•.••.. 56

Chapter II.

Of the CuHwatioH of Cotton or Cotton Huihandry ; and the
Cotton Wool Trade 96

BOOK III.

Origin, Proobbss, and Prxsbnt Statb of thb Manufacturb
op Cotton by Mechanical Power.

Chapter I|
Early Hittory of the Factory Syttem 169

Chapter II.
General Fiew and Analysit of a Cotton Factory . • . 292

List of Patents for Improvements in Cotton Spinning • .315

NoTBs • . .319

Appendix 325

Ezportations of Cotton Manufactures and Cotton from the

United Kingdom 326

Tables extracted from the Returns to the Lancashire Forms of

Inquiry, by Mr. Stanway 334

INTRODUCTION.

In presenting this long-promised treatise* on the most
important and intricate branch of manufactures to the
public, I gratefully acknowledge their liberal reception
of its precursor volume, and the kind manner in which
influential journals of opposite political creeds were
pleased to speak of its merits. It was obvious, how-
ever, that an inquiry into the factory system of Great
Britain must necessarily touch too many delicate
topics for an honest expositor to avoid giving offence
to certain interests and prepossessions. The contrast
which I had delineated, from ocular inspection,
between the comfortable activity of our manufacturing
operatives, and the listless penury of our agricultural
labourers, as well as the hopes I had expressed, since
so happily justified, of the improvement among the
latter to be looked for from a better administration of
the Poor Laws, could be little palatable to that portion
of the periodical press, which had vituperated the
proprietors of cotton mills, and denounced that legis-
lative Act.

The most vehement maligner of this measure, which
promises ere long to heal the heart-sore of English in-

* It was announced six years ago for Di. Lardner's CyclopflBdia^
but in the course of completion it assumed a magnitude and style of
illustration beyond the limits of that Cabinet Series.

Vlll INTRODUCTION,

vlustry, is well known to be the gentleman employed to
criticise the works on manufactures for the Edinburgh
Review.* He could not be expected therefore to regard
my volume with a favourable eye, or to give a fair
report either of its tenor or contents. But no one
could have supposed that a periodical which had earned
so high a character, under the auspices of Mr.
Horner, Lord Brougham and Lord Jeffrey, by its able
advocacy of public economy, should suddenly become
the eulogist of taxes, describe them, with the servile
minions of William Pitt, as 'needful incentives to na-
tional industry, and defame a work in which its own
liberal principles of trade were conscientiously, though
temperately developed.

The title of that book was so worded as to leave no
ambiguity, it is believed, in any candid mind, as to its
scope, f The phrase Factory System has been long
current in our parliamentary debates, newspaper com-
mentaries, and popular harangues. It has been more-
over settled and circumscribed three years ago by our
Legislature in the Factories Regtdation Act, which
restricts the term Factory to such cotton, wool, flaXy
and silk mills as are moved by steam or water-power.
These establishments alone are placed under the super-
intendence of four gentlemen, named by the Govern-
ment, Factory Inspectors, From the following cavil, the
critic might excite a suspicion, that he had newly alighted,
a wondering novice, from some lunar railway, entirely
Ignorant of the language, laws, and usages of this realm.

* See the Note at the end of this Introduction.

•f* The Philosophy of Manufactures ; or an Exposition of the
Scientific, Moral, and Commercial Economy of the Factory System
of Gieat Britain.

INTKODUCTION. ix

' '^The title of Dr. Ure's book is eminently calculated
fo mislead. By a factory he means a cotton mill, a
flax mill^ a woollen mill, or some such establishment
in which people are employed to attend to machines
continuously impelled by a central power." *'Few
branches of industry, except such as are conversant
merely with spinning and weaving, can be carried oa
in what Dr. Ure calls factories; and he expressly
excludes from them iron-works, dye-works, breweries,
distilleries, &e."*

A fine farrago I should have made of that post-
octavo volume, had I introduced into it all these hetero^
geneous ingredients, fiy excluding from it the things*
which law and custom had excluded from its titled-
Factory System, — I secured unity of design, ami a
manageable variety of topics. Had the slightest
obscurity been left in the title page, the first sentence
of the book would have cleared it away. " Manu-
facture is a word which, in the vicissitude of language,
has come to signify the reverse of its intrinsic meaning,
for it now denotes every extensive product of art which
is made by machinery, with Uttle or no aid of the human
hand; so that the most perfect manufacture is that
which dispenses entirely with manual labour." In fact
cotton, wool, flax, and silk mills, the four subdivisions
of the feictory system, as defined by law, afford by
far the finest models of the automatic arts, and form a
peculiar group replete with objects eminently interesting
in a scientific, moral, and commercial point of view.
"And as the philosophy of the fine arts, poetry,
painting, and music, may be best studied in their

* Edinburgh Review fur Julif, 1835, p. 454.

X INTRODUCTION^

indiyidual masterpieces^ so/' said I, ^^ may the pUlo-
lophy of manufactures in these its noblest creations.'*
If the critic looked at all into my book^ he could n0t
haye missed seeing these explicit definitions in its first
and second pages^ when^ even supposing him to have
been an unfledged t3nx>^he was left without the shadow
of a reason^ or the slightest pretence^ for declaring its
contents to be irrelevant to its title.

In the first chapter of that work, the general functions
of machines are discussed, and several valuable facts
are detailed respecting null architecture, connnuni*
cated to me by one of the most eminent engineers of the
age. The influence of improvements in machinery, upon
manufactures and trade, are investigated at some lengthy
as well as the effect of patents in keeping up new
inventions at a monopoly price, so as to retard their
general introduction, and prevent those abrupt transi-
tions from hand-labour to automatic work which would
be apt to throw operatives for a time out of employ-
ment. As to the details of machine-making they
belong to a treatise upon mechanics, and would be
strangely misplaced in one upon the philosophy of
manufactures. Had I entered more largely into the
subject of machinery, to suit the reviewer's caprice, I
should have been obliged to sacrifice inquiries much
more appropriate to the title of the work and the wants
of society.

The second chapter of the first Book of that volume^
entitled " Topography and Statistics of the Factory
System," is dedicated to the solution of the problem why
manufactures flourish more in one district than another.
Here the influence of cheap fuel, an abundant popula-
tion, commodious seaports, streams of pure water, in-

nrr&oDiH»ii»f. xi

knd naTigatk»i> the energy of capitalists, a realty
supply of the raw materia), are severally specified as
elements of our factory greatness.

Even the first page of the pre&ee contains a sum-^
mary of the circumstances upon which the manufacta-
ring superiority of this country over the other European.
States depends* It is there said, ^^ Great Britain may
ci^tainly continue to uphold her envied supremaey,
sustained by her coal, iron, capital, and skill, if, acting
on the Baconian axiom, ^ knowledge is power,' she
shall diligently promote nooral and intellectual cul*
ture among her productive population*" Yet the
critic, under his anonymous mask, is so wantonly reek*
less of truth as to say, ^' If any one were to inquire
why the factory system had not been carried to the
same extent in France or Austria as in England, he
will get no answer from Dr. Ure."

But his most flagrant misrepresentation is ac-
cusing my book of being '^ singularly defective oa
the influence of manufactures on the health and hap-
piness of the individuals engaged in them."* Now I
defy even a purblind man to glance over its leaves in
the most casual way without perceiving that fully (wie-
third of them is occupied with a methodical expo-
sition of the moral economy of the factory system,
distributed into three distinct chapters, entitled, 1,
CcMnforts of Factory Operatives ; 2, Health of Factory
Inmates ; 3, State of Religion and Knowledge in the
Factories, — subjects occupying no fewer than 152 pages
successively headed with these titles. Nor is there a
single topic alluded to by the reviewer in his pretence to

* Edinburgh Review for July ^ 1835, p. 455.

XU INTRODUCTION

supply my deficiencies, which is not deliberately dis-
cussed^ with copious proofs and illustrations, many of
them original, in that very work which he set himself
rashly to revile, in despite of candour and consistency.*

In attempting to vindicate the factories from many
misrepresentations, I have never shut my eyes to
special abuses of any kind, nor have I tried to varnish
them over in my narratives. When the reviewer
charges me with saying that the statements as to the
pernicious influence of factory labour have been proved
to be wholly destitute of foundation, he himself is the
only person who says what is wholly so, for I was
most solicitous to discriminate between the comfort-
ableness of a factory when administered by a humane
and religious proprietor, and by one of a careless or
corrupt disposition ; and I have reason to believe that
my general strictures on this delicate point, as they
were prompted solely by regard to my fellow-crea-
tures, have already tended to introduce ameliorations
into certain establishments.

In reference to the health of our factory inmates,
nothing has come to my knowledge since the publi-
cation of the Philosophy of Manufactures which should
make me retract my opinion, that employment in a
cotton-mill may be, and generally is, as salubrious as
any other which the children of labour can obtain in
the present state of the world. I should wish, how-
ever, to see warm-baths attached to every cotton-

* The book was only a few days out when the reviewer*^ poisoned
dart came hissing after it, to cut short its career — imbelle Uium»
The second edition is already several months on sale. A translation
of the work has appeared under the patronage of the French Govern-
ment, with high commendations ; it has come forth also in a German
dress.

INTRODUCTION. xiU

fectory. They could be supplied without trouble or
expense with the pure hot water discharged from the
steam pipes which traverse the apartments. A set of
such baths for males^ and another for females^ at op-
posite sides or ends of the building, each kept in order
by a superannuated man and woman^ who would re-
ceive a trifle from each bather for their attendance.
Would conduce greatly to the cleanliness, health, and
comfort of the operatives. " When the perspiration,"
says an eminent physiologist, ** is brought to the sur-
face of the skin and confined there, either by inju-
dicious clothing or want of cleanliness, there is much
reason to suppose that its residual parts are again ab-
sorbed, and act on the system as a poison of greater
or less power, according to its quantity and degree of
concentration, thereby producing fever, inflammation,
and even death itself; for it is estabUshed by observa-
tion that concentrated animal effluvia form a very
energetic poison.

" If -one-tenth of the persevering attention and
labour, bestowed to so much purpose in rubbing down
and currying the skins of horses, were bestowed by the
human race in keeping themselves in good condition,
and a little attention were paid to diet and clothing,
colds, nervous diseases, and stomach complaints
would cease to form so large an item in the catalogue
of human miseries. Man studies the nature of othei:
animals, and adapts his conduct to their constitution —
himself alone he continues ignorant of and neglects ;
he considers himself as a being of a superior order,
and not subject to the laws of organization which
regulate the functions of the inferior animals; but this
conclusion is the result of ignorance and pride, and

ziT Introduction;

Bot a just inference from the premises on which it is
ostensibly founded."*

Mr. Rickman^ the able editor of the Parliamentary
Population Returns, in an interesting communicatioB
published in the Medical Gazette of December \%
1835, shows that the average mortality of females
between ten and twenty years of age, in the four non*
factory counties, Bedford, Bucks, Northampton, and
Rutland, is annually one in 133 ; but in Lancashire^
and the West Riding of Yorkshire, the two chief factory
counties, only one in 172 for the first, and one in 177
for the second. He then observes, " I never yet could
discover any fact which was likely to place the health
of the manufacturing population below that of other
occupations, nor have I ever met with any alleged
fact to that effect which stood the test of strict exami-
nation ; so that, in the conflict of opinion, I was bound
to adhere to equality of health in the grades of female
life (from ten to fourteen, and from fifteen to nine-
teen years) which chiefly constitute our manufacturing
population. Moreover, I was the less prepared to
discover disadvantage to young females in the counties
of Bedford and Bucks than elsewhere, because in my
youth I had traversed those counties oftener than once
in pedestrian excursions, and was then much struck by
the happy appearance of young girls and other fe-
males sitting at cottage doors or with open windows,
busied in lace-making, especially as constant shelter
from bad weather had preserved their beauty, so a& to
equal that of highly educated females.

^* It is impossible to investigate retrospectively whe*

* PrimipU$ of Phfwdogy, by Andrew £ombe» M.D., pp. 67, 10I« .

fher in earlier times, in the days of Queen EHzabeth
finr example^ the sedentary occupation of the spinster
(which included all unmarried females^ and is still
their legal designaticm) had the same deleterious
eSdct as in the four selected counties ; if so, females
9ixe positively benefited, not injured, by the introduction
(^machinery, as well-meaning philanthropists too rea-
dily suppose; for I cannot imagine or bdlie^e that
regular hours of labour^ plenty of fuel, good clothing,
and the many other comforts which spring from high
wages, are injurious to the health of any human being.
We all know but too well from the incessant clamours
of hand-loom weavers, that there are many industrious
men who, during a series of years, have carried on a
domestic manufacture in small rooms, crowded by
looms and weaving apparatus, breathing air loaded with
dust, their hours of labour extending into the night,
payment for such weaving very moderate, — ^preferring
all these inconveniences to factory labour, because they
cannot endure stated hours and the regular behaviour
indispensable in every factory; nor do they send their
children thither, because they are retained at home to
prepare hand-loom work.

" The female mortality of the above four non-fectory
counties exceeds that of their males between the ages
of ten and twenty in the ratio of 100 to 68, and fe-
male life in Westmoreland has the same unhappy
bias. In Lancashire and the North Riding of Yorkshire
the scale is rather in favour of females, female deaths
to male deaths being in the former as 100 to 104, and
in the latter nearly equal."

The professor of political economy blames me for
not expatiating on the benefits which our taxation

XVI IKTRODUCTION-

has conferred on our manufactures. ^' An increase of
taxation," says he, " is one of the most prominent
causes of an increase of wages, and, independent of
this direct influence on the manufacturer, is pre-
cisely similar to an increase of wages." What con-
fusion of ideas ! What contradidtion of terms ! So that
because the manufacturers by direct influence first
suffer from taxation as they would do from increase of
wages, and have besides to pay their workmen in-
creased wages from that '^most prominent cause," tax-
ation, they should congratulate themselves on being
stimulated by such agreeable incentives to industry,
while the torpid manufacturers of the United States,
who are now supplanting us in many foreign markets,
are unfortunately destitute of these double-strong cor- *
dials.

Nor was political economy overlooked in treating
the philosophy of manufactures, as the critic would
insinuate. Through every division of the book there
flows a stream of that useful science, drawn from its
purest fountains;* not, indeed, from those noxious
pools where absenteeism, pauperism, and taxation are
set off* with the flowers of sophistry. Nurtured in the
severe studies of physical science during a laborious
life, I have been careful to search for truth, unbiassed
by niotives of place-hunting or political partisanship,
happy if I can be of some little use to mankind in
my day and generation*

In what light our manufacturing classes view taxation
the following details will show.

The repeal of certain additional duties imposed by

* The speeches of Mr. Huskisson, inter alios.

IJJTROPUCTION, XYII

Mr. Pitt in 1784 upon printed calicoes, was cele-r
brated as a jubilee in Lancashire ; and when the two
gentlemen delegates to London, who had been parti-
cularly active in the application to Government, re-
turned to Manchester, they were honoured with a tri-
timphal reception, being met by a procession of all
classes of people, which extended to Stockport, a dis-
tance of no less than seven miles — ^the most joyous and
brilliant exhibition ever seen in that emporium of in-
dustry. The inhabitants of Manchester and Bolton
combined to present handsome silver cups to these
gentlemen, with suitable inscriptions.

Their ground of rejoicing was soon, however, taken
away by the wants of the Exchequer, drained by the
culpable expenditure of the American war, and heavy
duties were imposed, which continued to cripple and
annoy the elegant art of calico printing till 1831, when
they were repealed ; since which period, the business
has more than doubled in extent. This repeal is one
of the most judicious acts of modern legislation. It
enables the consumer to get the article from 30 to 40
per cent, cheaper, and females of the lower ranks to
clothe themselves in handsome comfortable dresses, such
as their superiors previously wore. The taxed goods,
which in 1795 were sold for 2^. 3d. a yard, now cost no
more than 8d^ A respectable dress may in fact be had
at present for half a crown. The suppression of the tax
has been further beneficial to the honest manufacturers
by extinguishing the contraband trade, which had been
carried on to an extent equally injurious to them and
to the revenue. Another advantage of the repeal was,
freeing a business, involving so much taste, skill, and
science from the insolent and venal espionage of

Xnn INTRODUCTION^

poorly paid excisemen^ who were easily bribed to steal
secret processes which had cost great toil and expense
to the proprietor, and sell them to jealous rivals.

Nor is it a matter of slight moment for a manufac*
turer to have the distribution of his own time and opera-
tions. He is now suffered to print his goods at any hour of
the day in which he receives an order, instead of being
obliged, as he formerly was, to wait for the arrival of
the officer to measure and stamp the cloth, before he
dared begin to pack it in bales for the market. Under
thecritic's^mw/w,y of taxation, adventurers often bought
printed calicoes on credit, and forthwith sent them
abroad to raise a capital by the drawback, for carrying
on a neiarious system of trading far beyond their legi-
timate means. Such goods were of course hurried off to
foreign markets for which they were neither wanted nor
suited, and caused disastrous competition, by their
forced sales, against the responsible merchant.

Had not our cotton manufactures been cramped by
taxation, they would long ago have acquired such a
surpassing power, as to have bid defiance to foreign
rivalry. Goods would have been profitably produced
by our admirable automatic machinery, guided by a
comfortable and well-informed race of artisans, at such
moderate rates as would have rendered all attempts at
competition utterly hopeless ; whereas they have been
kept up by taxation of every kind, and by the discon-
tents, conspiracies, and strikes among the operatives,
mainly caused by taxes on the necessaries and conve-
niences of life, at such a pitch, as to encourage natioit
after nation to enter the field against us, and to take
possession successively of many of our oldest and most
valuable markets.

QITRODUCTION. XIX

The paralysis of our factories during a strike is the
immediate cause of the erection of rival factories in
other countries. The foreign noarket gets bare, prices
rise^ and draw capitalists into the empty channels. The
dbconterited and idle workmen migrate to France^ Bel-
gium, and An^riea, and sow the seeds of opposition.
Every strike in Great Britain has been the era of new
&ctory creations abroad. The Unions ship off their
members to maintain a maximum rate of wages. During
the disastrous strike in Lancashire and Lanarkshire of
1829, many of our spinners who were prevented from
working, went to France, Belgium, and the United
States, and introduced improved and profitable methods
previously unknown in those countries ; all tending to
subvert our cotton supremacy.

ITie mill-owners naturally try to indemnify them-
selves for the diminution of profits arising from taxa-\
tion, by a proportional increase of their business.)
The excess of goods thereby created leads to a cor-
responding fall in their price, as well as in the wages^
of their production. The artisans who could barely
maintain their families by the ordinary hours of
labour before, are now urged to extraordinary exer-
tions so as to make up by the quantity of work for its
smaller remuneration. Such circumstances derange
the natural order of production, and call forth certain
articles out of proportion to the real demand of the
market or the wants of the consumer. All objects are
not alike necessary, and several are not susceptible of
any sudden increase of sale. Before the consumption
of corn is reduced one-half, that of butcher's meat will
be reduced to one-fourth, and that of tea and sugar to
nothing.

XX INTRODUCTION.

Goods suffer an undue depreciation when they are
produced during a stagnation of trade, because the
manufacturers are unwilling to dismiss good workmen
who could not be readily replaced at the period of its
revival, and they often also continue to employ them
from feelings of humanity towards their families*
These circumstances, which taxation at home, and fis-
cal restrictions abroad, always aggravate, if they do
not create, by recurring at certain periods, dislocate the
universal frame of industry and commerce. To panic-
struck minds the mischief often appears irretrievable*
The stagnation, fortunately, seldom lasts long, because
the accumulated pressure never fails to force open new
outlets of trade, or to widen the pre-existing channels,
with the effect of not merely restoring the equilibrium
between demand and supply, but of giving a fresh
impulse to production. It is surprising how small
■ surplus of commodities is capable of inducing a great
depreciation in their value. Addison remarked in the
Spectator, that when the corn crops of England ex-
ceeded the average amount by only one-tenth, the
price of grain fell one-half. Such a fluctuation from
so trivial a cause, however, could occur only in a con-
fined market. The wider and more numerous the
channels of circulation, the more steady will be the
level of international commerce.

Having: shown with sufficient evidence the delete-
rious influence of taxes in general, few words will be
required to expose the fallacy of their vindication, or
rather of the panegyric pronounced upon them in a
late Number of the Edinburgh Review, in a strain be-
coming the most venal parasite of absolutism. " On
the contrary," says the Reviewer, '* we believe that tax-

INTRODUCTION. XXi

ation^ though in a few instances it may have been
injurious^ has hitherto^ in this country at leasts ope-
rated as an incentive to industry; and that the stimu-
lus it has given has powerfully contributed to impel us
forward."*

The lash of the negro driver was in like manner an in*
centive to industry, a stimulus loudly lauded in its day,
and declared to be the primum mobile of colonial pros-
perity. To what is the extreme depression of our agri-
cultural interests now due, in the judgment of all candid
inquirers, but to the pressure of taxes upon landlords
and tenants ? They regard the enormous demands of
the Exchequer, which exhaust the energies of the rural
classes in these rich islands, with equal abhorrence
from the foresight of their consequences, and the retro-
spect of their origin — wars, wasteful of blood and trea-
sure beyond all ancient or modern precedent, carried
on by a system of rapine and fraud not merely against
the existing race of men, but involving the interests of
our latest posterity. In former times the evils of mis-
government were ere long repaired after the disturber
of the world's peace was laid low ; but by the chicane
of modem finance, rulers may not merely sacrifice, as
of old, the happiness of their contemporaries to their
mad ambition, but may mortgage the well-being of
innumerable generations yet unborn. Such is the de-
plorable legacy of debt bequeathed to Britain by her
sanguinary contests with the Americans and French-
people with whom, as kinsmen and neighbours, she
might, under wise statesmen, have lived always in a
state of peace, if not of amity. The taxes hourly levied
to pay the interest of the debts contracted in the im-

* Edinburgh Review for Jultf, 1$35, p. 463.

XXll INTRODUCTION.

molation of mjrriads of innocent human victims, cannot
be contemplated by the philosopher or philanthropist
without shame and disgust, for they are the memorials
of misrule and of outraged humanity.

As capitalists have the power of shifting the burden
of taxation from their own shoulders upon those of the
labouring classes, in the race of competition now run
by rival manufacturers, taxes may, no doubt, be ad-
mitted to act as a spur to exertion ; — ^but upon whom
does the painfiil part of this exertion fall ? Upon thie
operatives, to be sure. Their comforts are successively
curtailed by taxation, while those of their employers are
affected slightly, if at all. The taxes levied on the pro-
visions consumed by a landed or factory proprietor are
of very secondary consideration to either of them in the
amount of family expenses, but they form a considera^
ble item in the labourer's annual outlay, and deprive
him of at least one-third of the necessaries and conve-
niences of life. Could he obtain three pounds of bread,
butcher s meat, butter, cheese, sugar, and coffee, or
tea, where he gets at present only two pounds, in how
superior a state of comfort would his family live !
Were their employers in like manner relieved from the
heavy fiscal exactions, their annual gains would be
proportionately greater, they could afford to give a
higher reward to labour than they actually do, without
abridging their style of living, or abating the yearly
savings added to their stock in trade.

The vast development of the manufacturing system
of Great Britain, through the skilful application of
capital to its resources of coal and iron, has fortunately
counteracted, or masked in a great measure, the mis-
chiefs of excessive taxation ; had that system been

INTRODUCTION. XXm

iinelogged with national debt, it would certainly have
enabled the pe<^le of these islands to live more c<»n-
fcrtably than any other on the face of the globe.

From the paragra|^ formerly quoted the Reviewer
evidently has more at hesurt the profits of the proprie-
tors than the comforts of the people; whence be
appears to take a very partial and erroneous view
of the proper object of manufactures. " But an
increase of taxation/* says he, *' is one of the most pro-
minent causes of an in(»*ease of wages ; and, indepen-
dent of this, its direct influence on the manufacturer is
precisely similar to en increase of wages. Whether
he has to pay an additional sum to his workpeople, or
to the tax-gatherer, is, as respects hiimelf, not very
materiaL In either case he will endeavour to meet the
UHnreased burden, without allowing it to diminish his
capital or profits ; and will thus be led to contrive and
economize in a way and to a degree he would not
otherwise hare thought <rf!."*

An increase of taxation being thus declared to be
tantamount to an increase of wages, the master will
naturally relieve himself in the only direction under
his conti^ol, or which he can force to give way;
namely, at the expense of his dependent workmen —
for the tax-gatherer is inexorable. Economical im-
jprovements of machinery are too slow and uncertain
to meet the exigency of competition with a country
iike the United States, which has few or no taxes to
pay, and where efiective wages are on that account
proportionately lower. In fact, taxation affords not
<mly a legitimate argument and ground to the manu-

* MiMmrffk Remem/orJu^ 1S3S, p. 462.

XXIV INTRODUCTION.

facturer for reducing the wages of his workmen, but is
too often used as a pretext or apology for an extent
of reduction, through policy or fear, much beyond
the necessities of commercial competition. As the
masters have, in ordinary times, the power of acconci-'
modating the rate of wages to the general interests of
their trade, they will infallibly meet the increased bur-
den of taxation by their diminution, '* without allowing
it to diminish their capital or profits.*' Such solecisms
and anti-popular dogmas as the above, are strangely
out of place in, a periodical so long celebrated for the
soundness and liberality of its lucubrations.

Taxation acts thus as a two-edged sword against
the people ; it lowers the remuneration of their labour^
and raises the cost of their living. The inevitable re*
suit of tlie manufacturers exonerating themselves by
tossing off the fiscal load from their own shoulders
upon those of their operatives. Is a universal feeling
of distrust between the employers and employed,
which exists in no other country upon the face of the
earth. This civil warfare between parties whose inte-
rests are one and indivisible, is entirely due to the con*
viction which the workmen not unjustly entertain, that
their comforts are offered up as a sacrifice to the ne*
cessities of the Exchequer. Hence the destruction of
those amiable charities of social Ufe which Providence
designed in ordaining the gradation of ranks; hence
contempt of legislators, and violation of laws akin
to anarchy, among the less favoured classes in both
the agricultural and manufacturing districts of the
empire.

Far be it from me to give the slightest countenance
to any deeds of violence done under the pretext of

INTRODUCTION. XXV

obtaining a redress of grievances. Trades' unions
have on so many occasions been actuated by prejudice
and passion, and have so often abused their powers by
controlling the freedom of labour, as to have lost all
that salutary influence which wisely-regulated friendly
societies among workmen would have exercised upon
the upper ranks. It is, moreover, a well-established
fact, that those artisans who are the worst paid seldom
combine, and never with any force ; but only those who
enjoy the best wages, such as cotton-spinners, en-
gineering mechanics, founders, colliers, carpenters,
tailors, &c. The daily pay of the former is indeed too
scanty to allow of the formation of a heavy stock-purse to
pamper a stipendiary committee of demagogues ; and
they are also too much dispersed and too heterogeneous
to combine. Strikes have besides commonly defeated
their own ends ; for, instead of raising wages, and sub-
jugating capitalists, they seldom fail to lower the one,
and emancipate the other.

In the following sentence the reviewer evinces a
surprising ignorance of our manufactures, and ascribes
their advancement to the two most formidable evils
against which they have had to contend — ^namely, taxa-
tion-wages and unions. " Could we suppose that from
the era of the discovery of the spinning-frame and the
steam-engine, down to the present day, wages had re-
mained stationary, and strikes and combinations among
the workmen been unknown, we believe we shall not
be accused of exaggerating when we state that, under
such circumstances, manufactures would not have made
half the progress they have done."

The author of the able Memoir upon the Causes of
Manufacturing Distress, crowned in May, 1832, by the

TOL. I. b

XXVI INTRODUCTION.

Societe Industrielle of Mulhausen^ says, " Taxes hin-
der exportation by raising the cost of fabrication ; it is
the tradesmen of the nation least taxed who will always
carry oflf the business from their competitors, from
which we may judge what a brilliant career awaits the
commerce of the United States — ^that favoured land,
free from public debt, and nearly free from fiscal exac-
tions. Switzerland, our next-door neighbour, prospers
from the same cause."

. If we take into our estimate all the operatives em-
ployed upon cotton, non-factory as well as factory, we
shall find that their wages have fallen very consider-
ably, relatively to their work, and the comforts which
it will command. Even factory wages, as in Mr.
Thomas Ashton's mills at Hyde, which may be
regarded as a fair type of the general inean wages
in cotton-mills, have not advanced in the space of
many years, during which the most remarkable im-
provements have taken place in the machinery and.
processes of manufacture.

The encroachment of foreign competition upon the.
cotton trade of the United Kingdom has become so
rapid of late as to excite alarm for its supremacy under
our heavy taxation in any mind not besotted by national
pride. The continent of Europe, and the United
States of America, for some time after the peace
of 1814, possessed factories upon so small a scale^
that they could not be regarded as our rivals in
the business of the world; but now they work up
nearly 750,000 bales of cotton wool, which is about
three-fourths of our consumption, and have become
formidable competitors to us in many markets hereto-
fore exclusively our own.

INTRODUCTION. .

XXVU

Ever since the ministry of Colbert it has been the
pride of the French government to foster the manu^
fecturing system. A considerable manufacture of
cotton cloth was commenced about eighty years ago in
the Vivarais, the yam for which was chiefly imported
from the Levant, just as the cotton-wicks for the
London candle-makers still are. The first spinning
machine in France on the factory construction was a
mule introduced thither fipom England in the year
1787 by Monsieur de Calonne^ Minister of State.
This machine^ and others made in imitation of it, were
set to work at Rouen, Paris^ St. Quentin^ Lille, Amiens^
and also at Montpellier, which was the ancient seat of
the household cotton trade.

Soon after this period an attempt was made to spin
water-twist at Louviers. Some slight hostility waa
evinced towards this new system of power-spinning,
but, as household cotton- spinning had not been carri^
on beforehand to any extent, the people were soon
conciliated in favour of the new manufacture by the
good wages it procured.

The following table shows the progress of the
French cotton manufacture during nine years after it
was fairly established :

COTTON

WOOL

CONSUMED.

Ibt.

1798 ...... 18,000,000

1799 .

. . 10,290,000

1800 ,

. . 6,726,000

1801

. . 11,008,000

1802 .

» « 15,120,000

1803 ,

. . 15,780,000

1804 <

. . 17,200,000

1805

. . 18,412,000

1806 .

» H

» . 21,734,000

XXVJU INTRODUCTION.

In the last of these years the cotton was manufac-
tured into the following articles : about 1,000,000 lbs.
into velvets; about 925,000 lbs. into nankeens, nan-
kinets, crapes, and other small stuffs ; about 1,155,000
lbs. into dimities, and about 14,880,000 lbs. into
fustians, calicoes, coverlets, siamoises, muslins, &c.
In the same year the French imported (per con-
traband) from England 2,000,000 pieces of nankeens,
1,000,000 pieces of cloth for printing, and about
300,000 pieces of other descriptions of cotton goods,
such as muslins, cambrics, dimities, &c., valued at
£300,000 sterling.

It was only in the larger spinning factories, of which,
prior to the year 1817, there were few in France, that
tlie power of water or steam was employed, and in
the greatest part even of these the application of power
was confined to the machinery for the preparation, or
the carding and roving processes Since then the fac-
tory system of France has received an immense de-
velopment. Mulhausen and Rouen may be consi-
dered its principal head-quarters, though the districts
of St. Quentin and Lille also display extraordinary
activity in its prosecution. Normandy and Picardy
are peopled with weavers, who carry on the business
on their own account at home, and send the goods for
sale to the halls at Rouen, Abbeville, &c. The finest
fabrics are made round St. Quentin and Cambray.
The articles made in the districts dependent on Mul-
hausen and Rouen are calicoes coarse and fine, vel-
vets, coloured goods of all descriptions, of superior
beauty, from their skill in the chemistry of dyeing. At
'Tarare the finest book muslins are woven with yarn at
♦one time smuggled from England, but now imported

INTRODUCTION. XXIX

under the new tariflf of 30 per cent, on yams above
No. 140 = 165 English. Fine cotton stockings are
made at Nismes, and fancy goods of many sorts, woven
with silk warp and cotton weft. ' Lyons boasts the
most tasteful articles in the cotton trade, and cotton
mixed with silk, but charges a very high price
them. Madras handkerchiefs, in imitation ofjfehe In-
dian so called, constitute the cotton niaj^iiflacture of
Montpellier. The calico-printers of^AIsace formerly
drew their whole supplies of clojtk^om Paris, Rouen,
and St. Quentin, but theyjaew spin and weave goods
not merely adequate tcf their own wants, but have a
surplus for sale iri the plain state.

It is in, tlieir coloured goods and sewed muslins that
the French compete most successfully with the English
manufacturers. They conduct their dyeing works on
strictly scientific principles. The Bulletin de la So"
ciete Industrielle de Mulhausen, a periodical work, of
which seven volumes have been published, affords a
strong evidence in favour of their progress in this de-
partment of the arts ; we cannot equal their madder-
pinks and lilacs, nor their permanent greens.*

Power-loom goods have not been produced to any
great extent in France, on account of the high price of
fuel and machinery on the one hand, and of the low
price of hand-labour on the other. There are not
more than 5,000 looms of this description at work.

The following Table will give an idea of the pro-
gressive advance of the cotton trade in France for
several years : —

♦ Alfred Binyon and V^Tilliam Nield, in Second Factory Commis-
sion Report of 1833,

■INTRODOCTION.

COTTOB WOOL 1.

O POK CONIUHPTIOH,

1822. 1823. 1824. isa-i uwe ,„„.

^«..2i6,i.9 m,m m^.s n\% ^\Z ,,\%

1928. 1829. 1830. 1831. 1832
B^...239,723 264,780 254,000 243,168 272,463

d bales of cotton
! in the following

to the French
of commerce and
manufactories io France, conceraingVlje causes of the
distress which prevailed in that year. '-They stated
that the protection given to their manufactures had
produced an excessive stock of goods beyond the
wants of the home consumption, and had caused other
countries to refuse admission to the exportable surplus,
though, indeed, it was that protection which had panl^
pered them into a monopoly price beyond the level of
the European market. This over-production operated
disadvantageously on the French manufacturers till
1831, when the continued low prices had so augmented
the home consumption, and favoured exportation of
the remainder to the value of 54,000,000 francs, that
the factories began again to be briskly employed, as
they have been progressively since.

The cotton manufacture began at a very early period
in Switzerland, for it produced, according to the annal-
ists of that country, muslins towards the conclusion of
the seventeenth century. It must haVe remained long
dwarfish; for till Arkwright's era it attracted no
notice from other nations. The first Swiss cotton*

INTRODUCTION. XXXI

mill was erected at St. Gall in 1798. Till the year
1817, however, nine-tenths of the yam which they
t»ed in weaving was spun on the one-thread wheel
The weaver suppUed himself usually with the yam,
and sold the cloth at the most convenient weekly mar-
ket, or exchanged it with dealers for yam. Latterly
general manu&cturers have sprung up, who provide
yam to the weaver, and pay him a stipulated price for
weaving it into cloth, which they dispose of in various
ways.

This state reminds us of the infancy of the trade

in England, and while wages are high, relative to the

means of subsistence, 'the operative maybe comfortable

and independent in his cottage mode of life ; but when,

from competition in the market, the wages become

relatively low, the weaver can no longer afford to waste

his time in hunting after yam, and travelling with his

small stock of goods to the market, and he sinks into

penury, or a precarious dependence on petty dealers.

In such circumstances the condition of the work-people

at the great factories of Hyde in England, or Catrine

in Scotland, is more enviable than that of the cotton

peasantry of Switzerland, so extravagantly admired by

some writers. The former are sustained in a steady

state of comfort in good times and bad times by great

capitalists, while the latter are seriously affected by

every commercial vicissitude, and suffer occasionally

the most painful privations.

Switzerland, being situated on the confines of Euro-
pean states which impose high duties on the importa-
tion of cotton fabrics, has derived great profits from the
contraband trade. She has pursued the policy, there^
fore, of receiving goods freely, in order that herpeoplp

XXXll INTRODUCTION.

may get them cheap, and be able to smuggle them with
advantage into the territories of her neighbours. Nor
has she neglected to avail herself of the natural facili-
ties for impelling machinery offered by her mountain
streams and waterfalls. New spinning-mills have
been progressively erected from year to year in the
town and canton of Zurich, in the cantons of St. Gall
and Appenzel, in Argovia, Thuringia, St. Blaye, near
Basle, and Geneva. In some places, particularly at •
Zurich, water-power has been sold at so high a rate as
£200 for each horse-power.. Cotton wool to the
amount of 56,000 bales was worked up by the Swiss
manufacturers in 1832, though the cost of transmitting
it from Trieste is Id. per pound, and from Havre lie?.
Upwards of 9,000 persons are now employed in the
spinning operations, besides about 20,000 in weaving,
dyeing, and calico-printing. The wages are very low ;
—to spinners from 8*. to 10*. a-week ; to stretchers
(men), 4s. to 6*. ; to carders (men), 5*. ; to drawers
and slabbers (girls), 3*. Eighty hours are the weekly
period of work in the mills. Weavers earn from 4*. to
4*. 6d. a-week, and 2*. a piece for calicoes. Mecha-
nical looms, even with cheap water-power, could not
there stand in competition against such low-priced
hand-weaving.

The cotton goods resemble closely the English in
their style. The fine tweels and the finer prints have
successfully competed with those of Great Britain in the
market^ of the Mediterranean, and latterly in South
America. Before the year 1822 water- twist and
mule yarn, with cotton fabrics of every description, were
sent from this country to Switzerland ; but now all the
yarns up to No. 60 are spun by the Swiss themselves;

INTRODUCTION. XXXIU

fiistians are the cmly article still supplied from England,
llie following statement of the comparative cost of
spinning 40's twist was furnished by Messrs. Samue
Greg and Co.^ of Manchester^ to the factory commission.

Procettet. Mancbester. SwHceiUnd.

Preparation^ &C •
Spinning . • •
Reeling and Bundling
Ck)ntingent expenies
Interest of capital •

713 . . -664

1-855 • • 1-236

•755 . • -513

1071 . . 1041

•812 . . 1-012

5-206 4*466

Thus the only advantage in England is the lower-
rate of interest upon fixed capital, arising from more-
work being done by the same machinery. We must
add to that advantage the saving on carriage of the raw
and manufactured articles. All the children in the Swiss
mills are able to read and write; they attend the Sun-
day schools^ and other religious institutions. The
modern mill-work is generally preferred to weaving
and printing, in consequence of the regularity and
constancy of employment. The condition of the people
has been improved by the mills, in taking them from
agriculture, weaving, and begging. The quantity of
yarn turned off per spindle is from fourteen to sixteen
hanks of No. 40's per week. All the machinery used
is made either in the country itself or in France. The
freight from England to Switzerland is about 20^. per
100 pounds' weight.

Cotton manufactures are becoming objects of interest
to many of the German states. Several spinning-
mills have been erected in the Austrian dominions,
especially in the neighbourhood of Vienna, which are
driven by water-power, and produce yam of the lower

mSXXV INTBODC€TK99l.

niuaabers up to 60's. Their fine goods are woTcn wiA
jam smuggled in from Great Britain^ though its entiTjr
is not prohibited^ like the coarser^ but is permitted
.under a high duty. To fiaciUtate this contraband
trade, small mills have been planted at Reichenberg
and other spots on the Bohemian frontiers, which enable
their owners {o jbundle up tjie, English yarn in their
own fashion, and dispose of it as such to the Austrian
weavers. It* is 'said that 100,000 weavers are em-
ployed in the neighbourhood of 'Vienna alone ; and
many at Prague, and in general throughout Bohemia,
Moravia, and at Gratz, in Styria. A few factories
have been erected in the Tyrol, to take advantage of
the abundance of water-power, as well as the low rate
of wages, and the protecting duties against foreign
yarn. The goods manufactured with these yarns are
of a stout quality, and well made. Nankeens are in
much demand.

After many unsuccessful previous attempts, at
length, in 1799, Messrs. Barnard and Brothers, aided by
an English mechanic, erected at Schemnitz the first
i^pinuing-mill of Saxony. Many rival factories were
soon thereafter mounted, but they all proved unprofit-
able from the fall in the price of English goods and
their own imperfections. The Berlin decree, in 1806,
which obstructed the introduction of English manu-
factures, revived the spinning trade of Germany, and
restored it in two years to a prosperous state. After
the defeat of Napoleon, in 1813, it once more gave
-way to the competition of England. Since the year
1818, however, the cotton-mills of Saxony have
resumed <5onsiderable activity, and produce low-miin»-
tered yarns fropi Smyrna wool, to be woven int«

INTRODUCTION.

thicksets, velvets, and coloured pocket-handkerchiefe.

All the finer mule yams, and nearly the whole of the

water-twist, are imported from Great Britain. The

yarn, whether of domestic or foreign produce, is sold to

tite weavers dispersed through the country villages, by

whom it is woven. The cloth is sold by them at the

market towns.

The imports of English cotton-twist in tl^ exeiae

district of Zittau, in Upper Lusatia, amounted in 1832

to 76,648 cwts. against 52,421 in the preceding year»

In the other departments of excise the importation

may be estimated at 30,000 cwts ; so that the total

import of Britidi twist is from 1 0,000,000 to 14,000,000

lbs. into that small province,, containing a population

x>f only 220,000 individuals. The yam spun round

Zittau amounts to from 5,000,000 to 6,000,000 lbs.
annually.

The cotton manufactures of Prussia and the Rhe-
nish provinces are extending rapidly, not only by weav-
ing British yams, but by spinning also. The number
of operatives now employed in spinning by power is
estimated at from 6,000 to 7,000. In 1830 no less
than 35,000 bales of cotton wool were worked up.
With the exception of Mr. Brugelman's mill at Crom-
ford, near Dusseldorf, where the daily hours of work
are only thirteen, the factory time is fourteen hours,
beginning at six, closing at nine, and allowing one
hour for meals.

The average wages are —

«. d.

Men 9 per week

Women 4

Children under 14 • . 2 5
y I under 12 . • 16

?CXXV1 INTRODUCTION.

The price of provisions is--^

4/. for 7 lbs. of bread ;
2ld. to 3d, for 1 lb. of beef;

3«, for 100 lbs. of potatoes*

There are several spinning-mills in the Grand Duchy
of Baden, all of which are moved by water-power : the
largest is in the Black Forest ; it is called St. Blaise, and
employs 600 work-people, four-fifths of whom are
children. The working hours are fourteen a-day, or
eighty-four a-week. No child is admitted unless
bond Jide twelve years of age. The weekly wages
are 8^. Ad, for adults, and for children, after one
year's employment, 4^. 3(i. An able labourer earns in
summer 5^. 6d. to 6^., and in winter 5^. The best
beef never exceeds IJrf. per lb., and is generally lower,
which, with the corresponding low price of other articles
of food, enables the operatives to live quite comfortably
on their wages.

The chief cotton manufacture of Prussia, which
is yearly on the increase, is the weaving and dyeing of
British yams, supplied mostly through Elberfeldt.
Some of the goods thus made have been sent back to
England for shipment to the East Indies. The
quantity of English yarn imported into Prussia in
1831 for the above manufacture was 15,600,000 lbs.

Hitherto the attempts to establish the cotton-fac-
tory system in Russia have not been very successful.
But Russia consumes a very great quantity of British
yarns; to the amount, in 1832, of 19,000,000 lbs., and
last year of 21,478,499.

There were eleven spinning-mills two years ago in
Lombardy, but they are supposed to be used chiefly as
masks for the contraband trade in British cotton yams.

INTRODUCTION. XXXVU

About 12,000 bales of cotton wool are annually con-
sumed in these factories. Though the wages are lower
than in Switzerland, a good spinner can earn 8*. a-
week, while a good labourer in Lombardy can earn
hardly 5s. A great deal of British yam is introduced
into the Milanese, which is manufactured into stock-
ings and other fabrics. The yams of the country are
woven into heavy tweels and common calicoes. All
other descriptions of goods are imported at a high
duty, or smuggled from Switzerland, England, and
France.

There are only four spinning-mills in the Sardinian
dominions, with a considerable number of hand-mules.
Goods are pretty extensively woven of cotton and linen
mixed. The wa^es are lower here than in Switzer-
land. — See The Table of Exports, Vol. I. p. 326.

We have seen, in VoL I. Book I., that cotton wool has
been long grown in the Neapolitan territories, and that
a handicraft cotton manufacture has been lonff carried
on. There are several cotton-mills in different parts
of Calabria. In the new mill of Messrs. Zublin
and Vonwiller, at Salerno, there are about 7,200
spindles. The machinery is good, on the newest
principle, and includes the tube-roving frame. The
wages are, — for spinners, 6^. per week ; carders, 4s. 3d. ;
rovers, 3^. 2d. ; and piecers 2^. 6rf. The cotton
worked up in this mill is principally grown in the
adjoining fields, and costs about 6d. or 7d. a-pound.
The land on which it grows is let at the very high rent
of £2. 10^. per acre. The importation of English
yam into the kingdom of Naples may be estimated at
about 2,000,000 of lbs. Weavers earn from 2^. to
2«. 6d. a- week. Under a liberal government, Naples,

icXXVm n«TRODUCTION.

-with its waterfalls and cheap labour, might soon ou-
tcome an important manufacturing country.

The following remarks from a broker's price-current
at Antwerp, in 1833, show the general advance of
Contmental competition : —

'^ All the accounts we receive from the manu&cturing
districts continue to represent the cotton factories to be
proceeding under a progressive state of improvement.
The results of their operations last year having opened
the eyes of the proprietors to their previous error in
neglecting the home market in favour of the deluave
prospects held out to them by the monopoly offered to
them in India, they are now applying increased atteur
tion to this branch, the beneficial consequences of
which are rapidly manifesting themselves in the
diminution of the imports of British goods."*

The first cotton-mill of the United States of America
dates from the year 1791, when one was erected in
Rhode Island A second was erected in 1795, at the
same place, after which no more was done till 1803,
when a third was mounted in Massachusetts, followed
there by a fourth in 1804. During the three suc-
ceeding years ten more mills were erected in Rhode
Island, and one in Connecticut, making altogether
fifteen mills, containing about 8,000 spindles, and
producing about 300,000 lbs. of yam a-year. By a
return made to the government in 1810 it appears thai
87 additional milb had been erected by the end of the
year 1809, of which 62 were then in operation, 14 of
them being horse-mills, and 48 water-mills, con.

* Mr. Birley, in Factory Commission Report^ Part I.^ Manchester,

INTROIHTCTION. XXXtt

taiHii^ altogether 31,000 spindles. Twenty-fire milk
\ besides were expected to be placed in activity in the
«mrse of the year 1810, when the total number of
iq)indles would be 80,000.

The capital required to carry on the manufacture in
die best manner is considered to be at the rate of
100 dollars for each spindle ; but in general not more
than 60 dollars had been expended. The yarn spun
annually for each spindle is about 36 lbs., correspcmding
to 45 lbs. of cotton wool, and it sells for about one dollar
12J cents per lb. Forty persons are employed for
800 spiudles, of whom 35 are women and children,
-and five are men; this is at the rate of one person for
every 20 spindles.

A report made to the House of Representatives, in
1816, states ''that the quantity of cotton wool manu-
fectured in the yearr 1815 was 90,000 bales, nearly
equivalent to the consumption of France at that
period; that the quantity used in 1810 had been only
10,000 bales; in 1805, 1,000; and, in 1800, 500
bales. The following general statement is officially
made in the same report : —

Capital engaged in 1816 40,000,000 dollara

Medes employed, of 1 7 years and upwards . 10, 000

Women and female children .... 66,000

Boys under 17 years of age . . • . • 24,000

Cotton manufacture, 90 , 000 bales, or . . 27 , 000 , 000 lbs.

Cottonclothof various descriptions manu-) 81 000 000 yards
factured j ' ' ^

Cost 24,000,000 dollars

New tariff laws were passed, one after another, in
1824, 1828, and 1832,- in each of which the duty upon
cotton goods imported was declared to be 25 per cent.

Xl INTRODUCTION.

ad valorem, rating the coarser fabrics as in the act of
1816.

Under such exclusive protection the cotton trade
marched with an accelerated pace. Power-loom fac-
tories were established; while the most improved
processes in spinning and weaving were eagerly sought
after and adopted. The manufacture has accordingly-
expanded greatly in the New-England States, as well
as in those of New York and Rhode Island, but is
little known in the rest of the union.

From the reports of the Secretary to the Treasury,
made to the House of Representatives on the 31st Sep-
tember, 1830 and 1831, it appears that the States ex-
ported the following quantities of goods : —

1830. 1831.

*'' Dollars. Dollars.

Printed and coloured cottons, value • 61,800 96,931

White ditto , . . 964,196 947,932

Nankeens • . 1,093 2,397

Twist yam and thread 24,744 17,221

All other cotton manufactures • . .266,350 61,832

1,318,183 1,126,313

More than one-third of these exports were sent to
Mexico, and the rest to the New States of South
America, and in particular to Chili. A report of the
Committee of Congress, appointed, in the spring of
1832, to inquire into the progress of the spinning and
manufacturing of cotton in the Unitqd States, has fur-
nished the following statement for the year 1831 : —

In 12 States there were—

MiUs 795

Spindles 1,246,503

Looms 33,506

INTRODUCTION. xU

The weight of cotton woilced up was • • 77,557,316 Ibf,
Deduct 2 oz. for waste per lb. • • . . 9,694,664

Total weight of yam spun was • . • . 67,862,652

Amount of ditto per week • • , , , , 1,305,051
Averaging 16^ oz. per spindle. ■^»«i_>a

The number of male workers was • . • 18,539

N ,, female ditto 38,927

Total employed in the cotton manufacture . 57,466

The simi paid for wages in that year was 10,294,444 dollars, or
£2,144,780.

The sum paid per week was therefore £42,895,
being no less than 14^. lid. for each of the work-
people enumerated.

The capital employed was 44,914,984 dollars ; the
number of yards of cloth manufactured was 230,46 1;990,
and the number of pounds of cotton was equal to what
was consumed in Great Britain little more than twenty
years ago.

It is diflScult to recqncile the above ^tatement of the
average wages with the evidence of j Mr. Kempton, a
cotton manufacturer in the United
been acquainted with the manner of conducting manu-
factories in most of them, and who employs in his own
establishment 400 work-people. He says, " A person
ten years old would get 3^. a-week, a person twelve
years old 4^. a-week, fourteen years 5^., sixteen 6^.,
eighteen 8^.; those more advanced in years would earn
10.y. The smaller children in the carding-room (be-
tween nine and twelve years) are those who earn 3^. ;
those attending the drawing- frames earn from 5^. to
6s.; those who attend the roving-frames earn 8^.
a-week ; girls attending the throstle-frames earn from

xlii

rNTRODUCTION.

5^. to 8*.; machine-makers earn about 5*. a-day ;
mule-spimiers earn about' 5*. a-day ; overlookers earn
from 5s. to 6^. a^day ; assistant overseers earn from
3^. to 4*. a-day,

" No. 16 water-twist, made entirely of good cotto n,
sells in th^^Tlnrted States at 104d. per pound; in
England, No. 16 yam, made from a mixture of waste
twists and a small quantity of Uplands, sells at \Td:
per pound."

He gives the following statement of the comparative
cost of weaving in the United States and in England :

Interest on dressing machine
Interest on 12 power-looms .
Cost per annum of one horse-power
Cost of dressing 3, 756 pieces •
Cost of weaving . . • •

United States. England.

£2 11

8 6

3 10

23 9

125 4

£163

£1 12

4 10

12 10

46 18

156 10

£222

American, 10^. per piece ; English, U, 2^.

Water-power exists in America in great abundance,
at a very low rent, even in the best situations ; whereas
in Great Britain the power is mostly steam, or, if water,
it is at a very high rent." Mr.Kempton expresses his
conviction that the effect of a compulsory limitation of
the working-hours in Great Britain to ten instead of
twelve would enable the manufacturers of the United
States to undersell the British, not only in markets
abroad, feut in their own home markets.*

The following important Table was furnished by
Mr. WilUam Greg to the Factory Commissioners in
May, 1833:—

* Factory Commission Report, Part I., Evidence by Central Boards
pp. 23, 24.

INTBODUCTIOH.

zliii

•I

,10

•9

9) .

o
be

' m •

SI'S

es ^ O "^

a2 8

•c

0000

y»

0»

i -i

o«

i i

00"

i • •

1 § •
^ << p

■i i

^4 4

Ok <o

M CQ

^ 2 =n

m o«

to so

•I 3

CO "*

5 n =

• • * # *

S3 B k3 ^^i-a
'<H CQ QOPQ

• • • •

.'O

• • a

INTRODUCTION.

A very large proportion of the cotton wo ol a bsorbed
by the manufacture of America is made into domestic
or other heavy fabrics, in- which her adv antages-w itl
respect to rawTifaterial tell with the greatest effect.
Domestics comprehend a most important and extensive
class of cloths used by the great mass of society for
shirts, sheets, linings, and. many other domestic pur-
p,^5S: -Supposing one-half of the power-looms in
Great Britain to be employed in lighter fabrics, the
remaining half, or about 60,000 must be engaged in
the same heavy fabrics as the American looms, which,
from the above estimate, must be considerably upwards
of 45,000 ; but, in fact, the power-looms of the United
States employed upon heavy cloths cannot be much
fewer than those occupied with similar goods in Great
Britain. It is upon this most important class of
fabrics that the tax on cotton wool, the expense of
freight, and other burdens peculiar to this country,
from which America is exempt, press most severely.

1. The manufacturers of the United States have the
raw naaterial of these heavy domestics much cheaper
than those of Great Britain. Without insisting upon the
advantages possessed by America as the grower of her
own cotton for securing the tenure of her cotton trade,
and the dependence of this country for her supply on
foreign countries, which political contingencies may
compromise or destroy, we shall merely advert, here
to the savings of the American manufacturer in freight
and insurance. From New Orleans and Mobile to
England the freight of cotton- wool is |d. per pound,
with 5 per cent, primage, and from the Atlantic States
from ^ to^ of Irf. ; from New Orleans to Boston the
whole charges are no more than f of a cent ; hence the

INTRODUCTION. xlv

savings to the manufacturer in New England in freight
and insurance are no less than Jd. per pounds which
upon cotton worth 7d. is equal to 7 per cent, upon its
prime cost.

2. The American manufacturer saves likewise the
average profits paid by the British to the class of mid-
dlemen between the sellers of cotton wool in the States
and the spinners in Britain, commonly called the
^' cotton importers." It is through this order of mer-
chants^ who form the principal holders of the stocks of
cotton wool in the Liverpool and Glasgow markets,
that the spinners of the United Kingdom are supplied.
A commission of 3 per cent, upon the invoice amount
of the purchase is in this way paid. Besides the charge
thus entering into the importer's own cost upon the
cotton he is entitled to obtain a certain profit Sup-
posing him to carry on his business at the moderate
profit of 5 per cent., this, along with the charges upon
his commercial establishments abroad and at home,
must be paid by the British spinner, forming perma-
nently an extra ingredient of the cost of his material
from which the American spinner is free.

3. The duty of five-sixteenths of a penny per pound,
upon all cotton wool imported into the United King-
dom from foreign states, operates as a premium to the
manufacturers of all other countries not similarly
taxed ; the difference equivalent to about 4^ per cent,
upon cotton wool at 7d* per pound operates against the
British spinner in his competition not only with the
American, but with the spinners of all other countries
who receive either cotton wool duty free, or get a draw-
back on exportation equivalent to the duty paid ; even
when our spinners purchase their cotton wool through

Xlvi INTRODUCTION.

an agent in the States, and thereby save the importer's
profit, the amount of charges in freight, duty, insu-
rance, &c., varies from 11| to 14 per cent, more than
is paid by the American manufacturer. If we add to
this charge 5 per cent, for the importer's profit, paid
in common cases, the sum may be estimated at fully
16 per cent.

In fine and ornamental fabrics, which contain little
weight of Cotton woolTSnd whose value is made up
V chiefly of the wages of labour; an extra cost of material,
\ evenTo^ the abpyejextent, would t)e cbriiparaSvely of
little consequence, but it is a most serious impost on
the domestic cloths, in which American competition
principally lies. Mr. William Graham, jun., of Glas-
gow, stated in his evidence to the Committee of the
House of Commons on Manufactures, '' that taking
a piece of our staple articles in domestics, that cost
us twenty shillings, I reckon that we use about twenty
pounds of raw cotton ; therefore that would be about
twenty-two pence upon what would cost us twepty
shillings.''

4. The flour used in the -processes of weaving and
bleaching forms an item in the cost of cotton goods of
much more consequence than even at first sight might
be supposed; the quantity of flour used upon each
piece of cloth is proportioned to the weight of cotton
which it contains, so that the extra British cost arising
from this source is greatest in those heavy fabrics in
which foreign competition is most formidable, and
in which the tax on cotton wool, and other causes of its.
enhancement, are most severely felt Mr. Graham
says that he has paid in duty on flour from £600 to
£700 annually, on an average of iseveral years.

■I

INTRODUCTION* xlvU

5. The abundance of water-power, and its cheap-
ness as compared to that of steam, are advantages of
some consequence, especially in heavy fabrics. It is
also one of which the most formidable rivals of the
Bi^tish manufacturers in these goods have availed
themselves. The coarse yams of Switzerland and
Germany, which have superseded the ]rams formerly
sent to them from Great Britain, as also the heavy
fabrics of the United States, which oppose those of
Great Britain in many third markets, are all manu«
factured by water-power. See Mr. Kempton'tf state-
ment above. * * ' v. /

6. While combinations among the operatives of the
cotton manufactures of A merica and the contment of
Europe are unknown or inett'ective, they have long
existed among those of this country in' a form com- i
pletely orgahTzed and powerful, with the eHect not 1
only of raJUuglluL yrlifes oTTaboui^T)ut also of imposing ';
a variety of restrictions upon our manufacturers in the ,
managemenTof tKeir factories, much to their inconve- '
nience, and-^irQportionally to the benefit of their '
foreign rivals. "

7r~THe money prices of provisions have been much
higher in Great Britain than in the manufacturing
countries of the continent of Europe and America.
Without referring here to the influence of this circum-
stance upon the price of labour, and supposing, for
the present, the wages paid by the British manufac-
turer and his foreign rivals to be the same, still this
state of things would not prove that the foreign manu-
facturers could derive no future advantage from the
low-priced provisions of their workmen. In the event
of that more serious struggle, which in the natural

xlviii INTRODUCTION.

progress of competition is likely to take place, the
cheapness of the means of subsistence, by conferring a
higher condition upon the foreign workmen, leaves
more room for a reduction of wages. Mr. Kirkman
Finlay, a great authority in these matters, says, " I
think the diflFerence would be this, that, if the amount
of wages paid in Great Britain were absolutely neces-
sary for the comfortable subsistence of the workmen,
it would be quite clear that, whatever pressure there
might be, those wages could not be permanently
reduced ; but, if the money wages paid in America are
sufficient to get a great deal more than the absolute
necessaries and comforts of life, then, if there is apres^
sure upon its manufacturers, they can so reduce the
wages as to meet that difficulty, and by that means
undersell the manufacturers here^*

8. The heavy taxation, local as well as general, borne
by all producers of commodities in Great Britain, must
operate in favour of their rivals. High-priced pro-
visions and labour are not the only media through
which taxation increases the burdens of the British
manufacturer. This cause operates still more directly
by imposts upon almost every department of his
business, — taxes on his postages, on his clerks, on his
bills, promissory notes, and policies of insurance, on
his advertisements, on the money which he borrows
and pays, and on the transference of the landed pro-
perty which he buys or sells. The duties on fire and
sea insurances levied yearly on the cotton manu-
facturers of Great Britain have been estimated as
follow : —

* Report on Commerce, Manufacturet, and Shipping,

INTRODUCTION. xUl^

1. Annual duty of St. per £100, paid foi fire insurances £•

On £20,000,000 sterling, invested in mills, ware-
houses, &c 30,000

2. Duty for sea-insurances of 2«. 6d, under, and 5t.

above 30«. premium per £100 (being an average
of 3s. 9d,) of duty on £20,000,000 (the exports of
cotton in 1835) 37,506

Total insurance taxeK • • « .£67,500

9. Since combinations among workmen, high priced
provisions, and heavy taxation, keep up the price of
labour, and the absence of these three evils have just
the opposite effect, the cost of spinning and weaving
must be perpetually enhanced in Great Britain, com-
pared to its amount in foreign countries. The Table
of Mr. Greg, page xxxiii, shows the advantage of
the Swiss over the British spinner in 40's yarns, to be
in the preparation processes upwards of 7 per cent., in
the spinning process upwards of 50 per cent, in reeling
knd bundling upwards of 47 per cent., and in con-
tingent expenses nearly 3 per cent., upon the cost of
these different items as compared in the two coun-
tries ; — ^whilst Manchester has only 24i^ per cent, of
advantage in interest of capital &c. upon a similar
comparison; the difference in the cost of the yam
being 16 J per cent, in favour of Switzerland.

The heavy cloths, in which the competition of Ame-
rica has been principally felt, are woven with coarse
yams from Nos. 10 to 20. It appears from the sche-
dule of the prices of spinning in the factories of the
United States, compared with the prices paid for the
same work in Glasgow annexed to Mr. Kirkman
Finlay's letter to Lord Ashley in 1833, that the prices
of spinning these numbers of yarn were, for a given

1 INTRODUCTION.

quantity, 4^. in the United States, and 4^. lid. in
Glasgow, being 22 per cent, in favour of America.
The prices of carding the same numbers were in the
United States 6^. 7Jd. per week, and in Glasgow
Ts. \\d, per week, being 7 per cent, in favour of
America.

In the operation of dressing the warp of heavy goods,
the American has an advantage of 50 per cent, in price,
and in weaving of 25 per cent. ; being, upon the two
taken together, an advantage of 36 per cent. The
total charges of dressing and weaving, are —

In England, per piece .... 1*. 2j(i.

In America „ lOj^d.

Or, 36 per cent, of the charges per piece in favour of
the United States.

10. While the wages paid by the foreign manufac-
turer are less, the labour performed in return for them
is longer continued. By the Factory Regulation Act,
the British manufacturer is subjected to a variety of
restrictions with respect to the number of hours during
which he is entitled to work his factory, and the de-
scription of persons whom he may lawfully employ,
while in all these points the manufacturers of America
and of the continent of Europe are perfectly unre-
strained. Of this freedom they do not foil to avail
themselves. The per centage of additional time thus
gained by the manufacturers of these countries, in com-
parison with those of England, is, on the average, in
America and France, 13 per cent. ; in the Tyrol, 10
percent. ; in Prussia and Switzerland, 17 per cent. : the
mean of the whole being no less than 14 per c«fit.
gained on time. A piece of domestics containing
1 51bs. of yarn, and costing 22*., when spun and woven

INTRODUCTION. U

in a factory working 12 hours per day; would cost
only £1. Itf. 7 id. in a factory working 13 hours ; being a
saving of 4Jrf. per piece, constituting 7i per cent, on
the fixed charges of spinnings and 6 per cent on the
charges of weaving.

The superior skill and dexterity of British operatives
have been assumed as constituting one of our chief
advantages. Their experience must no doubt be more
extended, in proportion as the range and variety of
British fabrics are greater than those of any other
country; but, in such goods as the foreigners carry
into neutral markets, the superiority of the British ope-
ratives is a point by no means decided. Manufactu-
rers of the United States, and of some parts of the Con-
tinent, claim for those employed by them at least an
equality within the sphere of their own production^
and to which their competition with the fabrics of
Great Britain is necessarily limited. The late remark-
able ingenuity of the American artisans, in their me-
chanical improvements, gives no countenance to the
notion of their inferiority.

The impolicy of the import tax on cotton wool is so
glaring as hardly to require illustration. A tax on
ihe raw materials of such manufactures as are prin*
cipally consumed mthin the United Kingdom, would
be comparatively harmless; but since two-thirds at
least of British cotton goods are exported, a tax upon
their raw, material operates as a bounty upon the cot-
ton manufactures of other nations. Where duties have
been imposed on importation, as in the case of sugars,
wines, spirits, &c., a corresponding drawback on their
exportation has been always allowed : yet cotton, as
if undeserving of fiscal justice, has been ever since the

m INTRODUCTION.

year 1798 pers^uted with a series of imposts, in
twelve successive rates, all tending to turn the balance
in favour of our foreign rivals in that trade. No
government except our own, possessing any pretensions
to the title of enlightened, lays a tax upon the import
of cotton wool, which is not countervailed by an equi-
valent drawback on exportation. The peculiar pres-
sure of the competition in America is upon those
coarse yams, and heavy cloths, for the production of
which it possesses the advantages of an indigenous raw
material, unencumbered with taxation, and procured at
the minimum cost of carriage. The spinning also of
the continent of Europe has been hitherto directed
principally to the coarse numbers of yarn which are
worked up into heavy fabrics, and with the effect of
depriving this coimtry of almost all the European cus-
tomers whom she not long ago supplied.

The very existence of this country depends on re-
taining an ascendancy in' the cotton manufacture, as
the principal means of enabling her to sustain the
enormous burden of taxation accumulated by the war-
funding system. Were Great Britain as free from taxes
as the states of America or the continent of Europe,
she might surrender to them a share of her cotton
trade without suffering any national misfortune, but
, she has nothing to spare, without involving her people
in distress, and her public credit in jeopardy.

In 1833, the total consumption in Great BrU lbs.

tain of foreign and colonial cotton wool was 293 , 682 , 976
Off, 11 percent, for colonial 32,305,126

261,377,850

INTRODUCTION. lui

£. s. d.

Daty on above, at ^ of a'penoy • 340,335 15
Dufy on colonial, at 4d» per cwt. 4,807 6

Duty on total consumption • • 345,143 1

T he averag e loss by wa,<ttft npnn yiitt^n ij^gp] jn ^^jjj
ningJ 5eing^ ab6Ut 12^ |M»p-^nt., the manufacturer
drawing back dutylvould be a loser to that extent,
unless a correspondent allowance were made upon the
exported weight.

The following facts place in a strong point of view
the encroachments of the American cotton manu*
facture upon the British in foreign neutral markets.*

The Chinese Commercial Guide, which is a collec-
tion of details respecting foreign trade m China, pub-
lished by John Robert Morrison, at Canton, states that,
during the year 1834, the importation from America
of cotton long cloths amounted to 134,100 pieces, and
of cotton domestics to 32,743 ; while of cotton goods
the whole importation in British vessels consisted of
75,922 pieces. It further appears, from Bell's Com-
parative View of the Commerce of Bengal during
1833-4 and 1834-5, that during the latter year the
imports of American piece goods were nearly the
double of the imports of the preceding year — viz,,
24,745 pieces for 1834-5, from 12,800 in 1833-4.

Mr. William Gemmell, of Glasgow, who was for
several years in the habit of supplying Chili with
cotton domestics, has latterly been obliged to abandon
the trade, after an unsuccessful competition with the

* See an able pamphlet on The Impolicy <^ the Tcue on Cotton
fVool, by Alexander Graham, Esq., published by the Associated
Cotton Spinners at Glasgow, in 1836.

liv INTRODUCTION.

manufacturers of the United States, although he com-
bines in his own works the operations both of spinning
and weaving, so as to ship* his goods at the lowest
possible cost in this country, and although he has the
advantage of selliaig them by his partners abroad.*

Mr. George Wilson, of Rio de Janeiro, writes, "We
fear that we shall be under the necessity of re-shipping
to Rio all the domestics that we brought down with
us, as the market of Port Allegrfe is completely over-
drawn by the Americans in this article, f

Of the Manilla market, Mr. W. P. Paton reports
35,240 pieces of 36 inches wide, and 7,000 pieces of
28 inches wide grey of American manufacture ; while
of British manufacture, for the same period, there were
only 1,832 pieces.

Mr. Gibson, Aux Cayes, writes in 1834, '^ that in
unbleached domestics, a class of goods of great
importance, the Americans were cutting out the
British."

Mr. John Heugh, of Malta, states, "that the
Americans had in a great measure driven the British
article (cotton domestics) from the market.'*

Mr. Atkinson, of Smyrna, writes, "Domestics are
a very current article of consumption, but almost
20,000 pieces have lately arrived principally from
-America."

A mercantile house at the Cape of Good Hope,

about twelve months ago, sent patterns of American

domestics, as sold at certain quoted prices, to their

-correspondent at Glasgow, requesting that supplies

might be forwarded from this country, provided they

* See his affidavit in Graham's Impolicy of the Tax on Cotton Wooln
t Ibid.

INTRODUCTION. Iv

could be ajSbrded at the same rates as the Americaa
goods. As it was found on inquiry that British
domestics could not be shipped at these prices without
a loss^ the firm could not procure the supplies of goods
thus requested.*

In a statistical table, which was published in a lat6
" Lowell Mercury," that manu&cturing town is said
to contain nine incorporated companies, possessing a
capital of 6,530,000, under whose management there
are 22 mills. These mills are mounted with 100,380
spindles and 3,554 looms. They employ 4,775
females and 1,415 males^ and manufacture 702,000
yards of cloth per week ; consume 229,700 lbs. of cotton
wool per week, and 400,000 lbs. of sheep's wool per
annum; they bum annually 7,250 tons of anthracite
coal and 4,100 cords of wood; use 37,950 gallons of
oil, 10,500 of which are olive oil. These companies
manufacture 36,500,000 yards of cotton cloth per
annum, in doing which they use 11,424,400 lbs. of
cotton wool or 32,604 bales, each pound of cotton
making 3^ yards of cloth. The average wages of
females in all the mills, clear of board, is 2 dollars
per week, and that of males, boarding themselves, is
1 . 25 dollar per day.

This manufacturing town, now so great, was only 10
years ago a complete wilderness — ^not a tree was then
cut down for the purpose of building the place.

The Prussian commercial league at present includes
nearly the whole of Germany. The states that have
actually joined in it are Saxony, Bavaria, Wurtem
burg, Baden, Hesse Cassel, Hesse Darmstadt, Nas*

* See affidavits of the above statements in Graham's Impolicy, 8fc.

Ivi INTRODUCTION.

$au, Frankfort on the Maine, and two or three other
minor states. Holland and Belgium, Mecklen-
burgh, Brunswick, and Switzerland, will also be ob-
liged eventually, for their own protection, to give in
their adhesion. In short, Austria being excluded on
the one side, and France on the other, it seems likely
that the league will comprise, in a few years, the whole
of the countries now mentioned, together with the
Hanse towns. The real object of the league is the en-
couragement of the manufactures of Saxony and Ger-
many, with a view to the exclusion of England alto-
gether. If the union be not disturbed by political con-
vulsions, the United Kingdom may be effectually
shut out at no remote period, unless by repealing our
corn laws, and the duties on cotton wool, we shall be
enabled to cheapen labour, and undersell the manufac-
turers of Germany. The mean price of wheat of the
first quaUties at Hamburg, Amsterdam, Antwerp, and
Stettin was on the 18th January, 1836, £1. 8^. Id. per
quarter, while it was in London, £2. 4^. 6d. per quarter;
being 58J per cent, higher here than in the four
above-mentioned places. The mean price of wheat at
New York and Philadelphia for several years back may
be taken at an average of £1. 18^. 6d. per quarter,
being about 38 per cent, below the British average of
the ten years prior to 31st December, 1832. Th^
extra cost of flour in Britain during these years, com-
pared to that in the United States, will of course be in
the same proportion.

In the weaving of heavy fabrics of average breadth,
made of yarns from No. 16*8 to No. 24's, each
power-loom requires about 250 lbs. of flour per annum,
while in the lighter yarns from Nos. 40's to 50's,

INTRODUCTION. IvU

each power-loom requires 156 lbs. Now, supposing
the one-half (say 50,000) power-loomsto.be employed
in heavy, and the other half in light fabrics, and the
hand-looms estimated at only 250,000, to consume on
an average eighty-three pounds each, the whole flour
used annually by the British cotton looms will be
146,607 bags of 280 lbs., which at £1. 15^. per bag
(the lowest average price of the monthly rates of the
year 1834,) will amount to the sum of £256,652. If
to this we add one-third more, on account of the flour
used in making up the bleached goods, and take the
^ost of the whole above that of flour on the conti-
nent, corresponding to the comparative average prices
of wheat there, during ten years prior to 1832, at 50
per cent, we shall find the British manufacturer's*
whole extra cost annually, in flour used in his busi-
ness, above the cost of the same quantity on the con-
tinent, to be £171,041. Thus,

50,000 power looms, on heavy fabrics . at 250 lbs. 12,500^000

50,000 ditto on light ditto . . at 156 lbs. 7,800,000

250,000 hand looms, on heavy and light do., at 83 lbs. 20,750,000

41,050,000

41,050,000 lbs. at 35f. per 280 lbs. . . £256,562
Add one-third for bleached goods • • 85,521

£342,803

Fifty per cent, extra cost on that sum is,
£171.041.

Observations made by the Author in a Tour through
the Cotton Factories of France and Belgium, in
the Autumn of 1835.

During the years 1825, 1826, and 1827, the num-
ber of cotton factories increased with such rapidity in

Iviii INTRODUCTION.

Prance, under its pampering system of home mono*
poly and export bounties, as to raise their supply of
goods far beyond the demand, at least, relatively to the
prices of production. The consequences were a rapid
and unparalleled fall in their value. Credit was with-
drawn by the capitalists from the manufecturers at the
moment of their utmost need ; many mills were shut
up ; and the cotton trade suffered losses which it has
but lately been able to repair.

Towards the end of 1829, indeed, the equilibrium
being well nigh restored between supply and con-
sumption, manufacturers began to resume their former
activity ; but this gleam of prosperity was soon
clouded by warlike alarms, political disorders, and the
cholera, all of which, unfortunately, came in the train
of the revolution of 1830. It was not till the spring
lof 1833 that confidence and comfort became the lot
of the French cotton trade.

These crises have not, however, been unfruitful of
good. They have compelled cotton-mill proprietors
to improve their establishments, to spin better yam,
and at a cheaper rate ; introducing everywhere most re-
markable ameliorations into the whole system of the
cotton industry, becoming the spirit and intelUgence
of a mighty people.

The yams which have been during the last two years
exported into Switzerland, from Alsace, in considera-
ble quantities, have stood their ground against Eng-
lish yarns in all the ordinary degrees of fineness. At
Tarare also the fine yarns from the Mulhausen market
fetch the same prices as the English. In this case^
however, the French spinner has the duty on our yams
as an additional profit over the English spinner. The

INTRODUOnON. llX

principal part of these improvements is due to the
perfection of the modem machinery constructed in tht
workshops of Alsace, in consequence of which the
spinning-frames go far more rapidly, and turn off far
more work, than they formerly did. I have seen a
machine in Alsace which cards, draws, and roves
cotton waste, for low numbers of yam, with an eco-
nomy of labour and time truly marvellous, and un-
equalled, I believe, in any part of Great Britain.

This was in the factory of MM. Schlumberger and
Bourcart, at Guebwiller, one of the most magnificent
valleys of the Vosges, where water and steam work
with gigantic rivalry.

The bobbin-and-fly frames of 200 spindles each,
constructed and mounted in M. Schlumberger's fac-
tory, are, I believe, the most productive machines of
the kind in existence. The spinning motion is com-
municated by leather straps, running upon the edges
of horizontal discs fixed to the spindles, in a very in-
genious manner, so as to give a smooth motion without
the possibility of slipping.

The castings of iron and brass, as weU as the ma-
chines made from them, seem to be as perfect at
Guebwiller as in the best workshops in Manchester.
The fluted drawing-rollers are pecuUarly beautiful,
and, as well as the spindles, fetch a higher price all over
France than those imported from England.

M. Schlumberger's mules have 396 spindles, and
spin everything from No. 20 up to No. 230 English.
On counting the time of a stretch of both 130's and
150's E., I found them to be exactly 52 seconds
each, the length being 56 inches E. Hardly any of
die threads broke, affording the best proof of the good-

IX INTRODUCTION.

ness of the preparation, the excellence of the mule,
and the skill of the spinner. One spinner with three
piecers works a pair of mules.

Tliis establishment contains 54,000 mule-spindles,
which are employed as follows : —

27,000 for ipinning from 47*8 10 82'8 b.

24,000 ,, 118 to 200 b.

3,000 ,, 35 to 47 e.

600 for waste from 5 to 6

In one of his mills there are 94 double cards, in
another 190 single ones ; 1,200 operatives are employed
in them both.

Messrs. DoUfus, Mieg, and Co., at Doernock, near
Mulhausen, have 500 operatives employed in their fac-
tory, in which they spin 30's F..warp=35'4's e., and
40'sF., weft=47'2'sE.

There are 150 cards, of which the one-half are
finishers, and the other breakers; 44 of them have
drums 36 inches f. in diameter; and 106 have drums
18 inches.

There are four successive drawing-frames.

The bobbin- and-fly frames have 120 spindles each.
They are constructed by MM. Andre Koechlin, and
Co, The spindles revolve by means of a snail working
in bevel wheels, with oblique teeth. Rovings vary
from Nos. 1 to 20's f. (= 1 1 • 8's to 23 • 6's e.). From
15 to 16 kilos. (31 to 35 pounds E.) are turned off in
12 hours' work, of No. 10 f.

Most of the mules have 240 spindles ; a few have
360 spindles. Each pair is worked by a man and two
girls. The stretch of 56 inches f. (60's e.) for No. 90's
F. (106 •2's E.) is performed very uniformly (by the
second's watch) in 54". A stretch of 36's e. is spun in

INTRODUCTION. Ixi

25" by one spinner, and one piecer for the pair of
mules.

There are 107 mules in the factory.

50 cards are arranged in one superb gallery, about
14 feet in height. The card-ends do not faU into tin-cans,
as in England, but each of them is conducted down to a
covered conduit on the floor, mounted with a friction-
roller opposite to the centre of each card. The tender
fleece descends vertically from the delivery-roller, makes
a rectangular t\irn as it enters the square opening in the
lid of the conduit, glides along the friction-pulleys in
company with the 49 other ribands, all in contact, which
are sustained by a horizontal travelUng apron. They ad-
vance without pressure or extension, and finally turn
up at the end of the gallery to be wound upon a large
bobbin. Whenever one bobbin is filled, the attendant
turns round the swing frame in which it plays, and
thereby puts its companion empty bobbin immediately
in its place. The economy of labour by this arrange-
ment is not the sole advantage. The card-ends are
much more uniform in texture than those subjected to
handling and breaking in the tin-cans (pots f.)
Nothing can be more striking than to see 50 powerful
carding engines, thus pouring forth their fleecy fillets
in a spontaneous, never-ceasing stream, with only one
attendant to swing round their receiving reels alter-
nately. The mechanism is called Couloir a cardes,
that is, card' end ducts, consisting of an endless
travelling band, running along a range of horizontal
guide-pulleys.

Before giving any further details illustrative of the
very advanced state of other cotton manufactories in
France, I shall lay before my readers an abstract of

Ixii INTRODUCTION.

Dr. Bowring's evidence before the Silk Committee of
1832^ on this subject, which, in flattering the pride of
the English people, has served to blind them as to the
risk of foreign rivalship. Dr. Bowring had derived
his information avowedly at second hand, and appa-
rently from some of the visionary non-practical cotton
spinners in the neighbourhood of Paris, who plunged
into a complex mechanical art while utterly unversed
in its mysteries. The Doctor's abstract principles are
sound, but their application seems to me erroneous,
from his estimating too meanly the intellectual and
physical resources of the French nation.

^' While, according to the best calculation, 7,000,000
of spindles are employed in England to manufacture
more than 240,000,000 lbs. of cotton, in France, ac-
cording to the return of the commission which reported
on the cotton trade, 3,200,000 spindles are employed
to manufacture 66,000,000 lbs. ; so that where the pro-
tected French manufacturer produces only 66,000,000
lbs., the unprotected EngUsh manufacturer would,
with the same number of spindles, produce nearly
110,000,000 lbs. ; or if the English manufacturer pro-
duced at the same rate as the French, instead of
240,000,000 lbs. he would produce only 144,000,000
lbs. In England it is estimated, according to the Par-
liamentary RetuiUs, that 700,000 persons are engaged
in the different branches of the cotton manufacture, and
they produce nearly four times the quantity which is
rendered in France by 550,000 persons, according to
the returns of the French commission ; that protection
has thus led to the waste of more than two-thirds of
the whole amount of labour employed on the protected
articles. The French cotton manufacturers have had

INTRODUCTION. Ixiii

"die benefit of this prohibitory system ever since the
peace^ and^ according to the statement made by their
commission^ it costs the country 47,000,000 fr. per an-
num beyond the sum at which the same articles might
be imported from England; this is the result of
eighteen years' protection, yet the testimony of the
French manufacturers is that the very existence of
their business is rendered doubtful from year to year.**
'^Report of Silk Committee, p. 586, 22d June, 1832.

^' I think that in almost all the articles of taste and
fashion the French possess a superiority of between 30
and 40 per cent. ; I think the English have a greater
superiority than this in those manufactures, such as
cotton, where mechanical aptitude is brought to bear.*'
— P. 593. ** I have had evidence enough to satisfy me,
in the peculiar position in which I was placed, that at
the present moment the importation of cotton-twist (by
smuggling) is from 15,000,000 fr. to 20,000,000 fr, I
csin also speak, from my own personal knowledge, of
the large clandestine importation of cotton-twist from
Switzerland into France." — P. 593.

^' At this moment, of the capital invested in the
production of cotton-twist, I think I may state the
great proportion is absolutely lost, and the loss of the
rest is inevitable. I have had occasion to examine
the operation of the system upon a very wide scale,
and I state, as a general result, on the details of which
I should be able to give evidence to satisfy honourable
members, that this protective experiment has cost the
French nation since the peace £200,000,000 sterling;
and their prohibitory experiment has wholly failed in
accomplishing any one object for which it was in-
tended. Wherever there are unfavourable circum*

Ixiv INTRODUCTION.

stances, such as are now connected with the cotton-
twist trade in France, they can he no more subdued
by protection than a geranium can be made to flourish
in Ireland. I am satisfied that no industry can or will
succeed that is not of natural growth; that all
attempts to force industry have been fatal and ruin^
ous to the nations that have made the attempt.

^' If I had expected that the general state of manu-
factures in France would have been gone into, I would
have brought some information which would show
that the situation of the cotton manufacture is dis-
couraging in the extreme ; the expressions of distress
which have emanated thence are stronger than have
ever been heard even in this country. I have now
found among my papers an address to the King,^ pre-
sented in the present year from Mulhausen, the seat
of one of the largest manufactures in France, the first
sentence of which is, ' Our looms are wholly aban-
doned, and our labourers without food.' The whole
number of looms in the district du Nord was stated
by Chaptal at 10,000 : now, as evidence of the pros-
perity of that district, I will mention that in March
last the cotton manufactory of Rouval-les-DouUens,
established only four years ago by a well-known indi-
vidual (who came to England and visited our most
improved establishments), at a cost of 1,400,000 fr.,
was sold for 308,000 fr. ; there was a sacrifice there-
fore of between 70 and 80 per cent, of the whole in-
vested capital.*

* Similar saciiiices were made two or three years ago iu England
upon lome considerable iron works, now in the most prosperous
state.

INTRODUCTION. Ixv

Q. '^ If this trade was so distressed in March last,
how do you account for an article in the Journal du
Commerce, which says — ' that our manufactures and
those of Torcoing are in a satisfactory state, because
the manufacturers of Roubaix, who employ them, sell
their woven goods easily ; within the last eight months
the manufacturers of woollen yarn cannot supply the
demands which are addressed to them; their profits
are enormous, also the number of looms has been
trebled in two months ; all labourers who wish to la-
bour, can find labour at 125 to 150 cents per day.* " —
A. " It is impossible for me to account for the intro-
duction of a particular article into a foreign newspaper."
— P. 63L " I am intimately acquainted at this moment
with the proprietor of one of the largest factories in
France for the production of cotton-twist, and he
assures me that he considers seven-eighths of capital
invested as irretrievably lost."

Q. " With what countries were we in competition
when it (our cottoii trade) was rising ?" — A. " We
were in competition with France."

Q. " Do you mean during the war?" — A, " Yes;
there was great production of cottons there."

Q, '' Do they find their way into this country now ?"
, — A. " Yes, wherever there is a peculiar beauty ; and,
notwithstanding the disadvantages under which the
French labour, they bring some cotton articles of
fashion into this market. Koechlin, of Mulhausen,
a large manufacturer of cottons, has, I know, been a
considerable exporter for this market."

Q. *^ Is it not the fact, that as soon as any inventions
took place in the cotton manufacture in this country,
they were carried to France, and manufactories esta-

Ixvi INTRODUCTION.

blished upon the same principle ?' — A. " Yes, but not
immediately.* In France a great change has taken
place in opinion; this prohibitory system has been
tried in all its bearings ; its consequences are beginning
to be felt; the people are gradually setting right
their miscalculations, and the Government is begin-
ning to feel its way."

In opposition to this last statement everything which
I saw and heard during my recent tour in France^
warrants me to say, that the people and the Govern-
ment are more than ever enamoured of their pro-
hibitive system.

How adverse the prevailing spirit in France is to
freedom of trade, appears in a very striking light from
the Avant'propos prefixed to the translation of my
^^ Philosophy of Manufactures," lately published in
Paris under the patronage of the Ministre de tlnti-
rieur.

*' If we compare the exportations of France and
England in the products of the four textile manu*
factures of cotton, wool, flax, and silk, we shall obtain
an exact indication of the superiority of our neighbours,
and the result cannot fail to attract the meditations of
our manufacturers towards the work of Dr. Ure, in
which they will see the causes of these advantages,
and the means of procuring them. We have not ven-
tured to modify the opinions of the author, notwith-
standing the difference which we have remarked be-
tween his theories in political economy, and the ideas
received in France. Even the painful sentiments which

* There are foreign agents in Manchester who send over to the Con-
tinent, drawings and descriptions of every new machine of any im-
portance.

INTRODUCTION. Ltvii

we have experienced as Frenchmen, in reading certain
passages of the ' Philosophy of Manufactures/ has
not prevented us from maintaining a strict neutrality.
In feet, as the work was written with the best inten*
tions, it should be published in France just as it appeared
in England, in order that the whole of it maybe properly
judged, and that the system may be fairly unfolded be-
fore the eyes of the reader."

Among the beautiful valleys of the Vosges moun-
tains, which bound the plain of Alsace to the west, that
of St. Amarin is not the least remarkable. At its
mouth is the ancient but small city of Thann, famous
for its cathedral spire, of the same style and age as
that of Strasbourg, as well as for its scenes of useful
industry. Higher in the expanded bosom of the valley
is the vast establishment of Wesserling, the most pictu-
resque, peacefid, and well ordered manufactory which I
have overseen. It bursts upon the traveller's sightlikea
vision of fairy land. The pine-topped and craggy moun-
tains that tower on either side, the sunny slopes covered
with clustering vines, the river here tumbling in a cas-
cade and there spreading into a little lake, give life and
brightness to the sloping lawns of the middle space,
while the huge ruins of ancient castles, hung upon the
cliffs, in contrast with the elegant mansions of the pro-
prietors, embosomed in a grove of venerable oaks
below, unite to make Wesserling an object of universal
admiration. Wherever we turn our eyes, the greatest
activity reigns; the meadows, the corn-fields, even
the factories present the most agreeable variety of
pictures.

Messrs. Gros, Devillier, Roman, and Co., the rich
proprietors, of whom the first and the last-named

Ixviil INTRODUCTION.

reside with their families always on the spot, devote
much of their attention to the ameUoration of their work-
people, to the exercise of a noble hospitality towards
visiters, and to the cultivation, ornamental as well
as productive, of the country. The works of Wesser*
ling consist of cotton-mills, power and hand-weaving
of calicoes and muslins, bleaching grounds, and print
works.

The calico printing was commenced so far back as
the year 1760.

The spinning mills, the loom-shops, the bleacji-field,
and cylinder press-rooms, date from the year 1802,

The establishment is placed at a distance of two
leagues from all towns, and in the central point of nine
villages, containing a population of from 12,000 to
14,000 souls. There is no other manufacture within
a league of it.

Feelings of philanthropy presided at the origin of
WesserUng. The first founders had for one of their
objects to give comfortable employment to the natives
of the valley ; and they have been rewarded by an in-
vincible attachment on the part of their work-people.
Most of them are proprietors of a house and a little
land, which their families cultivate, and the whole of
them have rights to the use of the pasture-common.
Their chief agriculture is that of the potato and of
meadow-grounds, and they all possess cattle. They
are Roman Catholics, while their masters are Pro-
testants of the Genevese church ; but both live in the
mutual charities of religion.

The language of the country is still German, as of
old, and the temperament of the people is a little
phlegmatic, but docile; their intelligence may be

INTRODUCTION, IxiX

developed with a little pains^ especially that of the
female sex.

The proprietors founded, 16 years ago, a savings'
bank for the operatives, which pays interest at 5 per
cent. ; and they study to persuade the youths, at their
outset in life, to become depositors. Its success in-
creases from day to day. The work-people have be-
sides benefit societies, managed by themselves ; but as
the state of wages and employment seldom varies, they
do not suffer from the vicissitudes of trade.

A skilfol medical man is attached to the establish-
ment, who furnishes, gratuitously, the requisite medi-
cines and attendance to the workers and their families.

Each of the villages round about has one or two
well-conducted schools ; and at Wesserling itself there
is an upper school, erected by the public authorities,
as the model seminary of the canton. It is calculated
to form the judgment and morals of its pupils.

The partners of this great firm, ten, I believe, in
number, have a paternal regard to their dependents,
and enjoy, as I have said, their filial affection in return ;
so that the workmen of Wesserling are moral and
faithful to a degree rarely equalled in any body of
either manufacturing or agricultural labourers.

"It is to be desired," says the benevolent M. Roman,
*' that a law should be passed in France, like that of
England, to regulate the daily hours of labour, as
well as the ages of children employed in factories, and
to provide for their education." In the absence of such
legislation, the heads of this establishment have in-
stituted rules which determine a regular course of pro-
motion in the factory, for the encouragement of zeal,
dexterity, and good behaviour.

IXX INTRODUCTION.

Statistics of the Spinning Mill,

Its moving power is an overshot water-wheel made
oil the ventilating plan^ by Mr. Fairbaim of Manchester,
possessing a force of 60 horses. In summer, when the
supply of water becomes scanty, it is aided by two
steam engines, together of 52 horses' power, constructed
upon Woulfe's principle, by Aitken and Steel, with
three cylinders, and working at a pressure of 3 J at-
mospheres. They consume only 6|. lbs. avoirdupois
of coal for each horse power per hour, which is about
one half of what is generally consumed by the Lan-
cashire and Lanarkshire steam engines. The mill
contains 24,000 mule-spindles, and has recently been
placed in connexion, when necessary, with a second
water-wheel, built upon the spot by an able Welsh
engineer settled lower in the valley. The quantity of
yam spun annually is 528,000 lbs. avoirdupois, or
about 1 7,600 bags, into Nos. from 30's to 45's metriques
r35-4's to 53 • I's English). All the yarn is manu-
factured into calicoes and muslins by the company.

The mules are mounted with from 180 to 240
spindles each, and are worked by young women from
16 years and upwards. No girls are admitted
under 13 years of age. The number of spinsters
was about 260 at the period of my visit, but they were
to be increased ere now to 320, when the new mill
would be finished. Each mule is worked by a young
woman and a girl piecer. Every spindle produces
upon an average 29^ lbs. avoirdupois of yam in 300
days of the above counts. Louisiana cotton-wool is
used for warp, and Upland Georgia for weft. The
hours of labour are 14 J per day ; and the wages are

INTRODUCTION. Ixxi

1 fr. 50 c, about 1^. 2id,, to the spinner (who is
however paid by weight), and 90 centimes^ about Sid.
to the piecer. The workmen in the preparation rooms
earn 1^. 2Jrf. a-day; grown-up girls from 9rf. to lOd.;
younger girls from 5rf. to 6rf. Mechanics, carpenters,
&c., earn from Is. 3d. to 2*. lOrf. a-day, according to
their power and skill.

The Weaving Department.

At Wesserling itself there are 150 power-looms,
which weave very beautiful goods, not only plain and
tweeled calicoes, but also striped muslins for the ele-
gant prints, which render this estabUshment celebrated
all over the world. There are besides 1,650 hand-
looms, distributed through 70 work-shops, belonging
to the firm, and dispersed among the nine villages
above noticed. One hundred looms are scattered in
private houses among the mountains ; they weave alto-
gether about 70,000 . pieces, 33 aunes (42i yards)
long, 34i inches e. wide ; but some are broader and
others narrower. The finest yarns worked up into the
best muslins are procured from the manufactories of
Guebwiller and Munster.

The looms and dressing machines altogether
occupy about 2,000 persons, who are mostly young
men and women 16 years of age and upwards. The
daily wages are as follows : —

Winders, 60 to 110 centimes, from t^d. to lO^e^.

Warpers, Ifr. to Ifr. 50c. , , Hd, to 1#. 2Jrf.

Dressers, 2fr. to 2* 75c. , , 1*. 7d. to 2». 2Jrf.

Hand-loom weavers, 80c. to 120c , , 7^. to lljrf.

Power-loom weayers, Ifr. to l*75fr, , , 9Jrf. to 1*. 5d,

Muslin hand-loom weavers. Ifr. to l'50fr. , , 9^, to 1». %d.
Total 1,748 workpeople employed in the weaving factory department.

The details of the bleach- works and print-worka do

Ixxil INTRODUCTION.

not belong to the present volumes. I shall content
myself with stating the total number of operatives :— »

In Spinning; 320

Weaving 1,748 besides those who work in their own houses.

Bleaching 38

Calico printing 1,070

Total operatives 3, 1 76

I can assure my readers that entire confidence may
be reposed in the preceding statis^ics^ most liberally
communicated to me by M. Roman himself. The
mechanical power employed at Wesserling is as
follows : —

One hydraulic wheel for spinning • • « 60 horses' power.

One , , for power-weaving, fte. 34 ,y

One y, forwashing, pumping, &c. 20 ,,

One , , for the Calender, &c. .10 , ,

One turbine (new horizontal water-wheel) for

calico-printing machine 7 , ,

One hydraulic wheel, turning shop • . • 2 ,,

One , , at St. Amarin, power weaving 30 , ,

One , , bleaching • • • • • 15 , ,

Two steam-engines, for spinning. ... 40 ,,

■ One , , and dressing warp 40 , ,

One , , madder dyeing 12 , ,

One ,, power-weaving 30 ,,

Total horses' power 300

The power-looms worked very steadily at the rate
of % to 100 pecks a-minute; and as they go 14i hours
a-day, instead of 1 1^, as in England, they will turn
off more than an English power-loom, making 120
pecks a-minute. For llj : 144 :: 100 : 126. Thus
the English loom would need to make 126 pecks a-
minute to do the daily work of a loom at Wesserling,
One young woman tends two looms, as in our
factories.

INTRODUCTION, Ixxiil

In the several power-weaving establishments which
I visited in France and Belgium, I always found that
potato-starch was greatly preferred to the best flour
for making the dressing paste. The following recipe
was obligingly given me by M. Philip Gros at
Wesserling.

In 275 lbs., or 27 J gallons of water, heated to 154**
Fahrenheit, in a copper, dissolve one pound nine
ounces of blue vitriol (sulphate of copper), mix tho-
roughly 33 lbs. of potato-starch with 5 J gallons of
water at 90** Fahr. in a pail, and pour this mixture
into the copper-boiler (not iron), and let the whole
boil for half an hour, stirring all the time with a
wooden ruler. The sulphate of copper prevents
moulding and fermentation. It should be employed
fresh, and made from day to day. The semiputrid
paste used in some of the Scotch and EngUsh loom-
sheds is an abomination. The most s^lful manufac-
turers on the Continent have carefully proved the de-
cided superiority of potato-starch over flour-paste for
their power-looms. They consider it cheaper and better.
A pound of it may be made in Lancashire for two-
pence, and it will go much further than a pound of
flour.

In the year 1 834 there were 540,000 mule-spindles
at work in the department of the Haut-Rhin (Alsace),
which consumed annually about 15,600,0001bs. E. of
cotton-wool; being nearly 52,000 bales of cotton
chiefly American and Egyptian ; and produced
13,200,0001bs. of yarn of many different numbers.

The raw material may be valued at • 18,000,000fr.
The yams at 35,000,000

Difference 17,000,000

VOL. I. d

Ixxiy INTRODUOTIQN.

Of the cost of manufacture^ one«half may be
reckoned wages of labour^ and the other half general
factory expenses. The number of operatives of both
sexes employed in the mills of that department is
about 18^000^ old and young.

M . Nicolas Kcechlin, one of the Deputes of the
Haut-Rhin, a cotton manufacturer, and President of
the Chamber of Commerce of Mulhausen, in his ex-
amination before the Enqu^te Commerciale of the
French ministry in 1834, as well as in his Replique,
to certain observations made upon that evidence, pub-
lished in 1835, gives the following statement of the
cotton trade of the world.

^' The manufacture of cotton-wool amounts, in —

KHogrammes.*

Great Britain, to 150,000,000

France .•.••••... 40,000,000
United States •••.••.. 18,000,000
China, being one-half the crop of India • 15,000,000
Switxerland, Saxony, Prussia, and Belgium 17,000,000

Total 240,000,000

" The consumption of cotton in France is nearly one-
fourth of that of the United Kingdom, and as we spin
in France, for reasons to be afterwards specified,
a little more per spindle than they do in England, we
must have about 3,500,000 spindles, producing
annually 34,000,000 kilogrammes of yarns of every
sort; 105,000,000fr. (£4,200,000 sterling, nearly)
may represent the reduced actual value of the
machines and the factories, calculated at the rate of
30 francs per spindle. Formerly well-mounted mills,

* One thousand kilogrammes is very nearly one ton Eoglish; and
50 kilogrammes^ therefore very nearly 1121bs.

INTRODUCTION. IxXV

like those of Alsace, cost from 50 to 55 francs per
spindle, whilst at present they may be erected, with
the most improved machinery, at the average price of
from 40 to 43 francs per mule spindle.

" In regard to the quah'ty of our yams, I think that
for the numbers which constitute nine-tenths of the
consumption, we have nothing to envy in the English.
Alsace exported, during the late commercial crisis, a
considerable quantity of yams to Switzerland, and it
was able to stand well in the market against those
from England. Several of our leading mill-owners
paid a visit to the English factories in the course of
last summer (1833), and they have assured me that
they saw nothing particularly interesting, and that
except in the higher numbers, Alsace was not a whit
behind hand. It is, besides, of little consequence to
Prance to spin the finest numbers, as there are but a
few establishments for the purpose in England, and
they produce enough for the wants of the whole
world. Most of these fine-spinning mills have existed
for many years; their sunk capital is long since
realized, and hence they could easily destroy the
competition of any new factory.

" Our 3,500,000 spindles produce annually, as I have
said, 34,000,000 kilogrammes of yam, worth upon an

average 1 70,000,000 fr.

^'And consume 37,000,000 kilo-
grammes of cotton-wool, worth . 88,000,000
" Leaving for the cost of labour, fuel,
repairs, interest of money and

profits 82,000,000

''The number of work-people employed in our cotton-
mills may be estimated at from 80,000 to 90,000.

Ixxvi INTRODUCTION.

Their average daily wages are Ifr. 30c. (1^. 2Jd.) per
individual.

" In comparing our cotton industry with the English,
I may observe that during the war, and for want of
intercourse with our neighbours, the construction of
our machines was infinitely inferior to theirs. I was
personally struck with this difference, when I made a
tour in England in 1810, by means of a foreign pass-
port ; I was the better qualified to judge, as our own
firm then undertook to fit up factories for spinning,
and furnished in fact the first machinery to M. Nicolas
Schlumberger. But at the present day, in his esta-
blishment, as in the others of Alsace, traces of the
..old machines are hardly to be found. Many proprie-
tors have renewed them three several times. MM.
Schlumberger, and Co., have erected their mill for
spinning the fine numbers in n style of perfection
which has many a time astonished even the English
spinners.

" In England, in consequence of the competition
among the numerous machine-makers, and the low
price of the iron and coal, the machines are muctf
cheaper than in France. A mule costs in Alsace
ten francs per spindle, — in England it may be had for
«ix ; but luckily for us the greater expense of building
among our neighbours makes a compensation of
about 25 per cent, in our favour on the edifice itself.
Upon the whole, the cost of erection may be reckoned
one-third less in England than in France, a disad-
vantage which our government should study to com-
pensate by a reduction of duty on the importation of
machines, by improving the means of internal intet-
vPOurse, and especially by facilitating the transport of

INTRODUCTION. IXXVU

coals. Most of the mills in Alsace are moved by
water-power ; those which depend upon steam-power
place from four to five per cent of the price of their
yams to that account. At Manchester the fuel forms
not more than one per cent, of the cost of spinning.

" Yet the English do not economize their fuel as we
do. They employ five kilogrammes of coal (II lbs.)
per kilogramme of yarn, of Nos. 30 to 40, whilst we
consume not more than four kilogrammes for the same
weight of yam."

" From a calculation, taken from one of the most con-
siderable cotton-mills in Manchester, it appears that
a spinner conducting two mules containing together
620 spindles, produces no more than 125 kilogrammes
of yam in the week (2801bs. English) Nos. 36 to 38
English, or one kilogramme for five spindles per week.
Our spinners in Alsace are at least equally productive.
It must be remarked, indeed, that the hours of labour
in the English mills are limited by law to 11^ hours
per diem, whilst they extend pretty generally in Alsace
to from 13 to 14 hours, without reckoning the meal-
times."

^' The following are the mean weekly wages at Mul-
hausen, Manchester, and Zurich ; there are mills, how-
ever, in the valleys of the Vosges, where the wages are
<me-third lower than at Mulhausen.

" Nicolas Koechlin and brothers pay — ^the spinner
14fr., the piecer 5fr., the card-tenter 6fr., the la-
bourer 9fr.

" Mr. H. at Manchester, pays — his spinners 38fr.
each on an average, the piecers lOfr., the card-tenters
I2fr., the labourers 20fr.

Ixxviii INTRODUCTION.

" Mr. E. at Zurich, pays — ^the spinners 12fr., the
piecers 3fr., the card-tenters 5fr., the labourers 8fr.

'' These three estabUshments spin chiefly from
Nos. 30 to 35% (35-4's to 41 •2's English).

*' At Miilhausen the expense of spinning one half a
kilogramme of the said yarns, is as follows : — ^wages 31
centimes; power, heating, and lighting, lie; interest
of sunk capital and sinking fiind (from 10 to 15 per
cent.) 17c.; general expenses, repairs, &c., 13c.
Total 72c.

" At Manchester — ^wages 52c. ; power, &c., 3c. ;
interest, &c., lie; general expenses, &c., 10c.
Total 76c.

" At Zurich — wages, 10c. ; water-power, ; interest
&c., 15c. ; general expenses, &c., 15c. Total 60c.

^^ The following is a statement of the cost of spinning
half a kilogramme of weft from Nos. 42 to 47*2
English.

" Wages 17c. ; interest, &c., lie. ;. general expenses,
&c., 19c. Total 47c.

'' One of the principal spinners of Alsace gave me
the following statement for last year.

" A mule of 396 spindles produced daily 18 kilo-
grammes of No. 30y^ warp, (No. 35-4's English),
which at the then current price of 5fr. 20c. per kilo-
gramme, amounted in value to 93fr. 60c.

" In spinning these 18 kilogrammes, 20 kilogrammes
of Louisiana cotton wool were consumed at the price
of 2fr. 60c. per kilogramme . . • 52fr.

'^ Cost of spinning per mule (everything

included) 20fr.

Total 72fr.

INTRODUCTION. IXXIX

' Hence the daily profit on this mule of

396 spindles was 21 fir. 60c.

This spinner reckoned no more than 56c. for the
cost of spinning his half-kilogramme of yam.

'^ It results firom these calculations/' says M. N.
KcechKn^ '' that Switzerland has a slight advantage
over us, especially wherever our mills are driven by
steam-power; that Prance, everything being taken
into account, has an advantage over England; an
advantage which will increase in proportion as the
duties on the raw materials, and on the iron shall be
reduced, and that the privileges of the ports which
give the English at present an advantage in the pur- /
chase of cotton wool, shall be suffered to pass away with ,
the prohibitive system. Our house at Loerrack in the '
grand duchy of Baden, receive a few weeks since some
yarns from England, which came to very nearly the
same price as the Swiss.

The import duty on the cotton wool in Prance in-
creases the cost of the yams firom Nos. 30 to 40^
(35'4's to 47 •2*8 English) by about 5 per cent, and
that of the coarser yams by about 10 per cent. The
actual duty on the cotton wool of the United States is
206'. per 100 kilogrammes, or about 8^. 2rf. per 110
lbs. EngUsh; nearly 9rf. upon 10 pounds, that is, nine-
tenths of a penny per pound, — but there is a fuUy
equivalent drawback on the exportation of the manu-
factured cottons.

^^ In regard to the weaving department, if we assume
jfor a basis the manufectures of Alsace, it would follow
that the 34,000,000 kilogrammes of Prench yams,
would require, to convert them into cloth, 270,000
looms, employing 325,000 operatives, at the average

IXXX INTRODUCTION.

daily wages for each, of 75 centimes (7d. English).
The following is a statement which I received the other
day from Switzerland, where weaving has always kept
its groimd against English competition. This state-
ment is calculated for a cut of 50 aunes, which is
afterwards divided into two pieces, three-quarters wide,
and 75portees (porters).

Cotton yarn, at the market price . . 29fr. 55c.

Cost of weaving • 7 20

Warping and dressing .... 60
Repairs and interest 75

39 18

The aune (ell) therefore costs in Switzerland 78
centimes, of a quality equal to what is now sold in
Alsace at 90c. ; including the extraordinary profit at
present on yarns. Thus between the cost price in
Switzerland, and the sale price in Alsace, just now
when business is very brisk, there is a difference of
only 15 per cent It appears that the cost of manu-
facturing calicoes in Alsacis is 22c. the ell, in Man-
chester (power-loom cloth) 24c., and in Switzer-
land 19c.

*^ The bulk of the Alsace fabrics is a calico intended
for printing, which is exported to the Swiss printers
only in certain cases; t?/j2r., when the yarns are cheaper
in Alsace than in Switzerland, from an occasional glut
in our markets. The qualities for printing which suit
the consumption of France, suit neither the English
nor the foreign markets in general ; so that the French
surplus can find no other good vent. This circum-
stance, however, will, on the other hand, prevent the
surplus stocks of England, manufactured for different

INTRODUCTION. Ixxxi

markets than those of France^ from inundating our
country." The suhject of printed calicoes^ extensively
considered by M. Koechlin^ does not iall within the
scope of the present publication.

Great misapprehensions prevail concerning the
physical and moral condition of the factory operatives
abroad^ especially in the fertile region of Alsace.
They have been represented as being mostly Protest-
ants, and in very comfortable circumstances.* • There
can be no greater mistake. Indeed the most remark-
able proof which can be adduced how greatly Pro-
testantism is propitious to enlightened industry, is the"
fact, that among the great multitude of factory pro-
prietors in Alsace there is but one Catholic, though
the country is covered with popish shrines, and the'
working classes are devotees of the Komish communion.

The Societe Industrielle of Mulhausen, distin-
guished for the science and patriotism of its members,
when recently called upon by the Minister of Instruc-
tion, fo give him an account of the state of the ope-
ratives of that district wrote as follows : — *' They are
allowed a quarter of an hour for breakfast, and an hour
for dinner : working for the most part from five in the
morning till eight at night Each family sleeps gene-
rally together in one room, which is a cellar or a
garret of the smallest possible dimensions. Their
fumitui-e is wretched, often only " un grabat pitoyable
pour toute la famille." They are very ill-clothed,
often need the aid of the Societe de bienfaisance ;

* The French (in Alsace) '' appeared a very comfortable tet of
people." See Edwin Rose's Evidence before the Factory Commisidon,
First Report, D. 1, 121 and, Mr. CoweU*8 comments upon it in the Sup-
plementary Eeport, p« 119.

Ixxxii INTRODUCTION.

xind are very dirty, especially those in the spinning
mills. " Dans les ateliers on entend souvent les
propos les plus scandaleux, que les enfants saisissent
avec aviditfe, et repetent avec une satisfaction revol-
tante. Beaucoup des ouvriers vivent en concubinage,
lis appellent ces sortes d*imions raariages a la Parisi-
enne, et en ont fait un verbe allemand^ parisiren.**

" If Sunday be a day of rest and tranquil pleasure
to those who work in a moderate manner through the
week, it is, on the contrary, a day of debauchery and
orgies to those who, having been kept at labour beyond
all reasonable bounds, take that occasion to riot in
their liberty. Hence it is not uncommon here to see
drunkards of from 12 to 15 years of age. Their degree
of instruction is very slender. All their physical, and
in consequence all their intellectual faculties, are ex-
hausted with toil. This grievous evil can be re-
moved only by a law like that enforced in England
during the last two years. Certain enlightened pro-
prietors have established at their own expense schools
within their mills, at Mulhausen, and especially
M. Najgely.

" The cruel conduct of parents in sending th^ir
children at an almost infantine age to the factory,
seldom fails to entail fearful retribution; for when-
ever the children begin to discover the mercenary
bargain of which they have been made the victims,
they take the first opportunity of renouncing the filial
engagement, and of abandoning their parents. And
this alienation (desaffection) in the family, aggra-
vated often by the brutality and ignorance of its head,
is one of the main causes of the misery which prevails
among multitudes of the workpeople,"

INTRODUCTION. IxXXlli

" The operative spinners of Mulhausen are gene^
rally pale^ and subject to chronic catarrhs which de-
generate often into phthisis. The piecers and card-<
tenters sometimes lose the first joints of their fingers.
The weavers are often seized with chronic rheu-
matism.''

It is to be hoped that the French Ministry and
Legislature will no longer lend a deaf ear to these
powerful appeals of their most enlightened manu-
facturers in favour of humanity ; nor allow the world
to suppose^ that like their late master Napoleon, they
are willing to sacrifice the well-being of their peo|de to
international pride and rivalry, — a patriotism meanly
spurious.

Cour de Lorraine, in Mulhausen — Factory of Jeaa

Koechlin and Co.

No. ^2's. Fr. = 38's. English; warp, a stretch of
five feet English in 28". 300 spindles in each mule,
two pairs being worked by one spinner, one piecer,
and one creeler or scavenger: three halfpence are
paid for spinning one pound of cotton into such yam :
20 lbs. of yarn are turned off daily by each mule.
But of No. ?8's. Fr. = 33's. E. from 22 to 231bs. are
turned oflFin the day.

Each floor is 120 feet long, 40 wide, and 11 high,
and contains 12 mules. There are three floors in that
mill.
40 cards, 22 fine and 18 coarse.

3 bobbin-and-fly frames, containing 88 spindles each.

5 do 50 do.

3 do 42 do.

3 drawing frames of 8 heads each.

Ixxxiv INTRODUCTION.

Time of work from five in the morning till eight at
night ; out of which 15 hours IJ hours are allowed for
meals^ leaving for employment 13 J.

The workman who superintends the batting and
spreading-machine is paid 50 sous a-day. Piecers earn
from 10 to 12 francs in 15 days, or from four to five
shillings a-week. Creelers, or scavengers, from 5 to
6 francs in 1 5 days.

Card-tenters, 20 sous a-day.

Bobbin- and-fly tenters, 30 sous a-day.

Manager of the factory, 100 Louis per annum.

The factory of M. Neegely at Mulhausen is a modem
structure in comparison with that in the Cour de Lor-
raine. It forms a great quadrangle of masonry, with a
spacious court in the middle. There are 80,000 spin-
dles mounted in mules, bearing from 300 to 396 each,
one-half of them being of the latter number. I
counted three stretches in 76", each 56 inches long, of
warps. No. 35's English counts. His new mules
were to go still quicker, though this is very good work.
Breakages very few. There is, in fact, no handsomer
or better going factory for these numbers of yarn than
M. Naegely's at Mulhausen. A pair of mules of
396 spindles is worked by one spinner, two piecers,
and one creeler or scavenger. The spinner receives
two francs upon an average for 13| hours work; the
piecer one franc, and the creeler (bobineur) eight sous,
(something less than eight halfpence). Only 800
operatives were employed at that time in the mill ; but
a great many more would be engaged, when the new
part, just built, was filled with machinery. Thirty
hundred weight of cotton yarn was then spun daily
with his existing 37,000 spindles ; and seven hundred-

INTRODUCTION. IxXXT

weight of cotton-wool was put through each breaker
finisher-card in a day of 13^ hours.

The cost of bringing the cotton-wool from Havre
over-land to Mulhausen, and all the district rounds is
5^ sous per lb., which includes also the duty on im-
portation.

Of the order maintained in the cotton manufac-
tories of Mulhausen^ the following Public Regulu"
tians of Mr. Charles Noegely's mill afford evidence :

Article 1. Every operative who enters the establish-
ment may quit it within 15 days> and his master has in
that time the power of dismissal ; after which he and the
operative must each on his part give a month's notice.
This notice of discharge or quitting must be given in
the counting-house on the pay-Saturday, before the
time of receiving pay ; it will be inscribed in a register
with the date; those operatives, however, who are
dismissed by the master for ill behaviour or mis-
management lose that benefit, and may be discharged
upon the instant.

2. The hours of employment will be stated in a
printed bill. If any derangement of the steam-engine,
or the preparation machines, or any other circumstance,
should call for night-work, each operative is bound to
give it; provided it do not exceed one night in the
week without his consent.

3. The ringing of the bell will announce the entrance
of the workpeople ; a quarter of an hour after it ceases,
the janitor will shut the gate and make a report to
the counting-house of those who are too late. The
sick are required to give previous intimation, in order
to avoid a fine. The bell-ringing will in like manner
announce when the operatives are to quit the mill.

(

IxXXn INTRODUCTION.

4. Every operative who comes too late, or who stays
at home without leave, will be fined in double th«
TBlue of his absent time ; the minimum of this fine
will be one-third of a day's wages.

5. There is no suspension of employment but on
the Sundays and legitimate festivals ; absence <mi every
other occasion will be considered as misconduct, and
punished according to the preceding article; an appeal
being always open, however, to the Concile des
PruiT homines.

6. No operative can quit the mill during the
working hours, unless he shows the janitor a permission
to do so ; and if the janitor neglects his duty in this
respect he will pay a fine of 50 centimes, and the
operative will be punished for misconduct.

7. If an operative is enquired for, the janitor will
call him, and make the visiter wait at the door. It is
strictly prohibited to admit, without permission, any
one not employed in the mill; and operatives who
shall introduce any person, under any pretext whatever,
will incur a fine of fifteen days' work.

8. The overlooker, or the workman charged with
repairs, each in his own department, is alone em-
powered to remedy what is wrong ; they will be called
upon for this purpose by the operative ; but he himself
must not pretend to make the slightest repair, under
the penalty of a fine of two days' work, and the
damages which may proceed from his interference.

9. All the operatives, without exception, employed
in the workshops of the mill are personally responsible
for the preservation of the tools and other objects
entrusted to them ; such of these objects as cannot be
found when wanted will be replaced at their expense.

INTRODUCTION.

10. No operative is to remain in the mill during
meal-time; he must enter only into the apartment
assigned him^ and if by any accident the moving power
is stopped, the operatives are strictly forbidden to run
into the other rooms; they must, on the contrary,
remain close by their maclidiies. Every disobedience
of this order will be punished with a fine of half a
day's work.

1 1. A bell will be rung daily, at an appointed hour,
to warn the operatives to clean their spinning ma-
chines, which they must attend to under a penalty of
25 centimes ; and after every general cleaning, which
will take place once a week, an inspection will be
made, and those operatives who have ill cleaned their
machines, will be fined in one day'^s work, or more
according to circumstances.

12. Every operative who gives in bad work will be
fined in proportion to its defects; as also every one
who returns his waste stujBf ill sorted. The breakages
committed in the workshops will be paid for by all the
workmen of that shop, unless they point out the indi-
vidual in fault. This order comprehends also the
passages, staircases, and dining-room.

13. The rate of wages, and the remuneration paid to
operatives working by the piece, as well as the
minimum of the amount of work to be done, are to be
settled according to circumstances, and will be intima-
ted in bills. Each operative is held bound to conform
to them, as well as to the regulations hung up in each .

room.

14. It is strictly forbidden to smoke within the
precincts of the factory, under aj penalty of a day's
work.

IxXXldii INTRODUCTION.

15. The operatives who come to work in a state of
drunkenness^ or who disturb the peace^ will pay a fine
equal in value to two days' work, besides the correc-
tional punishment authorized by the laws.

16. It is forbidden to make or deposit any nuisance
in the court-yard. The Iteux dCaisance must be kept
clean ; and whoever defiles them will pay 50 centimes
to the porter in charge of them.

\7. The janitor is ordered to inspect every opera-
tive on going out of the mill ; every person must con-
form to this measure, often indispensable, as well for
the interests of the proprietors, as of honest work-
people themselves.

18. To prevent the risk of fire, no workman is
allowed to extinguish his lamp without an order. The
lanterns of the workpeople will be in general furnished
with a candle, and kindled by the porter, under the
penalty of a day's labour.

19. It is strictly forbidden to enter, or leave the
mill, unless by the door leading to the high -way, or to
go out by the windows of the ground-floor under a
penalty of six francs.

20. Spinners cannot change their piecers or creelera
without the consent of the overlooker, under the
penalty of half a day's labour.

21. The operative who will make known at the
counting-house a breach of trust committed by another
operative, will be recompensed, and his name will be
concealed.

22. Every act of disobedience on the part of the
workpeople against their master, or against the persons
invested with his authority, will be punished according
to circumstances^ with from one day's to five days*

INTRODUCTION. Ixxxix

labour ; and the violator will be held responsible for
whatever mischief may occur.

23. The operative detected in throwing cotton or
waste into the water-closets, or any other place, will
be fined in five days' work.

24. The workpeople are forbidden to touch the
heating or lighting apparatus, the water-stop- cocks,
and conduits in the apartments, as well as the moving
power, under the penalty of a day's work, and paying
for the damage they may occasion.

25. In return for the protection and paternal cares
which all employed in the establishment may expect
from their chief, they promise him attachment and
fidelity as well as the disclosure of everything con-
trary to order, or to his interest, which may come
to their knowledge.

26. The present Regulations will be suspended in
all the apartments, and if any one of them be de-
faced or torn, the persons in that apartment will pay
a fine of five francs, should not the person in fault
be pointed out.

The above Reglement de Police, is printed in two
columns; the one French, the other German.

I passed some agreeable days at Rouen, visiting
under the hospitable auspices of M. Barbet, Maire
and Depute, the objects most interesting among its
cotton manufactures, but I need not occupy my
reader's time with the details, which would be nearly
a repetition of what has been already laid before them.
Should any one entertain doubts concerning the excel-
lence of the engineering and machine-factories of
France, he may have them very readily dissipated by
calling, on Messrs. Barker, Rowdcliffe, Sudds, and

XC INTRODUCTION.

Atkins^ at Rouen^ who can show him as perfect tools
as any which exist in England. They will see one
of Fox*s best planing-machines^ value £900, Sharp
and Robert's key-groove cutting-tool, and many others
of equal beauty and productive power. These gen-
tlemen prefer the coal of M ons to that of Newcastle
at the same price ; the former being more dense and
durable in the furnace.

The cotton manufacture round Lille, and in the
whole of the department of the North of France is
also in a state of signal prosperity.*

Political events have within these few years operated
very injuriously against the cotton industry of Bel-
gium ; hemmed in by prohibitive France on the one
side, by hostile Holland on the other ; exposed to the
Prussian League on the northern land frontier, and the
formidable competition of Great Britain by sea. The
cotton-spinners of Ghent merit more sympathy than
they seem to receive from the actual government, which
dislikes them on account of their very natural attach-
ment to their late king, who aided them with capital,
and laid open to their enterprizes the richest islands
of the Indian Archipelago. Belgium enjoys, however,
excellent facilities for manufacturing cottons, in the
cheapness of her fuel, iron, and labour, as well as in
her central situation, her admirable means of internal
transport by roads and canals, and her commodious
harbours of Antwerp and Ostend.

Some of the factories which I visited at Ghent are
most creditable to their proprietors. I know of no
power-loom-shed in Great Britain so magnificent, so

* No fewer than 6.0 new cotton-mills were in course of erection last
year in France.

INTRODUCTION. XCl

well lighted^ and so well aired, as that of M. Claes*
Decocq, in that city. Here 600 looms are distributed
in two lofty glass galleries^ each 275 feet long and 50
feet wide, more like a royal conservatory of plants,
than a weaving factory. The looms are of the best
construction^ they make 110 shots in the minute, and
as they work 14 hours a-day, except on Mondays^
when they work only 9^ hours, it is easy to see that
in productive power they surpass most of the power-
looms of England.

The dressing-machines, 32 in number, turn off each
per week from 40 to 50 cuts, of 100 Flanders aunes,
equal to 76J yards English. The dressers receive in
wages 20 French francs (16*.) weekly for the above stated
hours of employment. The whole of these machines
are moved by a steam-engine of 40 horses' power, on
the system of Woulfe, working at a pressure of 3J
atmospheres, and consuming hourly, about seven
pounds of coals per horse power. The estabUshment,
including the purchase of ground, cost altogether
800,000fr. or £32,000, very nearly.

M. Claes- Decocq has a spinning-mill at a small
distance from his weaving factory, where I was not
a little surprised to see mules making four stretches of
number 32 yarns regularly every minute. Each mule
carries 240 spindles, and is worked by one spinner,
one piecer, and one creeler ; the wages of the three is
18 francs (somewhat less than 15s.) a-week; of which
lOj^d. English, are daily paid by the spinner to his
two assistants, leaving about 9*. 6d. a-week to himself.
One spinner was pointed out to me who had turned off
115 kilogrammes (2411bs. avoird.) of yarn No. 30 in
the course of the preceding week ; but he worked 14

XCU INTRODUCTION.

hours instead of the average 13^, and was reckoned a
superior hand. The waste was only eight per cent,
in Upland Georgia cotton-wool, indicating very careful
and cleanly manipulation in the whole process.

There are excellent machine factories in Ghent, one
of which, belonging to Mr. Bell, an English mechanical
engineer, has lately produced an improved bobbin-
and-fly frame which turns oflF 350 kilogrammes of
rovings (7701bs. English), being about 26 per cent,
more than had been previously produced.

I visited several other cotton factories in that city, and
observed them to be all actuated by a zealous spirit of
emulation, against their French and EngUsh competi-
tors. They complain, and probably not without reason,
that from the moderate import duties into Belgium,
the refuse articles of the English and French trade of
the preceding season, are not unfrequently poured into
the Brussels market at very low prices, and from the
caprice of public taste preferred to the home-made
articles of more recent date. It is well known that
many of our great manufacturers can afford to make
a sacrifice upon the remainder of their printed goods
at the end of the season, in consequence of the profits
which they have realized at its commencement.

The cotton manufacture of Belgium receives its raw
material nearly free from import duty; for it pays
only 4id. on 1121bs., whereas that of the United
Kingdom pays 70d. The mean price of wheat in
Brussels, per English quarter, is about 34^. Good
beef costs at Ghent 4d. per pound English; refined
sugar 7d., cofiee 4d., tobacco 94d.

The following comparative table of wages is given
by the merchants of Brussels in their Memoire sur la

INTRODUCTION. XCiu

Fabrication et le Commerce des Tissus de Coton en
Belgique. Dec. 1834.

Daily wages in Ghent, Mulhansen, Bouen, Manche»ter.
Spinners . f.2-50to3-00 2»00to3-00 2-50to3-50 6'25
Weavers. 1*25 1-50 1*25 2*00 1*50 1-75 2-90

Printers o:
calico

^ 1-25 200 1«25 3-50 3'00 6*00

5-00

Labourers 1-00 1*50 1-25 150 1*50 2*00 2*00to3'00
Women .. 0*75 1-00 1-25 2-00 1-25 1-50 1»60 3^00
Children . 0*35 0-75 0-25 0«75 0-6 l^OO 0-50 1«50

The import duty on 100 kilogrammes of white
cotton goods into Belgium is 60 florins (lOSfr. 84c.
French, about 21^. 9d. per cwt. English); and 80
florins (145fr. 12c. French) on importing 100 kilo-
grammes of printed calicoes. Upon the heavy white
goods for common wear, the actual duty amounts in
some cases to from 30 to 50 per cent, ad valorem.
This law is favourable only to the importation of the
finer and lighter qualities of cotton goods. Cotton
yarns, Nos. 30 to 40, are, according to the writers of
the above memoir, somewhat cheaper in Belgium than
in Manchester, and considerably cheaper than the
protected yarns of Mulhausen and Rouen. The same
holds true of the cloths woven with these yams.

Concluding Remarks.

One of my principal aims in writing this treatise,
and the Philosophy of Manufactures, has been to make
our legislators and other influential citizens, familiar
with those factory arrangements, operations, and ma-
chines, which constitute the main sinews of our national
strength, so that they might learn to enact such wise
and equal laws as would at once maintain the revenues
of the state, and ease the burdens of the people. An

XCIV INTRODUCJTION.

experience of many years in teaching the principles of
the mechanical and chemical arts to pupils of every
grade of education, has, I trust, enabled me to present
the objects of research in as intelligible a manner as
their complexity would permit. In the present, as in
my preceding work, I have used the utmost diligence
to collect the best information upon every subject, and
have had the good fortune to procure the assistance of
several skilful manufacturers, and mechanicians, in
surmounting various diflSculties which I encountered
in the explanation of the diversified and intricate series
of operations of our cotton manufactures,

Tlie chef d'eeuvres of mechanism, like those of music,
poetry, and painting, can be ill appreciated by persons
unacquainted with their respective principles, or who
have not qualified themselves by special study to
compare their results with the diflSculties conquered,
and to trace' out the scientific resources put in requi-
sition. The ordinary education and amusements ot
life, indeed, may in some measure cultivate a taste for
the fine arts, and may lead individuals to contemplate
with real or pretended pleasure even their more homely
productions ; but they aflFord no adequate preparation
for scanning the devices of ingenious machines. Few
fine gentlemen, however much they may have been dis-
tinguished by academical honours, have any accurate
conception even of the mechanical and physical mys-
teries shrouded within their watch-case; and fewer
still can recognise the beauty, wisdom, and beneficence
embodied in those factory machines which now bear up
their country through all the financial embarrassments
which have been created by its classical statesmen,
making it triumph over an invidious world, which.

INTRODUCTION. XCV

more justly afraid of its peaceful industry than of its
military prowess^ holds Watt and Arkwright in higher
reverence than all its proud patricians.

From this neglect of the practical sciences in the
education and studies of English gentlemen^ it hap-
pens daily, that undue encouragement is given to
empirical projectors, that false judgments are formed
concerning "enterprizes of great pith and moment,"
that the most absurd questions are put to witnesses
by the members of parliamentary committees, that the
most irrelevant or inconsistent answers are recorded
in their reports, and that the criticisms of many of our
periodical writers on works of a scientific cast are
preposterous in the extreme, praise being lavished on
the gossip compiler because he exacts no intellectual
effort from the common run of readers, but withheld
from the experimental inquirer and discoverer of new
facts, whose researches tend to raise the standard of
public thought, and to enlighten the paths of national
industry. Thus they do double injustice ; by unde-
served obtrusion of frivolous books on the public eye,
and by casting as far as they can, a transient shade
oyer others of solid merit. The evil, indeed, is of no
long duration, for substantial knowledge will out-
last vague verbiage ; but it betrays an unsound state
of mind, in a country so dependent as this is upon
the application of science to the arts of life — ^to dis-
parage or undervalue it, because it lies above the
routine of novel readiog, and may cost a little pains to
comprehend. Many an Aristarchus in literature would
be sorely puzzled to understand the simplest imple*
ments of modem manufacture; for if the mind be not
opened in youth by such studies, it becomes imper-

XCVl INTRODUCTION.

vious to them when its faculties lose their pliancy with
advancing years. They should^ therefore, form an es-
sential part in the education of all classes of society ;
of the noble and rich, as well as the humble artisan.

Academical philosophers have been long wont to re-
gard the polished instruments of their minute researches
in pneumatics, optics, and astronomy, as the most ex-
quisite specimens of mechanical skill, and to consider
the larger machines subservient to commercial industry,
as of a far less refined and elegant description. Yet
a dispassionate judge of mechanism, who should now
compare the most exquisite apparatus of the London or
Parisian philosopher, with that of the Manchester tool-
maker or spinner, would arrive at an opposite conclusion;
for there is certainly no instrument made for the purpose
of pure science which can compete in truth of adjust-
ment, delicacy of finish, or elaborateness of design,
with the planing machines, the bobbin-and-fly frames,
the bobbin-net machine, or the self-acting mule-jenny.
The spirit of factory invention has, in mechanism at
least, given to the Lancashire mind and fingers a de-
cided superiority over the nicest handicraft artisan of the
metropolis, and has changed their old contemptuous
term of country-work, into one of genuine eulogium.
The tiny bobbin and carriage* of the bobbin-net lace
frame would puzzle a London workman to make
with due delicacy of form and mobility of adjustment
in the course of many hours, and would thereby, at
least involve an expense of a crown ; but it is made
with the precision of a mathematical instrument by
the factory operative, in the course of a few minutes^
and at a cost of only threepence*

* See Plate IX.

INTRODUCTION. XCVll

The student, therefore, who is solicitous to learn the
resources of mechanics, must not stop short at the
frivolous and inoperative models, so extravagantly be-
praised in schools and colleges, but investigate the
admirable engines of the cotton trade. Here he will
find a series of organs, instinct with intellectual pur-
pose, conspiring to form fabrics inimitable by the most
dexterous hand, and working for years with unde-
viating promptitude. In complexity, as well as per-
fection of organization, the factory machines surpass
all others^ just as the human body does a zoophyte.

Our fine spinning-mills are, as Mr. Tuflhell justly
observed, the triumph of art, and the glory of England*,
they need fear no competition, nor are they, in fact, ob-
jects of foreign rivalry. The delicacy of their machinery,
the difficulty of keeping it in order, the dexterity of
their hands, and the limited and fluctuating demand
for their products, are well known to other nations.
Of the perfection at which the art of spinning has now
arrived in Manchester, a wonderful specimen was a
few days ago given me by Thomas Houldsworth Esq.,
M. P. : — yarn, spun in his magnificent factory for
the French weavers, of which a single pound contains
450 hanks of 840 yards each, the whole, therefore,
extending 215 miles in length, or nearly the distance
between London and Paris. The Sea-island cotton
wool, from which the yam is made, is of exquisite qua-
lity; consisting of regular cylindric filaments, about
one three-thousandth of an inch in diameter, as mea-
sured in the micrometer microscope.f The thread
itself is^ only one three-hundredth of an inch thick,

* Supplement to Factoiy Commission Report,
t See Vol. i. p. 82, fig. 9.

VOL. I. e

XCVIU INTRODUCTION.

being much finer than a human hair. The tissues made
of it will surpass the far-femed robes of Dacca, styled
in Oriental hyperbole — ^the woven wind.

May I be permitted to conclude with the general
observation, that there is no greater act of injustice,
none more detrimental to society, than to withhold or
withdraw the meed of renown from the real benefactors
of our race.

" Quique sui memores alios fecfere merendo." — Firgil.

A desire to possess the esteem and gratitude of our
fellow creatures, though not the highest, is yet one of
the most legitimate motives of meritorious exertion ;
one which should never be wantonly repressed by giving
currency to either contemporary or posthumous ca-
lumny against a useful citizen. Under a conviction of
the moral importance of this maxim, I have taken con-
siderable pains to investigate anew the early inventions
of our£BU5tory system, and to award the share of com-
mendation justly due to their respective authors. My
researches have been altogetherdispassionate,influenced
by neither local nor party bias, but solely by the love of
truth axid fair dealing. They have led me to conclude
that the genius of Sir R. Arkwright has been most un-
duly depreciated in some modem publications, and that
it deserves to hold, as formerly, a pre-eminent place in
the temple of English fame. No one ever denied him
the praise of sagacity and prudence in completing his
new system of industry, which has made the world tri-
butary to England, upholding its energies amidst wars
unparallelled in expenditure. Would a man of his
sound discretion, in claiming parliamentary protection
for his patent, against a partial decision of a court of

k INTRODUCTION. XCIX

law^ have appealed by name to prior inventions, as he
did in his case to the patent of PauL if he had stolen
from that source, as his modem detractors insinuate
or, indeed, if there had been any true similarity between
them? In such circumstances his very appeal for
redress would have ensured his condemnation.

It is therefore obvious that if Arkwright had per-
chance looked into the original specification of Paul,
which is not likely, for it was so completely buried in
oblivion, that his antagonist lawyers, in the course of
their elaborate investigations during two Chancery
suits, never alluded to it, he must have seen its im-
practicable structure, and essential difference from his

I own operative machine, as I have demonstrated at

r page 216 et seq. of the present volume.

INTRODUCTION.

Note to Page viii. of the Introduction.

But for the regenerating functions of the Poor-Laws
Amendment Act, the manufacturing industry of England,
and especially its most fruitful field, the cotton trade, would
have soon fallen under the same blight as the agricultural
had done, and have eventually shrunk under the freely
expanding growth of rival nations. That master-piece of
human legislation, framed, it is said, in a great me&ure, by
our all-accomplished jurist, N. W. Senior, Esq., Professor
of Political Economy in Oxford, was passed with most tri-
umphant majorities in both Houses of Parliament. There
was but one economist in Europe, of any note, who did not
hail it with delight as the harbinger of a brighter day to the
mor/ils, agriculture, and manufactures of England. His
furious tirades and false predictions may be seen in the
London Courier, of May 5, 7, 10, 12, 13, 14, 16, 19, and
24, 1834. They are instructive, but do not come within
the scope of the present Work.

1 •>
i •

^^'' "o^

^■^y

CM --^

THE

COTTON MANUFACTURE.

BOOK I.

ORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF THE COTTON MANUFAC-
TURE IN ITS HANDICRAFT STATE.

The object of this work is to describe cotton in its va-
rious fonns, from the development of its filaments in
the seed-vessel of the plants through their several me-
chanical combinations, till they compose a web of ex-
quisite beauty. I shall first, however, present a view
of the history of the manufacture of cotton from its
long but graceful pupilage in the plains of Hindostan,
till its recent growth into a gigantic manhood ilader
the fostering genius of Great Britain.

The wool-bearing shrub, called Gossypium by bota*
nists, would be universally regarded as a miracle of vege-
tation, did not familiarity shamefully blunt the moral
feelings of mankind. This singular class of plants
has been largely distributed all over the torrid zone, a
conspicuous gift of Providence to its inhabitants, des-
tined to aflFord them, in its fleecy pods, a spontaneous
and inexhaustible supply of the clothing material best
adapted to screen their swarthy bodies from the scorch-
ing sunbeam, and to favour the cooling influence of
the breeze, as well as cutaneous exhalation. While

VOL. I. B

2 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF

the tropical heats change the soft wool of the sheep
into a harsh^ scanty hair, unfit for clothing purposes,
they cherish and ripen the vegetable wool, with its
slenderer and more porous fibres, admirably suited to
Southern, as the grosser and warmer animal fibres
are to Northern India. No sooner does the cotton
plant arrive at maturity, than its swollen capsules burst,
with an elastic force, in three or five gaping segments,
in order, as it were, to display to the most careless eye
their white fleecy treasure, and to invite the hand of
the observer to pluck it from the seeds, and to work it
up into a light and beautiful robe. Thus held forth
from the extremity of every bough, by its resemblance to
sheep's wool it could not fail to attract the notice of the
first tribes which migrated southwards, after the primi-
tive dispersion of the human family on the plain of
Shinar ; and would naturally lead them to employ it
for making raiment — an art undoubtedly known to
the sons of Noah. Accordingly the earliest accounts
given by historians and travellers of the intertropical
nations show them to have been acquainted with the.
fabrication of cotton cloth. Of all textile materials,
cotton is the most easy to twist into a fine thread, a
process which may be performed upon the pluokedv
filaments with the fingers and thumbs alone. How
readily these threads may be converted into a web,
the simple weaving machine of the Hindoo sufficiently
attests.

It would appear that the older Egyptians were unac-
quainted with cotton, for no traces of its peculiar
fibres can be found among the swaddling bands so
profusely rolled round the ancient munimiesi nor are
there any paintings of the cotton- shrub uponi the

THB COTTON MAKtJFAtn'tJRE. 3

ttmbs of Thebes^ where accurate representations of
flax oecur in its different states of growth and manu-
facture. Linen was, in fact, the clothing staple of
that industrious people; held in such esteem as to be
used as a raiment by royalty, and diligently imitated
by the neighbouring nations. The Jews first, and
afterwards the Greeks and Ronmns, learned to ma-
mxfaoture Unen from the Egyptians. If we consider
how near to Syria and Egypt are the regions where the
cotton shrub was indigenous, we may feel surprise that
itshotddhave remained so long unknown pr neglected
by nations to whom it would have furnished a far
cheaper and more comfortable article of dress than
the flax plant. Indeed the insulation of the cotton
manufacture in India, for so many centuries afler a
considerable intercourse with the East had been esta-
blished by the conquests of the Greeks and the
Romans, is one of the most singular phenomena in
the history of man, and shows how little inquisitive
these highly-celebrated people were concerning the
arts conducive to personal comfort.

War was, in re€dity,the stafple trade, the sole factory
sy«l«n of the ancient world, so all-engrossing indeed
in-die Roman Empire, as to leave its citizens hardly
any choice <rf a reputable handicraft of a purely pacific
description. Nothing remained to the philanthropist,
horU' to live by manual toil; but to select such a
calUikg ai^, though necessarily connected with the uni-
vvrsai business^ would however tend to assuage its
miseries^ This was, in particular, the case with the
trad^ at making tents to sheher the sick and harassed
sddiery. As it* could procure a decent livelihood to a
skilfUl haxuSt in every district, and needed but a fbw

B 2

4 - ORIGIN AND PROGRESS OP

portable tools^ it was peculiarly suited to those artisan
missionaries who travelled from region to region to
regenerate the moral condition of mankind. Accord-
ingly the Apostle Paul was a tent-maker, and indefa-
tigable in his trade. He combined in his example
and writings the best prudential lessons for the present
life with the sublimest doctrines of the life to come.
The principles of industry never had indeed so cogent
an expositor as St. Paul. He commanded that if any
would not work, neither should he eat, and he acted
tip to his own injunctions ; for he ministered with his
bands not only to his own necessities, but to them that
were with him, showing how that, so labouring, they
ought to support the weak, and remember the words
of the Lord Jesus, how he said, '^ It is more blessed
to give than to receive." How would modem industry
ihrive were it administered in conformity with this
noble precept of the inspired economist; ^'Owe no
man anything but to love one another !"

Generally speaking, the interests of the bulk of
mankind were entirely sacrificed in the ancient mili-
tary governments to the pride and luxury of a small
number of chiefs, who, under the names of centurions,
tribunes, consuls, "archons, satraps, and kings, mono-
polized the means of enjoyment, and despised the
mechanic arts.

In several of the ancient states of Greece, says
Adam Smith, foreign trade was altogether prohibited ;
apd in many others the employments of artificers,
and manufacturers were considered as hurtful to the
strength and agility of the human body, as rendering
it incapable of those habits which their military and
gymnastic exercises endeavoured to form in it, and as

THE COTTON MANUFACTURE. 6

thereby disqualifying it, more or less, for undergoing
the fatigues, and encountering the dangers, of war.
Such occupations were considered fit only for slaves,
and the free citizens of the state were prohibited from
exercising them. Even in those states where no such
prohibition took place, as in Rome and Athens, the
great body of the people were, in effect, excluded
from all the trades which are now commonly ex-
ercised by the lower sort of the inhabitants of towns.
Such trades were at Athens and Rome all occupied
by the slaves of the rich, who exercised them for the
benefit of their masters; whose wealth, power, and
protection, made it almost impossible for a poor man
to find a market for his work, when it came into com-
petition with that of the slaves of the rich. Slaves^
however, are very seldom inventive ; and all the most
important improvements, either in machinery, or in
the arrangement and distribution of work, which fa-
cilitate and abridge labour, have been the discoveries
of freemen. Should a slave propose any improve*
ment of this kind, his master would be very apt to
consider the proposal as the suggestioa of laziness,
and of a desire to save his own labour at the master's
expense. The poor slave, instead of a reward, would
probably meet with much abuse, — perhaps with some
punishment. The finer sort of manufactures among
the Greeks and Romans were excessively dear. The
price of linens and woollens was extravagant, com-
pared to our standards. Hence their dress was little
varied, as the costumes of the antique statues show ;
and it was made very loose, so as to last for a long
time.

The ancient geometers, best qualified by their

V OBimK AIOO ^ROGBESS Oi*

g^niitf to improve the productive arts, held them for
too cheap to bestow any thought upon them. The
wonderful B»w;hanical resources displayed by Ar-
chimedes, in defending Syracuse against the assaults
of the Romans!^ proved him io have been eminently
endowed with the constructive faculty, so capabH
when rightly applied, of aiding the weakness of man
in providing for his innumerable wants in fiiod,
^othing, and housdiold acconunodation. But accord-
ing to his admirer, Plutarch, he disdained all such
palpable problems, considering every art that minis-
ters to common uses as mean and sordid, and placing
his whole delight in those intellectual speculations
which, without any reference to the necessities of life^
have an intrinsic excellence resulting from abstract
truth and demonstration. Plato was no less hostile to
experimental researches. He inveighed even agaii»t
Archytas and Eudoxus, tte most eminent practical
eagineers of antiquity, for realising their theorems in
models of machines; thus, as he alleged, debasing
geometry by transferring it from incorporeal to mate-
rial objects which require manual labour, and apper-
tain to>servile trades beneath the notice of freemen.

How di^rent is the spirit of modem philosophy
since it was first directed into the path of utility by
Galileo, Bacon, Pascal, and Newton! It places its
chief delight and honour in investigating the relations
of number, figure, and all material substances, in
order to apply the resulting discoveries to assuage
the evils and to multiply the enjoyments of socicd
life. In its modem familiarity with the ^ublimest- of
speculations, that of the equilibrium and movements
of the celestial bodies, mechanical science does not.

THE COTTON MANUFACTT7RE. 7

ihowever, disdain to study tbe most humble machine
of manufacturing industry ; and> indeed, may hold
many «of them up to the admiration of the tran-
ftcendentaliat, as the happiest aehierements of the
human mind. Should any one ask where; let him
jsntor a cotton-fectory, and look aroimd.

Herodotm, who wrote upwards of four centuries
ibefore the reign of Augustus, notices distinctly the
cotton fabrics of India; and says that a species of
plant in that country bears a fruit full of a wool su-
perior to that of the sheep, with which the natives
make cioAi for tl^ir garments. The general use of
cotton -as an article of dress indicates that it was no
novelty in his time, but that it had been established
at a very eatly date, as we have already suggested.
This statement of the father of history is confirmed by
Arrian, in the account which he gives of the vojrage of
Alexander's Admiral, Nearchus, who, in sailing down
the Indus, and along the coasts of Persia to the
Tigris, had occasion to observe that the clothing of
tl^ Hindoos was a .sort of linen made from a stuff
which grew upon trees. He calls the cotton shrub
iala, and says that the Indians' garments hung down
to the middle of their legs, and that they covered
their heads with turbcms of cotton cloth. On the
authority of the same great navigator, Strabo speaks
,of the printed cotton robes, or tjalicoes, with much
feonginaendation for the variety of their beautiful hues.
This writer, who was contemporary with our Saviour,
alludes to the cultivation of the cotton shrub, and the
fabricaticm of cotton cloth in the Persian province of
Busiana.

About half a century later Pliny presents us with a

8 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF

more detailed description of the cotton plant: — '* In
Upper Egypt, on the side of Arabia, grows the shrub
called by some gossypium, and by others xylon, from
which cloths called xylina are woven. The plant is
small, and produces a fruit, like a walnut, which con-
tains a woolly down, that may be spun into yam.
This cloth merits a preference over all others for its
whiteness and softness; and is made into beautiful
robes, which the priests of Egypt delight to wear."

When we call to mind the extensive traffic which
the luxurious tastes of Rome occasioned with the
Eastern world, we must feel surprised that such scanty
notices exist among Roman writers of the beautiful
cotton robes of India. Their trade with that remote
region was said to have drained the empire every year
of more than four hundred thousand pounds; and on
this business, one hundred and twenty ships sailed
annually from the Arabian Gulf, stretching out boldly
from Oceles, at its mouth, across the great ocean to
the coast of Malabar. They returned with the eastern
monsoons, bringing back the spices and other rich
merchandise of the continent and the islands, from
the general mart, Musiris, to which the Indian vessels
carried them for sale.

The serice vestes, or semi-transparent robes, with
which the Roman ladies took so much pleasure in
Veiling their beauties in the decline of the empire,
were most probably fine Indian muslins imported
into Italy through the territory of the Seres — ^the
Bochyra of modern times. It is known that a con-
siderable traffic was then carried on through Alex-
andria, between Rome and the East, for the produc-
tions of India, the chief mart of which was Malabar.

THE COTTON MANUFACTURE. 9

Virgil alludes very beautifully to the cotton plant in
the following lines in the second Georgic :—

Quid nemora ^thiopum, molli canentia lana ?
Velleraqtie ut foliis depectant tenuia Sere$ ?

*' Shall I sing of the groves of Ethiopia, hoary with
soft wool ; and how the Seres comb out the delicate
fleece from among the leaves f' can surely apply to
nothing but a shrubbery of cotton plants.*

Dr. Vincent, however, in his learned commentary
on Arrian, suggests, that the word serica, in the
ancient writers, refers to silk ; but Salmasius considers
it, and in my opinion more justly, as alluding to
cotton.

The word cotanea, which occurs several times in
Pliny's Natural History, means clearly the quince-
apple. In his 23rd book, c. vi., 54, we find boiled
quinces prescribed as the preferable mode of using
this apple — cotonea coctu sjmviora.

The cydonia mala is another synonyme for quinces.

In the passage quoted in the foot-note, Pliny likens
the capsule of the cotton-plant to the quince-apple in
size, and adds, that it bursts on being perfectly ripe,
and displays its woolly pile, from which a precious
kind of linen raiment is made. These wool-bearing
trees are called gossympinoi. Hence the Linnsean
name, Gossypium f . The Tylos of Pliny, where these

* See Note A, at the end of the volume.

\ Tylos insula in eodem sinu est, repleta silvis .^^ Ejusdem
insulaB excelsiore soggestu lanigerse arbores, alio modo quam Serum.
His foliis infecunda; qui ni minora essent vitium poterant videri.
Ferunt cotouei muli amplitudine cucurbitas, quse maturitate ruptas
ostendunt lanuginis pilas, ex quibus Testes pretioso linteo faciunt.
Aibores vocunt gossympinos. C^ Plinius, Nat. Hist., lib. xii., c. x,

B 5

10 . OiUWN AKP PROGRESS OF

trees were found, is> aecording to Vincent^ an island in
the Persian Gulf*.

Instead of gossympinoi, Herodotus and Theophras-
tus use the simple expression, wool-beating trees —
dendra eriophera.

Of the Egjrptian cotton shrub Pliny gives go very
ttiiplicit a description as to render it surprising that
no trace of cotton cloth has been found among the
mummy bandages hitherto unpolled in England f.
Such robes were, perhaps, too valuable to be buried
with the dead body, and might be kept as heir-looms
from generation to generation.

The * Periplus Maris Erythrei* was probably written
at, or a little before, the time of Pliny, the naturalist,
—•not by the c^brated historian of Alexander, but by
another Aririeui, most likely an lEgyptian Greek, whe
went on a -mercantile expedition, about the beginning
of the second century, down the Red Sea, and along
the whole extent of the Indian coasts, and who has
left a record of his voyage, under the above title.
He tells us that the Arabian trading-vessels brought
Indian cottons to a port in tiie Hed Sea, called Adidi ;
and that Bar3rgaza, the Baroche of modem geogra-
phers, near the. north-west coast of India, was a mart
of cotton goods of many kinds; whairce coimnon cot-
tons« calicoes, and muslins> plain and flowered, of

♦ Voyage of Nearchus, p. 321.

f Superior pars ^gypti ia AraiUam v«rg«iis gignit frutkem, quern
alujui gossypium vocftnt, plures zylon, et ideo liiui ijule Cacia xylina.
Parvus est simiJcoaquie barbat» nucis delert iructuHi, eujut «z inieaass
boznbyce lanugo netur. Nee uUa sunt «is caoidare iXM»lliliave pre*
fexenda. Vestes iade sacerdotibus Mgypii gratissimiB. Plijo^ lib.
xix., c. i. No juster eidogium could be written on the cotUm-]^aiitaikd
cotton goods by a modem naturalist. See ike htm$^ia», p* H*

THE 'COTPOK Min^WACTWE, 1 1

isdian laaniifecture, were exported io yarious conn-
tries. It appears^ moreover, that MasaKa was at tint
time famous, as the same plaee has continued to be
ever ^nee, under its native name of Mamilipatam, for
ootton fabrics. The Bengal muslins were then oele**
brated under the title of Gangitiki, be^owed on them
by the tjrreeks, because they were made near the
barics of the Ganges.

The stationary condition in which the arts of India
have remained since the earliest times is remarkably
exemplified in the case of Baroche, a town in the
Guaerat, which has been described by Forbes, in
nearly the same temffi as by the ancient author of the
* Periplus.* The cotton trade of Barocfae is very con-
siderable, and the manufactures of thk valuable plant,
from the finest muslin to the coarsest sailcloth, em*
ploy thousands of men, women, and children, in the
nietroptdis and the adjacent villages. The cotton
(dealers and spiimers generally reside in the suburbs,
or poorahs, of iBarocbe, whidi are very extensive. The
w^i^ers' houses ave :mostly near the shade of tamarind
and mango trees,^ under which, at aunrise, they fix
thdr loom^ and weave a variety of cotton cloth with
very fine baftas and muslins. Sumt is more fsmioue
fcH* its cokmred chintzes and piec^^goeds. The Ba-
roehe muslins are infierior to those of Bengal and
Madras, nor do the painted chinties of Guserat equal
those of the Coromandel coast.

In the downfieiU of the Aoman empire arts and
commerce perished. At this dark period there are
merely a few incid^stal notices of the cotton manu-
finsture in the East. Omar, the successor of Mahomet,
is d^cribed as '^|»reachittg'ina ts^mred cotton gown.

12 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF

torn in twelve places ;" and Ali, his fellow-fanatic, w^o
became caliph after him, " went on the day of his
inauguration to the mosque, dressed in a thin cotton
gown, tied round him with a girdle, and a coarse
turban on his head." We may hence infer that
cotton cloth was a common material of dress in
Arabia at the time of the Hegira, and had probably
been so for many generations, as the soil was too arid
for the production of flax, and the climate too hot for
favouring the growth of a soft fleece upon the sheep.

There is little doubt that the Mahometans carried
along with their conquests into the western world the
arts of growing and working cotton ; and introduced also
into India certain modifications of the ancient prac-*
tices of that country, in spite of the unchangeableness
due to the distinction of castes. The first step in the
cotton manufacture is the separation of the downy
fibres from the seeds, which was originally effected no
doubt by the fingers alone, but for a very long period it
has been done in Hindostan by a pair of rude rollers.
The second step is the thorough opening up of these
fibres, by the elastic stroke of a bow-string. It de-
serves special notice that the bow-string operation,
though now a constant part of the Indian process,
is never executed by Hindoos, but by Mahometans,
proving it to be an innovation of their Mussulman
conquerors. The hard twisted warp for certain fabrics
is also spun by Mahometans — spinning the softer and
more delicate yarns being the province of the Hindoo
women, and constituting sdmost the sole occupation by
which they can earn the trifle needed for the supply
of their wants. The cause of the early perfection
which the muslin manufacture attained in India must

THE COTTON MANUFACTURE. 13

be sought for in the exquisitely- fine organization of the
natives of that region. Their temperament realises
every feature of ^hat described under the title nervous
by modem p^^iologists.

A marke^nexcess of sensibility in the ordinary trans*
actions of life; delicate fibres, a soft and fine skin^
pliant limbs and fingers, a pathetic look ; a feeling of
anxiety attendant upon the play of the organs ; lively
sensations occasioned by very slight causes ; are the
symptoms of this temperament : they all predominate
in the Hindoo constitution; and so qualified it for
the delicate textile manufacture of cotton, that they
kept, as it were, a monopoly of it for several thousand
years.-

The next authentic account of the cotton manu&c-
ture of the East is given us by Marco Polo, in the
thirteenth century. In the vicinity of Mosul, now the
topital of the Turkish pachalik, upon the western
bank of the Tigris, opposite the ancient Nineveh>
*^ there are places," says this great traveller, '* named
Mus and Mareddin, where cotton is produced in vast
abundance, of which they prepare the cloths called
boccasiniy and many other fabrics." Prom Mosul the
Italian words mussolo* and musselino are derived,
whence mousseline and muslin, in Prench and English.
Ives states, in his Journey, that *' this city's manufac-
ture (or trade) is mussolen, a cotton cloth, which they
make very strong, and pretty fine, and sell for the
European and other markets.'* It was therefore a
species of calico, so natned from the city Calicut, in
the East Indies. In 'Menagio's Originidella Lingua

• Sorta di tela bambagina, cosi detta dal noxne del pfcese dove per
lo pid ella si fabbrica.

14 ORIGIN AND PROGBBSS OF

Italiana' we find^ under the irord Mussolo, the follow^
ing explanation ;— *' Al Mnssoli is a region in Meso-
potamia^ in which are woren webs of cotton, of ex*
ceeding beauty, which are called Mvasoli among the
S jrian. and Venetian meftthants, from the name of this
region *." It is probable that Marco Polo occasion*
ally confounded the silk with the cotton manufacture.
The boccasini mentioned above was most likely a species
of fine white and soft cotton cloth, as it is called, in the
Italian translation of ' Kamusio,' boccasini dA bam^
bagio, or of cotton.

Cotton, say« Marco Polo, grows abundantly in
Persia, and also in Guzaerat ; in which latter place it
is produced from a tree about six yards high, which
beiurs twenty years ; but the cotton taken from trees of
that age is not adapted for spinning, but only for
quilting. Such, on the contrary, as is taken from
trees of twelve years old, b suitable for muslins, and
other manuflBustures of extram'dinary fineness. In
Cambaia, also, there is abundanee of cotton cloth, as
well as of cotton in the wool; and a great quantity of
indigo is manufactured f .

At the city of Kue-lin-fu (Kkn-ning-fu, in tbepnn
vin^e of Fo*kien), says Marco Polo, cottons are als«
woven of eokmred threadb, whieh are carried for sale
to every part of the province of Manji: probably this
cotton was not dyed on purpose, but was ihe native

* Al Mfis^dU est regio in Mesopetftmia, in qua texaninrtelw, «z
^mbyce valde pulchree, q\m apud Syios et apud mercatorve Vcset^
appelantnr MunoHf ex hoc regionis uonune.

f ^* Qui," says Barbosa, " si lavorano assai tele e panni di gotton
bianchi, aottili e gxQssi e di varie Mrte tessuti et diptnii." Here ve
see the antiquity of the printed calico mannfactuBe.

TOE COTTON 3iANI7PAOTUltE. 15

orange-coloured cotton, called Nani«king by Van
BrananL

In Murphili (the MasuU-patam of modem geo-
graphers), saj« Marco, they manufwrture the finest
cottons t^it are to be met with in any part of India.
^^ It has been, in fact, always cdebrated for its chintzes.
Of the kingdom of Malabar he eajs, ** Here the finest
and most beautiful cottons are manufactured that can
be found in any part of the world." Hamilton has
eonfim^d this statement in speaking of Raja-pore, a
place near Gheria, observing, that '' the country there-
abouts produced the ^nest muslins and betillas in
India," p. 243. It appears from the former authority
that at that period yarious kinds of cotton goods were
manufactured in the island of Socotra, then inhabited
by a CJiristianized people, subject to a patriarch, re-
siding at Badhdad. Astley, in his collection of old
vojrages, says— -^^ Next day," speaking of a voyage
perfbrmed in 1606, *' standing oflf to sea, they met
with a Grtizerat ship, laden with eotton, calicoes, and
pentathoes (chintoes), bound for Acbn." Marco P(do
was ^ Venetian, who travelled in the thirteenth cen-
tury, from the year 1260 downwards, was ctmfiden-
tiaUy employed in tite service (^ the Tartar conqueror
of ChiTia, and returned in the year 1295, after having
visited a great many countries of Asia. Jlis credi-
bility is undoubted. The manuscript was first cir-
culated in 1298, at Grenoa, where be was confined as
a prisoner of war, having been taken in a naval action
with the Genoese fieet, against which he had fought
bravely as captain of a Venetian ship, but was ill
supported by his countrymen.
It is probable that in the time of Marco Polo the

16 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF

cotton manufacture was just beginning to be intro-
duced into China^ for, in noticing the productions of
many other parts of that empire, in which he held a
high official rank, and enjoyed perfect freedom of
observation, he makes no mention of cotton goods.
. We know from other sources that the Emperor
Ou-ti, of the small dynasty of Leang, who ascended the
throne in the year 502 of the Christian era, had a robe
of cotton. Towards the end of the seventh century
the cotton shrub began to be cultivated in the gardens
of the capital of China. The whole town is fall of
cotton flowers, says a Chinese poet of that time, in
verses written upon the summer season. It was,
however, only for the sake of the flowers that the
plant was then cultivated. This fact will appear extra-
ordinary, if we bear in mind that the court held in
high estimation the cotton garments which were pre-
sented to their king by foreign ambassadors. Nothing
shows in a more striking manner how blind the clever-
est nations sometimes are to their best interests, and
how much in all ages a peculiar genius and an ardent
zeal are required to rouse the multitude from their
indiflFerence about new things; to make them see
clearly what is before their eyes, and to give them
energy to turn their labour and dexterity to account-
We can hardly reconcile such backwardness with the
supposed keenness of the Chinese temperament It was
not till the eleventh century that the herbaceous cotton
plant passed from the parterres and gardens of China
into the fields, and this only in a few districts of
Kiang-Nan. As to the cotton-tree, it was known only
in their books, till the dynasty of the Mongul Tartars,
called Yuen in the country, who conquered it about

THE COTTON MANUFACTURE. 17

1280, and reigned thereafter eighty-eight years. The
emperors of that dynasty took every possible pains to
extend and render fashionable the culture of cotton
plants of every kind; and, in fact, imposed on several
great provinces, an annual tribute of cotton. But this
business was looked upon with an evil eye by the
aborigines, and was much disliked, as interfering
with corn-crops, with their forest-trees, and with the
silk manufacture, so long cultivated among them.
The nation felt itself aggrieved by the new-comers,
and zealously tried to rouse the old proprietors to
maintain the established usages of the people. But,
eventually, these prejudices were overcome by the care
and liberality of the government All the provinces
betook themselves diligently to the cultivation of
cotton; and at present every nine persons out of ten
are dressed in cotton cloth. The dynasty of Ming, the
immediate predecessor of the reigning family, had
the honour of effecting a revolution so conducive to
national comfort.

In consequence of a dearth of provisions in China,
about sixty years ago, an imperial mandate was issued
to convert to the cultivation of com a considerable
portion of land then appropriated to the cotton plant;
since which time the Chinese have been accustomed to
import large quantities of cotton wool. Sir Greorge
Staunton found all the lower orders of the Chinese, of
both sexes, dressed in cottons, and the upper orders in
silks.

Spain, which had received the cotton manufacture
along with its Mahometan masters, continued for many
centuries to cultivate it with much success. The
cotton plant still grows wild in many parts of the

18 ORIGIN AND PROORBSS OF

Peninsula. De Maries asserts ihat the Moors, who
were mingled with the Arabs at the Spanish conquest,
brought with them the husbandry of rice and cotton,
as well as that of the mulberry^tree and the sugar-
cane. From the narratives of subsequent Saracenic
historiai^ it would appear that the cotton manufacture
was prosecuted to very considerable e3rtent by the
Spaniards during the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fif-
teenth centuries. Barcelona was famous in particular
for its cotton sailcloth, of which it supplied grestt
quantities to the squadrons stationed off its harbour.
The term /u9fanero9, from which our word fustian
comes, was first given in Spain to the weavers tjf
cotton goods of a stout mal», as the Spanish word
imports substantial. Cotton paper seenus also to have
been first made by the Spanish Arabs ; a paper was
afterwards manufactured by them from linen rags
at Valencia, which was much admired by the literary
men of the time. The religious antipathy, however,
which existed between the Moors and the Christians^
prevented the propagation of these Oriental arts west-
ward, so that, when ihe Saracens w^re expelled frc»a
Spain, the manufacti^es of this country relapsed into
a barbarous state.

The following interesting account of ^he cotton hus-
bandry of Spain under the Moors is given by M.
I>asteyrie in his treatise on the cotton plant.

Eben el Awam, who lived in the twelfth centujy,
and who farmed a small property near Seville, in ^
delightful situation, which we have gone over and ^ca-
mined with a lively interest, has described not only
the mode of cultivating cotton employed in Spain,
but also the methods followed in. a great pprtioa of

THE COTTON HANITFACTUItE. 19

tbe countries which were at that period under the domi-
nion of the Moors or Saracens. This Arabian writer
has copied a psu*t of his work from the ancient Egyp*
tian> Greeks Persian^ and Arabian authors, whose pages
have since become the prey of time €uid human barba*
fism. This monument ofancient agriculture is the more
Taluable, as we do not find in the Greek and Roman
writers any traces of the husbandry of the cotton
plant, whence we may conclude that it was not esta-
blished in Greece, Italy, Sicily, and Malta, and the
0ther coasts of the Mediterranean, till the Mahome-
tans, on the conquest of these regions, brought the
arts of liie Eastern world with them.

The Arabs, with less taste in the fine arts and in
literature than the Greeks and Romans, appear to
have surpassed the former and to have at least equalled
the latter in agriculture. The precepts of Eben el
Awam upon cotton plantations are contained in the
twenty-second chapter of his Book of Agriculture. He
ftays it is sown in Arabia Petrea, Egypt, at Ascalon
and Bassora, on sandy grounds subject to irrigations;
that in Sicily, as well as on the coasts of Spain, it is
rmsed upon the inferior soils, which are found suffi-
ciently good for it,, and that the roots are transplanted,
as is done with potherbs in a garden. They are set
at eight palms' distance from each other, because in
those countries the shrubs rise to the height of the
fig-tree, which is usually from fifteen to twenty feet,
and it endures for several yeaurs. It is treated in the
same manner as the vine, and it yields every year a
good crop by means of ploughings and irrigation.
He says that the inhabitants of Syria are wont to pre^
pare a year befcarehand the land intended for cotton.

20 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF

enriching it with plenty of dung, and freeing it from
weeds. They then irrigate it, and as soon as it is
drained they make holes an inch and a half deep, and
a palm and a half asunder. Into each hole they put
two or three seeds, which they cover with a little soil ;
and whenever the plant has risen a palm from the
ground they repeat the irrigation, which is, indeed,
done as often as is thought requisite ; and in general",
according to another Arabian authority, every fifteen
days till the beginning of the month of August, the
period when the capsules form. Then all further
watering must be avoided, in order to favour the forma-
tion of the cotton fibres. If the vegetation be too
active, the bottom of the plant must be beat with a
stick. M. Lasteyrie properly finds fault with this prac-
tice, and suggests that it would have been better to
prune oflF the extremities of the too-luxuriant branches.
Thus, adds the Arabian, the juices do not run to waste ;
but are, on the contrary, concentrated on the fruit, so
as to improve its quality. The harvest occurs in the
month of September, when the capsules begin to
open, and when the down is just seen peeping out of
them. They ought to be plucked in the morning,
when still damp with the dew of night, and deposited
in a spot sheltered from the sunbeam, in order to
preserve them in a somewhat damp state, when the
cotton must be removed from the seeds by the fingers.
The wool is afterwards exposed to the sun till it is
thought to be dry, and then packed up for use. Aben
Hajaij, another Arabian writer, says that the cotton
plant can be cultivated with advantage only in islands
and on level plains.

Documents exist in Biscelia, dated in 1050, which

THE COTTON MANUFACTURE. 21

prove that the priests of San Adveno were autho-
rized to let their church lands for the growth of cotton
plants ; and there is other evidence of the existence at
the same time of the cotton husbandry in Sicily. In
Calabria the plant was biennial^ and produced the
best crop the second year *.

In ' Ramusio's Viaggi,' or collection of voyages, a
copy of the original edition of which, printed early
in the sixteenth century, exists in the library of the
British Museum, there are several notices showing
that the cotton manufacture was very extensively es-
tabhshed, before that period, all over the southern
shores of the Mediterranean. At Fez the natives
raised a large quantity of cotton, and the townspeople
were very generally weavers of cotton cloth, of a truly
exquisite and beautiful texture f .

Hunain, a small African city on the Mediterranean,
frequented in the fifteenth century by the Venetians,
is spoken of with high commendation in Ramusio's
volume, on account of its eminence in this manufac-
ture. "The inhabitants were a noble civilized race
of men, and almost all engaged in the production of
cotton or cotton cloth J."

Of Amon, a place five days' journey from Da-
mascus, it is said that a very great quantity of cotton
was grown at it.

* Atti del Real Instituto d'lncorraggiamento alle scienze naturali
di Napoli, Toino II., 1818. This curious notice was politely brought
before me by the librarian of the Jardin des Plantes in Paris.

f Si raccoglie gran quantita di bambagio, et gli habitatori della
citti sono per lo piu* tessitori di tele bambagine, molto sottili nel vero
et molto belle. — Giovanno Lioni Africanjo Descrittione della Africa*

I GVi habitatori furono nobili et civili et quasi tutti lavoraron
bambagio o tele.

22 ORIGIN AND'PROORESS OF

According to Odoardo Barbosa, of Lisbon, who
made a voyage to Southern Africa in 1516, the Caffresf
then wore cotton dresses^ drappi di bambagio, denot*
ing a high state of civilization for that race of people.
At Cefala, he says, the Moors grow a large quantity of
fine cotton, and weave it into cloth> which they use in
the white state, from their being unable to dy^ it, on
account of the want of colouring stuSs.

From Macpherson s ' Annals' it appears that cotton
cloth, woven on the coast of Guinea, was imported
\ into London from the Bight of Benin — in the year
I 1590; a fact corroborative of the above testimony.
The modem travellers who have explored the inte*-
rior of Africa concur hi showing that the cotton plant
is indigenous to that continent, and that the wool i»
spun and woven into cloth, which is used for raiment
by the inhabitants of every class and every region.
From the beauty of the dye, and the designs observed
on some of their cotton dresses, it may be justly in-
ferred to be a manufacture of very ancient standing.

The state of the New Worid relative Ui cotton is-'
t^ry remarkable. When the Mexicans were first in-
vaded by their European conqueiDrs- they had no
sheep's wool, nor common silk, nor linen> nor hemp,
but they supplied the want of wo«l with oottt)n, tfai^
of silk with feathers, and with the hair of the rabbit
or hare. Of cotton they made large webs, and as
delicate and fine as those of Holland, which were
therefore highly esteemed on their importation into
Europe. A few years after the conquest a sacerdotal
habit of the Mexicans was brought to Rom«> which,
as- Boturini affirms, was uncommonly admired on
account of its fineness and beauty. The Mexicans

THB COTTON MANUFACTURE. 23

wove clotbs with difi^rent figures and colours^ repre-
senting various animals and flowers. We have seen
some beautiful mantles of this kind^ says Clavigero,
which are still preserved by some lords. With cotton
also they interwove the finest hair of the bellies of
rabbits and hares, after having spun and dyed the
thread; of these they made the most beautiful clothes,
and, in particular, winter waistcoats for their grandees.
A few days after Cortes arrived in Mexico he despatched
to the Emperor Charles V., in July, 1519, among other
rich presents, a variety of cotton mantles, some all
white, others checkered with white and black, or red,
green, yellow, and blue ; on the outside rough, like a
shaggy cloth, and on the inade without either colour
or nap. A number of under- waistcoats, handkerchiefs,
counterpanes, tapestries, and carpets of cotton, were
sent to Europe. All these articles were, according to
Gomara, more valuable for the workmanship than
the materials. The colours, he says, of the cotton
were extremely fine, and those of the feathers naturaL
Their works ofcoMt metal are not to be comprehended
by our goldsmiths.

The Mexican men used to. wear two or three
mantles, and the women three or four vests, and as
many gowns, putting the longest undermost, so that
a part of each of them might be seen. The lords
wore in winter waistcoats of cotton, interwoven with
soft feathers or the hair of the rabbit The upper
ranks in general used counterpanes of cotton and
feathers. *

We have thus seen that firom a very remote period

• Clavigero, Book VIII. Among the mummy-cloths brought
from the ancient tomb» at Axka, in Eeru, by Lord Colchester, in

24 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF

the natives of the tropical countries of Asia, Africa,
and America, were well acquainted with the cotton

1831, and now deposited at the British Museum, three difierent
textile fabrics may be distinguished.

1. A white flimsy web, like the coarsest calico at present used for

linings in this country.

2. A coarse plaid stuff, woven in red and brown stripes.

3. A yellow fringe-looking stuff. The threads of the last twa

fabrics are pretty thick ; those of the first are much finer.
No. 1 is a cotton cloth, of which the fibres, viewed in the microscope,
are remarkably tortuous, like a cork-screw, and very regular in
size and form. They resemble the fibres of the Gotsypium
hirstttum, probably the primitive cotton plant of South America.
No. 2 is a sort of worsted stuff, maile of the wool of the Vicugna*
Its filaments seem to be more minutely indented along the line
of the edges than those even of the long-stapled sheep's wool of
England, as figured at p. 91 of the PAii. of Manufacture*,
No. 3 is a texture of the same fleece as No. 2, dyed of an orange
yellow, having a few filaments of cotton, carded or mixed in and
spun along with it. This mixture is very distinguishable in the
microscope.
The application of this instrument to examine animal and vegetable
filaments is of ancient date. It was very successfully employed by
LedermUller upwards of seventy years ago, and was illustrated l^
many fine engraved representations of the serrated structure of the
hair of the sea-calf, and other fibrous matters. The celebrated Monge
thought he saw in the serrations of wool, and similar hairy substances,
the cause of that curious interlacement and condensation which they
undergo in the process of felting, used in the manufacture of stuff
hats. He promulgated his theory of this operation at considerable
length, upwards of forty years ago, in the sixth volume of the *■ An-
nates de Chimie,' whereby he made the serrated structure of wool
familiar to every philosopher of Europe, since his memoir was trans-
lated into all its civilized languages, and particularly into our populac
scientific journals at the time *.

Subsequent researches have shown that Monge's theory requires
certain modifications. Though the woolly filaments which constitute
the hair and fur of many animals be provided with asperities Q* scales
like those of fish, or imbricated zones, like the horns of arimals,*' are

* Nicholson's Jonmali and Repertory of Arts.

THE COTTON MANUFACTURE. 25

plants and worked up the woolly down of its pods
into useful and ornamental articles of clothing. The

the characteristic phrases employed by Monge)| yet they are not
susceptible of felting^, he thought, if they were straight, l)ecanse the
kneading motions of the operator's hands would make them merely
moYe progressively forwards, and cause no interlacement. This defect
in the straight filaments he supposed to be removed by teentagt,
or the application of a solution of nitrate of mercury to the tips
of the fur on the skin, which caused these to curl. M. Malard>
M. Guichardidre, and M. Robiquet, have controverted this theory, by
showing that straight hairs, such as those of warren-iabbitSi felt very
well without teeretoffe ; while those of the hare and the castor, which are
not straighter, require that preliminary process before they will felt.
Again, certain straight-fibred sheep-wools, like those of the beamce,
may be readily felted alone, whilst the Spanish wools, which are
naturally curled, cannot be used for making hat-felt* Though the
rectilinear form of the fibres be not the sole obstacle to felting, ai
Monge imagined, yet he undoubtedly was right in regarding the scales
or asperities on their surfaces as co-operative towards felting, while
they are not its only cause. The hairs of the seal, which present in
the microscope a great many asperities or notches, arranged like the
teeth of a saw, are not susceptible of being felted. " All the hairy
filaments," says M. Robiquet, " viewed in the microscope, present
very distinct scales, disposed sjmmetrically ; but affecting sometimes
one figure and sometimes another." He considers the flexibility of
the fibres towards their tips to be another condition no less essential
than the serrations to their felting property. Secretoffe communicates
this flexibility, he thinks, by corroding off the natural varnish upon
the tips of the hairs. <* It is well known, in fact, that wools and
hairs, subjected to the action of alkaline leys, readily form a felt ;
and that this tendency often presents a great obstacle to the working
them up*." Hence, adds he, it is not astonishing that wools na-
turally curled are not fit for felting, because the inflexion should be
merely successive, and should increase only in proportion as the felt-

* M. Robiquet, Membre de I'lnstitofc, in the article Fentrage (Felting), pub-
lished in the DicUonnaire Technologique for 1833. His description is remarkably
clear — ** Tuns les polls, vus an microscope, presentent des ecaiUes bien distinctes
et disposees 'symmetiiqnement ; mais affectant tantdt une figure et tantdt une
autre," p. 537. The article from which this sentence is quoted is particularly
interesting. A condensed notice of it is inserted at the bottom of page 93 and top
of page 94 of my * Philosophy of Manufoetoret.'

VOL. I. C

26 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF

Europeans alone continued destitute of tkis admirable
industry for many thousand years after it had been
possessed by nations whom, from their less warlike
polity, or less ferocious disposition, they looked down
upon as inferior races, or regarded even as barba-
rians.

The Portuguese, after their discoi^ry of the passage
to India by the Cape of Good Hope, inade lai^e im-
portations of cotton-stuflfs aud muslins into Europe,
i)ut did not attempt to establish any manufacture of
the kind in their own country. When the Dutch,
however, some time thereafter, succeeded in depriving
the Portuguese of a part of their eastern colonies, they
not only extended the traffic in cotton goods, but, to*-
wards the latter end of the sixteenth century began to
fabricate them at home. Long prior to this period, a
manufacture of indigenous cotton had existed in the
southern parts of Italy, where the plant had been cul-
jtivated since the eleventh century, particularly along
th^ shores of the gulf of Taranto. From a remote
era, ladies dT ccmdition in that district occupied tbem^
selves in spinning cotton and knitting the yam into
stockings, articles of dress which were greatly ad-
mired^ and fetched the prodigious price of a guinea
the pair. The muslin of the same region was like-

Vkg goes ^^y othemse the progreasiYe motion of thfi fibres canaot
take place.

M. Robiquet iaforms me, in a polite note, dated Deeeii^)er last, that
he made tiie observations on the structure of hairy filaments which
are inserted in his article Feutroffe, in conjunction wi4^ M. LebaiHif,
who was very sldlfVil in the use of the n^icroscope, and that the most
curious species which he saw was that of the otter. The wools which
I examined in my achromatie microscope, were seat to me,, with a note,
dated the 29th of January, 1834, by Messrs. Lougfanan and Hug^s,4if
Basioghall-street, through James Cook, Esq., of Mincing-lane.

THE COTTON MANUFACTURE. 27

wise ill vogue till towards the conclusion of the last
century, when it came to be superseded by the large
importations from India, and the superior fabrics of
En^and. In that part of Italy, the soil is said to be
so favourable to the culture of cotton, that an English
acre will produce, in good seasons, ten cwt. of seed-
cottoa, which will yield 2 cwt of cotton wool. A
considerable quantity of this product was atone period
exported in the raw state*.

The eariiest notice of cotton, as an article of English ^V
trade, is to be found in Hakhiyt's Collection of \
Voyages. It is copied from a little book, entitled,
* The process of English Policy.' '* Grenoa," says the
author, ^ resorts to l^gland in her huge ships, called
carracks, bringing many conunodities, as silk, paper,
wool^ oil, cotton," &c This work was printed towards
the conckisi(»i of the fifteenth century. Before that
pmod, England was probably supplied directly from
the Levant with tl^ small quantity of cotton then
wanted, chiefly for candle-wicks. The Genoese lost
their monopoly of the carrjring trade in 1511, from
which time till 1534, says Hakluyt, divers tall ships
of London iand Bristol had an uAusual trade to Sicily^
Candia, ajad Chios, and sometimes to Cyprus, TripoH,
and Barulh, in Syria. They imported thither sundry
sorts of woollen cloths, calf-skins, &c. ; and imported
froitxL tl^nce silks, camblets, rhubarb, malmsey, mus<»
cadel, and other wines; oils, cotton wool, Turkey-
carpets, galls, and India spices. The merchants of
Antwerp socwi thereafter engrossed the Levant trade,
to the exclusion of the English. But after the sack-

* Travels of Charles Ulysses in 1787, [ published in London in
1795, p. 116.

c 2

28 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS OP

ingof that city, the English resumed the Mediterranean
commerce^ and carried it on with great activity ; im-
porting, in return^ cotton among other articles^ ac-
cording to the statement of Mr. Mann"**. It appears
from Wheeler, who wrote in 1601, that cotton was
brought to England by the Antwerpians from Sicily,
the Levant, and sometimes from Lisbon, along with
many ether precious articles, which the Portuguese
imported in those times from India. The merchants
of Antwerp obtained cotton goods from Italy before
this time, for Guicciardini enumerates fiistians and
dimities among the valuable articles of import from
Milan into the mart of the Netherlands. The people
of the Low Countries soon took up this manufacture
themselves, and in the subsequent emigrations of the
Protestants from that country, during their religious
persecution by the court of Spain, they brought it
into England, and established it in the towns of Bolton
and Manchester. The fustians were valued by Guic-
ciardini at 600,000 crowns, but they were probably a
mixed stuff. The consequences of the cruelties ex-
ercised by the Duke of Alba, are thus powerfully de-
scribed by M. I'Abb^ J. J. de Smet, in his ' Histoire
de Beige.' *' The new9 of the arrival of the Spanish
general caused the workshops to be everjnvhere de-
serted. Carrying with them their industry, thousands
of artizans quitted their country, or enrolled themselves
under the insurgent standard. Holland, France, but
especially England, offered them an asylum ; the pro-
vident Elizabeth did not confine her views merely to
the relief of her religious * partizans, but sought to

* On the trade of liadia.

THB COTTON MANUFACTURE. 29

transfer into her kingdom those prosperous trades of the
Low Countries^ which the adjoining states had looked
upon with invidious eyes. She succeeded beyond her
most sanguine hopes^ and thus eventually procured,
with the aid of Belgian exiles, manufacturing pre«
eminence to her country.'^

Lewis Roberts, who published in 1641 a little
treatise on trade, called the ' Treasure of Traffic,'
BBys, " The town of Manchester buys the linen yarn
of the Irish in great quantity, and, weaving it, returns
the same again in linen into Ireland to selL Neither
does her industry rest here, for they buy cotton wool
in London that comes from Cyprus and Smyrna, and
work the same into fustians, vermillions, and dimities,
which they return to London^ where they are sold;
and from thence not seldom are sent into such foreign
parts where the first materials may be more easily
had for that manufacture." This fact of returning
&e manufactured article from England to the native
country of the raw material^ which attracted the at-
tention of Roberts in one case, has become in our
^es a general feature of British trade.

It would, however, appear, that long before the date
of the ' Treasure of Traffic,' cotton fabrics must have
been commonly wrought in this island, for we find a
sumptiiary Scotch law, enacted by King James in
1621, directing '' that servants shall have no silk on
their cloths, except buttons and garters, and shall
wear only cloth, fustians, and canvas of Scotch manu-
facture." It is possible indeed that the name fustian^
from its Spanish import ot^ubstance, may be here given
to some kind of substantial mixed stuff, different from
the cotton fustian of Guicciardini.

30 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF

Considerable obscurity is occasioned by the differ^t
meanings att»;hed to the word cotton in English
works about a century and a half or two centuries
ago. It seems to have been corrupdy used for coat-
ing, and denoted a species of woollen stuSb made finr
that purpose. Thus Leland^ in his itinerary, written
so far back as Henry VIII., says, that *^ Bolton-
upon-Moor market standeth most by cottons ; divers
villag^es in the moors about Bolton do make cottons;"
Tht sense of this passage is cleared up by the
terms of au act subsequently passed, in 1552, under
Edward VI., for regulating the manufacture of tooidlem
cloth, in which it is stated, ''that all the cottons, called
Manchester, Lancashire, and Cheshire cottons, full
wrought to the sale, shall be in length twenty-two
yards, and contain in breadth three-quarters of a yard
in the water, and shall weigh thirty pounds in the
piece at the least*' Camden also may be quoted to
prove the woollen texture of the cottons of those
^ays ; for he says '' that Manchester excels the towns
immediately around it, in handsomeness, populous-
Bess, woollen manufactures, market-place, church and
college, but did much more excel them in the last
age, as well by the glory of its woollen cloths, which
they call Manchester cottons, as by the privilege of
sanctuary, which the authority of parliament, under
Henry VIII., transferred to Chester." Prom an act
passed in the reign of Elizabeth, in 1566, we find' that
a certain quality of goods at Shrewsbury bore the
name of ''Welsh cottons, frizes, and plains;" language
applicable only to woollen fabrics. Nay, at the present
day a strange solecism remains in the language of
Cumberland, where a peculiar woollen article of ^'he

THB COTTON MANUFACTURE. 31

eoarsest kind still retakis its ancient name of Kendal
cottons^ which it had five hundred years ago, when
no such thing as genuine cotton was known in the
kingdom.

But India continued to be so greatly a-head of Eu-
rope in the arts of spinning and weaving cotton during
more than a century after Roberts's publication, as to
give to the different Companies trading to the East a
nnmopoly in the supply of cotton gooos. The acti-
vity of this trade with England alone may be inferred
(tovci the foUowincr declamation of the celebrated
Daniel Defoe in favour of our native noanufactures : —

<^ We saw our persons of quality," says Daniel De-
foe, ^' dressed in Indian carpets, which, but a few years
before, their chambermaids would have thought too
ordinary for them ; the chintaes were advanced from
lying on their floors to their backs, from the foot-cloth
to the petticoat, and even the queen herself at that
time was pleased to appear in China and Japan, I
mean China silks and calico ; nor was this all, but it
crept into our houses, our closets, and bedchambers ;
curtains, cushions, chairs, and, at last, beds themselves
were nothing but calicoes or Indian stufis, and, in
short, almost everything that used to be made of wool
or silk, relating either to the dress of the women or
the furniture of our houses, was supplied by the Indian
trade.' What remained, then, for our people to do,
but to stand still and look on, see the bread taken out
of their mouths, and the East India trade carry away
the whole ^nployment of their people ? What had
the masters to do but to dismiss their journeymen, and
take no more apprentices ? What had the journey-
men to do but to sit still, grow poor, run away, and

32 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS OP

Starve ? Let any man but look into the cargoes ex-
ported and imported between 1697 and 1699> and
he will find the account so surprising that a man
hardly dare put it in prints there being exported in
bullion only> besides goods> and by the companies^
besides private trade^ 7>157>372 ounces of plate^ and
the cargo home amounted in the hands of the retailers to
above £7^000,000 sterling ; that several single ships
brought home 200^000 pieces of goods at a time;
directly interfering with our home manufactures^ and,
besides the humour of the times, being on many ac-
counts to be sold beyond all proportion cheaper than
anything could be made here."

*' Let no man wonder/' he adds, ** the Parliament,
as soon as they were made sensible of thb, came rea-
dily into the prohibition.'*

^' The several goods brought from India are made,
five parts in six, under our price, and being imported
and sold at an extravagant advantage, were yet ca-
pable of underselling the cheapest thing we could set
about."*

The following description of Hindoo industry will
account for this great production : — Women of all
castes prepare the cotton thread for the weaver, spin-
ning the thread on a piece of wire, or a very thin rod of
polished iron with a ball of clay at one end ; this they
turn round with the left hand, and supply the cotton
with the right; the thread is then wound upon a stick
or pole, and sold to the merchants or weavers ; for the
coarser thread the women make use of a wheel very
similar to that of the English spinster, though upon a

* Defoe's Weekly Review, January and Februaiy, 1708.

THE COTTON HAKUFACTORE. 33

smaller construction. The mother of a family in some
instances will procure as much as from 7s. to lOf.
a-month by epinning cotton. The tanties or weavers
are in six divisions, vrhich have no intercourse with each
other^ so as to visit or iutenoarry.

Figjl .-Hlodoo We«i

34 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF

They lay the frame of their loom on the ground, and
sitting with their feet hanging down in a hole cut in
the earth, they carry on their work. — See fig. 1.

The coarse cloths worn by the natives are made in
almost every village. At the Dhaku factory, some yearo
ago, cloths to the value of 80 lacks of roopees were bought
by the Company in one year ; at Shantee-pooru the
purchases in some years amount to 12 or 15 lacks ; at
Maldu to nearly the same sum, and at other places
to 6 or 12 lacks ; I give these amounts from bare re-
port. Muslins are there made which sell at 100
roopees a-piece. Persons* with wbosn I have conversed
on this subject say, that at two places in Bengal, So-
nar-ga, and Vicknum-pooru, muslins are made by a
few families so exceedingly fine, that four months are
required to weave one piece, which sells at 400 or 500
roopees. When this muslin is laid on the grass, and
the dew has fallen upon it, it is no longer discernible.
The wool, or rather hair, which grows upon the Ben-
gal sheep is sa^Hirt and coarse that a warm garment
can scarcely be manufactured from if"

Of the exquisite degree of perfection, says the elo-
quent historian of British India, to which the Hindoos
have carried the productions of the loom, it would be
idle to oflFer any description, as tiiBca are few objects
with which thb iiiiiaittants of. Bun^ptof sore better ac-
quainted; no modenrinaiiaii cBHiivie in the delicacy
and fineness of its cotton textures with Hindos-
tan. It is observed, at the same time, by intelligent
travellers, that this is the only art which the original

* A View of the History, &c. of the Hiudoes, by William Ward,
of Serampore. 3d Edition, 1820, vol. iii. pp. 125-7.

THE COTTON MANUFACTUBB. 35

inhabitants of that country have carried to any con-
siderable degree of perfiection. To the skill of the
Hindoo in this art several causes contributed; his
climate and soil conspired to furnish him with an
abundance of the raw materials^ and its fabric is a
sedentary employment, in harmony with the dislike of
locomotion generated by the atmospheric temperature.
It requires patience, of which he has an inexhaustible
fond ; it requires little bodily exertion, of which he is
always exceedingly^paring ; and the finer the tissue
the more slender, the force which he is called upon to
apply; the weak and delicate frame of the Hindoo,
moreover, is accompanied with an acuteness of external
sense, pswticularly of touch, which is altogether unri-
valled, and the flexibility of his fingers is equally re-
markable ; the hand of the Hindqo, therefore, con-
stitutes an organ adapted to the finest operations of
the loom> in a degree which is almost or altogether
peculiar to himself.

A people, says Orme, borti under a sun. too sul-
try to admit the exercises and fatigues necessary to
form a robust nation, will, naturally, from the weak-
ness of their bodies (especially if they have few wants)
endeavour to obtain their scanty livdihood by the
easiest labours; it is. from hence, perhe^s, that the
manufactures of cloth are so multiplied in Hindostan;
spinning and weaving are the slightest tasks that a
man can be set to, and the numbers that do nothing
else in this country are exceeding.

The following more minute picture of the manufac-
ture of India as it has existed probably from primeval
times, may prove interesting to some readers ; I have
extracted it from the second volume of a manuscript

36 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF

account of Behar and Patna, by Dr. F. Buchanan,
preserved in the Library of the East India Com-
pany.

''A great deal of the cotton is freed from the seed by
the women who spin it, and a part of this is also
beaten by the same persons ; but the Dhuniyas^ who
make a profession of cleaning and beating cotton,
separate the seed from some, and beat the greater
part. Perhaps one-third of them have stock enough
to enable them to buy a little cotton, which they clean
and then retail ; the remainder work entirely for hire.
A man and his wife can make from three to four
roopees a month. In country places they are very often
paid in grain. At Arwil they are allowed 14 sers of
grain for beating one ser of cotton ; and in one day a
man beats four sers (45 s. w.) equal to about 44 lbs.,
and of course receives 6f lbs of grain. Those
who have a little capital may make 4 or 5 roopees
a month.

'* In every division I procured an estimate of the
proportion of women who spin cotton, of the average
quantity of cotton that each spins, and of the value of
the thread. Such estimates are liable to numerous
objections ; but it is probable when a number of them
are taken, that the errors of the on^ will be nearly
corrected by those of the others, so that the average
will be not far from the truth. Allowing that the
women of an age fit to spin are one-fifth of the popu-
lation, the estimates that I procured will give for the
wholf* thus employed 330,426 spinners. Now by far
the greater part of these spin only a few hours in the
afternoon ; and, upon the average estimate, the whole
value of the thread that each spins in the year is

THB COTTON MAKUFACTURB. 37

worth nearly 7r. 2a. 8p.^ giving for the total annual
value 2,367>277 roopees; and by a similar average
calculation^ the raw mate^l^ at the retail price, will
amount to 1^286^272 roopees, leaving a profit of
1>081^005 roopees for the spinners, or 3jt roopees for
each. But there are many women who spin assidu-
ously, and who have no interruptions firom children or
family, and these make niuch more, especially where
the thread is fine ; there being no sort of comparison
between the reward allowed for such, and that given
to those who spin coarse thread. As the demand,
therefore, for fine goods has been for some years con-
stantly diminishing, the women have suffered very
much. Another calculation agrees so well with the
above that I have little doubt of the general accu-
racy of both. An estimate was made in each of the
divisions of the number of looms employed, of the
quantity and value of thread required annually for
each, if employed in working at the usual rate, and
the most usual kind of goods, and the following is the
result :

roopees.

Cottonthread required for cotton cloths . • . .2,229,979

Ditto for mixed cloths .... 101,762

Ditto for tape, carpets, tent ropes, &c. 37, 1 25

Ditto for sewing thread, &c. • . . 2,000

2,370,866

" Some thread is both exported and imported. Taking
the amount at the statements -which I received, the
excess of that imported will be worth 30,500 roopees,
which would reduce the demand on the thread of
this district to about 2,340,356 roopees in place of
2.367,277 roopees, which I have allowed to be spun ;

38 ORIGIN AKD PROORSSS OF

but, at Bhagalpur, it was said that 1,450 roopees worth
of thread was there imported from Patna; and at
Puraniya there is imported to the value of 12,000
roopees, of which a half comes probably from the same
town, while the merchants here only allowed an eX"
port of 3,420 roopees.

^'The whole thread is spun on the small wheel com-
mon in India, and the impl^nents for cleaning and
beating the cotton are not different from those that are
usual. No rank is considered here as degraded by
spinning.

** The cotton weavers are numerous. Those of Pha-
tuha are employed in weaving cotton diaper, (khes,)
which the natives use as a dress ; but the great demand
is for Europeans, who use the manufacture for table
linen. By far the greater proportion of the cotton
weavers is employed in making coarse cloths for
country use, but a good many make finer goods for ex*
portation. The amount of thread required is 1,77 1,379
roopees, and the value of the cloth 2,438,621 roopees,
leaving a profit of 667,242 roopees, or 28j roopees
for each loom. It may be supposed that the finer
qualities of goods taken for exportation would diminish
the value of raw material, and increase the total value
of the commodity, but that would not appear to be the
case. Although the quantity of thread is no doubt less,
yet as the reward for spinning the fine is much higher
than that for spinning the coarse, the actual value is
perhaps a little higher than I have stated, and may
reduce the average profit to 28 roopees a-year for
each loom. Each man on becoming bound (asami)
to the Company receives 2 roopees, and engages not to
work for any person until he has made as much as the

THE COTTON MANlTFAOTURE. 39

Company requires; no other advance has ever been
made by the compaercial residents. The agent orders
each man to make a certain number of pieces of such
or sueh goods^ and be is paid for each on delivery ac-
cording to the price stated in the tables. This shows
clearly that the system of advance is totally unneces-
sary ; but it is here pursued by all the native dealers,
as keeping the workmen in a state of. dependence little
better> if so good> as slavery.

" The loom is of the imperfect structure usual in
India ; and where starch is used to facilitate the work-
ings it is made from the root called kandri. It must
be observed that all the Indian weavers who work for
common sale, make the woof of one end of the cloth
coarser than that of the other, and attempt to sell it to
the unwary by the fine end, although every one almost
who deals with them is perfectly aware of the circum-
stance, and aldiough in the course of his life any
weaver may not ever have an opportunity of gaining by
this means. The same desire of illicit gain induces
him almost universally to make the pieces, somewhat
shorter than the regular length.*

"The coarser goods intended for market sale are
always sold as they come from the loom, but those in-
tended for private sale are all bleached, and many of
tbeia undergo operations by different classes of trades-
men. It must be observed that in this district the
weavers were bound to act as porters for conveying the
goods of travellers ; and when any person of rank or au-

* ** Stamp-masters might be employed as a check ; but the powen
requisite to be vested in such persons could not, I doubt> be given to
any persons to be found here, without -producing. greater abuses than
those which stamp-masters could remedy."

4fi ORIGIN AND PR0ORB8S OP

thority calls upon the zemindar for such^ the weavers
are still requir^ to perforin this office. On some estates
they are^ on this account^ allowed an exemption from
gromid-rent for their houses ; on others they are taxed
at a higher than usual rate.

'^ At Behur^ a class of artists called parchahkush is em-
ployed to put all the threads in the bleached cloth at
equal distances. The cloth made there being very thin,
the operation of bleaching brings the threads into clus-
ters, leaving many parts almost in holes. These work-
men place all the threads at equal distances with a wooden
comb. In some other places a needle is used. Many
fine pieces of cloth are ornamented at the ends with the
flattened gold and silver wire called bad-la, which, as
the natives use the pieces entire, looks very showy. It
is not woven into the cloth, but put in with a needle.

*'In each piece of the muslins of Behar,the pieces of
which are 2 cubits wide, the workmen who perform
this operation stitch from 5 to 7 bands of this bad-la,
each consisting of 350 wires. The workmen receive
4 anas for the 100 ; and a man can daily put in from
50 to 70. Allow that he puts in 60, and works 26
days a month, he will receive about 4 roopees, (3^^) ;
and 32,000 cubits of the wire costing 1 roopee, he has
about 3-j^ roopees a month for profit.
. '*The Chhapagars put gold and silver flowers on fine
muslin by a very simple process. They stamp the
cloth in the form wished with common glue, and then
apply gold and silver leaf, which adheres to the glue,
but rubs ofiF where that has not been applied. Of
course this cloth cannot be washed, but is very showy,
and used only on high occasions.

All the blanket weavers are shepherds."

THE COTTOM MANnFACTOaB.

FJf. Si— BtiwiBf of Cottua, upndbedla IndtimnlCUBB.

The Hindoo bow for cleaning cotton is made of
bamboo, and is fastened by strings to the wall of the
room, at about five feet from the floor. To the middle
of this bow a cord is tied, to which a second bow is
attached of a larger size, strung with thick cat-gut
This second bow bangs about two feet above the
ground. The man sits down, lays hold of it with the
left hand, and holds a strong ebony club in his right
Tlus equipped, he strikes die string of the bow with
bis club, so as to make it toss a flock of the foul cotton,
spread upon the floor round about him, up into the air
with great violence, and thus discharge its impurities.

42 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF

I have already remarked, that the Mahometans
spin the hard twisted warps; the softer woofs are
spun by the Hindoo women, and are ahnost the
only occupation by which they can earn the trifle
requisite for the supply of their humble wants. They
are indefatigable at their distaff, are at work before
day-light, buy their weekly stock of cotton at the
village market, and sell their weekly stock of yam to
their weaving neighbours. When the demand for
Indian goods vms considerable, it was delightful to
contemplate the lively scene, for every man, woman,
and child cheerfully plied their respective tasks in the
C^n air. The universality of this tarade in the Indka
villages has been justly ascribed to the people being
disqualified for robust exercise and severe exertions by
the enervating influence of the climate. From the
weakness of their bodies, therefore, they endeavour to
satisfy thttr slender wants by the easiest industry.

In the northern parts of the kingdom of the Moguls,
where the men have more bodily strength, they weave
hair or the coarser cloth; whereas on the coast of
Coromandel and in the province of Bengal, it k rare
to find a village the least retired iit>m the pubUc road,
where every man, woman, and child is not employed
in making a piece of cotton doth.

There are many districts in Asia and its islands
equally propitious to the growth of cotton as Bengal,
where the sim is as sultry and the people as uiiwar«
like ; yet this elegant branch of industry has hardly an
existence among them. A more just cause for its ex-
ceeding prevalence in southern Hindostan is the pecu*
liar delicacy of tact of the natives of that region, for as
much as they are deficient in mere muscular strength.

THE COTTON MANUFACTURE. 43

SO nntek are they endowed wkh^eso^uisite sensibility and
pliancy in ev^ organ andlimb. The hand of an Indian
cook-maid is more delicately formed than that of an Eu**
rc^iean beauty. An English workman could scarcely
manage to work a piece of canvass with the simple
loom with which the Gentoo weayes his gossamer
mnslin. His calling rsceives encouragement from
jmblic estimation. A weai^er is tliere no ignoble oaste^
upon which patrician Hindoos can look down with dkh
dain. He takes rank next to the scribe^ and above all
c^er mechanics. Were he to condescend to the
perf<»rmance of any drudgery out of the line at hitf
business, he would lose his caste. This distribution of
labour is of very andentd^te. Every peculiar kind of
cloth is the production of a peculiar district, in which it
has been fabricated from generatioa to generation by
certain races of men, each continuing to practke with
minute precision the process of his psedeeessor. Thus
it was their fine physical organisation^ guided by
hereditary industry and experience, which, as we have
already stated, gave to Hindostan the monopoly of the
cotton trade for at least tinnee thousand yeaj-s.

Of this extraonfinary delicacy of tact,Orme gives
the following example in describing the silk manu-
factures of Benral. "The wom^ wind off the raw
ffllk from the pod of the worm; a single pod of raw
silk is divided into twenty different degieeaof fineness;
and so exquisite is the feeling of these women, that
while the thread is running through their fingers
so swiftly that their eye can be of no assistance, they
will break it off exactly as the assortments change^
at once, from the first to the twentieth, from the nine-
teenth to the second."

44 ORIGIN AlW PROGRESS OF

Concerning the fineness of Indian fikbrics, many
surprising stories are told. The Eknperor Aurungzebe
who flourished at the commencement of the last cen-
tury, on perceiving his daughter arrayed in a semi-
transparent tissue, reproached her with its indecency;
she defended herself by assuring him, that h^ robe
was wrapped nine times round her body. Tavemier
relates, that a Persian ambassador, on his return from
India, presented his king with a cocoa-nut, which
contained a muslin turban, thirty yards long, and
which when expanded in the air could hardly be felt.
Some of their broad webs of muslin may be drawn
dirough a wedding-ring.

The quantity of cotton goods manufactured in India
must have been exceedingly great, though no accurate
statistical accounts of them are given. Within the
Madras presidency not very long ago, there were
eleven active factories or emporia of cotton goods,
which produced to the value of a million sterling. But
this sunshine of Hindoo trade has been for many years
in a declining state, and can never be expected to
revive under the competition of goods produced by
British machinery. From the year 182 1 , when the first
notable importation of English cotton twist into India
took place, the speedy decline of its cotton manufac-
tures might be predicted. Since then, the throstle
and mule jenny, the two great arms of the Manchester
Briareus, have been making frightful havock among
Asiatic industry, depriving its myriads of spinners
of their only resource, — dexterity at the distafil Thus
mankind, by the avariciously directed arts of peace,
may come to prey on one another with as &tal an
influence as by the arts of war. Prior to the above

THE COTTON MAKUFACTURE. 45

period, however, the muslin and long cloth of Great
Britain, had, in no small degree, supplanted the per*
kals and calicoes of Hindostan in the markets of the
world. This fact will appear astonidiing, if we com-
pare merely the price of labour in India and England.
The retees or the weavers' elderly wives, who are
the most dexterous of hand-spinners, earn only three
&rthings a-day in producing the finest yam, worth
at one timte from £3 to £4 sterling a pound, which is
more than thirty times the price of the raw material ;
whereas the Manchester spinner with his machine can
afford to make his fine yam for one half the cost of its
labour in India. Reckoning the mean price of fine
cotton-wool in Great Britain at 2s. 6d., and in India
at 5d., the cost of our labour and materials united
would be considerably less than one half. Thus for ex-
ample, the fine yam of 250 hanks to a pound, costs,
by Mr. Kennedy's statement, 35». per pound in Eng-
land, of which 4g. are allowed for material and waste,
and 31^. for labour; and a pound of similarly fine
yam costs in India 84*., of which only 8d. can be
charged for material and waste, leaving 83*. 4rf. for
the cost of spinning, which at the rate of even 2d.
wages per day, is equivalent to 500 days, or to a period
of nearly one year and a half of constant occupation !
Such is the marvellous superiority of the iron fingers of
Arkwright and Crompton over the limber and dexter-
ous hands of the Hindoos. In this estimate, a spindle,
whether moved by hand or power, is supposed to spin
half a hank of yam daily; equal to nearly one
quarter of a mile in length.

The Indian yam of the finest quality, such as exists
in the celebrated Dacca muslin, transparent as the

46 ORIOm AND PROGRESS OF

woi^en wind, is veiy irregularly twisted, and appears in
the microscope l^&e an ill-made hair-rope bristling
with loose strands. The fibres obviously belong to
ill-cultivated gofsfffrium herbacewny and are mostly
riband shs^d. The transpareiK^ of the web arises
from the transparency retamed by these riband fila-
meoits in their separate state ; for if they were twis^ied
more doiely they would form a nearly opaque yam,
like the British. The filan^nts vary in diameter
from TvW to TyW of ail inch, and are therefore
mudi coarser than those of Sea^Island cotton. Some
of the yarns in the web eonsist of stx filaments, othersof
'Seven, eight, and more ; so that they possess little uni-
formity. A piece of fine Brtti^ book-muslin , viewed by
the same magnifying power, presents a very different
aspect. The yams «b regular cords, most equably
twisted, without any bristling ends; and consist of
cylindric filaments, very faintly translucent. On view-
ing the fine Indian yam, it is easy to comprehend how
Ihe looseness of its cohesion diould require the web to
be woven upon some occasions imder water, in order
to give it supp<ni;, as the anatomist developes filmy
t^Ktures while afloat in the same medium.

The cotton when spun is delivered to the winders,
who are frequently the younger wives or girls. The
winding machine eonsists of three parallel bars of
wood laid flat on the ground, and kept in their places
by a cross piece. From the upper sur£ace of the bars
pegs stand up, round which the yam is wound from
the bobbins in a lH>rizontal direction. The coarser
yam is used for the chain or warp of the wdb, the finer
for the woof. The former is prepared for the weaver
by bcnling in hoi water, and then plunging it into cold ;

THE COTTON MANUFACTURE. 47

but the woof, being usually less coherent, is strength*
ened by the gluten of cow-dung; for it is first soaked
in water mixed with a little of that substance, then
wrung out^ laid in a covered vessel for some days to
become uniform, and lastly dried in the sun.

The next process is the warj^ng. The machine
used for this purpose consists of a straight range of
bamboo stkks about three feet long, stuck on end in
the ground, two feet apart. Young persons are taught
to rvstk iiknbly with the bobbins in their hands along
that range, interlacing the yarn round each stick upon
$}temate sides, and applying it imiformly by means of
a guide <;o«ip08ed of a bamboo having a ring fastened
to its point. When the warping is finished, additional
sticks are inserted between the others to keep the yarns
in their position ; after which the whcde is rolled up
with the bamboos, immersed in a tank of water tor a
shwt time, and trodden with the feet to ensure its
thorough saturation. It is next taken out, diied, re-
mounted by fixing the bamboo sticks once more in the
ground, and carefully examined by the weaver to see
what threads are broken that he may n^nd thcsn.
The sticks being now withdrawn, the warp is laid along
trestles about a yard high, placed at regular distances,
and is rubbed over wkhrice water of a nmcilaginous
^tture, kept till it has become sour. This ccmiaqKmds
to the weaver's dressing in Europe. The dbain of
yam must now be carefully arranged, first with the
fingers and then with a whidi of slender twigs, in order
to place the threads truly parallel, as well as to smooth
and clean them. Lastly a mucilage of boiled rice is
spread over the warp to stiflfen it, and when dry it »

48 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF

softened by rubbing it with oil. It is now ready for
the loom.

This process was deemed so important as to be
regulated by ancient statute. " Let a weaver who has
received ten patas of cotton thread give them back in-
creased to eleven by the rice water, and the like used
in weaving ; he who does otherwise shall pay a fine of
twelve panas." — (^Institutes of Hindoo Law, chap. viiL
sec. 397, by Sir William Jones.)

The tanty, or Hindoo weaver, digs first a hole in
the earth for bis legs, so as to be conveniently seated on
the ground. He then drives two strong bamboo stakes
into the earth at a distance apart proportional to the
breadth of his web, and near enough to a wall or a
tree for fixing the stakes to it by slender bamboos
The Engraving (see Jig. 1, page 33) represents the
primitive oriental loom. It consists merely of two
roller beams resting on two pairs of stakes driven into
the ground, and two sticks which cross the chain or warp,
and which are supported at each end, the one of them
by two cords tied to the palm tree, under whose shade
the loom is placed, and the other of them by two cords
fastened to the foot of the weaver. These enable hini
to part the alternate yams, for the purpose of traverspg
the warp with the woof. A i^ry rude stick or wooden
bar serves the weaver for a shuttle, which answers also
the purpose of a batten for driving home each woof
yam against its predecessor, so as to give the cloth the
proper closeness of texture. The loops beneath the
geer, into which he inserts his great toes, serve him for
treddles^ and with his long shuttle he both draws the
weft through the warp, and closes it up. With such

THE COTTON MANUFACTURE. 49

awkward mechanism as this^ are woven those muslins
of aerial fineness^ transparent and delicate as the
gossamer web. The reed is indeed like our ovm, and
is the only thing made with the appearance of mecha-
nical skill.

The destruction of the Mahometan dynasty in Hin-
dostan gave a deadly blow to the manufactures of
Dacca, the beautiful fabrics of which were bought
principally for the court dresses of the emperor and
his omrahs. The perkals, so called from a l*amul
word signifying superfine, were made in theCamaticof
a silky cotton grown in the plain of Arcot. The dis-
trict of Condover furnishes the showy handkerchiefs of
Masulipatam. Chintzes are produced chiefly in the
Calcutta and Benares districts, and in the Masuli-
patam district of the Ci rears.

From the division of labour between Mahometan
and Hindoo workpeople, we have already shown that
the cotton trade of India has not continued stationary
since the institution of castes, but received certain modi-
fications along with the Arabian dynasty. Mr.
Richards indeed stated in the parliamentary discussion
of 1814, upon the renewal of the East India Company's
charter, that the distinction of castes, which assigns to
the son of a Hindoo the trade of his father, is now
maintained chiefly by the pressure of fiscal exactions,
and the abject poverty of the people. In Calcutta and
Bombay the Hindoo population have emancipated
themselves very much from their ancient trammels,
and have displayed equal energy and intelligence in
commercial transactions. The time is probably not
far distant when the benefits of knowledge and the

VOL. I. D

50 ORIGIN And progress op

blessings of religion will be largely inaparted to that
gentle race^ and enable them to take a more im-
portant share in the arts of civilized life. Hitherto
the cotton trade has done no more for their dignity and
comfort than the manufactures did for the slaves <^
the Roman grandees. Both laboured for hard task-
masters in a huckster-like way, and received the
scantiest livelihood in return. No motive was pre-
sented to their minds to improve their respective
processes, and to multiply their. productive powers;
for the fruit of any such improvements would not have
been reaped by them. What a contrast in this point
of view is afforded by the arts of Great Britain and
those of India ! None of the oriental rajahs, however
favoured with opulence and tranquillity, ever appear
to have proposed the introduction of better implements^
or the association of scattered workpeople into a
manufactory. However reputable the profession of the
Tanty in the scale of castes, it seems never to have been
lucrative enough to procure for him or his descendants
sufficient capital for the commercial part of his business.
While the East India Company made their remit-
tances to Europe in cotton goods, they were obliged
to advance, through their residents at the different sta^
tions, not only the cotton wool, but the funds requisite
to support the workman and his family during the
progress of the manufacture. Under this officer, as
chief, a corps of European servants was placed, who
watched over and directed the native clerks and peons,
or immediate superintendents of the weavers; the
resident sent forth his proposals for certain quantities
of goods to the native merchants, who treated in their

THE COTTON MANUFACTURE. 51

turn with the workpeople. As soon as the terms
were agreed upon, the resident advanced the funds to
tl^ contractors, who distributed them at his discretion,
and became responsible for the delivery of the manu-
fectures at the Company's stores, according to stipula-
tion. The Company's resident never interfered with
the contractors in their details, unless complaints were
made of fraud, delay, or the interference of contractors
acting in other interests ; in this case peons were dis-
patched to intimidate, and if necessary to coerce, the
weaver. When the weavers had no engagement for the
Company, the resident had the privilege of employing
them on his own account ; he became hereby a person of
great importance to the people, and was regarded by
them as the chief source of their subsistence, and the
main-i^ring of their industry; hence, although the
native brokers who acted as contractors for the Portu-
guese and other traders did offer a higher price for
the goods than the British resident had fixed, the
weavers', however strongly tempted to evade his orders
or to smuggle away their cloth, never durst openly
dispute bis commands.

They were tawght to consider the conmiercial resi-
dent as a man of authority, and not as a mere mer-
chant ; he dwelt' in a palace, and was surrounded by
all the pomp and circumstance of high station, the
moral effect of which is well known to all who have
been in India. Correct, too, and honourable as he
himself may have been, the details of his duties mainly
devolved on sircars and other subordinate employes
spread over the district, with much real and more as-
sumed power, and more or less corrupt from the

52 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF

inadequacy of their salaries in comparison with their
means of extortion and tyranny. Some light is thrown
on the compulsory tendency of the Company's com-
mercial system by the 8th paragraph of the Board's
letter, dated 27th April, 1827, which is as follows:
" It will therefore be your duty to explain these mat-
ters fully to the peons and rearers of cocoons employed
under your factory, so as to prepare their minds to
submit without murmuring to the prices you may deem
it necessary under these orders to determine on grant-
ing them for the silk and cocoons produced during the
severed bunds of the yeary impressing it at the same
time upon them, as a matter of absolute necessity,
that they will seek in vain to elude the operation
of the system now about to be established, by carrying
their cocoons away f-om their own factory in order to
deliver them into a neighbouring factory for the sake
of obtaining increased prices, because by so doing,
they will inevitably meet with disappointment,^''*

Such unlimited influence over a simple people in a
remote district no doubt led to frequent acts of injus-
tice. Various laws and regulations were enacted to
protect the weavers against oppression, but it is be-
lieved with little effect, for the sovereign power which
ought to have administered impartial laws was, in fact,
the avaricious and needy trader, whose interest it was to
be unjust. Now that the India Company has ceased
to be traders, they will have no motive to harass the
Tantys through the medium of resident contractors,
but will leave them at full liberty to bring their indus-

* Mr. Brucken — Appendix to Report on E. I. C. Affairs, p. 521.

THE COTTOK MANUFACTURE. 53

try to the best market. In such circumstances the
Indian artisan will find his condition vastly improved ;
he will be persuaded to employ his dexterity under
more liberal auspices^ and will be furnished with better
implements to sustain the competition against Euro-
pean rivalry. A style of goods may thus be produced
surpassing in beauty anything ever manufactured for
the court of the Grand Mogul. It is not probable
that the Hindoo will submit to the irksome confine-
ment of a factory, but with a better cotton yam and
better loom he may be able to fabricate his peculiar
light muslins at so cheap a rate as to make head in
some measure against the overwhelming resources of
Europe. The late attempt to erect a cotton factory at
Calcutta seems to have been injudicious, and failed ; a
second company have indeed resumed the scheme,
but they can hope for little more success ; they had,
some time since, nearly 700 persons employed in their
spinning-mill at the rate of 7s. each in the month ; but
th^ found these native workmen incapable of sticking
to their task more than a few hours at a time, and
they require, therefore, two or more relays of hands in
a day. Such individuals can never become proficient
spinners, nor even at the low rate of wages can they
iiirnish yarn fit to cope in the market with the pro-
duction of Lancashire ; it is only by giving every en-
couragement to their exquisitely fine faculties and
endowments that they can be expected to become
profitable servants ta an enterprizing manufacturer.
Instead of being under the necessity, as at present, of
taking down their loom every evening and erecting it
every morning, or stopping their labours every rainy
day, they should be provided with covered galleries

54 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF

open at the sides as warping and weaving shops^ in
wliidi the work could go on uninterruptedly upon the
plan of alternate labour^ to which they have beeii long
fiuniliar ; they should also be provided with the means
of better cotton-husbandry by the introduction of a
better cott(Hi-seed, a better system of agriculture, and
a better gin for cleaning the wool. Thus seconded in
a kindly spirit, the Hindoo artisan might once more
^delight the luxurious with webs of incomparable ele-
gance, at such a price as would ensure for them an
extensive and ready sale. Yarn continues to be spun
and muslins to be manufactured at Dacca, to which
European ingenuity can afford no parallel ; such, in-
deed, as has led a competent judge to say it is beyond
his conception how this yam, greatly finer than the
highest number made in England, can be spun by the
distaff* and spindle, or woven afterwards by any nsba^.
Nfihinery.

It is in spinning the more tenacious warp-yam tba^
machinery has the greatest advantage over the haad,
and accordingly it was that description called twist
which first mside its way from this country into India^
In 1815 the small quantity of eight pounds was sent
out on trial, and in the same year the importation of
British white and printed cotton goods into India
amounted to nearly 800,000 yards, the whole of which
was probably purchased by our countrymen ; but ia
1830 thequantity of British doth imported into India
had increased to 45,000,000 yards, indicating a pro-,
digious extensicm of sale all over tl^ Peninsula, ^em
among the natives, to die exclusion of their own fabriosi
wluch could not be afforded at so moderate a priee«
lathe preceding year, 1829, no less tl^n 3^185,639

THE COTTON MANUFACTURE. 55

pounds of cotton twist had been introduced into India.
Prom the extent of these importations some idea may
be formed of the vast field for the cotton trade which
exists in Southern Asia. The Tantys must have taken
very readily to the weaving of British warp, for in
1824 only 121,000 pounds were introduced for their
looms, while five years thereafter they consumed twenty-
five times the quantity. This rapid extension of com-
mercial intercourse from England to India was owing
entirely to the 3pirit of private merchants ; the Com-
pany were as remiss in this respect as they have always
been in ameliorating the culture of cotton.

The average price of the twist imported into India
in 1829 was 1^. 3}d. per pound. In the year 1834
4,267,663 pounds of cotton twist and yam were im-
ported from Great Britain into the East India Com-
pany's territories and Ceylon, of which the total de-
clared value was £315,583, being at the rate of
1^. 5j<i. per pound. The greatest importation, how-
ever, took place in 1831, when it amounted to 6,624,823
pounds in weighty and to £467>861 in value. Iii 1834
about 40,000,000 yards of cotton cloth were imported
into India.

For a view of the quantities of cotton twist and
yarn imported into other countries in these years, see
the Statistical Table at the end of the third volume.

BOOK II.

NATURAL HISTORY AND HUSBANDRY OF COTTON.

CHAPTER f.

Natural History,

The filamentous doVirn which invests the seeds of the
gossypium, a plant of the natural order malvaceae or
mallows^ is the substance called in English commerce
cotton-wool, and in French coton en laine, from its re-
semblance to the fibrous fleece of the sheep. It is
usually white, of various shades of purity ; but it is
sometimes cream-coloured, and at others iron-yellow
or tawny. The filaments, when viewed in a good
achromatic microscope, appear to be for the most part
riband-formed or flattened cylinders, with a thickened
list at either edge, and veins of embroidery running
along the middle. They vary in length from half an
inch to one inch and three-quarters ; and in breadth
from T+ir to ttW of an inch, tapering always to a fine
point at their ends. These variations in length and
breadth belong to plants of different growths and
countries, the filaments being pretty uniform in the
average product of each particular crop. The lustre
of cotton, as seen in the microscope, is pearly, whereas
that of flax is vitreous. Whether a cylinder or a
riband, the cotton fibre is seldom or never straight
like that of flax, but is either twisted right and left
or coiled like a cork-screw. Those of the best Sea

NATURAL HISTORY AND HUSBANDRY OF COTTON. 57

Island^ the most valuable species of cotton, very com-
monly appear to be beautiful spiral springs, singularly
adapted to the spinning process, readily entwining
with, and sliding over, each other, during the formation
of a thread, with an easy elastic force. There are no
feathery margins, as some writers have described.

The word cotton may be traced most clearly to th^
language of Arabia, a country where the plant is indi-
genous, where it was probably applied to clothing
purposes in the infancy of the human race, and whence,
undoubtedly, it was brought into Western Europe at
the era of the Mahometan conquest. The textile
down is called in Arabia gotn or gootn, which signifies
also soft ; a word evidently identical with the Spanish
godon, or algodon, formed like alkali and alkohol of
the prefix article al, and the noun. Skinner's deriva-
ti<Hi from cydonium, the quince, from its near resem-
blance to the down which adheres to that kind of
apple is unworthy of criticism. Cotonea and cydonea
are two words equally applied by Pliny to the quince.
-The following names have been given to cotton in dif-
ferent languages :

Greek

Bombyx, Xylon.

Latin •

Gossypium, Bombax.

Italian •

Cotone, Bombagia.

Georgian

Bomby, Bamba.

Inilia

Kopa, whence the English term cop for a
pirn of cotton yarn.

French •

Cotonnier for the plant ; Coton for the wooL

German •

Kattunwblle, Baurawdlle.

Dutch •

K^toen, Boomwul.

Danish •

Bomold.

Swedish •

BomuU.

Spanish •

Algodon.

Portuguese

Algodno, Algodeiro.

Russian •

Bumaga, Chloptscha taja.

58 NATURAL HISTORY AKD

Mongid • • Kobung.

Chinese . • Cay-Hauiig> Hoa-Mi^i.

Grossypium or cotton constitutes a perfectly nataial
family of plants, in which the specific differences are
remarkably slight. Since the filamentous down, which
invests the seeds, differs exceedingly in quality and
value in different varieties of the plsuit, corresponding
botanical distinctions have been sought after with
great assiduity, but hitherto with very little success.
Indeed, M. DecaiKloUe, one of the most eminent
botanists of the age, confesses that the family goe-
sypium stands much in need of more minute inve^iga-
tion. The botanical characters have been taken from
the leaves, the stipules, the glands, the spots, the
colour, the hairs on the stem, and the durability of
the plant. The leaves are subject to great variations
in the form of their subdivisions or lobes, not merely
in the same species, but in the same individual shrub.
On one stem may be found two or three rely different
forms of foliage, resulting from soil, climate, and cul-
tivation. Glands have been noted as distinctive of pe-
culiar species, but they may be found in all the gos-
sypiums ; nay, on the same shrub, some leaves may
be observed having only one gland, and others with
two or even three glands. The stipules are generally
uniform in shape and direction. The colour, the
spots, and the hairiness of the stems or branches, are
too variable to fonh subjects of specific distinction.
Nor is the durability of the plant constant in the same
species. The shrub cultivated as an annual at Malta,
under the incorrect title of gossypium herbaceum,
may under- certain circumstances last for several years.
Thus- the cotton growers at Motril in Spain raised

HUSBANDRY OF COTTON. 59

many of their cotton plantations from Maltese seeds,
and yet they found the shrubs live for six or even
ten years. This change of the longevity of the plant
IS partly due to husbandry and partly to cliriiate. It
may also be remarked, that all the lands which bear
cotton in Spain are situated near the sea-coast, and
that they produce perennial plants, but Yio annual
ones. There they will thrive for eight or ten years,
provided they encounter no accidental frost. In the
second year Uiey attain to the height of seven feet and
a half, if they are not pruned across the stem. If thus
cut they will send out lateral shoots three feet long.
CavaniUes gave the name Gossypium Pernvianum
to a variety which he saw in the province of Valencia,
but there is not a cotton plantation in Spain where he
might not have observed several -diflferent shrubs
equally weU marked with that fancied species. From
the intermixture of seeds such a confusion tors arisen
in the descriptions of the gossypiimi, that modern
botanists have hardly been able to refer any particular
cotton wool to a particular species of plant, or to refer
the plants now growing to those described by authors
two centuries ago.

Linnaeus reckons five species only of the gossypium;
Lamark eight ; Rohr enumerates thirty-four kinds, to
which, however, proper spe^cific characters are not as-
signed, dnd some writers have spoken of forty species.
It belongs, in the Linnean .system, to the class Mona-
delphia and order Polyandria, though placed by Cava-
nilles, the author of an elaborate monograph upon it,
in the order Pentaridria. The following is the des-
cription of Decandolle, which I have translated from
his stdmirable Prodromus, the best modem authority
upon the arrangement of botanical species.

60 NATURAL HISTORY AND

Gossypium, or Cotton Plant.

Calyx cupshaped, obtusely five-toothed; inclosed in
a three-cleft exterior calyx ; the leaflets united at their
base, of a heartshape, and toothed ; stigmas three to
five; capsule three to five-celled, and many seeded;
seeds bearing a downy wooL

HUSBANDRY OF COTTON. 61

N. B. All the species are uncertain, being founded
on precarious characters. In enumerating the species
recognised by botanists, Decandolle intimates that the
genus is greatly in want of an accurate monography
drawn up from the life.

1. G. Herbaceum (Linn. Sp. 975). — Leaves five-
lobed with one gland beneath; lobes round with a
point; the outer calyx serrated; stem smooth; annual,
biennial, or perennial, according to situation and cir-
cumstance; petals yellow, with their bases spotted
with purple.

2. G. Indicum. — Leaves obtuse, three to five-lobed ;
no glands beneath the outer calyx; slightly notched at
the point ; stem hairy, annual or biennial ; in the East
Indies ; flowers yellow, with purple claws.

3. G. MiCRANTHUM. — Leaves obtuse, five-lobed,
very smooth ; one gland beneath ; outer calyx many
cleft, longer than the petals ; stem smooth and dotted ;
in Persia and Ispahan.

4. G. Arboreum. — Leaves palmate, five-lobed,
lobes obtusely lanceolate, pointed with a short bristle ;
one gland beneath; outer calyx pretty entire; per-
ennial in the sandy soils of India.

5. G. ViTiFOLiUM. — Lower leaves palmate, five-
lobed ; upper ones three-lobed ; one gland beneath ;
outer calyx fringed ; inner calyx three glands at the
base ; stem smooth and dotted ; in the East Indies.

6. G. HiRSUTUM. — Upper leaves undivided and
heart-shaped ; lower three to five-lobed, with one gland
beneath ; the small branches and the petioles hairy ;
outer calyx three-toothed at the apex; in South
America; flowers yellow, perennial.

62 NATURAL HISTORY AND

7. G. Eglandulosum. — Leaves five-lobed, without
glands; three of the lobes oblong acuminated; stem
woolly ; outer calyx three to four-toothed at the apex.

8. G. Religiosum. — Upper leaves^ three-lobed;
lower five-lobed, one gland beneath; branches and
petioles with black dots ; outer oalyx with three leaf-
lets fringed downy ; the wool of the seeds of a pale
saffron colour ; in the East Indies.

9. G. Latifouum. — Leaves acute^ lowest undi-
vided^ the rest three-lobed ; one gland beneath.

10. G. Barbadense. — Upper leaves three-lobed ;
lower five-lobed^ three glands beneath; stem smooth;
seeds free ; in Barbadoes.

11. G. Peruvianum. — Leaves five-lobed; three
glands; lower leaves undivided ; outer calyx fringed ;
three glands at the base ; in Peru ; flowers yellow with
purple claws.

12. G. PuRPURASCENS. — Leaves three-lobed, downy
beneath ; ovato-lanceolate acute ; outer calyx fringed ;
branches somewhat downy at the end ; capsule three-
valved ; in South America.

13. — G. Racemosum. Very smooth^ l^ves sub-
cordate three-lobed acuminate ; flowers at the ends of
the branches somewhat spreading; outer calyx fringed;
capsule three- valved ; in Porto-Rico.

Species to be examined : —
G. Obtusifolium.
G. Acuminatum.
G. Glandulosum.*

The following details are from other botanists : —

HUSBANDRY OF COTTON.

iiluul SUple, oi Qttea Seal CgttDn. [Frum ■ dnwing tent me b; Mt. SpalAng.]

1. Gossypium Herbaceum. — This ia the species
most generally cultivated in Europe, as in Sicily, in
Calabria, and in the province of Bari. It should be
called ^TMd'cMwm, shrubby, because its stem is woody
and not herbaceous. It rises commonly to the height
of a foot or a foot and a half. It exists native at
Aleppo, in Upper E^ypt, Arabia, and in Senegal. It
is (^toguish^l from the other species of gossypium

64 NATURAL HISTORY AND

by having the five lobes of its leaves rounded^ and
terminated with a sharp point. Its capsule is three or
five-celled; each cell contains about five seeds of an
ash colour. The sterns^ which increase in hardness
and size with the heat of the climate, are somewhat
reddish, near their lower part velvety, or hairy towards
the top, and variegated with black points. The
branches are short ; the leaves green, soft, pretty large,
and divided into five short lobes. The axillary pe-
duncle towards the extremity of the boughs end in a
large beautiful yellow flower ; the three leaflets of the
flower-cup are large, and deeply toothed on their
edges.

This species is properly an annual, and requires from
seven to eight months from its germination to the com-
plete maturation of its capsules. To this species may
be referred the cottons of Cyprus, the islands of the
Grecian Archipelago, Macedonia, Natolia, Syria, and
the coasts of the Caspian Sea. But Olivier says, that
this cotton plant lasts fifteen or twenty years at San-
torino and other places in the Levant, and that it is cut
down every year close to the ground, as the caper
plants are in the South of France.

Cattle are fed in Sicily with the cotton seeds, but,
unless the fibres of the wool be thoroughly separated,
the animals become diseased in consequence of pellets
formed in their stomachs, some of which amount to a
pound in weight. Lambs often die of this malady,
called by the natives mal di paUotta, the ball
disease.

It appears that this spedes of cotton was also cul-
tivated in the South of France nearly three centuries
ago. In a discourse addressed to Charles IX. at his

HUSBANDRY OF COTTON. 65

visit in 1566 to Hyeres^ the orator takes occasion to
boast of the oranges, palms, and cotton plants, which
were raised in the fields round that town. The same
fact is attested by the bishop of Senez in a curious
work on agriculture published in 1606, in whidi he
enumerates sugar canes, cinnamon, and cotton, as pro-
ductions of Provence. Bauhin, the botanist, likewise
states that the cotton plant was grown in France,
having been introduced from Italy. It is curious to
remark how entirely this species of agriculture fell
into disuse, and was forgotten.

2. Gossypium Barbadense. — This species is sup-
posed to be a native of the American continent. It is
a shrub five or six feet high.* Its stems and its
branches are smooth, and the leaves have a polished
surface. The lower leaves have five lobes, the upper
ones three. These are entire, acute, and have three
glands on their back surfaces. The flowers, which are
very large, have a deep yellow colour. The capsule is
also large and produces a large body of cotton. Hie
seeds are black. When triturated with water they
afibrd a milky emulsion which is used medicinally at
Cayenne. This is the species in most general culti-
vation in the West India islands.

3. Crossypium Indicum. — ^This species forms a shrub
from ten to, twelve feet high, having its branches
covered with a down, somewhat woolly towards their
tops. The leaves are of a moderate size, have three
short oval lobes without glands, and are frequently
variegated beneath with small black spots. The
petioles and veins are velvety; the flowers are large
with short peduncles; the petals are yellowish, and
marked at their base with a brovm-purple spot. The

66 NATURAL HIST(»tY AND

capsules are oval, sharp-pointed, three-celled^ and open
with three or four valves. They contain Mackish
seeds, wrapped up in very white cotton wool. This
plant grows spontaneously in moist situations in the
East Indies, and is also cultivated in that quarter of
the globe. Some remarks of Linneus on tl^ Grossypium
Herbaceum belong more properly to this species,which
rkes sometimes to the height of fifteen feet, and is on
other occasions cmly three feet high.

4. Gossypium Arboreum. — ^This species is the tree-
cotton ; it rises sometimes, in £Bivourable situations^ to
the height of fifteen or twenty feet It is a native of
India, Egypt, and Arabia. It is well characterized by
its brownish-red flowers, by the hairiness or bristli-
ness of its upper branches, by its palmate leaves with
fine lance-shaped, digitate lobes, and by a gland on
the posterior veins. The peduncles are short, solitary,
one->flowered ; the leaflets of the outer calyx are entire>
or three^toothed ; the capsules are ovate, sharp-pointed,
have three or four valves, as many seeds m each c^l,r
and are enveloped in an abundant cotton woolj white
and excellent. It is reckoned the finest of the Indiao^
varieties of cotton, particularly on account of its flexi-!
bUity and whiteness.

5. Gossypium VitifoHum^-^^The vine-leaved species.
It grows in the Isle of France, in the Celebes, in India,
and was at one time much cultivated in St. Dominga
Its branches are nearly free from down, but they are
studded Uke the leaf-stalks with tuberculous points i
the leaves are large, pdimate^ and cut (tewn into fine
lobes. The flowers are large^. yellowish, and spotted
with purple at their base. In St Domingo this species
was triennial, and had black s^eds wh^i it was grown

HUaBANDRY OF COTTOK. 67

in a projntious soil near the sea shore. It attained to
the height of twelve or fourteen feet. When the plant
grows in a soil unfavourable for its perfect devek^ment,
the seeds are greenish^ the cotton staple is coarser^
and is difficult to separate from the seeds. The seeds
are eggH»haped, and are from six to eight in each celL
Capsuk three-celled.

This species differs from the next in the number of
glands on its leaves and calyx. The vitifolium has
six glands on its calyx^ and only one on its lea£ Its
leaf-lpbes divaricate more than those of the Peru-
vianum.

6. Gossypium Pemvianum^ — The cotton plant of
P^ru is a shrub three feet high. Its leaves are large>
heart-*$haped> downy, and furnished with three glands.
The lower leaves are entire, oval, acute; the upper
kaves have five acuminated lobes. The inner surface
of the flower-cup is besprinkled with blackish poiats^
The coroUa is large, yellow, somewhat velvety, and
reddish-coloured at the bsise; the capsules are ovate,
acuminated, «nd three-valved. The seeds are blaek^
ish, and wrapped in a long-stapled, white wool. Thevo
are tiiree glands in the calyx. The capsule is.thi«e-
celled» and cointains in each cell many seed».

7. Gossypium Hirsutum. — ^This species was dis-
covered in the J hot regions of America. Its st^n rkes
to the height of two or three feet, and then divaricate
into boughs^ whidi bristle with hairs. The leaves are
also hairy on their inferior surfaces, and are three ov
five-lobed. The upper leaves are ^itire and heart-
shaped; the petioles are vdvety. The flowers near
the e^trenuties of the boughs aro large, and somewhat
£iigy in colour. The capsules are ovatCy four-cellad.

68 NATURAL HISTORY AND

nearly as large as an apple^ and yield a very fine silky
cotton wool> much esteemed in commerce. The seeds
are greenish.

8. Gossypiufn Tricuspidalvm. The three-pointed
cotton plant. This is an Indian shrub, three or four
feet in height, with spreading branches, somewhat
velvety towards their summits, and covered, as well as
the petioles, with small black dots. The flowers are
white, with sometimes a sulphur tinge, or a rose or
purple hue, on the edges. The capsules are short,
acuminated, and contain a soft white cotton which
adheres very firmly to the seeds.

9. Gossypium Micranthum. — ^TTie small-flowered
cotton plant. Its stems are reddish, about a foot and a
half high^ smooth, and besprinked with blackish dots,
which are also found on the petioles and peduncles.
The leaves have five very obtuse lobes, and a gland
above their base. The outer calyx has three deep
divisions, fringed, and longer than the corolla; the
inner calyx is shorter, and five-toothed. The petals
are yellow, oval, acute, marked with purple at their
base, and a little velvety above. This plant is a native
of Persia. It was cultivated in the Jardin des Plantes
at Paris under the name of Gossypium Purpurascens^
and was brought thither from the Antilles.

10. Gossypium Religiosum. — ^The cotton of the
Nuns. In this species it is extremely difficult to
pick the wool from the seeds, the filaments being so
§hort, and so closely condensed, as to be inseparable
by rollers. Hence the nuns at Tranquebar were
employed to pick the wool from the capsules. One
pound of Tranquebar cotton employs a woman thirty
hours to separate ; and a pound of Cambaye cotton.

HUSBANDRY OP COTTON. 69

twenty-six hours. Three quarters of an ounce of
cleaned cotton is the total product of a shrub three
feet high. This plant is a native of the Cape of Good
Hope, and has been cultivated in the Jardin des
Plantes under the name of the White Cotton of Rome.
This species is distinguished from the others by the
protrusion of its long style before the expansion of the
flower, and by the spotless whiteness of its blossoms,
which changes into red. The yellow Cotton Plant of
Siam, grown in the Jardin des Plantes, resembled the
Religiosum in every thing except the colour of its
wool, which was nankeen.

Roxburgh gives the following descriptions : —

Gossypium Herbaceum (Roxburgh). — Bi-triennial,
young parts hairy ; leaves hairy, palmate, with sub-
lanceolate acute lobes ; leaflets of the exterior calyx
dentate; capsules ovate, pointed; seeds distinct,
clothed with firmly adhering white down under the long
white wool ; kootn of the Arabians, karri-kapass of the
Bengalese. '^ This," says Dr. Roxburgh, ** and its
varieties are by far the most universally cultivated by
the natives of India."

Trunk short, nearly stfaight, woody, often lasting
three or even four years ; bark ash-coloured or brown,
and by age becomes cracked in. various directions;
branches numerous, with their tender extremities well
clothed with long, soft, diverging hairs, and marked
with numerous rust-coloured dots ; general height,
when cultivated on a middling soil, about three feet,
though in a rich garden loam they rise to eight or
even ten feet'; leaves alternate petioled, hairy on both
sides, palmate ; lobes from three to five, in young plants

70 NATURAL HI&TORT AND

lanceolate^ in old almoBt ovate ; size very various ; oo«»
lour pale green ; glands ; in large luxuriant leases
there is generally a single one near the base of each of
the three middle or large nerves ; but Dr. R. does not
think they can ever be so much depended on as to
form a part of the specific character in this or any
other of the species. Petioles hairy^ nearly as long as
the leaves ; stipules obliquely linear^ lanceolate ; pe*
duncles solitary, short, hairy opposite to the leaves, or on
one side of them ; flowers soUtary, large, pale yellow,
with the bottom of the bell of a dark crimson colour ;
calyx exterior, leaflets sometimes nearly entire, some*
times acutely dentate,or even gashed, hairy, with a gland
on the base of each ; inner obscurely five-toothed ; co-
ral large, campanulate; stamens numerous; stigma
clavate, three or four-ribbed, and spiral ; capsule ovate,
pointed, three or four-celled : seeds a few in each cell,
distinct, clothed with much firmly adhering whitish-
grey down under the long white wool or cotton.

Of this species there are an infinite number of va-
rieties from soil, situation, method of culture, &c. I
shall make a few remarks on as many of these as I
have been able to rear under my own eye.

I. Dacca cotton, — ^This sort may be reckoned the
first variety, or deviation from the common her-
baceum, in general cultivation over Bengal and Co-
romandel; it is reared about Dacca in Bengal, and
furnishes that exceeding fine cotton wool em^loy^d
in manufacturing the very delicate muslins of that
country. It differs from the common in the following
respects ; — 1, in the plant being more erect, with
fewer branches, and the lobes of the leaves more
pointed ; 2, in the whole plant being tinged of a red-

H06BAia>RT OF COTTON. 71

dish colour^ even the petioles and nerves of the leaves^
and being less pubescent ; 3, in havmg the peduncles>
which support the flowein^ longer^ and the exterior
margins of the petals tinged with red ; 4, in the staple
of the cof ton being longer, much finer, and softer.

These are the most obvious disagreements, but
whether they will prove permanent Dr. R. could not
say.

II. The Berar cotton, with whidb the fine Madras
long-cloth is made. It differs from the above two
sorts ; 1, in growing to a greater size, in living longer,
in having smoother and straighter branches; 2, in
having the leaflets of the exterior calyx more deeply
divided, and the wool of a firmer and more durable
quality.

III. China co^ftw.— Its wool is reckoned 25 per
cent, better than that of Surat It diflRsrs from the
former sorts ; 1, in being infinitely smaller, with but
very few short weak branches ; 2, in being annual ; 3,
in having the leaflets of the exterior calyx entire or
nearly so.

Gossypium rubicundum (Roxburgh) — ^is found in
the gardens of the curious over most parts of India,
where it is in flower great part of the year. Dr. Rox-
burgh does not believe it to be ever cultivated for its
wool.

Gossypium Barbadense (Roxburgh), — Shrubby;
leaves smooth, with five acute short broad lobes ; leaf-
lets of the exterior calyx deeply laciniate ; colour of the
corolla imiformly y^ow; capsules oblong, pointed;
seeds distinct, black, and without any other pubescence
than the long white cotton wooL

Bourbon cotton is the name this species is known by

NATURAL HISTORY AND

Coined (Wx

amongst the English in the East Indies. It does not
appear to be a native of India, but was introduced
from the Island of Bourbon some twenty years ago; at
what period it was brought from the West Indies into
that island is uncertain ; it succeeds better in the more
elevated, drier, and less fertile soil of Coromandel than
in Bengal, where the plant grows to a greater size, but
yields less cotton. Stem short, ligneous ; in a good
soil grows to afootor more in circumference; branches

HUSBANDRT OF COTTON. 73

numerons, spreading in every direction ; well grown
plants rise to from eight to twelve feet, and spread
nearly as much ; bark of the woody parts ash-coloured.

Such is a description of the species of gossypium>
derived from the best sources of information.

M. Rohr, who made an extensive tour through the
West Indies to establish distinctive characters, between
the different cotton plants, subservient to the com-
mercial supply of cottcm wool, attempted to intro-
duce a new arrangement of the species of gossypium
founded on the appearances of the seeds. I shall give
a brief outline of his scheme for the sake of certain
practical points which he ascertained, though, viewed
in a systematic light, it is altogether nugatory.

M. Rohr distributes the cotton plants grown in the
West Indies into four groups: — 1, the rough black
seeded ; 2, the dull-brown seeded, with smooth veiny
surfaces; 3, seeds covered with diort hairs, through
which the colour of the coats may be seen, but the
veins can hardly be perceived ; 4, seeds more closely
covered with thick hairs. Each of these grand divi-
sions is subdivided by M. Rohr into several species,
which he has denoted by vulgar or trivial names,
quite independent of those assigned by the botanists ;
his characters can therefore be of little use on account
of their vagueness, as also of the seeds changing their
aj^pearance with the soil and climate in which they are
produced.

Group I. — Cotton with rough black Seeds.

To this group M . Rohr refers, 1. The wild or withy-
wood cotton of our colonies. It rises nine feet high,
and spreads out from six to eight feet. Each tree

VOL. I. E

74 KATURAt HISTORY AND

produces at the utmost only one quarter ounce of
cleaned cotton. 2. The green-tufted cotton, from the
green colour of the down on the unripe capsules* The
fine cotton of Martinique belongs to this group. The
shrub is three feet high, and yields a crop of two
ounces and a half, which is gathered successively
during seven months, beginning in November. 3. The
sorrel-green cotton plant, and the sorrel-red, both cul-
tivated near Spanish town, afford, the former four
ounces, and the latter seven and a half ounces of
cotton wool. 4. One of this group has seeds with a
barbed point. The shrub is seven feet high, and yields
three ounces of cotton. 5. The cotton plant, having
barb-hooked seeds, such as the red shanks of St.
Thomas and Santa Cruz. It is six feet high, and
yields five ounces in a favourable season. 6. The
jahr-rund, or year-round cotton plant, so named be-
cause it affords a succession of ripe capsules at every
season. It grows in Jamaica and St. Domingo, as
also in Montserrat, where it is called the loaf cotton,
because it carries a tuft round the point of the seed.
It is a productive and durable species. It grows to the
height of six feet, and yields seven ounces of an average
^rop. These are properly coarse year -rounds ; the
fine year-round belongs to Porto^Rico. 7. There is a
cotton plant with large flocks, called in St. Thomas
Old Bess. It grows to the height of eight feet, and
yields four ounces of wool ; but its delicacy has thrown
it into discredit. 8. The Guiana cotton. The seeds
adhere to each other in the cells, and assume the form
of a long thin pyramid. Its wool is white and long
stapled. It has a variety of names, as Cayenne, Su*
rinam, Demeraia, Berbice, and Essequibo. Jt yields

HUSBANDRY OF COTTON. 75

two crops every year, amounting together, in favourable
weather, to a pound and a half; but, in rainy seasons,
to only half a pound. In Jamaica it is called ridney
and link cotton. Each plant occupies a space of ten
or twelve feet when grown in a good soil. 9. Brazil
jcotton. The seeds of this kind strongly adhere to one
another, so as to form a broad short pyramid. It is
an excellent cotton shrub.

Group II. Broivn-black seeded Cotton-trees, smooth

and veined.

1. Indian cotton. — It produces twice a-year, and
affords a very white cotton, which may stand long in
the pods without being coloured by the rains. Its
wool is Sner than any of the preceding cottons, and
may be easily cleaned. It occurs at St Martha and
Carthagena, in shrubs eight feet high, spreading to
the extent of ten feet, and yields right ounces. 2. The
Siam cotton, with brown, smooth seeds; the colon lisse
of Martin, as also the white and red or nankeen Siam,
belong to this head. These shrubs attain the height
of twelve feet the second year, and afford one crop an-
nually, which is gathered from February till April.
The capsules fall off as they ripen, and those which
adhere open no more than half. The red yields only
three or four ounces, and is not worth the cultivating ;
the white, however, yields double that quantity.

Group III. Thinly-haired Seeds.

The cotton shrub of Curaqoa. — ^The wool when well
cleaned is very white and beautiful, and must be
^plucked from the seeds by hand. It is too costly for
European commerce, and is therefore manufactured on

76 NATURAL HISTORY AND

the spot into fine stockings. Each shrub, as usually
grown, yields only an ounce and two drams of wool ;
but when it is planted at wider intervals each shrub
yields seven ounces and two drams. The capsules go
on ripening in succession from February to June, and
the harvest is therefore very troublesome. The crowned-
ootton of St. Domingo resembles the Indian in quality,
and yields two annual crops.

Group IV. Thickly-haired Seeds.

Cotton of the Nuns, — Oossypium Religiosum, — ^The
seed of this species is small, nearly globular, covered
with a greyish-white down and some hairs, of which
those round the point are much longer than the seed,
and diverging, but few in number. Two varieties of
this cotton are known ; that of Tranquebar, with the
lobes of the leaves pointed ; and that of Cambaye, with
the lobes rounded. Neither of them produces more
than three quarters of an ounce of wool. The filaments
are very short, condensed closely round the seed; not
to be removed, therefore, by rollers, and very diflScult to
separate, even by the fingers. A pound of Tranquebar
cotton takes a woman thirty hours to detach ; and a
pound of Cambaye cotton twenty-six hours. Such
irksome and unprofitable labours were, therefore, de-
volved upon the nuns, whence the name Cotonnier des
Nonnes was derived, as we have already said.

MICROSCOPIC EXAMINATION OF COTTON FILAMENTS.

The specimens were kindly furni^ed to me partly
by Messrs. Trueman and Cook, the eminent brokers in
London, and partly by Henry Houldsworth, Esq.^
of Manchester.

HUSBANDRY OP COTTON. ^^

Sm-^skmd.^TtimbuU, 1883* Piiee 2$. 2d. per lb.
This is one of the finest cottons ; raisei^oin
good select seed. Average diamete^ iVrb
of an inch ; many much smaller ; di$tin<
spiral character ; ^umrtatHeh^msy ribands ;
long staple^ about/ 1^ inches.

H. Seabrook, 1833. \JL hedmy good quality
of cotton. Price 2J^*4Tf: Filaments less
than Yih-^ of an inch broad ; very spiry and
uniform flattened cylinders ; almost no flimsy
ribands, nor warts.

Eat&rts, 1833. Short and coarse Sea-island;
but healthy. Price 1^. Si^rf. per lb. Very
uniform spiry filaments ; no ribands ; dia-
meter of flattened cylinders t»W of an inch.

E. 1833. Pretty fine but not very strong;
1^. 7d. per lb. Flattened cylinders of about
roVo^ mixed with a great many flimsy ri-
bands, some of them irregularly contorted ;
a few warts.

Wilson, 1829. Grown fixnn select seed, and
was of superior quality, but has detmorated^
apparently by keeping. Price 4s. 6d. in 1829.
Fine uniform filaments rather less than i^Vv
in diameter; spiry; seems crimped trans-
versely with irregular bendings; the effect
probably of age.

Btadens Growth, from select seed, sent over
in 1826, and kept in a small quantity and in
a dry place ever since. Its quality was
superexcellent for making the highest num-
bered yam, when first received in this
country, both as to fineness and strength. It

KATUHAL HISTORY AND

Fig. 7^Bcli jioiu Cotton, thnuli et which uo voia bjr the Bnl

HUSBANDRY OP C^OTTON. 79

cost 5s. per lb. It has evidently deterio-
rated by keeping; filaments about ^Voo in
diameter; very equable^ with few or no
ribands; several spongy warts, called nips
by the cotton-spinners, which adhere to
the sides of the filaments ; these are frequent
on the finest Sea-island cottons; crimped
transversely by the eflFect of age, and apt to
break at these points of shrinkage.
C. 6. 1826. Not so good as the preceding.
Cost 5^. per lb. Extremely fine filaments,
measure only sttVt of an inch; considerably
warty, with the appearance of shrivelling,
and irregular contortions from age; spiry
character.
A. A. 1832. Not so good for fine yarn as
Wilson's. Cost 2*. 5d. Diameter of fila-
ments fi*om tiVt to TuW with a few much
smaller; pretty uniform and tortuous; few
ribands ; nippy or warty.
The above specimens were furnished by Mn

Houldsworth.

The following were from Mr. Cook :

Georgia Sea-island. — Filaments generally cylindrical,
with occasional spires, like a screw ; a few
of riband-shape ; diameter fromxjVo to to'oo
of an inch ; a ver y uniform cotton.

Georgia Upland, — SomSmm rib2inc&7''^5uF the gene-
ral character of the filaments is spiry cylin-
dric, like the Sea-island, but less uniform ia
. diameter, and about one half its length; a
few very fine filaments of perhaps toVtt
of an inch diameter.

80 NATURAL HISTORY AND

(

Maranham. — Cylindrico-spiral, but the fibres vary .

in diameter from ttW to TiVir; a few \

ribands tbVo broad. (

Demerara. — Very spiry flattened cylinders from

about -nVr to Wwt> a few mueh smaller; |

hardly any ribands.

Surinam. — Fibres pretty cylindrical of about t^W

diameter ; many of them screw-shaped^ and (

a few very small ; but on the whole this is a j

very regular wool.

Pemambuco. — Cylindrico-spiral .filaments from
tt V tt to tAt ; a few twisted ribands of -njVo
broad; several warty excrescences on the
sides of the filaments.

Bahia. — Thin cylindrico-spiral. filaments^ mixed
with several ribands spirally twisted; dia-
meter about TiW ; no perfect cylinders.

New Orlecms. — Cylindrical fibres with many spires^
about TTVr> mixed with several far finer
threads.

Para.— Regular ribands^ mostly thin and about tVot
broad ; few fibres of cylindric form ; no regu-
lar screws^ but a few ribands coiled in open
spires.

Carthcyena. — Mixture of ribands and flattened cylin-
ders, the former about xiVt broad, the latter
TiW diameter; a few spires; wool very
unequal.

Gr^ada.-— Mixture of cylinders and ribands of about
tAtt; several spumes, and a few very slen-
der filaments; a fine cotton, but not very
equable.

St. Domingo, — Chiefly Aarrow twisted ribands from

HUSBANDRY OF COTTON. 81

r ttW ^ nW broad, with a hw flattened

cylinders ; and some spiry fibres.

E€arsden Egyptian. — Uniform spiro-cylindrical fila«
ments, from t-jW to tAt ; few thin ribands,
all translucid.

j^nyniA.—- 'Ribands from tW to Wtw ; a &/w cylin-
drical fibres, but hardly any spires ; some of
the ribands irregular and very filmy, with
embroidery veins.

Bourion. — ^Fibres less cylindrical than the Suriniam ;
many of them only nrW in diameter, radxed
with ribands from itW to tiW broad ; fila-
ments uniforndy fine, but not very spiry,

I^ly Flora Madras. — ^Very unequable wool ; flimsy
ribands mixed with several cylinders slightly
spiral; a few warty excrescences ; diameters
from 1 Jj - to TTnnr*

Mount Stuart Elphinstone Surat, good,i — Many
ribands ttAht broad, mixed with cyUoders,
from TnsVr to ttjW; very Utde spiry ap-
pearance.

Esther Surats, good, /air. — Many ribands from 5+5-
to -oW broad and flimsy in texture ; hardly
any cyUnders. „

Royal Oeorge Surats, middling. — Flimsy contorted
riband from t^^ to -rVmr broad ; hardly any
(^Unders ; a few warts.

Easor Bengal. — Groups of irregular flimsy ribands,
with a few small flattened cylinders, from

ttW to TtW-

The fibres terminate usually in very fine points,
abruptly tapered. To these points the mechanical

NATURAL HISTORY AKD

1, tbowD upoQ (be iDlcTomflter lid

HUSBAKDRT OF COTTOK. 83

irritation of cotton, when applied to ulcerated surfaces,
miiy probably be ascribed ; and possibly in some mea-
sure to the exceedingly fine edges of the ribands.
Flax or lint consists of smooth cylinders, and is there-*
fore free from the irritating quality. The entangle*
ment of cotton filaments, to which their superior spin-
ning properties are owing, may be ascribed chiefly t&
their spiral structure, and elasticity ; so that when one
is pulled out, it draws forth many others. If, during
this extrication of the filaments, a twisting motion be
communicated to them, they will form a cohesive
thread. The finer, the more uniform, the more cylin-
drico-spiral, the longer and more elastic the filaments^
are, the more capable they will be of forming fine yam^
When they are short, and consist of rather broad and
flimsy ribands, they will be ill adapted to machine^
spinning, though still susceptible of being spun by the
tact of delicate fingers. We can thus understand
how the Hindoo women manage to spin fine yara
from the Dacca cotton, which is the growth of an
unequable wool consisting of flimsy ribands, like most
of the India cottons.

The most intelligent manufacturers at Dacca, saysr
Roxburgh, think that the great difference betweea
the Dacca muslin and that of other places, lies in the
spinning, and allow little for the influence of the soil,
' or the variety of the gossypium herbaceum, which is
cultivated at Dacca.

There can be no doubt that the cotton filaments are
hollow cylinders, prior to the dry state of maturation ,
they then become flattened and tortuous, in a greater or
less degree. The more nearly ^cylindrical they remain,
the stronger and more pliant to the spindle will they be

9i IIATURAL BISTORT AND

found. On these accounts, as wdl as from tlmr
greater lengthy the filaments of the Sea-island, Egyp-
tian* Guiana, and Brazilian cottcms hold a higher
¥alue in the market* than the Upland Greorgian* or
the East Indian. In examining a sample of cotton
wool* the spinner draws it out slowly between the
fiNre-fingers and thumbs of his two hands* and oh-
a^rves how the filaments successively escape frooa
pressure. He then draws out the staple in the other
directicm* and thus alternately from hand to hancL
Vji^ In this manner he judges of the length* smoothness*
fineness, and strength of the cotton. Of the strei^b^
however* a better judgment may be formed in tho;
yam* by seeing what weight will break it
„^^ One sort of cotton is seldom worked upjdbnft-in
C oitf cottdn-mifls, but t wo oTlhwe diflerenTkin dsjare
j frequently mixed together. Thus the cheap and ^ort
/ stapled cottons of India, must be willowed and carded
I along with some of the American cottons, to make them
\\ work to the best advantage. Much of the success
A and profit of the cotton spinner* depends on the skilful
/ blending of dissimilar cottons, wherdi>y one kind is
f made to conceal or supply the defects of another.
^^^ The relative value of different cottons is exactly
represented in the table of prices current* published
by the brpiiecs. Thus at Liverpool* on the 1st Do-
<)ember,^l635*^he best cottons of each name were sold
at the fbUoWmg prices per pound, duty paid :—

«. tL

«•

Se»-i^nd • • • •

1 6

Demerara and Berbice •

Petnambuco • • •

lOf

f t

Bgjptiatt » • • m

11}

New Oil^am • <. •

HlfSBAimftT OE COTTOK. 85

lahia • • • •

Tj)land Georgia •

f est ladiao • •

orat • • • •

tadras * • • •

engal . • . •

ler of price and value has remained, with

ptions> nearly uniform for the last twenty-

In this period, however, several improve-

been made in the mode of cultivation and

cieamng, especially in the interior of Georgia and

Carolina ; and yet their cotton stands beneath others,

in the growth of which probably less skill is applied.

It is hence manifest that a good deal depends on the

soil and climate. One point is clearly fixed; the

superiority of cotton grown near the sea, to that grown

inland, the soil and climate being similar. This fact

leads to the conclusion that the saline matters near

tbe shore, so remarkable in the Sea-island plantations,

must supply a food propitious to the growth of good

cotton. How far this inS^r^ice is well founded will

appear fr(»n a consideration of the chemkal consti

tueots of cotton.

In the year 1825, a dispute having arisen b^ween
somie ^ninent calico-printers concerning the validity
of an ingenious patent, I was employed to analyze
cejiain kinds of cdloured cotton goods, and to compare
the results with the analysis of clean cotton wooL
Having procured a fine carded fleece, from a spinner
who used chiefly the Sea-idand cotton, 2,000 grains
of it were slowly burned in a silver basin ; the resi-
duum bdng thoroughly incinerated at a red heat, to
consume every particle of charcoal, formed a light

86 NATURAL HISTORY AND

grey ash. The weight of this ash, upon an average
of six similar experiments/ was nineteen grains, being
nearly one per cent, of the cptton wool — See Journal
of Science for January, 1826^

One hundred parts of these adied yielded :
. 1 . Matter soluble in water, sixty four parts, con-
sisting of—

Carbonate of potash • • •44*8
Muriate of potash • • • • 9*9
Sulphate of potash • • • 9*3

2. Matter indissoluble in water —

Phosphate of lime « • • • 9*0

Carbonate of lime • • • .10*6

Phosphate of Magnesia . • 8*4

Peroxide of iron • • • • 3*0

Alumina a trace, and loss • 5*0

100- 0*

The results of the preceding analysis seem to throw
considerable light on the predilection of the cotton
plant for the neighbourhood of the sea, which supplies
plentifully the saline substances requisite to the per-
fect development and constitution of its woolly fruit.
It may hence be inferred that the compost or manure
best fitted for cotton plantations should contain neutro-
saline matter with alkaline, calcareous, and magnesian
bases. The presence of magnesia deserves notice, as it
indicates marine food. Here, as in many other ex-
amples, the vegetative powers of the roots, seem to
eliminate potash from the stone detritus of the soil,

* An Examination of the Differences in Chemical Composition
between Cotton Wool, Cotton Cloth^ and Turkey Red Calicoes, by
Andrew Ure, M. D., F. R. S.

HUSBANDRY OF COTTON. 87

which replaces the soda in the sea sahs. For other-
wise we should have found salts with a basis of soda,
instead of potash salts in the ashes of the cotton.

The following are the commercial characters of the
different kinds of cotton wool imported into our
market*

1. American Cottons.

Georgia Sea-island, — ^This is raised on the sea
coast of Georgia and the small islands which form
the neighbouring Archipelago. Though not de-
cidedly yellow, it has somewhat of a dull butter
tint, which distinguishes it from white cotton. It
is remarkable for its long staple, the filaments
being three times longer than those of the Indian
cotton wool. It has a silky softness. It is some-
times dirty, but the well cleaned and the best is
preferred to every other quality for spinning fine
yarn ; and indeed it is indispensable for the finest.
The reason of this superiority appears to be the
cylindrico-spiral form, and equability of its fila-
ments, which facilitates their torsion into a uniform
thread.

Georgia Upland, — ^This cotton grows in the interior
of the country, as its name denotes, and though
far i nferior to the preceding, it is a valuable wool
for coarse yarns. It is white, occasionally dirty, of
a sljort unequal staple, light and weak. It was
Ion g callc^d lio wei becausa-JL-^vas originally
cleared from its seeds by the blows of a bow-string,
a most fatiguing operation, which Whitney's saw-
gin has superseded.

Tenessee. — Resembles the last sort, but is generally
xjleaner and better

8S NATURAL HISTORY A2fD

New Orleans.' — Like the last two» but somewhat 8u*
perior.

Pemambiico. — Has a fine long staple, dean and uni-
form. It is much used by the hosiers.

Maranham. — ^This is not quite of so good a staple as
the last, nor so well cleaned; it holds the same
rank as Demerara cotton.

jBoAto.— Slightly superior to Maranham.

Surinam. — A long stapled cotton, a faint yellow ting
but a clean cotton ; in request for hosiery.

Demerara. — ^This is a fine white glossy wool, gene
rally very well cleaned, and picked before packing
It spins into a clean stout yam, and has now risen
to a level at least with the Pemambuco.

Berbice. — Like Demerara.

Egypt. — ^This cotton has been much improved in the
course of some years, by the enlightened policy of
the Pasha. He imported seeds from Cyprus,
Smyrna, Brazil, Georgia, and other countries, smd
has produced a cotton which occasionally comes
near the Sea-island. It is seldom well cleaned.

West Indian, — In the Bahamas a tolerably good
cotton has been grown from the Bourbon seed,
though much inferior to the Bourbon itself. The
staple is fine and silky, but the cotton is not well
cleaned.

Barbadoes. — ^This is of middling quaUty; staple
rather short, but silky and strong. It contains too
much of the seed husk.

East India Cottons.

Bourbon. — ^This is the most uniform of the oriental
sorts. It is clean, and has a fine silky staple. It

HUSBANDRY OF COTTON. 89

ranks next in value to Sea-island, but'is not now
imported into our markets.
Surat — ^This cotton has an exceedingly short fibre, is
. dirty, being often mixed with leaves and sand.
Madras and Bengal. — ^These are much the same as
the preceding sort. Some of the Madras cotton has
been raised from Bourbon seed, but, from inferiority
of soil and culture, it is little better than the com-
mon Indian cotton, which is the product of the gos-
sypium herbaceum. These cottons can be spun
into fine yam only by the dehcate fingers of the
Hindoo female.

The following summary of the botanical species of
cotton will probably accord best with commercial dis-
tinctions. 1. Gossypium Herbaceum, the herbaceous
cotton plant ; two to three feet high, of one summer's
growth, with round capsules, about the size of a
walnut, opening with three valves, and containing
seeds of the size of peas. In Europe it is cultivated in
Macedonia, Malta, Sicily, and Calabria; it grows
also in the Levant and the East Indies. 2. The se-
cond species is Ukewise for the most part an annual,
though it may occasionally last two years ; it is the
hairy cotton plant, gossypium hirsutum, which some-
times grows to the height of a man, with egg-shaped,
four-celled capsules, as large as a middle-sized apple.
It is a native of America, and is cultivated particularly
in Carolina. 3. Among the cotton shrubs, with woody
stems, is the gossypium tree, which grows from eight
to twelve feet high in the East Indies, Egypt, and in
some provinces of Spain. The yellow cotton plant, (Mr
gossypium religiosvm, of India and China, as well as

90 KATURAL BISTORT AND

the gossypium Barbadense, or the West India cotton,
belongs to the arborous kind. The cotton-tree, botn-
bax penlandrum, which grows in India and America,
belongs to quite another family of plants from the gos'
typium. Its trunk, attains the height of twenty feet,
and possesses considerable strength.

The capsules or seed-pods of all the cotton plants
are at first green, but become afterwards brown, and
sometimes nearly black. At the period of maturity
they burst open with a slight explosive sound, when
the woo! must be immediately plucked, to prevent its
injury or loss by the weather. It is then ginned.

ng. 10.— SHtion of Ro11«r-|{ii].

Fig. 10 exhibits a section of the simple roller-gin;
a b are the two rollers, each of which is about three-
quarters of an inch in diameter, and six inches in
length. They are made to revolve in opposite di-
rections, as shown by the arrow, by means of toothed
wheels, fixed upon the ends of their axes outside of the
wooden frame. The under roller turns in fixed bear-
ings, but each bearing of the upper roller rests at the
extremity of an arm, which turns round a pin at/, so
that by means of the adjusting screw d it may be
brought nearer to the under roller in any desired de-

HUSBANDRY OF COTTON. 91

gree ; c is the table on which the seed cotton is laid;
and ^ is a brush placed beneath, which removes the
filaments of cotton adhering to the roller 6.

The general characters of a good cotton-wool are
fineness, length, strength, softness, and equality of the
filaments, and freedom from knots and impurities.
The more remarkable it is for these qualities, and the
less waste it suffers in spinning, the higher price it
fetches. The cotton is commonly named from the
country where it grows, each kind being classed into
three sorts, the prime, the marketable, and the ordi-
nary — ^the first being appropriated to warp or lace
yam, the second to weft of different qualities, and
the third to coarser yarns. To judge of the species of
cotton wool, the continental dealer takes a handfiil
of it from the bag. This is pressed and drawn out,
between the thumbs and two forefingers, which affords
an indication of its approximate length and fineness.
This flock of filaments being again seized by the
middle is drawn out once more, which affords a second
indication. This process of arranging the filaments
in a parallel riband is many times repeated, till their
average length, softness, fineness, and strength, are
determined. The experienced cotton broker and spin-
ner acquire a remarkable delicacy of tact in this way,
so that they can decide in the dark upon the country,
quality, and price of the cotton wool. By a suitable
mixture of a little long stapled cotton wool with short
stapled, the latter becomes susceptible of being spun
into much better yarn than it could afford of itself.
Sometimes also the long stapled will bear a considerable
admixture of the short stapled without losing its fitness
for furnishing fine yarn.

92 NATURAL HISTORY AND

The following are the most common distinctions of
cottons recognized on the continent of Europe : 1, the
North American ; 2, the West Indian ; 3, the South
American; 4, the East Indian; 5, the Levantine;
6^ the African; 7, the Italian; 8^ the Spanish.

1. Among the cottons of North America, or the
United States, are to be noted that of Greorgia short
and long stapled, Liouisiana, New Orleans, Carolina^
and Tenessee. The short stapled Georgia is wdik/ed
up chiefly into the coarser yams of No. 30 and under,
but when mixed with the Egyptiaa. ^ako, it m ay be
spun up to No. 40. The bluish-white cotton of
Louisianarls of a MfXJbv quality, but ranks below the
long stapled Georgian, the Brazilian, and certain of the
West Indian cottons. It is fit for spinning as high as
No. 50, but is sometimes deteriorated by a number of
little seeds left in it by imperfect ginning. The Ca-
rolina is also preferred to the Upland Georgia, as well
as the cotton of Tenessee and N ew Orleans , which are
often weak-fibred; yet some 5F the latter are fine
enough to spmjr arns as high as 100.

2. TheWest Indian cotton wools of the best sorts
resemble in length of staple the Sea-island, the
Bourbon, the superior Spanish, and the South Ame-
rican. That of Porto-Rico is held to be the best;
after which come the others in the following order
nearly: Curasao, St Domingo, Martinique, Guada-
loupe, Barbadoes, Jamaica, St. Christopher, St. Lucie^
St. Thomas, Grenada, St Vincent, Dominica, Tortola^
Montserrat, Bahama, Cuba, St. Jago, Antigua. The
last may rank with the best of the Levant cottons.
Of the West India cottons it should be remarked that
their cultivation has been much neglected of late

HUSBANDRY OP COTTON. 93

years, since sugar came so much into play ; and that
their qualities do not correspond with the above, which
is their ancient and natural order. The Guadaloupe
has often a reddish tinge, has a long staple, and is
easy to spin. It, and the best of the St. Domingo
wool, will furnish yam as high as 100 in number.

3. South America is capable of affording excellent

cotton wool, of which the best example is the Brazilian

called Maragnan, Bahia, and Pemambuco, which have

sometimes been made into yam as fine as No. 200,

and upwards. They deserve to be placed inmiedi*

ately after the Sea-island Georgian and the Bourbon,

although the Maragnan is often ill cleaned. The

Minas-Geraes, the Para, and Ceara are of inferior

quality, and are rarely spun into finer yam than No.

60. The Rio Janeiro is a slight, dirty, and dingy

kind of cotton wool, upon a par with the worst sorts rf

the West Indian. Among the remaining varieties of

the South American, the Cayenne is most esteemed,

on account of the length, whiteness, and lustre of its

filaments, and it may be classed with good Brazilian.

After it, comes the Surinam, with long yellowish staple,

which has been occasionally spim into No. 200 ; those

of Demerara, Essequibo, and Berbice are generally

inferior, as well as of Lima, the Cura^aos, and

Cumana. The Carthagena is coarser and dirtier than

the preceding, but has greater length and strength <^

staple. ;

4. The East India cotton wool is, generally speak*
ing, inferior to the American, and even to the better
sorts of the Levant cottons. The Surat, which is the
most abundant, is ill cleaned, yellowish, tolerably fine,
but very short in the staple. The Madras, Siam, and

94 NATURAL HI8TORT ANO

Bengal are of very variable quality. The last is white^
silky, and has sometimes been spun into No. 50. The
Nanking cotton was at one time celebrated^ but it is
now little known in Europe.

5. Under the Levant cotton wools are compre*
hended all those grown in European and Asiatic
Turkey ; such as that of Macedonia, of Smyrna, and
the Levant properly so called — all of which are dis*
tinguished by considerable whiteness, but have a
moderate length of staple, so that they can rarely
afford yam finer than No. 60. The best kinds of tl^
Macedonian cotton are the Uschur or the Zehent
wool, and the Salonichi; Cira wool is a very poor
article, not workable into finer yarn than No. 20„
A great variety of cottons come into the market under
the name of Smyrna, because this is the general slup«
ping port for most of the cottons of Turkey in Asia,
They are perhaps inferior to the best Macedonian and
East Indian, and furnish chiefly coarse weft yarns, and
candle wicks. The best varieties are the Arar, Kassa*
bar, and Kirkadadoch. The most highly esteemed
sorts are the Subuschat and Kinik ; those of Cyprus
and Acre are inferior ; the worst are those of Bender
and Altah.

6. Africa furnishes from the isle of Bourbon the best
species of cotton wool, almost as much prized as the
finest Sea-island, but it suffers a greater waste in the
manufacture. It is uniform, clean, fine, and silky»
rivalling the Levant in whiteness ; it may be spun into
the finest yarn. The Egyptian or the Alexandrian
cotton wool, known in commerce under the name of
Mako or Maho, has a fine readily twisting filament,
admits of being mixed with other kinds of cotton woolj

BUSBANDRT OF COTTOK. 95

but is often foul and interspersed with unripe fibres. It
has of late years quite supplanted the Macedonian in
the cotton manufactures of Austria. The Senegal
cotton ranks with the middling cottons of the West
Indies^ and with good Levants.

7. The principal cottons^ known in trade under the
title of Italian^ are grown in Malta^ Sicily, and Naples,
the Sicilian being the best; the next are the cottons of
CasteUamare and Delia Torre in the neighbourhood of
Naples, which approach in quality to the cotton of
Louisiana. The Malta cotton ranks with the inferior
West Indian. The Biancavilla, a variety of Neapolitan
cotton, suits well for mixing with the Mako, and then
affords (in the proportion of three to two of Mako) a
good yam of from 30 to 50 in fineness of number*
Mixed with Upland Georgia it is spun into Nos. 30
and 40.

8. The best kind of Spanish cotton wool is the
Motril, from the kingdom of Granada, which deserves
to be placed immediately next to the first Brazilian.
Prom the fineness of its staple it may be spun into
yarns of a high number.

96 NATURAL HISTORY AND^

CHAPTER II.

Of the Cultivation of Cotton, or Cotton Husbandry;
and the Cotton Wool Trade.

Having been favoured by two of the most scientific
and successful cotton planters in Georgia, Thomas
Spalding, Esq., of Sapelo island, near Darien, and
Whitemarsh B. Seabrook, Esq., of Edisto island, with
two manuscript memoirs upon the culture of the gos-
sypium, I gladly avail myself of the liberality with
which they have contributed, at my request, their
valuable services to the present work.* The informa-
tion thus freshly drawn from the fountain head, shall
be presented to my readers as nearly as may be in its
original form. It will prove highly interesting to all
who are engaged in this spreading branch of agri-
culture, but more particularly to our adventurous
countrymen in India, where the cotton husbandry has
been heretofore grossly mismanaged, as appears from
the testimony of Dr. Wallich, and other competent
observers.

Mr. Spalding considers that in reference to cotton
grown in the United States, only four species of the
gossypium need be considered.

* The request was conveyed through my very intelligent friend
Edward Woolsey, Esq., of Leman Street, London, to Thomas Cooper
Vander Hurst, Esq., of Woodlands, Carolina, who applied to the
gentlemen whom he knew to be the most skilful planters in Georgia
for the best information on the subject.

HUSBANDRY OP Cmftf^T^ 97

1. The herbaceum, having a smooth stalk two feet
high, branching upwards, with five-lobed smooth
leaves, and yellow flowers at t!ie end of the branches ;
the flowers being in harvest-time replaced by roundish
capsules full of seed-cotton.

2. I'he hirsutum, or hairy American cotton, has
hairy stalks branching laterally, two or three feet high,
palmated three and five-lobed leaves, with yellow ter-
minal flowers, replaced by large oval pods filled with
seed-cotton.

Fig. 4, p. 63, represents this species, being carefully
copied by the wood-engraver from a coloured drawing
of the Upland cotton plant by Dr. Capus, transmitted
with the memoir of Mr. Seabrook.

3. The Barbadense, or Barbadoes shrubby cotton.
It has a shrubby stalk branching four or five feet high,
three-lobed smooth leaves, glandulous underneath,
with yellow flowers, replaced by oval pods filled with
seed-cotton.

4. The arboreum, or tree-cotton, has an upright,
woody, perennial stalk, branching six or eight feet
high, palmated four or five-lobed smooth leaves, with
yellow flowers filled with seed-cotton.

The seeds of the first and second varieties, besides
the proper filaments of cotton-wool which invest them,
are covered entirely in the second, and partially in the
first, with a dense short fur, resembling closely the
under fur of a hairy animal. In the United States all
the cotton seeds have an increasing tendency to get a
clothing of fur, whereby they become more difficult to
clean, but are in no other respect deteriorated.
Whether this change arises from some regular law of
nature, which promotes the formation of fur on trans-

VOL. I. F

96 NATURAL BISTORT AND'

ferring plants and animals from a hotter to a colder
climate^ or from some accidental intermingling of the
seeds or pollen of the plants> must he left for future
investigation.

The Sea-island cotton of Greorgia, and likewise of
Carolina^ is derived from the fourth, or what Mr. Spal-
ding calls the tree-cotton. It would be perennial did
the climate permit, as is proved by the circumstance of
its lasting many years when the soil is new and pro-
pitious. He has known it in warm alluvial lands to
survive for five years, and has often seen it vindicate
its title of Arboreum, or tree-cotton, by the height to
which it grew ; for he has measured plants eighteen
feet high, which assumed the character rather of trees
than of shrubs. But when the plant grows so large,
it yields no return of cotton- wool to the cultivator, for it
continues lo be covered with blossoms or unripe pods
when the winter sets in, and is very liable to be
blighted in a single night by the action of frost at any
period after the 1st of November.

Fig. 3, p. 60, exhibits the Sea-island cotton plant,
from a coloured drawing also sent me by Mr. Sea-
brook. I believe these two figures to be the only exact
representations of the Gossypium hitherto published in
connexion with the comme'xjial quality of the filaments.
*^ When the Sea-island Kind was first introduced into
Greorgia," says Mr. Spalding, " it was very subject
to this overgrowth ; and though my memory is fresh
as to the time, I do not remember of a single pod
having rewarded our first labours by giving the pro-
mise of ripeness in a future season. Fortunately
the winters of 1785 and 1786 were mild, and the
cotton then under experiment had been mostly planted

HUSBANDRY OF COTTON. 99

in new^ warm^ and fertile soils; the frost pene«
trated slightly into the earthy and did not extinguish
the life of the plants^ but suffered them to resume
their vegetable activity in spring. Those cotton
stalks which had been killed by the cold weather
were cut down to the surface of the ground, arid
the shoots that grew up from the roots of the pre-
ceding year's plants were earlier in their development
came sooner to maturity, did not rise so high, dis*
played their blossoms fully, and more speedily formed
their pods. In the second year of this great agricul-
tural era the plants bore their fruit seasonably, and
ripened it well, being by this time somewhat accli*
mated. Expectation was now on the tip-toe, holding
forth hopes to the United States of their becoming ere
long a great cotton country.

" The mighty revolution thus commenced in the
manufactures and conmierce of nations was the work of
a few active minds scattered through the two Southern
Sta^s of the American Union, not cheered in their
difficult and doubtful enterprise by the bounties of
their own government, or by the diminished duties of
others, but rather put to the ban of two rival empires
in the old world and the new, by which they were
alternately harassed by tarifi^ and commercial restric-
tions at home on exportation, and increased taxes on
importation into Europe.

" Labours destined at no distant period to give
freights to thousands of ships, as well as profitable em-
ployment and cheap clothing to millions of men, women,
and children, were for a long time placed in the most
vexatious jeopardy. But leaving bad and blunder-
ing statesmen in the hands of Him who visits the sins

100 NATURAL HISTORY AND

of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth
generation, we shall proceed," says Mr. Spalding, '* to
describe one of the most useful forms of industry.

" The provinces from Virginia to Georgia had been
colonized by the mother country with commercial
views, and the persons who had migrated to them
were not the exiles of oppression in laws and reli-
gion, but had crossed the Atlantic in order to better
their fortunes under the auspices of the English go-
vernment ; hence, when the war of the American revo-
lution began, the distractions about to break a great
nation in pieces, which had for the first time, at least
in modem history, originated with the rulers and not
with the people, created dissensions among the South-
em colonists, many of whom thought the remote evils
from unrepresented taxation should be borne in pre-
ference to the immediate desolation of civil warfare."

After America had established its republican go-
vernment. Great Britain, feeling bound to make a pro-
vision for those colonists who had espoused her cause
in the war of independence, offered them portions of
land in Nova Scotia and the Bahama Islands. At
this conjuncture Arkwright was maturing his spinning
machinery, and creating a considerable demand for
cotton wool, which induced the colonists who crossed
over from the Bahamas to turn their attention to the
cultivation of the cotton plant, and to procure the best
species of seed then known in the world. The small
isle of Anguilla, in the Carib Sea, long celebrated
for the excellence of the cotton wool raised upon it, fur-
nished the first seed to the Bahama settlers ; by the
year 1785 they had succeeded in raising cotton upon
two of the Bahamas, viz.. Long Island and Exuma.

HUSBANDRY OF COTTON. 101

Mr. Spalding's father, then settled in Georgia, received
from Colonel R. Kellsall, a planter in Exuraa, a bag
of cotton seed; some other Georgians also received
similar contributions from their former companions.

Josiah Tatnall may be particularly mentioned in
our history of the cotton husbandry of the United
States, as a person who received a supply of cotton
seed from his father, surveyor-generalof the Bahamas.
From that handful of seed sent over in the winter of
1 785, all the Sea-island cotton plants of Georgia and
South Carolina have been produced.

There is a long range of islands lying between
George Town in South Carolina and St. Mary's in
Georgia, which extends from 32° 30' to 30° of North
latitude, through a space of about 200 miles. These
islands were originally covered with live oak, and the
other evergreens of a Southern climate; they had
been tlie abode of a particular tribe of the red men of
the West, who were fishermen rather than hunters :
the accumulation of oysters, clambs, and other kinds
of shells mingled with the remains of the bones and
pottery of the ancient Aborigines is so vast as to fill
every stranger with astonishment ; and these calcareous
matters had become intimately mixed with the sandy
soil and decayed vegetables into a peculiar loam, of a
light and fertile nature. A former colony of English
setder? had made the shores of these islands the sea.
of some indigo plantations. It was upon two of these
islets, separated from the continent by a few miles of
grassy salt marsh, that the Sea-island^ cotton was first
made to grow.

'' If Frederick the Great has been admired for
honouring the farmer who first cultivated a superior

102 K ATURAL HISTORY AND

species of rye in Prussia, what honour is due to the
ingenious planter who first produced the admirable
long-stapled silky cotton, without which the spindle
and bobbin could nerer have rivalled the finger and
thumb of the Hindoo in spinning muslin yam, and
the cotton trade of Europe would have been still tribu-
tary to India for all the finer fabrics ! The following
names of the first growers of Sea-island cotton deserve
to be recorded, — Josiah Tatnall, and Nicholas TumbuU,
on Skideway island, near Savannah ; James Spalding,
and Alexander Bisset, upon St. Simon's Islands, at
the mouth of the Altamaha; and Richard Leake,
upon Jekyll Island, adjoining St. Simon's. For many
years after the introduction of the Anguilla cotton-
seed it was confined to warm high land in the above
islands, under the influence of a saline humid at-
mosphere ; gradually, however, the cotton-hu^andry
was extended to the lower grounds, and beyond the
limits of these islands to the adjacent shores of the Con-
tinent; latterly, even to the coarse clay soil deposited
by the great rivers at their confluence with the sea-
tides. In all these grounds the cotton-plant thrives
well, and produces a long stapled wool."

The only essential point seems to be a saline atmo-
sphere ; with it any soil in Georgia or Carolina may
produce fine cotton, without it no soil will do so.

It is within the district from St. Mary's in Georgia
to George Town in South Carolina, extending not
more than fifteen miles inland, that the Sea-island
cotton is still confined. Whenever its cultivation has
been attempted, to the North, South, or West beyond
these limits, a certain decline in its quality has been
observed to take place.

HUSBANDRY OF COTTOH. 103

Many variations have occurred in the cotton-hus^
bandry since it became an object of importance;
when first attempted^ the farmers deposited the seed
either in hillocl^ raised slightly above the general
surface, or in holes five feet asunder every way ; the
interjacent spaces being dug up, pulverized, and kept
free from grass and weeds by the hand-hoe or the
plough. But it was soon perceived that this scanty
sowing was apt to leave a great portion of the field
unoccupied with plants, and was consequently an un-
productive mode of farming. As the cotton plant is oas
of the tenderest scions of vegetable life, it was found
necessary to increase the quantity of seed in order to
ensure a sufficient number of healthy plants on a givea
surface of groimd ; fortunately Tull's ridge-husbandry
became known to the colonists, and was adopted for
the Sea-island cotton with great success.

The present process, wldch has continued without
change for the last twenty-five years, is to form the
ground into ridges, five feet in breadth, extending in
straight lines over the whole field ; if the land be at
all low and subject to be overflowed, these ridges are
intersected by ditches at intervals of 105 feet from
each other, for receiving the water that may collect in
die hollow spaces between the ridges on which the
cotton plants are reared. These hollows correspond
to the water furrows in wheat husbandry, and serve
the same purpose of drainage ; the ridges should rise
about ten inches above the level of the intervals, the
crown being flat and regular ; a trench is then made
along the middle 'of the ridge, from two to four inches
deep, according to the time of planting, which extends
from the 1st of March to the 1st of May, the pre*

104 NATURAL HISTORY AND

ferable period being from the 1st to the 15th of April.
When cotton is planted early in March, before the
sun has wanned the soil to any great depth, it is ne-
cessary to deposit the seed in drills, not more than
two inches deep, or there will not be warmth enough
to excite germination ; later in the season, when the
heat is greater, moisture must be secured, which is
done by making the drills four inches deep.

The Georgian has been taught by experience not to
be sparing of his cotton seed, and he therefore com-
monly uses a bushel to the English acre. The per-
sons employed in sowing the cotton are generally
divided into parties of three individuals each ; one per-
son opens the drill along the top of the ridge, then
the most intelligent drops the seed into the trench,
and the third follows with a hand hoe to turn back the
soil while still moist over the. seed in the trench ; this
operation may be very well performed by the foot, by
the pressure of which the crumbling soil may be
brought into close contact with the seeds. Women are
principally employed in these rural labours.

After every care in the sowing, the planter is never
sure that a sufficient number of plants will spring up,
for a single night's frost, often so late as the month of
April, will ruin the whole prospect, and require a
renewal of the labours ; nay, one day of a strong north-
east wind will blight a field of promising plants, and,
upon the best and richest soils, when both these sources
of danger are past, there is anotlier enemy equally de-
structive, — the cockchafer or cutworm, which prevails
in the month of April : as the cottOn comes through
the ground and remains several days, like the pea or
other pulse, with only two radical leaves, every one of

HUSBANDRY OF COTTON. 105

the plants cut above or below the ground by the worm
is destroyed, in consequence of which whole fields have
not unfrequently to be replanted in the month of May,

When apprehension from these accidents is over,
the labour comes on of thinning the plants, which
would injure each other, from being too much crowded
together ; the prudent husbandman divides this labour
into three periods, successively weeding out the weakly
plants as the vigorous ones increase in size, to be left
to grow from six inches to . twenty-four inches apart,,
according to the fertility of the soil and the expectei
size of the shrub. The cotton plant is of the tap-
kind, which sends its root straight down into the-
ground, and draws much of its nourishment from the
atmosphere by means of its broad leaves ; as the fields,
should be entirely shaded from the sun when the plants,
are ftilly developed, the distance between their root*
should be adapted to this circumstance.

At every one of these thinnings, as they are called,
the field is carefully cleared with the hand-hoe from
weeds, and fresh soil is gathered round the remaining
plants to support them against the wind, whereby they
are easily bent over on account of their tall slender
stem ; these several operations continue till about the
20th of July, by which time they have been repeated
fi*om three to six times successively, according to the
soil and season, and at that period the summer rains
usually set in ; they are not tropical in their violence,
but are often pretty heavy ; up to that time of the year
no country can possess a more temperate climate than
the Sea-island district ; the atmosphere feels springy
and enlivening, being refreshed by gentle winds which
blow almost daily from the sea-shore. But dark and

106 NATURAL HISTORY AND

dense clouds now begin to gather upon the Western
hills, and the equilibrium of the weather becomes un-
stable ; from the 28th of July to the 1st of August the
winds change their direction from the South-east to the
South-west, and are accompanied with clouds replete
with lightning and rain to deluge the fields. At th»
season all field-labours must cease, for any attempt to
stir the ground now would be apt to loosen the roots
and make the plants with their large leaves overloaded
with moisture fall down ; indeed, they are only siw-
tained in consequence of the repeated dressings up of
the soil round their roots at the previous operaticms.
The month of August is a period of great solicitude to
the cotton-grower, as the heavy rains frequently cause
the plant to part with its fruit, and even its leaves ; the
August full moon is likewise the time when the cater-
pillar makes its appearance. It is the offspring of a
small brown moth, resembling the candle moth, which
deposits its eggs upon the leaf of the Gossypium always
a night or two before the fiill or new moon ; they hatch
a few hours after they are deposited, and are so small
at first as to be hardly discernible by the naked eye ;
they do little or no damage during the first nine or
ten days of their life, like the silkworms, eating little
in their infancy ; but a few days before they complete
their growth they become so excessively voracious eus
to destroy an entire plantation in a few hours. Mr,
Spalding has seen 400 acres of cotton of a promising
aspect, which four days thereafter did not possess a
green leaf, or scarcely a solitary pod upon a plant

Experience has led to the belief that these caterpillar
ravages may be expected once in the space of seven years*

When cotton fields have escaped injury from rains;.

HUSBANDRY OF COTTOl^. 107

winds, and worms^ they display as beautiful a scene as
the admirer of vegetable nature could desire to behold :
wide waving groups of viny foliage blended with three
coloured blossoms of brilliant hues, and pods of darker
shades in various states of ripeness. When the flower
comes forth it has a fine yellow colour, which it retains
during the first day ; under the influence of the night
it changes to a red or crimson hue ; in the third day
it darkens into a chocolate brown, and then feUs to the
ground, leaving a pod already half an inch in dia-
meter. The interval between the appearance of the
blossom and the maturation of the fruit is very va-
riable, being altogether dependent on the season. Mr.
Spalding has at one time observed hundreds of
flowers which afforded perfectly ripe fruit in the space
of twenty-one days, and at another he has seen six
weeks required for the same effect, but such delays
are always hurtfid.

The cotton pods begin to open about the 1st
of August ; from which time to the Ist of December
the whole attention of the cultivator is directed to the
picking in of the cotton as the pods daily open.
During the autumnal season in Georgia and South
Carolina upon the sea-coast, the winds are violent and
the rains heavy, so that the picking is a tedious though
not a laborious operation ; and the persons employed
may be expected to gather from the fields twenty-five
pounds a-day when the weather permits them to work.
In the more favourable times, fifty pounds is a good
daily average picking of seed cotton ; but latterly ten
pounds may be a day's work.

Taking the mean product of cotton plantations, Mr.
Spalding considers that four acres will not yield more

108 NATURAL HISTORY AND

than five hundred weight of clean cotton separated from
theseeds by the gin, of which four hundred weight is white,
and one hundred weight coloured or stained cotton wool.
These five hundred weights of cottonwool have averaged
to the planter for the last fifteen years twenty cents
(about lOd.) per pound for the white, and ten cents for the
stained, fetching in American money ninety dollars
to the husbandman. Mr. Spalding justly remarks, that
this is a small remuneration, not calculated to excite
the envy or hostility of those engaged in other pro-
ductive occupations.

The process of preparing Sea-island cotton for the
market begins as soon as it is generally gathered in
from the field, and it is tedious and troublesome in
a high degree. The seed cotton, as plucked from the
pod, is put into a bag to the amount of about half a bushel,
the bag being suspended from the neck or waist of the
reaper ; when full, it is emptied into a large basket,
which contains the amount of each person's gathering
in the course of a day. In the evening the crude
cotton is brought home, weighed, and deposited in
the storehouse ; whence, next morning, if the weather be
fine, it is taken and spread upon drying-floors, made
of two-inch thick American pine ; from twenty to forty-
feet of floor being required for every hundred acres of
cotton under cultivation. One day's exposure here is
sufficient for cotton plucked in dry weather, but several
days may be required for the cotton picked during
rain. As strong cold drying winds and bright suns
are equally injurious to the delicate staple of the Sea-
island cotton, it is left no longer upon the drying-floors
than is absolutely necessary to prevent it from heating
in the house by fermentation. It is also usual and

HUSBANDRY OP COTTON. 109

proper to pass it through what is called a whipper, to
strike off any sand^ broken leaves^ or other extraneous
matter.: — See' the Primitive Willow^ voL ii. p. 4.

The whipper is a long cylindric cage made of reeds
or bars of wood (and might be miade of wire) six or
eight feet in lengthy and two feet in diameter, being
close at one end and open at the other; and is sup-
ported at the two ends by feet of different lengths, so
that the barrel slopes from the horizontal position
about one foot. At the higher end, a hopper of about
a bushel capacity rests upon the upper sides at the en-
closed end of it. This hopper lets the cotton to be
cleaned fall into the barrel or cage, along the axis of
which a shaft runs which may be turned round by the
hand, by a crank or winch attached to the shaft at its
tipper end. This shaft has cross bars upon it which
reach to within an inch of the inside of the cylindric
cage. The cotton as it falls from the hopper is whisked
round about by these cross bars all the way in its
descent towards the lower end of the cage, by which
means any sand or other impurities fall through the
interstices. This machine resembles in form and
effect the bolting-sieve of a flour-mill.

The whipping was formerly applied both to the
ginned cotton wool and to the seed cotton, but it is
now confined to the last operation, as it was supposed
to produce a stringy appearance in the cotton wooL
When these operations are completed the harvest may
be considered as closed, and the preparation of the
wool for the market begins.

Many machines have been designed for separating
the seed from the Sea-island cotton, but all at last
resolve themselves into two wooden rollers, revolving

110 NATURAL HISTORY AND

against each other in opposite directions; see fig. 10,
p. 90. The rollers niay be about half an inch in
diameter^ and turn round from 100 to 500 times in
a nainute. It is found that the smaller the rollers,
and the slower their motion, the more cleanly will the
cotton fibres be separated from the seeds ; for, if the
rollers be an inch in diameter and if they revolve
very rapidly, they will draw in soft seeds, small and
&lse seeds, or motes as they are called, and crushing
them in their passage, will stain and otherwise injure
the cotton staple. Much money has been expended
upon complicated machines, driven by the power of
horses, water, or wind, at first in the Bahama islands,
and afterwards in Georgia and Carolina, '' but at
last most of the growers of Sea-island cotton have
returned to their first and most simple tool, — viz,, two
wooden rollers, kept together by a wooden frame, and
inserted into iron cranks, having a round journal, and a
square shaft, upon which is fixed a wooden or iron fly
wheel from two to three feet in diameter. The iron
cranks which turn the rollers are ccmnected by strips
of wood with a treadle worked by the foot. This
treadle runs under thjB machine, and is connected at
the ftirther end to the floor of the house (like the
treadle of a turning-lathe) by sockets within which it
moves. The man stands therefore in front of the
rollers, with a board interposed, upon which be holds
a large handful of Sea-island cotton, which he presents
from time to time to the rollers kept revolving by the
action of the foot upon the treadle. This labour be-
comes easy from habit, as the feet may be changed in
the operation. The task expected from the labourer
upon this machine is from t genty-five to thirty po unds

HUSBANDRY OF COTTOll. Ill

[gjght rfcottoii^^peiLxlay. The gin itself costs when
new and complete ten American dollars. Women are
reckoned the best ginners, as they are more careful to
keep the rollers supplied with wool in the act of revo-
lution, but they were found to injure their constitution^
and they have been replaced generally by men. As it
is a light indoor winter work, it is much sought aft^
by them.

"What is a little surprising," says Mr. Spalding,
**this foot- gin which we received from the West Indies, is
mentioned, if I mistake not, in the remains of Near-
chus's voyage down the Indus, as employed in these
countries for separating the seed from the wool." .

The seed cotton is prepared for the ginning by
careful inspection and sorting, in which the yellow
cotton, the motes, and any hard* or rotten fibres
that may have passed through the whipper are sepa*
rated from the white wool. This work requires the
greatest care and attention, and is well executed by
women seated upon benches, with tables before them,
where the seed cotton as taken from a basket is spread
in small parcels, examined, picked, and then thrown
into another basket. A woman may sort fromJSli
to 100 lbs. in a day. It is now exposed for a little to
the sun to take off any remaining dampness, and im-
mediately thereafter subjected to the ginning machine.
The wool thus separated from the seeds is again
returned to the women placed in a large room well
hghted and fiirnished with small tables, covered with
slit reeds or wire- work ; and it is here freed from every
impurity. Thirty pounds are a good day's work for
a woman. The cotton is now re^dy to be bagged for
the market.

112 NATURAL HISTORY AND

The hempen bags in which Sea-island cotton is shipped
are made of Scotch sackcloth, forty-two inches wide in
the web, weighing about a pound and a half to the
yard. Each bag requires from four and a quarter to four
and a half yards, and ought to receive fully 300 lbs.
weight of cotton. Two men are generally employed
together to pack, and they finish two bags in a
day.

The room into which the cleaned cotton has passed
IS set apart for the packing operation, and must be kept
free from dust Adjoining to it is a small apartment
under the same cover with a round hole in its floor,
just large enough to contain the bag when full of
cotton. The open end of the bag is fastened by twine
to a wooden hoop which extends beyond the hole, so as
to hang the bag upright by its mouth. One of the
men then gets into the bag with a heavy wooden or
iron pestle in his hands, and first presses the cotton
with his feet as it is thrown in, and then beats it down
with the pestle until the requisite quantity is forced
into the bag.

Let us now compute the quantity of labour ex-
pended upon each 300 lbs. bale of Sea-island cotton
before it is shipped : 1000 lbs. of seed cotton are
required to produce 300 lbs. of marketable cotton
wool ; and fifteen persons are employed in its prepa-
ration for the gin. Twentj'-five pounds are the average
produce of a gin per diem, so that twelve days' labour
are required to gin a bag full, and ten women take
a day to mote the cotton wool. Thus thirty-ei^ht
days' service, including the packing, are worked up in
preparing a bag of cotton wool for the market Two
others are usually employed in spreading the cotton

HUSBANDRY OF COTTON. 113

that is to be ginned upon the drying floor. The bag
itself costs, with cord, &c., a dollar and twenty-five
cents of American money. This sum with seventy-five
cents for freight is to be deducted from the price of the
cotton, as no return is ever made for the bag by the
purchaser.

The quantity of Sea-island cotton has not materially
increased within these last ten years, nor is it likely
that it will increase. The particular soils and climate
which have heretofore produced it, and to which it
probably owes its peculiar quaUties, are confined to
the narrow limits above stated. Whether it be that
the cultivation of the Sea-island cotton has afforded
fewer inducements than other objects of husbandry,
certain it is that the number of those engaged in it,
even within these limited districts, has not increased;
and they are the successors of the first cultivators who
are still engaged in the business. They are generally
an educated people and stationary, less anxious for
change than most of their countryman, and not indif-
ferent to the honour and happiness of their father-
land.

The short staple cotton, so called in contra-
distinction to the Sea-island or long staple, wherever
grown in the United States, is derived from the first
aiid second of the four varieties above- described.
They were both cultivated in small quantities in the
United States from Georgia to Virginia at the close of
the revolutionary war, by the poorer classes of the
white population, for the purpose of mixing with
sheep's wool in their domestic manufactures. The
cotton was at that time separated by the old and
young, labouring with their fingerf, as they sat round

114 NATURAL HISTORY AND

their evening fire, and was spun by the women upcm
the hand-wheel. But it was not till after the intro-
duction of the West Indian seed that the short-stapled
cotton was cultivated for the market. There can be
no doubts however, that a different cotton seed was at a
subsequent period introduced into Virginia from some
part of the Turkish dominions, most probably from
Smyrna, and this is the herbaceum of Linnaeus.*

No sooner was the attention of the southern States
excited towards the culture of cotton as a profitable
branch of husbandry, than it began to spread from the
sea-shores into the interior, but a great difficulty then
arose from the adhesion of the fibres to the hairy green
seed, which was not overcome till Whit pey and Miller's
saw-gin became known. The hairy cotton, the second
of the four varieties, had obtained the preference over
the others upon the inland grounds of Georgia and
Carolina, because the wool, though shorter in the
staple, was much stronger, and came to maturity at an
earlier period in the autumn. The simple roller gin,
which answered well to separate the long staple from
the black seed, was quite ineffective for the short
staple, because the fur upon its seed stuck to the
rollers and obstructed the entrance of the proper
textile filaments. But wherever Whitney's machine
became known it was laid hold of with avidity, and
with Uttle regard to the patent privilege of the
inventor. Whitney's saw-gin was first mounted on a
good scale at Mr. Miller's plantation, sixteen miles
above Savannah, in tKe year 1795. See fig. 11, p. 141.

** The green-seeded Georgian cotton is probably derived from the
accidental crossing of the ktrtutum and herbaeeum species.

HUSBANDRY OP COTTON. 115

This gin acts perhaps a little too roughly on the
fibres, tearing a few, and causing a loss of about one-
sixth of the wool when compared in its product to that
of the roller gin applied to the Sea-island seed cotton.
The power of the saw-gin is, however, so great as to
give it a preference, since one machine of tenjppunds
value can clean a whole bale of cotton daily by the
work of a single horse.

Henceforth the short stapled cotton began to be
grown in all directions round Georgia as a common
centre; north into the two Carolinas, west into the
hill country, and into all the southern states, accom-
modating itself to the different soils and climates of
the interior, which the Anguilla cotton would not da
It may be remarked, however, that the short stapled
wool is of a better quality when raised near the sea
than at a great distance from it ; and it thrives most
luxuriantly in alluvial soils, a little impregnated with
salt, as in some of the districts of Louisiana. There
the soils, which are deeply tinged with red, and well
seasoned with salt, between the waters of the Arkansa
and the Red River, give forth the most abundant
crops of the best quahty of that description of cotton.
From the information of intelligent cotton farmers,
Mr. Spalding states, that a thousand pounds of seed-
cotton or two hundred and fifty of ginned wool may be
raised with reasonable diligence from an English acre
of land in that district ; whereas, in the hill country
from the Mississippi to the Carolinas, not more than
five hundred pounds of seed-cotton can be obtained.

The system of agriculture throughout all these dis-
tricts is essentially the same ; the hand hoe used ex-
clusively on the sea-coast being replaced by the plou^

116 NATURAL HISTORY AND

in tilling the ground of the interior* The plough breaks
up the soil more thoroughly than the hoe^ and does
eight acres at the same expense as four can be done
by the hand instrument ; but both are employed in
the method of ridge husbandry. The distance between
the ridges is five feet, and that between the plants in
the furrows varies from six to twenty-four inches,
according to the circumstances formerly mentioned.
As the winds of autumn are much less violent in the
interior than upon the sea-coast of Georgia and Ca-
rolina, and as the capsules that contain the short
staple expand much less in ripening than those of
the Sea-island, the upland cotton harvest is much less
precarious than the other, less of its cotton is lost by
the capsules falling off spontaneously, and less trouble
is occasioned in plucking the shrubs. In fact the
short stapled pods are allowed to hang upon the
plants till they are white with the wool, so that they
may be reaped at two or three gatherings, instead of
ten or twelve employed in the Sea-islands, and there-
fore at not more than half the cost of labour.

Several varieties of this kind of cotton grow well
and perfect their fruit all the way from the southern
borders of Virginia to the south-western streams of
the Mississippi, over a length of twelve hundred miles,
with a depth of two hundred miles inland ; and in
every soil, whether clay, loam, or sand, provided the
waters be kept well drained from the surface of the land.
The mean quantity over all is given by Mr. Spalding
at one hundred and twenty-five pounds of both Sea-
island cotton wool, and of tfie short stapled wool, to an
English acre, but the amount of labour is much greater
for the former than for the latter. Cotton does not

HUSBANDRY OF COTTON. 117

exhaust the ground, but from the density of its shade,
and the size and swelling of its roots, it soon makes
the soil too loose to sustain the plant ; and, if cultivated
continually on the same land, the plant becomes affected
with a disease greatly resembling the blight in wheat, and
gives birth to seeds which have a propensity to extend
the evil. Mr. Spalding ascribes this disease to an insect
puncturing the shrub, followed by a parasitic plant,
and recommends fire as the best remedy for ground
so affected : all the weeds and grass on the land should
therefore be burned.

" There is no plant which requires rotation of crops
more than the cotton, and there is no country where
that practice is more important than in the southern
states. The cotton fields should therefore be reaped
with an intermediate crop of grain, and all root crops
should be avoided. This simple triennial course, with
manure applied during the grain year to as great an
extent as may be convenient, will preserve the fields
from any material decay."

In conclusion we may state that eight acres cultivated
by the plough will yield the farmers annually, on a fair
average of seasons, one thousand pounds of short stapled
cotton wool to each labourer employed upon them.
Their cotton has paid them about ten cents a pound
during the last seven years, or one hundred dollars
for each mean year's work. There are exceptions
undoubtedly to this estimate, for a few men have
received much higher prices, particularly for Sea-island
cotton, and a few also have raised a much larger
quantity than 125 pounds to the acre, *' but excep-
tions," says Mr. SpaJding, " can never serve as a guide
in conclusions as to either the wealth or productiveness

118 NATURAL HISTORY AND

of a whole country. The besetting sin of agricultural
statements is their exaggerations."

Mr. Seabrook states, in a letter accompanying his
memoir, that it contains no assertions which are not
historical, or which could not be substantiated by
living testimony ; and he says he makes this observa-
tion because considerable obscurity and doubt have
hitherto existed with regard to the first introduction of
Sea^island cotton into the United States. In an ex-
planatory communication from Mr. Vander Hurst, it
is said that " the exportation from South Carolina in
1795 must have been 1,109,653 pounds of cotton instead
of £1,109,653 steriing worth.

The terms *^ Mains, and Santees" he defines as
follows: — Mains means the black seeded, or long
stapled cotton raised on the main land behind tl^
Sea-islands ; Santees, the cotton raised in the vicinity
of Santee river in CaroUna; but there is no original
difference in the seed, which is black in both. He
thinks a light sand to be the best soil for the Sea-
island cotton plant The finest seed is not always
coated with fur, but it has invariably, at one or both
ends, a small tuft or beard. The produce of this
sort now brings in the Charlestown market from forty
cents to one hundred cents per pound, and is pro-
cured by a judicious selection of seed from the ge-
neral bulk, sufficient for a nursery, from which the
quantity requisite for the entire crop is supplied ; but
this cotton from the nursery is ^' the extra fine," and
commands the highest price. The word " hill*' is
incorrect, and is properly understood only by practical
planters ; for there is no hill ; on the contrary, it is a
hole into which the seed is thrown, made on the top of

HUSBA^RY OP COTTON. 119

the bed or ridge. A planter's acre is 210 feet square^
divided for the apportioiiing of labour into four square
parts called " tasks/' 105 feet square each^ and two
tasks g^aerally make a day's work for an able hand;
it cannot consequently be 210 fiset square^ but 210 by
105 feet only. This error of Mr. Seabrook must hava
arisen from inadvertency^ and should be corrected*
The drawings of the black seed or long staple, and the
green seed (x short staple cotton plant, are a con«
tribution from Dr. Capus> from which it will be
seen that the leaves of the former have five lobe^
agreeably to the botanical description of the arboreutn
species.

Mr. Seabrook considers cotton plants to be the
spontaneous production of all the tropical regions of
Asia^ Africa, and America. A few of the planters of
the State of Georgia began to raise cotton as an
article of export soon after the peace of 1783. Indeed
the first provincial congress of South Carolina, held
in January 1775, had recommended the inhabitants
to raise cotton, yet Uttle attention was paid to that
judicious counsel. Ramsay, in his " History of South
Carolina,' says that cotton was exported from that
state in 1795, to the value of £1,109,653, a statement
already remarked upon as erroneous.

The long staple cotton is thought by many to be the
Gossyfium Barbadense of the West Indies. But this
has a shrubby stalk four or five feet high, tri-lobed
leaves, with flowers consisting of several large yellow
petals, each stained at the bottom with a purple spot,
The capsule or pod when ripe opens into three parti-
tions, in each of which is a lock of white cotton, invest-
ing the seeds.

The above three distinct varieties of long stapled cot-

120 NATURAL HISTORY AND

ton. Sea-islands, Mains, and Santees, are worth respec-
tively at this time, in the Charlestown, market, thirty,
twenty- five, and twenty cents. Each of these varieties
may be subdivided into several others, which are in
general distinguishable only by the seeds and the
quality of the cotton. The seed of the first variety is
covered entirely with green fur, and has a beard of
that colour at one of its ends or at both.

The seed of common Sea-islands, like that of Mains
and Santees, is a pure black, and sometimes it is covered
wholly or partially with white fur. In 1785 the late
Grovemor Tatnall received, as Mr. Spalding stated
above, a parcel of seed of the silky or Sea-island cotton,
which came from Anguilla through the Bahamas. In
that year and the one following, the seed of long staple
cotton, and probably that of Mains and Santees, was
also brought into Georgia from Pemambuco and the
Bahamas : Sea-island cotton was not extensively raised
in South Carolina till 1799; but as early as 1789
about twenty persons cultivated it in Georgia. It is
not known whence the seed originally came. Before
its cultivation in the United States the cotton which
commanded the highest price in England came from
the island of Bourbon. In 1786 Bourbon cotton sold at
from seven shillings and sixpence to ten shillings per
pound. In 1799 Sea-island obtained in Liverpool
from five shillings to five shillings and three pence per
pound, and the cotton of Pemambuco four shillings
and sixpence. The genuine cinnamon and mango
trees were introduced into the West Indies from
Bourbon in 1782, and some other productions at a still
earlier period. May not the seed of the Sea-island
cotton have been also received from the isle of Bourbon,
as well as the sugar cane ? and may not the Bourbon

HUSBANDRY OF COTTON. 121

planters have got the seed of theur highly-prized
cotton from Persia^ since it is now known that the
Persian cotton is nowise inferior to the Sea-island
except in point of strength.

The cultivation of this valuable shrub extends about
forty-five miles from the sea shore in the States, and
its fruit diminishes in all its valuable properties in pro-
portion to its distance from the atmosphere of the
ocean. The finest and best cotton now raised in the
world is produced on the islands of Edisto, John's,
Wadmalan, and St. Helena, in South Carolina. There
are three methods of sowing the seed; viz., in long
hills, in short hills, and in shallow trenches extending
the whole length of the ridge. Long hills (by which
is meant a row of holes two or three times the length of
the hoe apart) are generally preferred in very rich
land,, where it is necessary that the plants should be
far from each other. Of the three methods, that of
short hills (or n^r holes, the width of a hoe apart)
has been found to be the most useful as well as profit-
able. The quantity of seed sown to an acre is about
half a bushel. The operation of hoeing is begun the
last of April, and is conducted as follows ;

The tops of the beds are first clean hand-picked, then
210 feet square are afterwards hoed by each slave^
and every bunch of grass is carefully collected. The
earth about the plants is also well scratched and
loosened with the fingers. At the second working the
usual practice is to haul, or draw, the earth directly
from the centre of the alley (hollow) to within a few
inches of the top of the bed. This is seldom done,
however, when the cotton is very low, when the earth
is too wet, or when it is too lumpy. If none of these

VOL. I. . G

122 NATURAL HISTORY AND

circumstances prevent, the planter either hauls twice
in succession, viz., at the second and third workings,
or he hoes and hauls alternately. The number of
workings which the crop receives seldom exceeds five
or six ; the last being usually given about the first
week of July.

The proper thinning of cotton requires much judg*
ment and experience. At the first hoeing, if the plants
are very thick set, a few may be advantageously taken
out. At the second working they are separated' about
two inches, where the seed has been drilled or reduced
from six to eight stalks in a hill (hole) ; if short or long
hills are used, when the period arrives for a third
thinning, which is about the eighth day after the
second, as the bark of the cotton stem is then suffi-
ciently thick to bear exposure, the plants ought to be
thinned six or eight inches apart, or from two to four
in a hill. About a week or ten days after -this, a few
of the most intelligent labourers sfe employed to
separate the stalks a little further. By the 25th of
June the thinning of the crop is completed. In
general, the cotton plants which grow about three feet
high are left to the number of from 120 to 140 stalks
in a task row (105 feet long) ; when they grow four
feet high, to the number of 110; and, six feet high, to
the number of sixty or eighty stalks.

The plough is very generally used in the cultivation
of the santees, for making the cotton beds, which are
commonly about four feet apart It is sometimes had
recourse to also for breaking up stiff lands. The
number of acres planted to each hand (labourer) is
from four and a half to five and a half. A good crop
is 130 pounds of ginned cotton from an acre.

HUSBANimY OF COTTON. 123

The gathering of the crop coAmiences ahoui the
20th of August^ and ends about the Ist of December*
From thirty to sixty pounds per labourer are usually
picked in a day.

The leaf and pod of long-stapled cotton are much
smaller than those of the short-stapled ; the pod of
the former opens into three partitions^ that of the latter
into five. Upland cotton may remain unpicked on
the plants for weeks> or perhaps months^ without
injury ; but the long-stapled cotton unless picked very
soon after its flower blows> falls from the pod and ia
spoiled. Exposure to the weather renders it brittle
and colourless*

Any vegetable matter is a good manure for cotton^
but it must be applied judiciously. Excess of food
produces a large and luxuriant stalky but renders the
fruit scanty. For high fiuid loose sandy soils, salt mud
^nd greea marsh grass or rushes are now commonly
put under the sward on which the bed is to be made
several weeks or months before seed-time. For low
close lands, fresh cotton seed, pine straw, marsh
rashes, corn stalks, or any substance rotted in the
cow-house, may be used. The quantity of manure to
an acre is as follows : — of salt mud from ten to twenty
cart loads; cotton seed, about forty bushels; from
the cow-house, from twenty to twenty-five card-loads ;
green sward or rushes, a^ layer of about four or five
inches thick and ten inches in width.

There is perhaps no pleuit more delicate than Sea-
i3land cotton. Being deep rooted, it is injured by
rain, especially in the month, of August. It is easily
blasted by wind, or by a very slight frost When
young the leaves and roots are liable to be injured by

124 NATURAL HISTORY AKD

a small bug, and the whole plant to be cut down by
the grub or caterpillar. Should June prove a wet
month, a visit from the caterpillar towards the end of
August will certainly take place. The depredations
of this insect are almost incredible. In one week it
has been known to destroy completely fields containing
more than 100 acres. It is however seldom known to
Commit ravages on the main land.

On the Mississippi the growers of cotton think that
new' land does not produce so fine a quality of cotton
as that which has previously borne two crops of grain.
In preparing the ground they use the plough alone^
and lay off the rows from four to six feet, and where
the soil is as rich as the low gromuis of the MiaBissij^
even eight feet is not too much. They open the ridges
by running a narrow drill with the plough, sowing
the seed in it as they would grain, and (Covering it
lightly with the harrow. The only art in making a
good crop of cotton consists in not suffering even a
blade of grass to grow among the plants till they are
fiilly ripe, and not to crowd them too much together,
that is nearer than ten or twelve inches from each
other. From the 1st of September the pods, called
there boles, begin to mature and open successively
until winter has stopped the vegetation of the
^rub.

As soon as the boles are completely opened, the
cotton, which then hangs partially out of the shells, and
has become almost dry, must be gathered by hand ;
care must be taken by the picker to lay hold with his
fingers of the several locks of cotton only, so as to
remove the whole at once, without breaking off any of
the dry leaves about the bole ; and if any fall upon the

HUSBANDRY OP COTTOK. 125

cotton before the picker has secured his handful ia
the bag which hangs at his side> they must be care-
fully separated. It is necessary to use a bag with a
close mouth to gather the cotton^ for the plants have
commonly many decayed leaves upon them which are
easily shaken down ; and these leaves greatly depre-
ciate the value of the cotton among spinners.

" The saw-gin of sixty wraggs or saws ought not to
make more than from 600 to 800 pounds of clean
cotton in twelve hours ; for when forced to run faster
the cotton is not so clean^ and its fibres are liable to be
cut and torn."

Some writers on cotton husbandry have remarked
that the red soil of the interior of Georgia is apt to
give a tinge to the wool grown upon it, and that the
gray soil produces a fairer cotton.

The seed, when sold for fodder, fetches about a
dollar the thirty or forty bushels. The cattle are very
fond of it, but unless it be mixed with dry fodder, such
as the husks and leaves of maize, in order to dilute it,
and prevent the cotton fibres from balling in the
stomach, it ha^ a scouring effect, and is reckoned un-
wholesome. Cattle grazed on the saline meadows of
Florida and Georgia are subject to a fatal disease
called the salt sickness. Mr. Couper has discovered
that wood ashes mixed with their food is a certain
cure, probably by neutraUzing the muriatic acid dis-
engaged from the sea-salt in the animal system.*

One of the finest samples of Sea-island cotton which
I have ever seen was sent me by D. B. Warden, £sq.>
ex-consul of the United States, at Paris, and forwarded

* SUliman's Journal, vol. ix., p. 22.

126 NATURAL HISTOKT AND

to him for this work by Dr. Wardeman of Charlestmi.
It was grown on the plantation of Mr. Benjamin
Freeman^ situated on Wadmalan Island^ about twenty
miles from Charleston. This cotton was discovered
about five or six years ago^ and the first sent to the
market sold for 6 dollars and 75 cents the pound,
while the ordinary Sea-island brought only about 30
cents. The growing of this cotton was for some time
kept a secret, and even in 1831, when Dr. Warde-
man visited Wadmalan Island, the fields in which it
was grown were guarded during harvest time to pre-
vent the stealing of the seed, three quarts of which were
sold as a favour for 150 dollars.

The plant differs from the (ordinary Sea-island shrub
in having longer " limbs," (primary branches,) longer
*^ joints," (secondary branches,) in the flowers being
larger, of a brighter yellow, and the hairs of the pod
being longer. It is by the latter mark that the best
plants are recognised, from which the seed is selected
for sowing the ensuing crop. Unless this sdection be
carefully made, the cotton will deteriorate every year^
probably from the pollen of the common Sea-island
getting upon the pistils of the superior kind, as the
former abounds all round about. The pod opens into
three triangular portions^ disclosing eotton oi a r^nark-
ably pure white ; the plant of this fine eotton does not
bear so luxuriantly as the common Sea-island ; it is
from three to four feet high, and is distinguisbaJ>le by
tufted seeds of a greenish colour, resembling somewhat
^ those of the short-stapled cotton of the inland country.

I have been tpld by an eminent cotton sjunner in
Alsace that the top flowers of the cotton plant afford
the finest seeds, and are nelected by the most skilfiil

HUSBANDRY OP COTTON. 127

planters of the Sea-island district for improring the
staple from year to year.

The cultivation of cotton up<Hi the coast of Gruiana
has heen conducted with much judgment and success.
Here the land is an alluvial mud» thrown up by the
great rivers that empty themselves into the ocean in
its immediate neighbourhood. Land is daily formed
by these deposits. The elevation above the level of
the sea is so inconsiderable as to render inundations
not uncomm^i^ and the whole country is intersected by
ditches, without which husbandry would be impracti-
cable. For this reason, the land on which the cotton
shrub is to be planted must be formed into beds about
thirty-six feet wide, and surrounded by drains that
cross the estate, and empty themselves into the trenches
which run parallel with its length; these beds are
slightly elevated towards the middle, with the soil
turned out of the drains, so as to throw off the redun-
dant moisture more readily, and prevent that stagna-
tion of water round the roots of the cotton, so injurious
to its growth. The land thus prepared is divided into
portions of about five feet square. Small holes, four or
five inches deep, and six or eight wide, are dug with a
hoe, a little light earth is scraped into each hole^ a
small handful of seed laid on it, and it is covered over
with mould. If the weather be showery the seed will
spring up in three or four days. As soon as the plants
are three or four inches high, they ought to be all
pulled up by the hand, except three or four to each
hole ; this is generally done within a month after the
first planting. About the same time the ground re-
quires a first weeding, which is repeated every month
until the trees are fully grown. At the second or third

128 NATURAL HISTORY AND

weeding one stalk only is left in each hole, and then if
it be eighteen inches or two feet high, the tops are
nipped off to make the shrub throw out a sufficient
pumber of lateral shoots. The usual period of plant-
ing cotton in Dutch Guiana is during the months of
December, January, April and May. If it be planted in
the first two months, which is the preferable season,
the shrub will require to be pruned in June to prevent
its growing too high ; this is done when it attains a
height of about three feet above the ground, while at
the same time all the shoots from the stem higher
than one foot above the ground are lopped off. But
if the cotton be planted in April and May, the
branches will require to be nipped only twice with the
finger, and the plant will generally yield some cotton
before Christmas, even in October, if the weather be
dry ; in general, however, the cotton plant of Guiana
rarely produces a full crop before it has attained
its second year, its whole duration being usually esti-
mated at four or five years. Whenever a tree fails
another is planted in its place, which practice is called
svpplying a field of cotton, and is particularly at-
tended to at the period of weeding ; the cotton-trees
after they are one year old are regularly pruned an-
nually, between the months of April and July.

In ordinary seasons the crop in Guiana is generally
finished in April, and if the season be mild. May is
the fittest month for pruning, a labour which gene-
rally employs the gang of negroes for about a month.
After this period the utmost care should be had to
keep the ground clear of grass and weeds, which grow
very luxuriantly at that season; if the weather be
favourable the cotton begins to throw out abundance

HySBANDRY OF COTTON. 129

of blossoms by the end of Julyor beginning of August;
the , pods form in succession, and generally begin to
open in about six weeks thereafter. It rarely happens
that picking is general before the end of October, and it
continues all through December, making what is .
called the first crop. The short rainy season now be-
gins, and during its continuance the trees vegetate
with uncommon vigour, and begin to blossom. When
the weather is mild the second crop should commence
by the end of February, and continue till the middle
of April; the rains in general render this crop very-
unproductive.

As salt is considered to promote the growth of cotr
ton, the old lands in Guiana are frequently inundated
with salt water ; this fact corresponds with the well-
known circumstance that Sea-island cotton is superior
to every other species.

After the cotton has been picked, it is dried in the
sun until the seed becomes quite hard, for otherwise
it would heat and swell ; it is exposed for about three
days, upon tiles or a wooden platform, to the sun ; the
seed is then separated by the simple roller gin, con-
sisting of two slender cylinders made to revolve by a
treadle moved by the labourer's foot, like a turning-
lathe ; a Guiana workman can gin from fifty to sixty
pounds a-day with this very simple machine. The
ginned cotton is picked by women in order to free it
from .broken seeds, dried leaves, or yellow flocks of
cotton ; a clever hand will clean from twenty-five to
thirty pounds daily ; the cotton is now packed in bags,
and compressfed by a screw into compact bales for ex-
portation.

The cotton plant of Guiana is particularly subject

190 NATURAL HUTORT ANA

to the attack of aa insect which, haa received tue go*
meral name of chemUe, or cotton caterpillai*, an animal
about an inch or an inch and a half in length; it is a
ipecies of phaltena. One of the most singular eir*
eumstances attending the ravages of this insect is the
fragrant smell which issues from the plant it feeds
upon, although neither the animal nor the healthy
plant possesses any odour; so powerful is this smell
that it may be recognised more thaa a hundred yajrds
from the plant

The rapidity with idiich this caterpillar carries its
ravages to distinct and even remote plantations is sur*
prising ; in the course of a single night whole fields,
containing several acres, have been devoured by ibaoBL
Hitherto the only sure defence against this destructive
«nemy is found in keeping the intermediate space be*
tween the cotton shrubs free from every species <rf
^^getation on which tbe caterpillar can feed ; children
are also emplc^ed in picking them off the shrubs.

G>tton plantations are liable also to another cala-*
mity, called the blight ; its tendency is to check or
destroy the vegetative powers of the plant, and to de^
prive it of ewry productive faculty for a seascm. No
satisfactory explanation or remedy for this evil has
hitherto been offered.

A species of scarabe, the apate monachus, is a third
enemy of the cotton plant. The larva of this insect
be^ns its attack by boring a liole in the green barik of
iitkd cotton-tree, it pei^trates into the alburnum, eats
it with a revolving motion under the bark, and pro-
eeeds then to the wood and pith; the branches thus
attacked dry up and perish. When a new-made hole
id perceived upon a tree it should be closed carefully

HtmSBAHORT OF CCTTCftf. 131

widi wax, whieh, by excluding the air> soon causes thtt
insect to die, aitti saves the tree. The dead branchee
^ould be cut ojf and burned.

There are> m<H'eover, red and black bi^ which
sconetimes suck the see^ of the cotton plant at the
period when the capsules open. Whea seeds so gnawed
get accidentsdly between the rollers of the cotton gii^
they are crushed flat^ and cause the wool to be soiled
with the anunal impuritks of the bug^

At Pemambuco the cotton shrub is triennial; it
aflbrds a little wool the first year, tnore the second,
and sfter the third crop it is abandoned, and replaced
in the land by farinaceous plants, such as tapioca.
The Braail cotton is also a triennial plant

According to Forbes, the rice and cotton fields yield
a double cto^ in Guaerat, and tl^y are both planted
at the commencement of the rainy sea9on> in June*
The rice is sown in furrows,, and reaped in about three
months; the cotton shrubs, which grow to the height
of three or four feet, and in verdure resemble cur-
rant bushes, require a longer time to bring their delicate
fruit to perfection. They are planted between the
rows of rice, but do not prevent its growth or impede
its being reaped. Soon after the rice harvest is over
die cotton bushes put forth a beautiful yellow flower,
with a crimson eye in each petal; this is succeeded by^
a green pod filled with a white stringy pulp ; the pod
turns brown and hjird as it ripens, and then separates
into two or three divisions containing the cotton. A
luxuriant field, exhibiting at once the expanding blos-
som, the bursting capsule, and the snowy flakes of
ripe cotton, is one of the most beautiful objects in the
agriculture of Hindostan. Herodotus says, the In*

132 NATURAL HISTORY AND

dians in his time possessed a kind of plant which, in-
stead of fruit, produced wool of a finer and better
quality than that of sheep, of which the natives made
their clothes. — Oriented Memoirs, vol. ii. p. 407.

Whoever has been in India, says Dr. Willick, must
have found that the ryot, or farmer, will never exert
himself beyond what will give him his daily food.
To this state of things it is owing, for one instance,
that the cotton plant is almost always reared as an
annual in India, whereas in America (Guiana and
Brazil) and the Leeward Islands it is triennial. He
believes that India produces of itself every variety of
cotton. It is his opinion, that the justly celebrated
American Sea-island cotton is actually in cultivation in
several parts of India, but owing to the manner of
husbandry among the natives, it very soon loses all its
principal characters for goodness, and returns to the
quality of the original wild species. That miserable
husbandry, adds he, which never allows the plant to out-
live a season, if it remained even on the sea coast, would
be quite sufficient to deteriorate any cotton.* Among
the thousands of Indian plantations, one can hardly be
found of a perennial kind. In the cleaning, conveying
to the seaports, and final packing for export of Indian
cotton, there are great imperfections. The extreme
badness of the boat, or ugly floating mass of wood
called a patella, in which the cotton is sent to the
general place of shipment, greatly injures its quality.
Huge cotton bales are piled upon it, one over another,
with little protection, during a voyage of four or five

* Dr. Willick does not seem to be aware that all the cotton of
the Southern States of the American Union is the growth of annual
plants.

HUSBANDRY OF COTTON. 133

months^ from the rains so abundant at the season of
conveyance, to Calcutta. Here they arrive in a very
filthy state, and are then subjected to the action of bad
screw presses, very irregularly worked, sometimes by
the power of twenty men and sometimes by that of
fifty. Thus the seeds get incorporated with the damp
cotton and give out their oil, so as to discolour the
cotton, and render it liable to rancidity and mould-
iness.

•Between the cleaned Bombay cottons, and the best
cleaned American upland cottons, there is a very
considerable difference of value in favour of the latter.
The improvement required in Indian cotton is the
introduction of a different seed to which the wool would
adhere less strongly, a more frequent change of seed,
much greater attention to the cultivation, and care in
cleaning, drying, and packing. It ought to be sown
in drills and not broad-cast. The cotton plant at
Bombay is generally an annual with short-stapled
wool and green seeds. It is never cleaned with the
saw-gin, though, being coarse, strong, and adhesive to
the seed, it would require it. The East India Company
never took any measures of consequence to improve
the cottons ; and no lands producing the cotton plant
are in the hands of Europeans.

In the eastern, as well as in the western hemisphere,
the influence of the sea coast on the growth of cotton
seems equally propitious. Dr. Willick brought home
several samples of cotton from the coast of Martaban
to the India House, which were grown near the sea.
They were not exceeded by the cotton of any other
country in the quality of the staple, or the facility of
its separation from the seed. There is a village near

134 NATURAL BISTORT AKD

Maagrole in Kmttywar, whidi produces a soaaM quan*'
tity of very fine cottoa. It i» culdvated hf nativeg^
and grows only on one particular spot of small extent
near the sea eoast

Cotton from the Bourbon seed is grown in India
only near the sea;- when transplanted to Benares^
which is 400 or 500 miles inland, the crop entirely
foiled.

The Dacca cotton^ from which the finest Indnn
nutslins are made, is in small quantity, and fldl con-
sumed in that district. It is quite unknown at Cat-'
outta. The finest of the Chinese cotton is likewbe
produced near the sea.

Two species of cotton, in particular, are cultivated
in the islands of the Indian Ardiipelago, which Mr.
Crawford oalls the gessypitan kerbaceum and gossy^
pittm arbareum, probably more in reference to thetr
size, than to their true botanical characters. It is
remarkable that Java, the most fertile and improved
country of that region, should produce the worst native
cottons. When the cotton shrub is grown in succession
to rice, it yields only one crop, and then perishes from
submersion during the rains. On such marshy lands,
the cotton plant cannot thrive. The seed in the com-
mon cotton of Java is to the wool in the proportkm of
four to one by weight, and adheres much more strongly
to the fibres than the black seed. One person can
clean no more cotton wool from this seed than a pound
and a quarter a-day.

Having detailed the most approved methods of
cultivating cotton, I shall next describe the means by
which it is prepared for the market. ^The first step,
the separation of the wool from the seeds, is effected

BQB8AS3MIT OF COTTOBT. I3S

by the gin or ^iinuag maicldmd, which 10 of tvpo ki]id%
the simple roUer-gin, fig. lOj, aad the saw^-^ figsk 1 1

4Bdl2.

The roller-gin^ as above deseribed by Mr. Spaldiag;
ooimsts of fluted rollers five^eigbths of an inch in daam-
eter^ aiklfrom nine to sixteen indies long, placed paral-
feUy. in a frame which keeps them almost in contact
Were the rollers thid^er or farther apart, they would
crush the seeds, or chraw them through with the cot-
ton wool; whereas they are so adjusted as to pull
through the fibres and exclude the seeds. With
one of these little machines^ a stout man can clean
from thirty to forty pounds of the black seeded
cotton in a day, but the labour is extremely hard.
A pair of such small fluted rollers has been used in
India for this purpose from an ancient period. It is
worked by hand, without the advantage of the ti^eadle
9Bd fly wheel.

In 1820, Mr. Harvie of Berbice, obtained a patent
for an improvement on the roller-gin, which consisted
in the application of a thin long brush to the posterior
surfSftce of the rollers, with the view of preventing ilie
cotton from being carried round about with them, an
accident apt to injure its colour and staple. This
brush may be adjusted by screws attached to the
roller- frame,, whereby its bristles may be brought to
bear with any desdred f(»rce against the rollers.

It is said that the rollers are liable to get very hot
during their rapid rotation, to obviate which, it has
been propcfsed to make them hollow for the free pas-
sage of cool air, or even water. For this contrivance a
patent has been obtained in the United States.

This machine has been occasionally driven by horse

136 NATURAL HISTORY AND

power in Guiana ; but the casual ties arising in the pro-
gress of ginning cotton, have led to the preference of
human labour. When dexterously managed it per-
forms the business of cleaning cotton in a very perfect
manner, without injuring the staple. The principal
objection to it is the small quantity of cotton which it
can clean in a day. This is obviated in some measure
by restricting its use to the Sea-island and other
fine-stapled or black-seeded cottons.

Travellers from Senegal, report that the roller-gins
sent from Paris thither turned off only four pounds of
cotton a-day ; and their labour cost 12 sous pep pound
of cotton, an expense which absorbed all the profits of
the planter. The cause of this trifling product of the
machine may be readily conceived. As the cylinders
possess no elasticity, and as they must close evenly to-
gether to seize the cotton wool, if they are made, from
awkwardness to draw in a little more at any one point,
they are thereby forced asunder, and become ineffective
through the rest of their length.

The coarser and stronger stapled cotton of Upland
Georgia was originally cleaned by the vibrating stroke
of the bowstring, the cord being raised by hand and
suddenly made to recoil upon the seed-cotton. The
force of this impulsion separated the seeds, and opened
up the wool. From this practice, this cotton was called
bowed Georgia. The bowstring is also one of the
ancient implements used by the Hindoos and Chinese
for cleaning cotton wool.' See fig. 2, p. 42.

Till Mr. Eli Whitney invented his saw-gin in 1793,
the wool of the green-seeded cotton could not be sepa-
rated from the seed, unless with a degree of labour
very discouraging to' the growth of that hardy and

HUSBANDRY OF COTTON. 137

productive article. But since that era, this branch of
husbandry has become of paramount importance to the
southern States of the American union. Having spent
a winter in completing his machine, Mr. Whitney
showed a few friends that it could separate more
cotton from the seed in one day by the labour of one
man, than could, be done by the existing methods in a
month. The construction of this instrument was an
event of such consequence as to excite an universal in-
terest in the state of Georgia, where Mr. Whitney then
lived in narrow circumstances, under the roof of a hos-
pitable, friend. Neither the sentiments of justice nor
the fear of the law, could restrain the eager crowds
from breaking into his workshop by night, and carry-
ing off his wonder-working tool. In this dishonour-
able way the public acquired possession of Mr. Whit-
ney's invention before the model was finished to his
mind, and before he could secure the protection of
a patent. Many copies were immediately made from
it with slight variations, in order to evade the patent,
which he obtained soon thereafter.

Thus the inventor of a most ingenious machine was
not suffered to reap in peace a reasonable share of
the fruits of his labours, which proved so beneficial to his
country. He was tormented with the most vexatious
litigations, and though he was soon supported by a
partner possessed of some capital, he was in a few
years well nigh ruined. At length, in the year 1801
the legislature of South Carolina purchased from Mr*
Whitney a patent license for that State for the sum of
5,000 dollars. Next year he disposed of a license to
the State of North Carolina, the legislature of which
laid a tax for five years, of 2^.6d. upon every saw in every

138 KATURAL HISTORY AND

gin that was mounted within their jurisdiction. Some
of these gins contained no fewer than forty saws. This
tax was collected, along with the pubUc imposts, by
the sheriffs, and after the expenses of collection were
deducted, the balance w&s faithfully paid over into thd
hands of the patentee. No small portion of the funds
thus honourably raised in the two Carolinas, was ex<-
pended in carrying on fruitless law-suits against the
piratical invaders of his privilege in the state of Georgia*
"There have indeed," says the American biographer^
" been but few instances where the author of such in-
estimable advantages to a whole country as those which
accrued from the invention of the saw-gin to the
southern states, was so harshly treated and so inade-
quately compensated as Mr. Whitney. He did not
exaggerate when he said, that it raised the value of
these States from 50 to 100 per cent." " If we should
assert," said Judge Johnson, '' that the benefits of this
invention exceed 100,000,000 dollars, we can prove
the assertion by correct calculation."

Whitney had to vindicate not merely his pecuniary
rights, but his character ; fen: attempts were made, as
is usual in such cases, to deprive him of the honour
of the invention. In 1812 he applied to Congress for
a renewal of his patent, representing that he had
been tormented with litigation for eleven years before
his rights were legally recognised, and that thirteen
years out of the fourteen of his privilege had expired
with very little advantage to himself, but very benefi-
cially to the nation ; " for his invention had enabled one
man to do the work of one thousand." The planters of
the southern states so warnaly opposed Mr. Whitney's
application, that it failed of success. Meanwhile this

HU&teANDRT OF COTTON. 139

ingenious man, when he found his hopes blasted of
reaping the fair reward of his saw-gin, betook himself
to the manufacture of fire-arms, and executed several
contracts for supplying the United States' service with
them. Thus the implements of human destruction
enabled him to realize that competency which one of
the most powerful tools of peaceful industry had failed
to procure. ^

The saw-gin consists of a wooden cylinder about/
the size of a weaver's beam, furnished with a series of
circular sayfs, fixed on it at regular distances perpendi-
cular to its^_axis. The machine in its original state
had merely projecting wire teeth, with which it was
apt to tear the filaments into a short nap; it was there-
after mouQted with circular plates of iron serrated at
the edges. These serve to pull the filaments through
a wire grating, the divisions of which are too narrow to
permit the seeds to pass. Though very expeditious in
its performance, and not essentially injurious to ordi-
nary cotton staple, it would be apt to tear the long and
delicate filaments of Sea-island cotton. One saw-gin
can clean about three hundred weight of cotton
in a day. The common roUer-gin has been occasion-
ally made to clean the Upland Greorgian, but it does
not answer so well as the saw-gin in clearing away the
seeds and opening up the wool. The staple of Surat
corresponds in some degree to that of the Upland
Georgian, and should be cleaned with a similar machine^
whereby it would fetch a better price in the market.

Description of the Saw-gin of Whitney,

The principal parts of the saw-gin are two cylinders
of different diameters (see F,H, figs. 1 1 and 12) mounted

140 NATURAL HISTORY AND

in a strong wooden frame. A, which are turned by means
either of a handle or of a pulley and belt, acting upon
the axis of a fly wheel attached to the end of the
shaft opposite to that seen in the section, Jig. 11. Its
endless band turns a large pulley on the end D of the
saw cylinder F, and a smaller pulley upon the end E
of the brush cylinder H,fig. 12, so as to make the latter
revolve with the greater rapidity. Upon the wooden
cylinder F, ten inches in diameter, are mounted, three
quarters of an inch apart, fifty, sixty, or even eighty
circular saws, edged as at I, fig. 11, of one foot dia-
meter, which fit very exactly into grooves cut one inch
deep into the cylinder. Each saw consists of two seg-
ment s of a circle, and is preferably made of hammered
(not rolled) sheet iron ; the teeth must be kept very
sharp. Opposite to the interstices of the saws are
flat bars of iron, which form a parallel grid of such a
curvature that the shoulder of the slanting saw-tooth
passes first and then the point. By this means, when
a tooth gets bent by the seeds, it resets itself by rub-
bing against the grid bars instead of being torn off,
as would happen did the apex of the saw-tooth enter
first. Care must be taken that the saws revolve in
the middle of their respective grid intervals, for if
they rubbed against the bars they would tear the cot-
ton filaments to pieces. The hollow cylinder H, is
mounted with the brushes c, c, c, the tips of whose
bristles ought to touch the saw-teeth, as atd, d, fig. 12,
and thus sweep off the adhering cotton wool. The
cylinder H, revolves in an opposite direction to the
cylinder F, as is indicated by the arrows in fig. 11.

The seed cotton, as picked from the pods, is thrown
into the hopper L, fig. 11 ; the disc-saws, 1, in turning

HU3BANDRT OF COTTON. 141

round, encounter the cotton filaments resting against
the grid, catch them with their sharp teeth, and drag
them inwards and upwards, while the stripped seeds,
too large to pass between the bars, fall through the
bottom, N, of the hopper upon the inclined board M.
The size of the aperture N is regulated at pleasure by
an adjusting screw to suit the size of the particular
species of seeds. The saw-teeth, filled with cotton
wool, after returning through the grid, meet the brushes
c, c, c, of the cyhnder H, and deliver it up to them;

ng. IL— SeoUon a( WliilBe;'! Svf'giD.

142 MATBSAL HISTORY AND

tiiw cotb»i is thereafter whialLed down upon the sloping
table O, and thence faJIs into the receptacle P. A
cover, Q, fig. 11, encloses both the cyliadera and the
hopper ; this cover is turned up round its hinges, (as
shown in fig. 1 1,) in order to introduce the charge of
seed cotton into the machine, and is then let ddwn
before settiug the wheels in geer with the driving,
power. The axes e, e, /,/, of these cylinders (fig. 12)
should be well fitt«d into their plummer box -bearings,
so as to prevent any lateral swagging, which would,
greatly injure their operation. The raised position of
the cover is obvious in fig. 11, the hinge being placed
at B. By means of the saw-gin one man, with the aid
of a water-wheel possessing a two-horse power, can
clean 5,000 pounds of seed cotton in a day, eighty saws
being mounted upon his machine. The cleaned wool
forms generally one-fourth of the weight of the seed
cotton, and sometimes so much as twenty-seven per

Flg.lS^PlanartlMSwiiidBiailiCrliiidencitWtalhiej'iSngiiii. .

HUdBANDRT OP COTTON. 143

cent. The gii^ners are usually a distinct body from the
planters, and they receive for their work one-eighth or
©ne-tenthof the net weight of the cleaned cotton, under
an obligation to supply all the seed required by the
planter.. The owner ^mishes the bags in which the
eotton wool is packed at the mill.

Joseph Eubank, of Kentucky, has proposed to
make the saw-gin still more automatic in its perform-
ance, by supplying the seed cotton not by hand, but
by a feeding-apron, similar to what is employed in
the cotton carding-machines. This apron is destined
to carry forward the cotton at the proper rate towards
tile saw-teeth, where a roller set with iron wire fangs
seizes the cotton, and throws it briskly against the
saw-gin cylinder.

Cotijon wool is now generally condensed into com-
pact bales for facility of transport, by the aid of the
hydraulic press; for which purpose a wooden case is
built up, consisting of several square frames piled over
each other, and then fastened together at the corners
by moveable bolts. This chest frame has the same
dimensions in its area as the base of the bale, but is
of a height about four times greater than the bale, to
admit a sufficient bulk of uncompressed cotton wool.
The bottom is the sill-plate or board of the hydraulic
press, and has grooves cut in it, into which the cords
are laid ; the top of the case touches the top plate of
the press> and whenever that top plate enters a certain,
way into the case by the ascent of the hydraulic piston,
the upper horizontal layer of the frame is removed
by taking out its comer bolts. Presently another is
withdrawn, and so on, till the desired condensation has
been given to the cotton; the bale is now bound hard

144 NATUBAL HISTORY AND

by the cords, and then put into its bag. By this con-
trivance the cotton snfiers such a degree of compres-
sion, that from five to six hundred weight of it may
be packed into a bulk of twelve or thirteen cubic feet
This great condensability of cotton is very fayourable
to the manufacturers of Europe, rendering it transport-
able from America or India, at an expense too incon-
siderable to affect the price of the finer cotton fabrics.
The average gross weight of a bag of cotton from the
United States varies from 330 to 350 pounds, of which
seven pounds belong to the bag.

The freight in general of cotton wool from Georgia
or Carolina to Liverpool varies from one halfpenny to
seven eighths of one penny per pound ; the freight of
cotton from Madras to England is, upon an average,
about Id. per pound ; for the freight of a ton, equiva-
lent to four and a half bales, or to 50 cubic feet, is
about £6, and the weight of the Madras bale is from
two hundred and ninety-five pounds to three hundred.
The freight of Egyptian cotton in a bale compressed
by power is three farthings per pound, and seven
eighths of a penny when the bale has been packed by
manual labour ; the weights of the Egyptian pack-
ages are very irregular, varying from 200 to 400
pounds.

There is no manufacturing district in Europe into
which cotton wool can be imported from the several
parts of the world where it is grown, at an easier rate
than into Lancashire, Lanarkshire, and Renfrew-
shire.

Almost all the cotton wool consumed in the British
manufactures was obtained from the West Indies and
Guiana prior to the year 1794, with the exception of

HUSBANDRY OP COTTON. 145

a little from India and the Levant for the fustian trade,
and a still smaller quantity from the Brails and the
Isle of Bourbon for the finer muslin yarns. The state
of our cotton- wool markets in 1 787 was the follow-
ing:—

British West-Indian Cotton •

• 6,800,000 lbs.

French and S(ianish Colonial .

• 6,000,000

Dutch ditto .

. 1,700,000

Portuguese ditto •

. 2,500,000

Isle of Bourbon • • . .

100,000

Smyrna and Turkey • • •

. 6,700,000

22,800,000

Messrs. George Holt and Co., the eminent cotton-
brokers of Liverpool, give, in their printed statement^
25,600,000 pounds as the quantity annually imported
into Great Britain from the years 1786 to 1790.

The American wool was at first ill cleaned, and was
therefore deemed applicable only to the coarser fabrics ;
but a few skilful spinners soon recognised the excel-
lence of the long-stapled Georgian wool, and eventu-
ally gave it a rank above that of the highly-prized
Bourbon cotton. As the Upland cotton wool was
much more diificult to clean from its seeds, it arrived
in Great Britain in a still dirtier state than the other,
and was therefore regarded for some time with distrust.
But it also, at no distant date, surmounted every pre-
judice, and now constitutes the material of a large
proportion of all the cotton goods manufactured in
Europe. In 1832 the cotton wool of the United
States imported into Europe was 880,000 bales, and
that imported from all other quarters was under
450,000; since which time the production of the
States has been increased, while that of the other cotton

VOL. I. H

146 COTTON-WOOL TRADfi.

districts has been diminished. So long ago as the year
1807, considerably more than 65,000,000 pounds of
cotton must have been raised in the interior of Greorgia,
for Upland wool to that amount was at that time
exported from the United States.

During the war (he. rate of freight was 3j^. to 4d.
a pound ; from Amelia Island and other places it is
now from a halfpenny to five-eighths of a penny, and
sometimes a farthing, according to the greater or less
distance of the port from whence imported. By the im-
proved system of ship-building the ship-owners are
making money at those rates. An American ship was
thought formerly to be a very superior vessel as to model
if she carried 900 pounds to the ton of register, but
they have so far improved within the last twelve years
as to be able to store 2,000 pounds of cotton to a ton
of register, owing partly to the compression of the bags,
but chiefly to improvements in the model of the vessels.
The above rate would not pay British ships upon the
old form of ship-building, which is deep and very short,
whereas the new ones are long as well as deep. The
Liverpool ships of the new construction, however, can
compete with the American. The risk, and conse-
quently the insurance, is less on American ships manned
With Temperance crews, than on British. More than
half the whole import for the States comes now from
the Gulf of Mexico, and it is on the increase.

According to Mr. Bates, the cost of transport of
cotton from New Orleans to Boston, Providence, New
York, and Philadelphia, is about half what it is to Liver-
pool. Also, in the building, equipment, and navigation,
the American ships are more economically conducted
than the English.

COnOK'WOOL TRADE.

147

The Increase in the Gromth af Cotton in the United

States.

Ymn,

1794
1795
1796
1797
1798
1799
1800
1801
1602
1803
1804

1805
1806
1807
1808
1809
1810
1811
1812
1813
1814

1815
1816
1817
1818
1819
1820
1821
1822
1823
1824

COTTON EXPOBTSD.

B«i« of aeo um.

5,340^

20,901
20,355
12,628
31^21)0

NetoAj aU the cfopt weft expofted ia
this period. In 1795 and 1796,
— , — n tome foreign cotton was included
31,774 > in the ratmns of ezpofts.

59,299

Slave pi^nlation in 1790 . 697,000

1800 • 896,000

67,700

91,670

137,018

127,060j

127,966^

122,225

213,148

35,434

169,934

310,871

206,860

96,291

62,030

59, 094 J

These are the quantities ezportedy
and probably include neany the
whole growth, except during the

. years 1812 and 1814, the penod of
war between Great Britain and the
United States.

Slare population in 1810, 1,191,000

303,589
369,800
539,038
588,139
509,600
560,000J

These are accurate, and represent the
entire crops.

Slave population in 1820, 1,538,061

1825 . . 710,000^

1826 . . 937,000

1827 . . 712,000

1828 . . 857,000

1829 . . 976,845
1830-1 . 1,038,847
1831-2 , 987,477
1832-3 . 1,070,438
1833-4 . 1,205,394
1834-5 . 1,254,328)

[Given by Joshua Bates, Esq., to the Committee onManufkctuiee]

Entire crop.

Slave peculation in 1830, 2,010,436

1 48 COTTON-WOOL TRADE.'

The fall in the price of cotton wool has been owing
to the extension of the growth of the cotton plant in the
southern States of the Union, where the lands are more
fit for it, and where it may be produced more cheaply.
Hence the exports from New Orleans bear a much
greater proportion to the exports from Charlestown
and Carolina than they used to do. The freight of
cotton from the southern States of the Union to the
eastern or manu&cturing States may be reckoned at
five-eighths of a cent, including the insurance and other
charges, as from New Orleans, or Mobile, to Boston.
The saving in this particular to the American spinner
is no less than a halfpenny per lb., which, on cotton
worth sevenpence, is equivalent to seven per cent, upcm
its cost. The American manufacturer also saves the
average profits paid by the British manufacturer to the
class of middle-men, commonly called the " cotton im-
porters." The duty in this country of five-sixteenths of
a penny per lb. of cotton wool, becomes, under such cir-
cumstances, an oppressive impost upon its coarse goods.
It is greatly to be lamented that the parent soil of the
cotton plant and of the cotton manufacture should have
been suffered by its British masters to remain so long
without improvement, or rather to become deteriorated
in reference to this valuable article ; and that, virhile
the inhabitants of Georgia and Louisiana are deriving
enormous benefits from this productive agriculture, the
humble ryots of India should be kept in a state of
poverty, to the reproach and loss of our nation, for want
of suitable education and encouragement. Were the
docile peasantry of Hindostan aided in their rural
labours by British enterprise and intelligence, they
might ere long create for themselves and for this

COTTON- WOOL TRADE. 149

country an inexhaustible source of comfort and inde-
pendence. How grossly mismanaged the cotton hus-
bandry was by the residents of the E2a^t-India Com-
pany will appear from the fact that. they made by
: order of Government a trial of the American saw-gin,
the instrument best adapted to their short-stapled
cotton, but without success. The machinery grofind
up the seed with the cotton.* The Surat wool, upon
which this awkward experiment was made, resembles
very closely the Upland Greorgian, and may undoubt-
edly be ginned by that machine, rationally applied^
Mr. Ritchie stated, in his evidence before the Com-
mittee of the House of Commons, that the natives have
no prejudice against any such machinery. Their own
roUer-gin costs 6cJ.; it is turned by hand, cleans the
cotton very, rudely and with great waste of labour; it
takes Uttle strength, indeed, but occupies the whole
time of one person. The cotton must also be subse-
quently cleaned by a bowstring, which breaks it to
pieces. " The, attempts to improve the cotton have not
succeeded. In some of the experiments the cotton
deteriorated very much ; in others the seeds did not
come up well, lliere has been no improvement in cotton
since the introduction of the free trade. It was better
in 1818 and 1819 than it is now. The Company have
taken very trifling measures, not worth mentioning, to
improve it. There is no doubt that it would be im-
proved by greater skill being employed in its cultiva-
tion. There is no reason in the world to suppose that
the cultivation of India might not be improved."! In

* Ritchie — Commons' Report on Indian Affairs, 1830-31.
t Appendix to Report from Select Committee on £. h Company,
1832. p. 468.

150 corroK-wooi. trade.

May, 1830, the Govermnent published regulatiom to
present the adnheratkm of cotton wod, and it has be^
come comparatively clean, though there is no improve-
ment in the cotton itself."*" India is capable of pro-
dudng cotton for the European market, provided there
is a proper appheation of skill and capital to the pro-
duction of the article, in the same manner as in other
countries ; but the unaided skill of the natives is inca-
pable of doing it.

Tlie portkm of the cotton crop destined for the Com-
pany,f as the rent of land, is delivered by the planter to
the collector in the state of seed cotton, being merely
picked out of the pod. Surely this portion, amounting.
On an average, to one-half of the whole crc^, might be
ginned by Whitney's machine if the business were ad*
ministered with the most ordinary discretion, particu-
larly as all the damaged and foul cotton is rejected.
The commercial resident bargained usually fcHr the
remainder of the crop, and therefore, had he not be^
placed above the necessity of eflTort and ingenmty, he
might have organized a system of saw-gin mills similar
to the American.

When the rent of lands became payable in m(mey
in the other presidencies as it had been in that of Bengal,
the cotton husbandry was expected spontaneously to
improve. We wonder only how, under the exaction
and insolence of the fiscal system of seizing the pro-
duce for rent, Guzzerat could export 100,000 heavy
bales per annum. We hope such a liberal policy will
be pursued towards the ryots of Bengal as will enable

* Appendix to Beport from Select Committee on E. I. Company,
1832, p. 468.
t Ibid. '

COTTON-WOOL TRADE. 151

them to improve their cotton husbandry^ as also to*
wards the plantera of Bombay^ whose abject wretched-
ness and ignorance are a disgrace to the British ad-
ministration in that district of India.

Though the general use of cotton garments in ancient
Egypt has been fully disproved by an examination of
the mummy clothes, the successful cultivation of the
plant in modern Egypt has been reaUzed by its enter-
prising ruler, Mahmoud Pacha. The peculiar fitness
of the soil and climate for rearing the gossypium had
no so(»ier occurred to his mind than he commenced
operations with equal vigour and sagacity, and, in the
course of a couple of years from undertaking this
new species of husbandry, he exported no less than
5,623 bales of cotton to England. The wool sent to
this country is of superior quality, is all long-stapled^
the growth of well-selected seed; one species being
cadled Mak6 by the Egyptians, and common Egyptiaa
by the English ; aoiother is named Sennaar in Egypt^
and Sea-island Egyptian in England, as grown from
Georgian Sea-island seed. The average export of cot-
ton from Egypt maybe estimated at from fifty to sixty
thousand bales per annum. The best of it ranks in
value next to the American Sea-island, and in general
quality it is fully equal to the Guyana wool.

A few plants discovered accidentally in a giO'den of
Mako-bey, at Cairo, suggested this profitable branch
of agriculture, and gave the name of Mako cotton to
the samples first sent to England in 1822. During
every subsequent year it has formed an article of im-
portation into this country, and has now acquired con-
siderable importance in Europe.

Loodun.

Liverpool.

01as|^w.

Great
Britain.

Bale*.

Bales.

la 1823

1,277

1,173

2,450

. 1824

10,645

22,622

580

33,807

1825

21,831

80,736

631

103,198

1826

8,115

38,218

—

46,333

. 1827

4,988

14,420

2,310

21,728

^1828

3,820

24,702

2,616

31,138

1829

1,980

22,425

—

24,405

1830

700

11,019

1,865

13,584

1831

8,540

26,487

1,050

36,077

1832

2,837

32,271

5,109

40,217

152 COTTON- WOOL TRADE.

Imports of Egyptian Cotton Wool,

Total m y^^ p^.^^^

3l8t Dec.

d.
Hi per lb.

10|

lOJ

The freight from Alexandria to this country is about
three farthings per pound. The Mak6 is a cotton
compared by some spinners to the Brazil.

It appears, from the narratives of Clapperton and
Landers, that cotton is grown very extensively all over
Africa, and especially along the course of the Niger,
for the purpose of forming articles of clothing to
the natives. No details have yet been obtained con-
cerning the husbandry of the plant, or the manipula-
tions by which its wool is manufactured. The people
of Eboe, and other districts near the mouths of the
Niger, are clothed in Manchester cottons, which they
get in barter for palm oil, ivory, and other native pro-
ducts. What a vast area exists in this quarter of the
globe for reciprocity of trade to Great Britain, whence it
may receive the raw materials, cotton, and dye drugs,
in exchange for their multiform and many-coloured
fabrics!

M. Dortoc, a few years ago, made experiments during
several seasons upon the cultivation of the cotton plant
in the department of the Gironde; but the Govern-
ment of France, after laying out considerable sums of

COTTON- WOOL TRADE. 153

money on the project, abandoned it as hopeless, accord-
ing to the decision of the Committee of Agriculture of
the Societe d'Encouragement, to which it was referred.

For the following general abstract of the cotton wool
trade in 1834-5, 1 am indebted to James Cook, Esq. —

40, Mincing Lane, February 6, 1835.

My Dear Sir, — I herewith forward a table of the
imports of cotton into the continent for 1834, and the
consumption of the United States is 200,000 bales.
I reckon the consumption of all countries to be as fol-
lows, and in this I am confirmed by the opinion of a
friend of mine well capable of judging. You are at
liberty to give my name as the authority for* this state-
ment, if it answers your purpose to do so.

Great Britaio 940,000 bales

France 270,000

Gontiiitnt 220,000

1,430,000
America 225,000

1,655,000
China* (Exports from India) < . 200,000

Total • • . 1,855,000

I am, my dear Sir, yours very faithfully.
To Dr. Ure. James Cook.

Estimate of the probable Growth of Cotton in the Worlds
(^exclusive of Chinas) from the principal Cotton Coun-
tries, for lSSb'\SS6.

Bags and bales of 340 lbs.

India 400,000

Brazils and the West Indies • . 200,000

America 1,300,000

Egypt . 50,000

Levant .•....., 70,000

2,020,000

* The consumption of cotton in China far exceeds this estimate ;
for their own growth, which is almost entirely manufactured by
themselves into cotton fabrics, is of considerable importance.

I. H 5*

154

COTTON-WOOL TRADE.

Cotton — Oreat Britain and the Continent.

IMP0IIT8.

1833.

1834.

•TOCKS*

1833.

1834.

Gfeat Britain • •
Hamburgh • • • •

Biemen •

Amsterdam • • • •
Rotterdam . • • • •

Antweip

Havre ••••

Bordeaux... •••
Marteilles • • . • •

Gtenoa •

Leghorn. ••••••

Triette

930,270

22,700

3,530

7,915

13,862

24,120

210,600

3,944

74,544

13,960

1,200

61,847

949,020

45,188

6,814

13,532

43,785

24,124

201,600

6,682

48,938

15,900

1,950

53,193

1,368,492

1,410,726

215,130

1,985

345

1,290

1,504

4,500

33,920

12,780

2,077

None

12,538

286,150

185,560

4,500

1,406

1,418

200

2,480

22,000

1,063

1,467

None

6,375

226,564

On the Ist of January, 1835, the Stock of Cotton
Wool, in the hands of Dealers and Spinners, was •

Taken out of the Ports for Consumption in the course
of that year

Bags.
63,672

937,616

Supply to the Trade during the year, 1835 . . . 1,001 ,288
Stock in the hands of Spinners and Dealers, 1st January,

1836 .^ • . . . 308,301

Actual Consumption during the year 1835 . • • • 923,000*

* Born'f Commercial Glance.

COTTtW-WOOL TRADE.

Quantity of Cotton Wool imported into England and
Seolland in the following Years.

-C"

of BWI".

ToUl Weight

co'i^rd.

IUl

Ih..

1826 ta 18S7

937.000

33«'

314 831.000

34,770.888

1B97 (D laaa

335J

40.118,803

isas tg ISM

837;?"

3191

18SS » 1830

976,845

310L

3;i!sii

4a'.an',':Qa

1,038,8(8

089 796

e-y.m.Ki

987.177

3S0i

34;

863,819

60,8;3,4M

1.070.138

3B*

0&3.300

68,04*.5S0

1B33» 183*

l,3IIS,3H

3E3(

t».69i

1831 to 183S

l.Si*,3S8

461

100.360

w.aalm

By the George Washington, whi<ii arrived at Liver-
pool on t}ie 10th of February, 1836, advices from New
York were received to the 10th of January, from which
it appears that the quantity of cotton wool exported
during the year 1835 amounted to 370,194,184 lbs.,
valued at the places of exportation at 61,435,746
dollars. Since 1792 the increase In the exportation
from the United States has been nearly two thousand
fold. In 1792 there were exported 138,138 lbs., the
value of which was 32,000 dollars.

156

COTTON-WOOL TRADE.

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COITON-WOOI. TBAIMi.

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COTTON-WOOL TRADE.

169

COTTOV-WOOI. IVAML

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OOTTOM'-WOOL TRADE,

1«7

13.— G^fotrrt of America.

Crop of
1820*1
1821-2
1822-3
1823-4
1824-5
1826-6
1826-7
1827-^

CU 178$.

bags.

430,000
455,000
495,000
560,000
569,259
720,027
957,281
720^593

Crop of

1828-9 • .

1829-30 • •

1830-1 . .

1831-2 • •

183^-3 . .

1833-4 . .

1834-5 • «

bags.

870,415

976,845

1,038,847

987,477

1,070,438

1,205,394

1,254,328

Import iato Liverpool ftoa Amoiiea was enly 5 bagi;
in 1786. 6 bag* j in 1787. 108 bagt.)

Remarks.

ne Tables of Import into the kingdom, eompared with the pre-
ceding year, show an increase of 29,671 American, 39,926 Brasil,
36,444 Egyptian, &c., 28,867 East India, and 5,311 West India,—
^ total, 140,219 bags.

The average weekly eamuiikpiton of Gfeat Britain we eeHmaie at
18^8 bags, coQsistiDg of 5^896 Upland, 7,823 Orleans and Alabama,
' 354 Sea-island, toUl 14,073 American, 2,339 BraxU, 446 Egyptian,
&c., 1,069 East India, and 421 West India, &e^ being an increase
upon the consumption of last year of 781 bags per wedc ; but in
packages of the average weight of the consamption of that year 870
bags per week, or for the whole year an increase of 14| millions of
lbs. weight.

The average weekly qoantity taken by tiie trade from the portt is
5,781 Upland, 7,823 Orleans and Alabama, 844 Sea-islandsy— total
13,948 American, 2,300 Brazil, 465 Egyptian, &c, 1,031 East India,
and 411 West India, &c.,— total 18,155 bags.

The average weight of the import we calculate at 321 lbs. per bag

for Upland, 402 Orleans and Alabama, 322 Sea-island, 173 Brasil,

218 I^ptiau, &c., 360 East India, and 230 West India, ftc, making

. the total import in lbs. weight 361,685,000, being an increase upon

last year of 41,105,000 lbs.

We commenced the present year with the price of fair Uplands at
9^. Under the influence of a good trade, and with the most con-
fident statements of its continuation daily repeated by those most
interested therein, our market gradually rose in price until Jime,
when fair Uplands readily commanded lid.
• Here the market rested for some time.

During the first quarter of the year long-stapled cotton of all dd»

168 COTTON- WOOL TRADE.

icriptions became very low in stock ; to mueh to, that, at about the
beginniDg of May, tome fear of an absolute scarcity wai gravely
tpoken of. The consequence wat comparatively high prices, (Peniams
were then quoted at I6d. to ISd,, and Maranhamt 14c/. to 16)</^) and
that again naturally tended to throw them out of coniumption, by di-
verting the demand in a still greater degree apon the better qualities
of Mobilet and Orleans, as substitutes.

At these raited pricet the market continued for about three months,
consumers abstaining from buying to the utmost of their power, and
the importers and holders daily hoping for a renewal of the demand.
In the mean time orders were sent abroad under the promise of high
prices, and our market soon became heavily stocked with high-charged
cotton, leaving an immense loss on all imports, whether from the
United States, Brazil, India, or Egypt.

The market, however, sustained itself pretty firmly until the dose
of August, when the accumulated weight gradually broke down
prices, until they finally settled at the present rates, being f <i. lower
for fair Uplands than at the close of last year, and 1 \d, for inferior.
The good quality of the new crop is at about the tame rate — rather
lower.

It may be noticed that the state of the market before adverted to^
with regard to long-stapled cotton, brought about its own remedy,—
reduced consumption, and increased import, until Brazils, Egyptians,
&c., have settled at comparatively very moderate rates.

We have thus endeavoured briefly to sketch the changes in the
market of this great staple, referring with much satisfaction to the
subjoined tables for a proof of the continued progress and steady in-
crease of the manufacture of this article.

We made a short remark on this subject in our printed circular of
24th July, stating the probable increased consumption at 1,000 bags
per week. With every desire to estimate the increase at as low a rate
as we can, conformably with the stocks, imports, &c., we now find we
cannot rate the increased consumption at less than 870 bags per
week, of the average weight of last year.

With respect to the raw material, the great objects to be desired
are, that the prices on the one hand should be sustained at such a
rate as to continue an abundant supply, and, on the other, that they
should not rise to such a pitch as to repress consumption.

Speculators have not taken any great interest in our market during
this year.

Qeorqe Holt & Co., Broker**
Liverpool, ZUt December, 1835.

BOOK III.

ORIGIN, PROGRESS, AND PRESENT STATE OF THE MANU-
FACTURE OF COTTON BY MECHANICAL POWER.

CHAPTER I.

Early History of the Factory System.

The general survey of the cotton manufacture por-
trayed in Book I. exhibits no systematic character,
but betrays the tottering and wayward steps of infant
industry. The labours of artisans were insulated or
partial efforts prompted by immediate necessity, and
liable at every instant to be arrested or turned into a
new direction by belligerent rulers, regardless of the
wishes and interests of the community. But Provi-
dence, meanwhile, had been preparing a great revolu-
tion in the social frame, which has become mature only
in these latter days; teaching mankind by a series of
severe lessons, that poverty and wretchedness were the
inevitable results of military pride and glory ; and that
national dignity and happiness were to be found only in
the friendly concurrence of many different kingdoms
towards the creation, interchange, and distribution of
the various objects, material and intellectual, which con-
duce to the well-being of our race.

In reference to this devout consummation, the annals
of humanity are divisible into four eras, each of them
characterized by peculiar attributes. The^r^^ epoch
was marked by the development of the beautiful in

VOL. I. I

170 EARLY BISTORT OF

fonn, sentiment^ and expression. From the liberal
encouragement given to men of genius in Greece,
while Pericles administered the Athenian state, this
brilliant period of history is deservedly designated by
his name. Models of architeeture, statuary, poetry,
and popular eloquence of such perfection then ap-
peared, as have never been rivalled since, and will
probably remain inimitable studies to every coming
age. The intolerance of party ^irit in Greece, mis-
called patriotism, while it bent the faculties of its
citizens to their utmost strain, and drew forth those
masterpieces of invention, encouraged at the same
time, pride, envy, hatred, and licentiousness to a pitch
incompatible with peace or stability, and ere long
involved their country in a ruin which centuries have
shown to be irretrievable.

There was in truth an • eflSorescence of glory upon
the summits of society in Athens, while a canker worm
was gnawing- the roots. Idleness and insolence were
the badges of its citizenship. Attica was peopled with
400,000 slaves, but recognised only 20,000 freemen
entitled to bear arms. The slaves cultivated the land,
exercised the mechanical arts, worked in the mines,
dug in the quarries, and performed every kind of
menial drudgery. Petty rival communities so consti-
tuted could neither accumulate capital, nor secure for
a series of years, the means of independent livdihood.
Their most considerable citizens were for the most part
worse clothed, worse fed, and less comfortably lodged
than the tradesmen of England at the present day.

The second great epoch of civilization commenced
when the Roman arms, by framing the discordant
nations round the Mediterranean shores into one

TUB FACTOitr fTiTSM. 171

submissiTe empire^ prepared a highway for the mis*
sionaries of Galilee to propagate with miraculotts
powers the philauthropie system of their dinne M aster^
and to substitute for the redcless virtue deified by the
Stoics the evangelical doctriae> that all must seek their
own well-being by promoting the well-being of other%
because mankind are one brcrtlierhood of immortal
spirits, precious in the sight of their heavenly Parent^
and candidates ot a conmion salvation. The perfect
equality in social rights of men of every rank and of
every nation was now publicly declared upon infallible
authority ; and though this principle has had to con*
tend at every period, and in every state, with the pre-
rogatives of pride and the follies of prejudice under a
thousand different forms, yet ever since its evangelic
promulgation, it has been steadily gaining ground, and
widening its benign influence throughout the world.
In the course of a few generations it destroyed the dis«
tinction between the master and the slave, which had
disfigured every ancient commonwealth, and thereby
proved that productive industry was the duty of all
men without exception.

The leading features of the third epoch are the wide
diffusion of knowledge among all classes of society, by
the invention of the printing press, and the free inter-
course of nations from the general use of the mariner's
compass in navigation. The stores of learning, hitherto
accessible to a &voured few, were now laid open to the
many, rich as well as poor, with unsparing distribu*
tion. Distant communities, strangers to those petty
jealousies which usually lead neighbouring people to
hate and harass each other, were brought into friendly
relations by the directive polarity of the mystic needle.

I 2

172 EARLY HISTORY OP

The commodities of one country were prized in another in
proportion to their rarity as well as usefulness ; whence
home manufactures and foreign traffic were mutually
promoted. Now Venice, Genoa, Florence, and Pisa,
emerging first from the miseries of Vandalism, became
emporia of great wealth and consideration ; by the
accumulation of capitals unparalleled in ancient times,
they could command the industry of remote nations,
and the homage of absolute kings. From this period,
conmiercial expeditions began to be fitted up at great
expense for the most distant parts of the globe, and their
profitable returns were waited for with confidence from
one season to another.

ITie influence of freedom in favouring the develop-
ment of productive industry was Ukewise wonderfully
exemplified in the rapid aggrandisement of Lubeck
and the other towns of the Hanseatic League, at a
period when the great monarchies of Europe, patrons
of the restrictive and monopolist system of trade, could
not find funds to equip a small armament for a brief
campaign, except by placing the crown jewels in pledge
with money lenders.

The fourth era, or that of consummation, began when
the operative classes, having become the disciples of
science, and studious of the laws by which creative
wisdom regulates the material system, resolved to
enlist the latent powers of nature in their service.
Many of these marvellous powers had been for years
familiar to the philosophers of the school of Newton ;
but they were not diligently pondered by practical
men for the purpose of applying them to the business
of life till the middle of the last century. No experi-
ment ever contributed so inuch to popularize natural

THE FACTOBT SYSTEM. 173

knowledge^ or ever shed so bright a halo round its
author's head^ as that of the electrical kite^ when Ben*
jamin Franklin, by no random hit, but in consequence
of a most sagacious and elaborate train of researches^
dared to interrogate the thunder-cloud as to its awe-
inspiring essence, to draw down its terrific bolt in a
stream of lambent fire, and to make it the subject of
sportive shocks and illuminations. The oriental
fabulists in their wildest luxuriance of fiction never
matched the real exploit of the sage of Philadelphia
— stealing lightning from the heavens, and impri-
soning it — in a phial. As the feeblest flame may
kindle the mightiest conflagration, so these few sparks
of celestial fire were ordained to be the means of
lighting up the hallowed flame of freedom in the most
corrupt monarchy of Europe, and of inducing multi-
tudes of votaries to do homage in the temple of
science, who would otherwise have never entered her
gates. The noble discovery of the identity of light-
ning and conunon electricity, surmised by many minds
before, but first intrepidly proved by Franklin, gave
him, when ambassador for his mother country, an
influence in the despotic court of France most propi-
tious to the establishment of the American BepubUc.

Franklin was not, however, the sole agent then
employed by Providence to inspire the man of business
with the love of philosophical research. He indeed led
the van of the illustrious train who were devoting them*
selves with generous assiduity to explore the dark
recesses of nature, in order to extort her secrets, to
obtain the mastery of her powers, and to make them
minister to the weakness and the wants of their fellow
creatures.

174 BABt.T BISTCmT OF

Three individuals weiie then mattiring in the city of
Glasgow fiunilties destined not only to open up inex-
haustible resources to their own country^ but to add
indefinitely to the wealth and comfort of the whole
family of man. These were Joseph Blacky James Watt>
and Adam Smith. The first of these philosophers
had^ within a few years after Franklin's grand experi*
m&nty made his important discovery of the existence of
a fixed air in marbles and other calcareous stones>
which came forth in an dastic state when they were
calcined into quicklime. This was one of the early
blossoms of that pneumatic chemistry^ which has
yielded since so rich a harvest of truths in every dis-
trict of the animal^ vegetable^ and mineral kingdoms.
Continuing to pursue the links of that hidden chain
which binds together the apparently incoherent events
of the physical world. Black next proceeded to search
out the laws of latent heat.

When we now look back into these inquiries, so
simple in statement, so conclusive in proof, and so vast
in consequence, we cannot help feeling astonished at
the carelessness with which the c^Higelaition of water
and the melting of ice^ as well as the generation and
condensation of steam, had been regarded by all pre-^
ceding observers, whether learned or unlearned. It was
reserved for the sagacious hand of Black to seize the
mystic links of the phenomena, to place them tor evet
within the reach of man, and to enable him to dispose
of them at pleasure, in modifying matter for the uses of
art, or in exploring still further her muttiform trans-
mutations. His first achievement was to make us
fitmiHar with (me invisiUe spirit — a specific kind of
aerial substance ; his second was to disclose the constitu*

THB FA.CTORT ST8TBM. 175

ti0U of aerial being in g^ieral^ and its relations with
the solid and liquid forms of existence.
. James Watt had a kindred mind^ and was pursuing
independently a kindred train of research on the mys-
terious powers of lieat, though with less general^ or
rather with more directly practical, views. He had
turned his attention minutely to the steam engine,
which for nearly sixty years before his time had
essentially remained the same rude and unwieldy pro-
digy which Newcomenhad conjured up, though it had
been often modified in outward appearance. Towards
the general enlargement of his mind. Watt had
undoubtedly derived profit from the public lectures of
Black, which he occasionally attended, though he was
by no means a regular student ; but he was not
indebted to the professor of chemistry for his ideas on
the latent heat of steam, as has been sometimes said.
This statement I make on the authority of a conversa-
tion I had with Mr. Watt himself, a few years before
his death. Benjamin Franklin made use of a phial to
receive the fire of lightning, and to verify its analogies
with the common electricity of the charged Leyden
jar. James Watt also made use of a phial to demon-
strate both the latent heat and the expansible tension
of the vapour of water.* If we call to mind the sorry
p%ht in which this great mechanician found the steam- -
engine, and the. condition to which in a few years he
brought it, both as to principle and execution, ready to
drain the deepest mine, to animate the greatest
&ctory, to fly along the railway, or to march with
giant strides over the crested billows, we must regard

* Commmaetied. io me in the conrersation alluded to above. '

176 EARLY HISTORY OF

the author of this application of science as no secondary
star in the constellation then ascendant

In reviewing the golden dawn of modern civilization^
we must not however fail to mention with dtt6 reve-
rence the name of Adam Smith, that master-spirit who
first expounded with systematic perspicuity the science
of social comfort, — the art of turning the industry of
nations to the best account, or, in other words, the
principles of the production, the distribution, and the
consumption of wealth.

To the same brightening era the mode of finding the
longitude of a ship at sea may be justly referred.
The mariner's compass, which on its first introduction
was hailed by the navigator as an unerring guide in
the trackless deep, had, in the course of the distant
voyages to which it led, betrayed many strange aber-
rations. *' True as the needle to the pole " still continues
with the multitude a favourite illustration of constancy,
though the needle has been proved by old experience
to be as fickle and faithless in its attachment to that
point in the heavens as the living objects it has been
compared to are to theirs. Upon a few favoured spots
indeed of the terraqueous surface the needle does tra-
verse due north and south, but everywhere else it
deviates fron^ that direction by angular quantities
which differ not only in different parts, but in the
same part in different years.

Science had not been an inattentive spectator of the
embarrassments caused . to the navigator by these
variations of the compass^ Astronomy had long ago
taught him to determine the latitude of the ship, or its
distance counted in a line due north or south from the
equs^tpr, whereby he coiild deduce from time to thne

THE FACTORY SYSTEM. 177

the declination of his needle ; but she reserved her
chief gift to crown the period under review.

The great problem of the longitude was now prac*
tically solved^ first by means of chronometric me*
dianism^ and afterwards by lunar observation. Each
method has been eventually brought to a pitch of per-
fection highly honourable to our age and nation^ and
both together give a security and promptitude to naval
enterprise, which even the confident spirit of Columbus
would have deemed unattainable.

The same age in which the imion of science and art
vras thus happily consummated fortunately found
society, in Great Britain at least, prepared, by the
accumulation of capitals during a long period of peace
and security, to cherish their prolific oflfepring, and to
rear them up to a productive maturity.

I shall now draw the attention of my readers to a
few events contemporary with the above, which mark
the rising spirits of the time — the harbingers of the
great factory system of Lancashire — the main subject
of the present work.

In the year 1753 Parliament originated the British
Museum by the purchase, 1st, of Sir Hans Sloane*s
cabinet of natural history, &c., for £20,000; 2dly,
of the Cottonian library for £10,000; and, 3dly, of
Montague house, for the reception of these and such
other collections as might be added. The money
required for these excellent purposes was raised, how-
ever, by the mean and immoral expedient of a lottery
of £300,000 in 6ne hundred thousand tickets of £3
each. £200,000 were given in prizes, and £100,000,
after deducting the expenses of the lottery, were
reserved for the Museum. Such was the beginning

I 3

178 KABET HISTOaT OP

tt the onlj scientific establishment erected l^ the
government of Great Britain. Fortunatdy the better
spirit which animates the Administratioin and Paifia-
ment of modem times> promises ere long to make the
mean origin of the Museum be forgotten in the magni-*
ficence of its completion.

The British Linen Company, incorporated at Edin-
burgh by Act of Parliament in the year 1746, was
greatly instrumental in the extension of that and the
other manufactures of Scotknd. Hiey advanced ready
money to diligent trades-people for their goods, and
thus enabled them to carry on their usefid toils. In
the (y>ur8e of twenty years that manufacture increased
from the annual value of £166,000 to £334,000, a
prodigious amount of bu^ness for that poor country at
that time.

The linen trade of Ireland assumed an equally flou-
rishing state. At the accession of William III.,
Ireland did not export to the value of £6,000, whereas
hi 1741 it exported annually £600,000 worth of linen
goods. '*No women," says Sir Wflliam Temple^
<' are apter to spin linen thread well than the Irish,
who, labouring little m any kind with their hands,
have their fingers more supple and serf! tiian other
women of the poor condition among us." We shall
find in this circumstance one of the causes of the
development of the cotton trade of Lancashire. The
flax machinery of Leeds has now nearly supplanted
the apt spinsters of Ireland, but it has in return sup-
plied them with abundance of gooft and cheap linen
yarn to weave in their domestic looms. In 1759;
Ireland exported £939,562 sterling worth of linen;
and Scotland stamped to the value of £451,390.

THS EACTQBY 8TS1B1I. 179

' The c^uml of the Duke of Bridgewater is a ^lendid

adiieTOne&t of this period. This noUeman had the

honour of rendering inland navigation an object of

universal interest^ and of inducing capitalists to cuki-

yate this ample field of private revenue and publio

improT^nent. The enterprise was eminently sue-

cesslEul^ the Duke having wisely entrusted its execution

to a man of remaricable genius for (»mals^ Jamfs

]&indley. The scoffers of that time^ who nick-named

his lofty aqueduct over the Irwell^ a cootie in the cur^

had reason ere long to be ashamed c^ their narrow-

minded sarcasms ; for a boat passed along it, sailing

ova* the river at an elevation of thirty^eight foet, in

July^ 176L This is the most magnificent work of

public utility ever executed by an individual, one

which has proved an inestimable benefit to the

industry of England, more especially to the counties

of Laneadnre and Qieshire, which it traverses. Ihe

edUm trade of England is under peculiar obligations

to this truly patriotic capitalist. Hb liquid highway

sends arched ramifications of considerable kngth even

tmder the town erf Mandiester; from one of which

coals are hoisted by a coal-gin, through a shaft, out of

the boats b^w, into a large store-yard in the main

street At this place the successors of the Duke wei^e

by Act (^ Parliament bound to supply the inhabitants

€^ Manchester with coals at only 4d, per cwt. of

140 lbs.; a circumstance which mui^ have had an

immense influence in expanding their industry during

the last seventy-five y ^trs. The canal ccnttains seventy

Boiles of levd, many extensive tunnels, several nobk

aqueducts, and cost little less than half a millicm of

fiKHiiey. Thus Lancashire was providentially sup*

180 EARLY BISTORT OF

plied, at a most critical period^ with a great arterial
trunk and numerous branches^ to supply its industry
with vital warmth and circulation^ as also to open up
channels of commercial intercourse with the eastern
and western seas.

The decriers of the Duke (for eminent. virtue is sure
to breed envy in sordid minds) had the folly to object
to Ins scheme^ that canal navigation would greatly
diminish the numbers of the useful and noble, breed of
draught horses. What, however, has been the result?
The breeding of tens of thousands more to meet the
demand for them created by the vast improvements in
the husbandry^ manufactures, and conunerce of the
canal districts of Lancashire and Cheshire-:-not to
mention the numbers employed in dragging the boats
which soon after its completion began to cover its sur-
face. It was also objected that inland navigation
would lessen the coasting trade, injure this nursery of
seamen, and thus impair the navy. How has experience
put the croakers to scorn ! In the year 1760, just before
the Bridgewater canal was completed, the shipping
cleared out of the English ports amounted to 471,241
tons. In 1790, when a great part of England was
intersected by canals, after the example of the Bridge-
water enterprise, the tonnage had become 1,379,329,
being very nearly trebled. Canals are in fact a con-
trivance to enable one horse to transport as great a lot
of merchandise as thirty could do on a good. road, or
fifty on an indifferent one. And how expensive are
roads to maintain in comparison of canals ! Brindley's
thoughts ^were so engrossed with the value of canals,
that he said the main use of rivers was to supply them
with water, Mrs. Barbauld has alluded to this idea

THE FACTORT SYSTEM. 181

in the following couplet of her beautiful poem on canal
navigation :

The ductile streams obey the guiding hand^
And social plenty ciicles round the land.

The water-ways of England now radiate from six
central points — Manchester^ Liverpool, Birmingham,
Hull, London, and Bristol, furnishing such easy
commercial transport that each of these emporia of
trade participates in the ingenuity and opulence, not
only of the other five, but of all the interjacent
counties. Their produce, however ponderous or
unwieldy, is circulated through these numberless
artificial channels with economy, security, and
promptitude.

The railways now constructing in so many directions
throughout Great Britain, will form an invaluable
complement to canal navigation, and render the whole
island one compact and continuous mart of industry.

In 1762, Mr. Harrison received from the Board of
Longitude a further sum of £1,500, and next year from
Parliament £5,000, on condition that he should disclose
the principle on which his time-keeper was constructed.
The government promised to pay him the remainder
of the great reward of £20,000 if on further trials in the
course of four years his chronometer should still be
found capable of ascertaining the longitude within the
required limits of exactness. Never was national
munificence more wisely bestowed, for it excited an
ardour of improvement in mechanics, in practical as*
tronomy, and in navigation which soon brought the
solution of the grand problem of the longitude to a
state of simplicity and precision greater than Newton

182 SARLT BISTORT OP

himself could have anticipated. Harrison received
eventually the whole of the £20,000.

If we consider the contemporaneous dawn of chemi-
cal art then enlightened by scientific principles, we shall
find here also a most auspicious omen of the new age
f industry. In 1763, Josiah Wedgwood produced
the first fine specimens of his pottery, a production
destined very soon to give a fresh impulsion to the na,*
tional resources, and add fresh laurels to the &me of
England. Prior to his time, our stoneware manufac-
ture had moved round in a vulgar routine, estranged
alike from philosophy and the fine arts. Wedgwood
first procured it this noble alliance, whereby he raised
it in a few years to supreme estimation, not only among
his countrymen, but among all people who could
appreciate taste and excellence. In spite of the heavy
duties imposed upon his goods by foreign governments
jealous of our rivalry in trade, no less than five-sixths
of the English pottery made with these improvements
were exported. The distinguished French traveller
and savant Faujas Saint-Fond, thus speaks of Wedg-
wood's manufacture. '^ Its excellent woriunanship, its
solidity, the advantage whidi it possesses of standing
the action of fire, its fine hard glaze impenetrable by
strong acids, the beauty, convenience, and variety of its
forms, and its moderate price, have created a commerce
so active and so universed that in travelling from Paris
to Petersburgh, from Amsterdam to the furthest point
of Sweden, and from Dunkirk to the southern extremity
of France, one is served at every inn upon Ekiglish
stone-ware. The same fine article adorns the tables
of Spain, Portugal, and Italy ; it provides cargoes for
ships in the East Indies, the West Indies, and America."

TBR PACTORT SYSTEM. 188

He jwoperiy ascribes that excellence and eeonomj,
which rendered these manufactured objects the desire
of aH civilised countries^ to the chemical and classkal /
grenius of Wedgwood. What a contrast does the
trareUer from Dunkirk to Marseilles now find in tlw
wretched quality of the stoneware placed before him
at the inns^ in ccmsequence of the French government
ecmtiBuing to act upon the barbarian polity of Bona-
parte, which renounces all the comforts derived to their
peoj^ £rom commercial interchange widi their neigh-
bours^ in order to discourage^ and^ as far as possible, to
destroy, the productive industry of every non-tributary i
naticui!

The relative influences of internal peace and internal
war on the credit of nations, ware strongly contrasted
in the comparative soundness of tl^ English capitalists^
and unsoundness of the continental, at the tenpnaticm
of the seven years' contest of 1763 ; nor can there be a
doubt, that our stability at this crisis proved most pro-
pitious to the rapid growth of the new modes of cc^ton
spinning dien coming into play. The £a,ilures which
luqppened at this period in Holland, Hamburgh, and
Beo^i spread dismay through every commercial town
on the continent, and called forth most despondent
fetters on the subject from the bankers of Amst^am
to those of London. A noble opp(»rtunity now oc-
curred to British merchants dS manifesting the extent
of their capitals, the solidity of their credit^ and the
generosity of their spirit They remitted loans without
security to their foreign correspondents, whose condition
was deemed precarious by the rest of the commercial
world, to a very great amount ; and by this means
haj^fnly^aUayed the pank which had begun to paralyze

184 EARLY HISTORY OP

many houses well known for integrity in their transae*
lions. Vast remittances were made to the commercial
cities where the deepest distress was found to prevail
by many of the lecding firms of London^ and they
were liberally seconded by the Bank of England dis«
counting an immense number of bills of exchange.
*' If the resources of Britain," says Chalmers, *' arise
chiefly from the labour of Britain, it may be easily
shown, tlvat there had never existed in this island so
many industrious people as after the return of the
peace in 1763."*

The institution of the Society, in the Adelphi, for the
Encouragement of Arts and Manufactures, ought, per-
haps, to have had an earlier notice in tracing out the
foundations of the new system of automatic industry,
but this patriotic body, though it was incorporated in
1754, in imitation of similar societies previously organ-
ized in Dublin and Edinburgh, exercised but a feeble
influence upon pubUc improvement till several years
after its origin. In fact, such powerful pecuniary
means were not placed at its disposal by the govern-
ment, as were possessed respectively by the Irish and
Scotch societies for promoting their great indigenous
occupations of the linen trade and the fisheries.

We may also mention here a circumstance which
operated very strongly to throw the balance of in-
dustry at this time in favour of Great Britain, against
the rival pretensions of France. The French govern-
ment, by reducing, in the year 1770, th^ interest on
its national debt to one-half of the stipulated ratd
and also by depriving the holders of its stock of the

« Chalmers's Estimate of the Commercial Power, &e., p. 136.

THB FACTORY SYSTEM. 185

benefits of survivorship^ brought great distress upon
their whole country. This arbitrary act of public
plunder not only ruined many thousands of private in-
dividuals^ but gave such a vital blow to general credit,
as to cause an immense number of bankruptcies^ dis-
organizing trade and manufactures with wide-spread
misery. One house at Marseilles became insolvent for
20,000,000 livres.*

Many causes concurred to prevent the formation in
the several states of Germany of any great fectory
system. Under the influence of jealousies and en-
mities each of them imposed fiscal restrictions on the
sale of his neighbours' goods in the interior, and also
obstructed their transit in search of foreign markets.
Mining was the only department of industry which was
permitted to assume a manui^cturing extent, because it
supplied the governments with resources in the sale of
metals to the circumjacent people for making imple-
ments of husbandry and of the arts ; yet even it was
embarrassed by frivolous regulations. Germany has
besides had the misfortune for ages to be the battle-
field on which the sovereigns of Europe chose to settle
the quarrels of their animosity and ambition; and
could not therefore present to capital the security and
repose essential to the development of industrious com-
binations.

Great Britain, on the other hand, has enjoyed admir-
able opportunities for cultivating productive industry and
trafi&c on the greatest scale ; perfect security from exter-
nal invasion and from int^nal misrule, during more than
a century; free intercourse between its several provinces

* Macphenon, Tol. iii. p» 497«

180 EARLY HI8T0&T OB

at home facilitated by fine roads and canals; and with,
its colonies abroad and other distant nations by my-
riads of merchants' ships sailing every sea under the
protection of a triumphant navy. Thus the produc-
ttoi^ of every dime were abundantly supplied either
to gratify taste and encourage consumption^ or to fur-
nish raw materials to the mechanical and chemical
arts. Nor ought we to place in the back ground of

' the picture its inexhaustible mines of the useM metals^
most advantageously worked by its fire instinct steam-
engines^ and cheaply smelted by its boundless stores of
pit-coaL But^ certainly^ nothing has so directly con-
tributed to the pre-eminence of Great Britain in manu-
factures as her race of laboribus> skilful^ and inventive
artisans> cherished as they have been by the institutions
of a free country^ which opened to the possessors of
talents and knowledge^ in however humble a station^
the amplest career of honour and fortune to stinmlate
effort and dignify success. The reformation of reli^

^ gion^ in spreading knowledge through the middle and
lower classes of society^ has distinguished the Protestant
popidation even in Catholic countries for their superior
skill in the useful arts ; a fact illustrated in a remarkable
manner at the revocation of the edict of Nantes, when
Protestantism, being banished from France, drew away
manufactures in its train, and enriched all those neigh-
bouring states which gave the conscientious exiles
shelter and protection. The number of holidays in
Catholic countries has always proved a great obstacle
to fiu^ry labour, which more than any other form of
industry cannot brook interruption or suspension with*
out serious injury to the machines, and to the quality
of the workman^iip.

THS FACSTORT STSTBIf. 187

Ib many districts of England a most laudable zeal
to encourage llie arts prevailed at an early period of
their growth. Thus the warden and fellows of Man*
chaster College, inwder to lead ingenious strangers to
settle in their town^ granted them, nearly two centuries
ago, the benefit of their extensive woods to cut timber
for Qonstructing their looms, as well as for fuel, at the
trifling annual charge of 4g?. each. The pre-eminence
of Lancashire in manu&ctures soon after Elizabeth's
accession is well marked, by an Act of Parliament in the
mghth year of her reign, for regulating the aulneger^
or clotli-measurer, an officer originally created by
Richard I. The aulneger is here empowered to ap-
point and have his lawful deputy within every of the
several towns of Manchester, Rochdale, Blackburn, and
Bury in the said county. How completely these
marts of industry are the offspring of nature may be
inferred from the cirumstance, that they continue to
maintain at the present day nearly the scale of impor-
tance indicated by the above order of enumeration.

Whether the fustians mentioned by Giucciardini
were a pure cotton fabric or a mixture of cotton with
wool or linen is now very uncertain, but it was most
probably an Italian or Spanish invention, introduced
into Antwerp in the course of trade, and thence made
known t4> the industrious weavers of Ghent, by whom
it was extensively manufactured. From the Nether-
lands it was brought over into England by the reli-?
gibus refugees, who were mostly artisans ; several of
whom settled at Bolton and Manchester. This im-
portant branch of business cannot be traced farther
back than the conclusion of the sixteenth century.
There can be Httle doubt that the warp of fustians was

188 EARLY HISTORY OF

generally linen yam ; a circumstance accordant with
the testimony of Roberts in his Treasure of Traffic,
already referred to.

This compound manufacture continued to flourish
in Bolton, Leigh, , and other small towns in Lanca-
shire ; the fabrics being sold chiefly at Bolton in an
unbleached state to the Manchester dealers, who got
them finished before they sent them into the general
market. Curious names, more or less characteristic of
the aspect or texture of the stuffs, were given to them by
the weavers ; such as herring-bones, pillows for pockets^
and outside wear, strong cotton ribs and barragon,
broad-raced linen thicksets and tufts, with whitened
diapers, dimities, and jeans. At an after period,
another style of goods became popular under the more
appropriate titles of cotton thicksets, goods figured in
the loom or draw-boys, (named from the draw-boys by
whose assistance they were woven,) cottons, velvets,
quiltings, velveteens, strong or fancy cords, and coun-
( terpanes. This business derived its raw material
chiefly from the Levant and from Ireland ; the former
supplying cotton and also some cotton yarn for wefts,
the latter linen yarn for warps.

In the early part of the eighteenth century. Dr.
Stukely describes the trade of Manchester as incre-
dibly large, consisting greatly in fustians, girth-webs,
tuckings, tapes, &c., which were dispersed all over the
kingdom and to foreign parts.*

The imports of cotton wool from the end of the
seventeenth century till the middle of the eighteenth
seem, however, to have remained in a stationary con-

* Itinerarium Curiogunu

THE FACTORY SYSTEM. 189

dition. In fact, the quantity was only 24,000 or
25,000 pounds less than 2,000,000 in each of the
years 1697, 1701, and 1720. But m 1730 it had fallen
down to little more than 1,500,000, and in 1740 it
was only one million and two-thirds. In 1750 it rose
to about 3,000,000, and in 1764 it amounted to nearly
4,000,000, betokening the auspicious noon -day of the
cotton-trade of England. The importation of cotton
wool was greatly kept in check by the large importa«
tion of East Indian cotton goods, which continued with
fluctuations during the whole of the eighteenth century,
with the exception of a short period towards its close,
after the application of the machinery of Arkwright to
spin warp, and that of Crompton to spin weft for muslin
yarn in general.*

Since the average annual import of cotton wool was '
considerably under 2,000,000 pounds during the first
half of that century, and since a good deal of it was
spun into candle wicks, the spinning of cotton yam would
seem to have remained almost stationary during that
long period, in consequence of the quantities of Indian
yam sold by the East India Company and of cottons
introduced by contraband.

It is not, however, fair to place to the credit of cotton
alone the main value of the fustians, and the other so
called cotton-stuflFs then manufactured in Lancashire,
since the warp, which is the more valuable portion of
the web, was always made of linen yarn. The cotton
business, therefore, of Manchester, till Arkwright fur-
nished it with cottonwater-twistforwarp,in lieu of linen-
yarn, was a mongrel manufacture, and should hardly
be admitted to form an integral part of a history of the
cotton trade; because any value assigned to it is
* See Note B at the end of the Toluxne.

190 SAELT msTOKT or

chiefly due to the flax constituent. The cotton w^
was undoubtedly a yarn of a moet irregular and indif-
ferent quality, as we may infer from the urgency with
which it was sought after, and the avidity with which
it was bought up by the weavers from spinsters of
every degree of skill.
/ Of the coarse quality of British cotton goods we
have a remarkable evidence even so late as 1775, in a
proposal then made in Scotland to enact a sumptuary
law, or, failing that sapient scheme, to establish in
Edinburgh a patriotic association, for the purpose of
discouraging the ladies from wearing the cotton robes
of India. ^' While the industrious inhabitants <^
Glasgow and Paisley were lately exerting themselves
to improve, bring to perfection, and extend the manu-
factures of cambric and lawn, (flax febrics,) the greater
part of the women in Scotland were wearing muslin, a
fabric of India ; nay^ so great is the influence of &shion,
that the very wives and daughtoiiijof these men were
wearing this exotic themselves ! Surely we are void of
thought!!!"* To counteract this absurdity in the
Scottish ladies of wearing these foreign robes, because
they were cheaper, more durable, and more becoming
than their country-peoples' webs, a national society was
proposed to be founded for shaming down these anti-
patriotic habits ii| the ladies, and for black-balling all
the gentlemen who should continue to keep company
with the refractory fair in muslin raiment.

The first cotton goods of English make in which ti»
warp was cotton were manufoctured at Derby, in
1773, by Messrs. Strutt and Need, the partners <rf
Arkwright, with some of his peculiar water-twist yam.

* Gibson's Histoiy of Glasgow, p. 253*

THE FACTOUT SYBTBS/ 191

But^ after they had censed a ccmsiderable quantity of
these genuine British calicoes to be woven^ they dis-
covered that an existing XaWy/br the encouragement of
the arts, imposed on such goods when printed double
the duty of that chargeable upon mixed fabrics of linen
and cotton. The same sapient law prohibited the sale
of these home-made calicoes in the home market.

It required a long and expensive application to die
Legislature to procure the repeal of these preposterous
enactments. Such a composite web as that required
by^w could not take an uniform tint, on account of
the unequal affinities which linen and cotton have for
mordants and colouring matters, and therefore should
never have been favoured with that impolitic preference
which undoubtedly obstructed the improvement of
calico printing. It was probably meant to prevent the
printing of Indian white goods for home consumption.

The following account of this Repeal Act, the 14
Greo. III. c. 72, will sound a little comical to English
ears at the present day. '* Whereas a new manufac-
ture of stuffs made entirely of cotton spun in this king-
dom has been lately introduced, and some doubts were
expressed whether it was lawfiil to use it, it was
declared by Parliament to be not only a lawful, but a
laudable manufacture, and therefore permitted to be
used, on paying 3d. a square yard, when printed,
painted, or stained with colour."

While cottons remained a mixed fabric, the manu-
facture was altogether a domestic concern in this
country, analogous to that of India. The work-
shop of the weaver was a rural cottage, from which
when he was tired of sedentary labour he could
sally forth into his little garden, and with the spade

192 EARLY HISTORY OF

or the hoe tend its culinary productions. The cotton
wool which was to form lus weft was picked clean
by the fingers of his younger children, and was
carded and spun by the older girls assisted by his wife,
and the yam was woven by himself assisted by his
sons. When he could not procure within his faniily a
supply of yam adequate to the demands of his loom,
he had recourse to the spinsters of his neighbourhood.
One good weaver could keep three active women at
work upon the wheel, spinning weft. It was found
more easy to miultiply weavers than spinsters, and
,hence looms were often at a stand for want of yarn.

These country weavers were sometimes put to great
straits in fulfilling their contracts with the manufacturers
of Bolton or Manchester, as'they were usually bound un-
der a penalty to retum cloth by a stated day, commensu-
rate with the web of linen warp which they had received.
Things had continued to jog on in this precarious state
for probably a century, with very little increase or ame-
lioration of the processes, till about the year 1 760. Then
new marts of profitable export having presented them-
selves in Germany, Italy, and the North American
colonies, the merchants became impatient of the delays
and uncertainties in getting their orders executed.
They saw and keenly felt that the only obstacle was
the deficient supply of cotton weft, and they urged
their weavers to greater diligence in pushing its pro-
duction. At this time, says Mr. Guest, a weaver was
under the necessity frequently of trudging three or four
miles in a morning, and visiting many spinners before
he could collect weft enough to keep his loom going
during the rest of the day ; and such was the competi-
tion he met with from other weavers engaged in the

THfi FACTORY SYSTE!^. idS "

same errand^ that he was often obliged to treat the
females with presents in order to qjuicken their dili-
gence at the wheel.

A grand crisis evidently now impended over the '
cotton trade of Lancashire^ and had it not been soon
met by effectual means of multiplying the production
of yam, this district would probably have missed that
tide m its affairs, ^' which, taken at the flood, leads on
to fortune ;" for, had the demand not found a ready
supply in the customary course of trade, it would
have sought out new channels in other directions, and
undoubtedly have caused the domestic manufacture of
cottons to take root in many other countries, to the
great diminution, if not extinction, of the export cotton
trade of England. A mighty fermentation seems> in
consequence, to have taken place at that time all over
Lancashire, where the excitement was chiefly applied,
where the prospects of gain were most alluring, where
the habits of this in-door occupation were most ma-
tured, and where the native spring of the mind had
been long intensely bent upon it. Accordingly, a great
many projects were devised to remove this grand bar-
rier to fortune, most of them being modifications of th^
domestic spinning-wheel. — '

Two kinds of household wheels have been used by
^insters, probably from time immemorial j the first is:
^oitiraonly called in this country the big wheel, from the'
liiagnitude of its rim, or the wool- wheel, from its being:
employed in the spinning of sheep's wool ; it is repre-
sented 111 fig. 13. It was equally well adapted to
s^in cotton, from the analogous- form of its filaments,
which it did at two independent operations.. At tha.
first,ithe spongy cylinder turned off fromethe; hiauid-.

VOL. I. K

194' EARLY HISTOItT OF

tif- IS.— Tbe leney Vlieal, lued fiir ipliinlDg cottm ud wool In Ibt tUt
Oonsrtle ccomunjot tbu couDtry. Ilii piakubly oriBdiiQni(iii-.«a%l^
A mnd B vt tlu huid-eudi Aud bobblat of rorio^.

aad waa drawn out and slightly twisted into a poctma
OMrdf called a roving; at the second, thia cord was
stretehvd ai^ twisted into a. fine cofaeaive thread ; in
^tber case the spinster, having fixed round the spindle.
die extremity of the carding or roving, seized it & few
indies tnta the end with the iager and thumb of ttw
Wt band, and while she turned round the wheel widi
the righ^ so as to make the spindle revdve. she pra>

193

gTOBtrdy extended the fi«tteii cord hy drawisg het
hand from near the spindle to the positioD in which it
is placed u fig. 13. She now completed the torsion
hj tundng the wheel till the thread had acquired tfa*
desired degree of twist, and then, by a slow counter-
rotation of the wheel, and proper giving- in of the left
hand^she wound up the thread upon the spindle into

rig. U.— A BindiK WsMui iplulng Buttao jun am the fckatUi* arbMl ot IbUb.

a conical shape, called a pirn or a cop. This is the
ancient spinning implem^it of Hindostan. The
first mechanical invention regularly employed with
profit upon a manuGEicturing scale for spinning cotton
in England was constructed upon this principle ;
sereial spindles, at first eoght, afterwards raghty, bein^
made fo whirl by one fly-wheel, while a moraUe
frame, representing so many fingers and thumbs as
there wete threads, alternately receded from the spindlet

196 SARLT BISTORT OF

during the extension <^ the thread, and approached tQ
them in its winding-on.

I This multiplying wheel, called a spmnmg jenny,
was invented by James Hargreaves, about the year
1764, at Stand-hill, near Blackburn, in Lanc^ishire.
He was by trade a weaver, and, being aware of the
jealousy and ill-will likely to be directed against the
author of any mechanical substitute for hand-labour
by his narrow-minded neighbours, he worked in secret,
without the aid of any capitalist, under the disadvan-
tages of poverty, and a family of seven children. Be-
fore the year 1768 he had, however, mounted and sold
several of his jennies. The spindle in the spinster*s
wheel was always horizontal, but the spindles in Har-
greaves* machine were upright, or very slightly in-
clined from the perpendicular,^ — a position in fact essen-
tial to its due operation, one which was suggested to
hiiPt ii i^ said, by observing a common wheel continue
to revolve aft^r it was accidentally thrown down on
the floor with its spindle turned up.

Hargreayes contented himself, for some time after
making the jenny, with spinning weft, with the assist-
ance of his wife and children, for supplying his own
loom, according to the custom of the weavers of that
period, who received their warp from the wholesale
manufacturers* The. secret at length transpired,
through an, indiscretion of female vanity, and ex-
cited such a. tumult among the spinsters, and their
partisans^, of the neighbourhood, that they broke into
his house in a riotous manner, and destroyed, the
hated rival o£ their fingers. Finding the fruit of
his ingenuity, toils, and privations blasted,, and his
further prosecution of the plan impossible amidst an

enraged pdpulac^^ who even threatened his \ik, h#
hiigrated to Nottingham in 1768| where he found in
Mr* Thomas James^ a joiner^ a partner willing and
able to assist him in erecting a small spinning-ihifl
upon the jenny plan. For this invention he obtained
a patent in the year 1770, under] the following title^
** For a method of making a wheel or engine of an entire
new construction^ and never before made use of> ia
order for spinning, drawing, and twisting of cotton^
and to be managed by one person only, and that the
wheel or engine will spin, draw, and twist sixteen or
more threads at one time, by a turn or motion of one
hand, and a draw of the other." '* One person," saysi
he in the specification, *^ with his or her right hand
turns the wheel, and with the left hand takes hold of
the clasps, and therewith draws out the cotton from
the slubbing (roving) box, and, being twisted by the
turn of the wheel in the drawing out> then a piece of
wood is lifted up by the toe, which lets down a presser
wire, so as to press the threads so drawn out and
twisted, in order to wind or put the same regularly
upon bobbins which are placed upon the spindles/'

Unfortunately for this inventor he had, under th6
pressure of poverty, mounted and sold several jennies
before the date of his patent, so that when they were
beginning to be rightly appreciated, and were promising
to procure him a recompense somewhat proportioned
to his deserts, he found, while his invention was ex-
tensively pirated by the manufacturers of Lancashire,
that it could not be sustained in a court of law. In an
evil hour also he refused to accept the sum of £3000
which the delegates of these manufacturers tendered to
him for permission to use his machine ; he demanded

% somewhat larger mm, which was raised, and e?«Qk^
tmally he got nothkig^ his attorney having abandcmed
the prosecutkm from a convietkm that a faTourable
jvidgment would not be obtained in a ooort of law*
Hargreaves died in 1778^ a few years after this disap-
rponitment, but he did not fall a victim to poverty, as
some have erroneously stated. The spinning factory
4»f which he was a partner went on tolerably well^ and
^enabled its au^r to live in humble comfort at leasl^
and to leave a decent provision for his widow and
xhildren.

The jenny received some slight improvements, first
irom Hai^greaves^ and afterwards from other mecha-
nicians ; but, in fact, it is too simple a scheme of spin-
ning to afford much scope for modifications. Cromp-
ton, the celebrated inventor of the mule, learned to
spin upon one of the original jennies so early as the
■year 1769. The following figure and description will
explain the construction of the jenny in its best state,
and show that it is merely a many-spindled wheel
lupon the ancient wool-spinning principle, in which a
definite length of roving is let out and extended during
rthe revolution of the spindle, to which its end has been
previously attached.

' The spindles are seen to be arranged at one end of
the frame, and the clasp or clove which holds the
rovings^ and which is equivalent to the left hands of
-several spinsters, is nnmnted upon a carriage, which
•moves backwards and forwards on a railway, to repre-
sent the backward and forward motions of the left
arms of these spinsters.

' The steel spindles, 3, 3, 3, stand upright, about three
Indies apart, at one end, A A, of the machin^.

TOG FACTOHT 8TSTEH.

lower ends are poiitted and turn in hard brass steps
fixed in a, cross rail of ihe frame, and are supported
near the middle of their height by passing through brass
collars in another horizontal nul; a small pulley called
■ a whorl, whirl, or wharf, b fixed on each spindle Hear

^iQO . EARLT HISTCm? OF

its bottom^ to receive an endless cord, which passes
round the horizontal cylinder or oblong drum, 2, of
about six inches diameter ; this drum is made of tin
plate for lightness sake^ is supported by pivots at its
ends in the sides of the frame, and lies parallel to the
row of spindles, so as to turn them all round together
by transmitting a small band about each whorL The
drum is driven by a band, 1,1, which passes round a
pulley upon its end, and also round the great wheel B,B,
fixed by means of a framing attached to the ceiling of
the apartment The wheel, B, is turned by applying
the right hand of the spinner to the winch B, just as
in the household wool-wheel, fig. 13.

In front of the spindles, and about a foot higher
than their tips, a long horizontal cross rail, 16, is
shown, supported at each of its ends in the wooden
blocks, c, c, resting on friction wheels, to run on the
railway, so that the rail or carriage, 16, can move ho-
rizontally forwards and backwards through a space of
five, six, or seven feet, without deviating in the least
to the right or left, and therefore with a precision sur-
passing that of the hand-spinster^s left arm. The
under side of the cross bar or rail, 16, is notched to
let the rovings pass through, which notches may be
partially filled by projecting pieces upon the lower
bar of the clasp, when this is raised to pinch the
rovings preparatory to their elongation into threads*
When the lower bar or jaw is let down the roving
cord can pass freely through the notches. The rising
and falling of the under rail is effected by small cords
attached to it at every yard of its length, which pass
over small pulleys sunk into the substance of the upper
bar, 16, and run to a handle placed over the middle of

THE FACTORY SYSTEM. 201

ihdi hwr, and beneath an arched bar fastened to the
top of the clasp. The spinner holds this handle in
his left hand^ while with the right he turns the wheels
and with the fingers of the left hand he can lift the
lower rail, 5, of the clasp, and draw it close to the upper
one, where it is, kept by a spring catch; when this
catch is pushed back, the lower rail falls by its own
weight, and, releasing the rovings, lets the proper
length of them easily pass through for another draught
of yarn.

The cops or bobbins of rovings to be spun are sup*
ported in the inclined frame 4, 4 ; they are mounted
upon iron wires or skewers in two rows, one above the
other, the number of cops in each row corresponding
to half the number of spindles.

The spun threads are guided by the wire 12, when
they are to be wound upon the spindles. This wire
is attached to a horizontal rail, which turns at its two
ends on pivots close to the row of the spindles, and it
may be lowered so as to depress the thread to any
level at the pleasure of the spinner by his pulling the
cord 7, and turning round the pulley 11, which de-
presses the wire 12.

The jenny is worked by one person, male or female^
who stands within the frame, and turns the wheel B
with the right hand, whilst he holds the clasp in the
left, so as to be able to run it backwards and forwards
along its railway at pleasure. The rovings are drawn
through between the bars or jaws of the clasp 16
and 5, the end of each being attached to its parti-
cular spindle. The clasp being open, its carriage is
drawn backwards from the spindles till the requisite
length of rovings has run freely through or be given out,

k3
t

"902 • BASLT HIBTOBT OF.

'(bs it m» aadeittly between the &iger and tlmnibft,)
by behig uncoiled from the balls or boblnn? at 4. Hiis
.lengdi is regtdated by a mark made on the frame of
the maehme^ to indicate when the clasp carriage has
anired at its proper position ; the jaws of the clasp are
then made to close by raising the handle under the
catch as above described, so as to pinch all the rovings.
/Die spindles are now paused to revolve rapidly by
turning the wheel B^ at the same time that the car-
riage b drawn regularly backwards from them ; thus
•twisting and extension go on simultaneously and in
any proportion to each other^ accordmg to the relative
actions of the right and left hands of the spinners ;
when the threads have gained their utmost length they
receive a finishing twist to strengthen them, especially
Sot warp yams. In order to wind up these threads
ihey are pushed down upon their respective spindles
by depressing the faller wire 12, during which move-
ment the wheel B is made to revolve dowly, in ord^
to wind the thread regularly upon the spindles, in
proportioir as the clasp-carriage is moved towards
them ; as spon as the carriage has got home one series
of threads is finished, and another series is begun by
an operation shniiar to the preceding.

"Hie wooden or tin roller or drum 2, and the
vertical wheel B, were not," says Mr. Kennedy, *^of
Hargreaves' invention, but were introduced into the
j^my by one Haley, of Houston Tower, a few years
after the invention had been made."

In Hargreaves' original jenny-frame the presser wire
which distributes the yarn over the spindle into a
shapely cop was connected by a cord going over a
pulley to a piece of wood, wliich was lifted up by

THE FACTORY SYSTEM. 203

the toe of the spinn^ in the act of winding on the
threads.

This implement may be c(»i8idered as having still
a domestic charact^^ and was in fact speedily spread
as such through the houses of a great many weavers in
Lancashire, supplying the liHig-felt deficiency of spin*
ning hands ; as a woman could with it easily spin as
much as sixteen^ twenty^ or thirty persons with the one-
thread wheel. It therefore gave a fresh impulse to
the old Manchester fabrics of fustians, &c, with linen,
-warp, for the yam which it furnished, though somewhat
more evenly, was of the usual weft quality. It was round
about Blackburn, the inventor's place of residence, that
the jennies were most rapidly multq)lied, not altogether
by his own hands, but by surreptitious imitati(»is; y/finch
were very easy for any clever carpenter or wheelwright
to makc^ on account of their great simplicity and
analogy to the ancient spinning-wheel. The memory
t^ Haigreaves deserves to be hcMKmred for his multiple
liuid-whed, though it realized nothing new in the
prindple of sj^iming itselC

In my late tour in Alsaee, one <^ the most eminent
and intelligent cottoDH»|tt&iii»r8 of that district informed
I3ie, that be had heard that a machine called the Jean"
nette, wluch ^pun a mmiher ci threads at once^ had
^existed for a very long time among the country-peop'le
in the Lyonuois and Hcardy districts. I vras hence for
some time under an impression that the jenny was an old
French invention^ of which Hargreaves had got some
obscure intimation : but this supposition I now believe to
be entirely groundless ; for, in the great French Ency-
clop6die, article Coton, published in 1754, there is not
the slightest allusion to any such machine for multi-

EARLY HISTORT OF

in Ingnllon, eonBoolyciHl
<« Ivo (pladki w«f ■ttuchs
I K Eluud wilb nch liHVL

THE FACTORY SYSTEM. 205

plying producUon, in an elaborate article on cotton-
spinmng by M. Joret, of Rouen, a gentleman weU
acquainted with the cotton trade, who, in consequence
of producing muslins rivalling those of India, was dis-
tinguished by the prot«cticai of the minister Turgot
M. Joret treats at great length of the single-thread
housewife wheel, or rouet, but of nothing else. The
word j'eajmetle may be therefore regarded as a trans-
lation of the En ghsh jenny- wheel.

TTie flax-wheel, sometimes called the little wheel, in
contradistinction to that for spinning wool, requires for
the formation of its thread a different manipulation, in
which the fore fingers and thumbs of both hands are
from time to time employed, those of the left hand
holding a parcel of the filaments, while those of tb«
right draw them out, and equalize their attenuation.
The twisting of the thread, and its winding on the
bobbin, proceed simultaneously, at an uninterrupted
pace, by a very ingenious mechanism, which is shown
in figure 17-

There are two small heck and bobbin parts to be
considered here : the spindle ft, a, with its whorl p,
and forked flyer g, k,/", which moves at one velocity i

Fig. 17*-Bi**au, with Bjei Mil Imbbln, of Ibe.HowhoU ITn WJieel

206 • 8ASLT mSTOftf OF

^nd the bobbin h; with its whorl q^ whCbh mov^ at
ft greater velocity. The whorl q, and the boblnn ^
are made of wood in <me piece; and they are tubulaiv
-80 as to revolve easily round the spindle 6, a, as an
axis. The fly-wheei> which is made to revolve, like
the foot lathe^by a pedal and connecting rod and crank,
has two grooves in its circumference for the recepti<m
of two endless cords. One of these goes round the
whorl p of the spindle, and the other round the whorl
q of the bobbin. If the whorl q be smaller by one-
fourth than the whorl p, it will make five revohiticms
in the same time that p makes four by the action of
the fly-wheel bands. The axis or spindle a, b, is of
iron or steel, and is tubular at the end b, having a
small orifice in the side at i, to permit the spinning
thread to pass, in its way to be wound up, by going
over a tooth of the flyer's heck at k, and another at g^
to regulate its distribution round the bobbin. The
effect of the apparatus may be easily conceived. The
rotation is imparted to the wheel by the foot acting on
the pedal, which leaves both hands of the spinster free.
The bands transmit the movement of the wheel to the
whorls p, q, so as to make the flyer with its wire teeth
revolve, round one of which the thread g passes. By
the rotation of the axis, a, b, the thread, b, c, is twisted
as it is drawn out from the distaff or rock by the
spinster's hands. In proportion as the thread is thus
extended and twisted, it gets also wound upon the
bobbin, because the bobbin-whorl revolves faster than
the spindle-pulley p. Every turn of the fly-wheel in
fact corresponds to about six turns of the whorl j^, and
to eight turns of the whorl q. The tension is produced
by the rotation of the axis or spndle a, b, and the

-Winding lipon the bobbin by the difference between its
Telocity and that of the spindle. When -the thread
has been wound for some time upon the bobbm
opposite to the point g, it is shifted to another hook or
-tooth on the flyer, so as to distribute it evenly along the
whole barrel. When the bobbin is filled, it is replaced
by an empty one. The fingers of the two hands are
employed principally to equalize the distribution of
the filaments, and to remove entanglements; while
those of the hand next to the spindle at 6, by holding
the thread in some measure against the traction of the
winding-bobbin, serve to stretch and attenuate it to the
requisite degree. TTie skill of the spinster is esti-
mated by the uniformity, strength, and fineness of the
thread.

It is by a process similar to the above, in which
textile filaments are equally extended and twisted by
ahnost imperceptible gradations, that good thread can
be formed ; but to represent or realize these actions of
tact and intelligence by machinery seems at first sight
an impossible problem.

Inventions in the usefiil arts commonly spring from
necessity, and advance by slow degrees from rudeness
to refinement. Attempts have been recently made^ to
prove that machine-spinning is an exception to this
general conviction of mankind, that it was invented by
an individual remote from the bustle of textile industry,
and by him produced at once in a state of relative per-
Jfection. Mr. Guest, in his indefatigable zeal to pluck
the laurels of fame from Arkwright's brow, has brought
to the day an apparently startling document, long
buried amcmg the musty archives of Chancery. Thfe
is a patent for spinning wool and cotton by rollers.

208 BARLT HIBTCAT OP

obtained in the year 1738 by Lewis Paul, of Bir-
mingham. This invention, however, appears from
other evidence to belong principally to Mr. John
Wyatt, an ingenious gentleman then residing in the
same town. The following is the essential part of
the specification :

''The wool or cotton being thus prepared (by card-
ing into slivers), one end of the mass, rope, thread, or
sliver, is put betwixt a pair of rowlers, cillinders, or
cones, or some such movements, which being twined
round by their motion, draws in the raw mass of wool
or cotton to be spun in proportion to the velocity given
to such rowlers, cillinders, or cones. As the prepared
mass passes regularly through or betwixt these rowlers,
cillinders, or cones, a succession of other rowlers,
cillinders, or, cones moving proportionably faster than
the first, draw the rope, thread, or sliver, into any
degree of fineness which may be required. Sometimes
these successive rowlers, cillinders, or cones (but not
the first) have another rotation besides that which
diminishes the thread, yam, or worsted, viz., that they
give it a small degree of twist betwixt each pair, by
means of the thread itself passing through the axis and
center of that rotation. In some other cases only the
first pair of rowlers, cillinders, or cones, are used, and
then the bobbyn, spole, or quill, upon which the
thread, yarn, or worsted is spun, is so contrived as to
draw faster than the first rowlers, cillinders, or cooes
give, and in such| proportion as the first mass, rope^
or sliver is proposed to be diminished."

The action of rollers in laminating, drawing, and
attenuating metallic bars, rods, and plates, has long
constituted a leading feature in the workshops of Bir-

THE FACTORY ;ST8T]|lt. 209

^ingham^ and obviously suggested the plan described

in the above specification^ — a plan altogether fitntaatic»

absurd^ and unmanageable for the spinning of wooI>

cotton^ or any other textile filaments. '^ The soft cord

or sliver^ after escaping from betwixt the first pair of

jbwlers> passes through a succession of other rowlers

jnoving proportionably faster, so as to draw the rope

into any degree of fineness." ITiis succession implies

clearly a series of several pairs of rollers — a complexity

of construction and movement which never existed

but in the brain of the patentee^ impracticable with his

means, and utterly destructive to woolly fibres had it

been practicable. It will appear from subsequent

evidence that this succession of rollers movinsf with

successive velocities was merely a fine phrensy of

imagination, and was never carried into effect. But the

next member of the description exceeds in absurdity

^ny thing to be found upon the specification rolls,—

being a self-evident impossibility. " Sometimes these

successive rowlers (not the first) have another rotation

besides that which diminishes the thread, viz., that

they give it a small degree of twist betwixt each pair

by means of the thread itself passing through the axis

and centre of that rotation." As the thread was

inevitably pinched at two points, viz., between the

first pair and last pair of rollers, any twisting of its

intermediate parts was manifestly impossible. But we

may ask any mechanic what rotation such a roller

could have, besides the rotation upon its axis, which

diminishes the thread; or how could the thread be

made to pass through the axis and centre of tha^

rotation without being instantly torn to atoms ? The

expression here used "betwixt each pair" insinuate3

910 EARLT Binon OF

the exisleiiee of several suecesnve pairs of rotteiB, a&
endowed with these impossible motions and functions;
COTcumstances introduced either for the purpose of
mystifying common ' mkids^ or derived from some
.vertiginous movements of the brain.

The last sentence^ like the postscript of a lady^s
letter^ contains the whole substance of the invention ;-*
a pair of flatting rollers prefixed to the spindle and bob-
bin of a spinning-wheel; an ingenious fancy> no doubt»
but not a mechanism capable^ under any modification^
of converting a carded sliver of wool or cotton into
tolerably good yam. Mr. Kennedy^ a great authority
among cotton-spinners^ pronounced the following
opinion upon a sample which had been spun by Mr.
Wyatt's roller machine. *' From examining the yam
-I think it could not be said by competent judges that
it was spun by a similar machine to that of Mr. Ai^*
-Wright; for the fabric or thread is very different from
the early production of Mr. Arkwright, and is, I
think, evidently spun by a different machine, the
ingenuity of which we cannot appreciate, as the model
mentioned in the paper alluded to is unfortunately
lost.-*

Any one may readily conceive that yarn spun by
the simultaneous drawing and twisting of a sliver de-
livered in a thick mass by one pair of rollers could not
be level, but lumpy, very different from, and very
inferior to, yam spun by the twisting and drawing of
an evenly-attenuated fine-roving of parallel filaments.

The specimen on which Mr. Kennedy gave judg-
ment had been spun on ^Hhe spinning-engine without

^ On the Kie and Progien of the Cotton Trade, in the Memoin
^fhe Manchester Society. 1^ Series, rol. m p.'137.

TBS WACTOar 8TSTBM. 211

hamiH'' ^ Mr. Wyatt, about the year 1741 ; the
engine heiiig turned by two (or more) assesy walking
n>und an axis in a large warehouse^ near the well in
the Upper Priory, at Birmingham.
- From, a manuscript journal of Mr. John Wyitt^
obtained by Mr. Kennedy from the son of the inge*
nioos and unfortunate patentee of the above engine,
it appears that a spinning factory upon his plan had
been established at Northampton about the same
time, of which Mr. Cave, editor of the Gentleman*s
Jdagazine, so well known by Dr. Johnson's eulogy of
his benevolence, was the proprietor. This factory
consisted of several spmning-frames, containmg alto-
gether 250 spindles and bobbins, each of which was
pooved by a separate wheel and pinion, the (me having
sixty-four teeth and the other sixty-five, on purpose,
no doubt, to cause the winding-on motion by the differ-
ence in velocity of the spindle and bobbin, — ^the whole
l>eing driven by a water -wheeL

Mr. Wyatt seems to have spent much of his time
in London, inquiring into the prices of yams, leaving
the factory at Birmingham to be managed by Paul.
He visited Mr. Cave's factory at Northampton in
October, 1743, and wrote a number of remarks upon
it, most probably for the information of that gentle-
man. Among others, he states that the agent, his
wife, and two other women to assist him, recdved al-
together a salary of £88 per annum, — a sum which
would seem to imply superior merit in the agent, es-
pecially when it is compared with the wages of the
iother workpeople; for fifty carders, spinners, and
4»qpiemanEierary girls in the work, received for one
weeek's wages ^, being oidy about 1#. 2rf. apiece.

31) EARLY filSTORT O^ :

- An interesting notice of Mr. Wyatt*s contrivances foi
spinning cotton was published by his son, Mr. diaries
Wyatt, in the Repertory of Arts^ Manvfactures^ unA
Agriculture, for January, 1818, of which his brother,
Mr. John Wyatt, Was then editor. The following ex*
tracts contain the substance of the communication

" In the year 1730, or thereabouts, living then at a
village near Litchfield, our respected father first con*
ceived the project, and carried it into eflTect ; and in
the year 1733, by a model of about two feet square>
in a small building near Sutton Coldfield, without a
single witness to the performance, was spun the first
thread of cotton ever produced without the intervention
of the human fingers, he, the inventor, to use his own
words, 'being all the time in a pleasing, but tremblings
suspense,' The wool had been carded in the common
way, and was passed between two cylinders, Jrotn
whence the bobbin drew it by means of the twist.

*' This successful experiment induced him to seek
for a pecuniary connexion equal to the views that the
project excited, and one appeared to present itself with
a Mr. Lewis Paul, which terminated unhappily for
the projector; for Paul, a foreigner, poor and enter-
prizing, made offers and bargains which he never ful*
filled, and contrived, in the year 1738, to have a patent
taken out in his own name for some additional appa*
ratus, a copy of which I send you ; and in 1741, or
1742, a mill turned by two asses walking round an
axis was erected in Birmingham, and ten girls were
employed in attending the work. Two hanks of the
botton then and there spun are now in my possession,
accompanied with the inventor s testimony of the per-
formance. Drawings of the machinery were sent, w

THff FACTORY SYSTEM. tl3

appear to have been sent, to Mr. Cave, for insertion in
the GentlemarCs Magazine,

" This establL<ihment, unsupported by sufficient
property, languished a short time, and then expired;
the supplies were exhausted, and the inventor much
injured by the experiment, but his confidence in the
scheme was unimpaired. The machinery was sold
in 1743. A work upon a larger scale, on a stream of
water, was established at Northampton, under the
direction of a Mr. Yeomen, but with the property of
Mr. Cave^ The work contained 250 spindles, and
employed fifty pairs of hands. The inventor soon
after examined the state of the undertaking, and found
great deficiency and neglect in the management. At
that time they had spun about 3,300 lbs. of cotton.
On the observations which he then made he composed
what he entitled A Systematic Essay on the Business
of Spinningy which exhibits a clear view of the me*
chanical considerations on which an undertaking of
that nature, of whatever magnitude, must be esta*
blished, and apparently confines his humble preten-
sions to tlie profits on 300 spindles. It was not within
Human foresight to calculate the richness of the har^
vest to come from this little germ.

'-' This brings me to the conclusion of our father's
connexion with the spinning business.

*^ The work at Northampton did not prosper. It
passed, I believe, into the possession of a Mr. Yeo, a
gentleman of the law, in London, about the year 1764,
and, from a strange coincidence of circumstances, there
iff the highest probability that the machinery got into
the hands of a person, who, with the assistance of
^ers) knowing how to apply it- with skill and judg-*

S14

neBt, and to suj^lj wfaat*iiiiflit be ddicimt,
upon it^by a gradual accceisum <^ profit, aa fanmema
ertablhhmeiitj and a prineely fiHrtune»

*' In the year 1739> my iather writes to one of \as
firiends, * that by this method^ some new thougbt,
' the wool need be no more carded them to break the
knots or mix it well, as with scribbles or stock cards,
and being thus mixed and pressed down haid into a
box, it may without any human touch be picked out
almost hair by hair, and made into yamJ

'' In 1748 Mr. Paul procured another patent^ the
title of which was for ^carding of wool and cottoa;*
but whether this was combined with the machinery
then at Northampton^ or where it was introduced^ I
know not. Such, or nearly such, b^ng the early
history of this invention, I thought the late Sir Richard
Arkwright would be gratided by possessing the very
model to which I have alluded, and I accordingly
waited on him at Cromford with the ofier, but my
reception did not correspcmd with my expectations.
. ^* To pretend, however, that the original machinery,
without additkm or improvanent, would alone ham
produced the prodigious effects which we now behold,
would be claiming improbable merit for the inventov
and degrading the talents and sagacity of his snc-
cessors in the same field of enterprize, for it cannot bo
denied that a great fund of ingenuity must have been
expended in bringing tl^ spinning works to their ipse'
sent degree of perfection. The number of spindles
BOW ia use is supposed to exceed 5,000,000.

'^ If the author of the humble establishment at Bir>
mingham gave birth to such a wonderfiil progeny, he
oi^ht at least to be acknowledged as a benefiiclor t»

THB PAOTIAT SYVKBpf. 215^

higeimntry/aiid recorded amongst tbe Hien wbo^ front
an attachment to the science and practice of medlar*
nics, open the paths of knowledge, and point out, but
do not pursue, those which lead to profit and prosperity

'* Connected with this subject I might with great pro-,
priety point out many eminent services that he rendered
the public by his mechanical talents, but being nuMtly
local, and absorbed by subsequent productions, they,
have lost their present interest. '

^ llie machine, however, for weighing loaded car-
riages, coal particularly, ought to be distinguished aa
one of known and extensive utility. It was solely and
exclusively his own ; he erected the first at Birming*
ham about 50 years ago, and his own description of it
is, ' That it vxmld weigh a load of coal or a pound of
butter with equal facility, and nearly with equal ac-
curacy. The present makers admit that the principle
is incapable of improvement.

" The late Mr. Boulton, a man too eminent and too
SHuiable to be mentioned without esteem and regret,
nor on my part without aflFection, set a high value on
my father's attainments and virtues, for it was univer*
sally acknowledged ihdX he had the happiness to give
a lustre and an interest to hk genius and his know*
ledge by the purest probity, the meet unaffected hu-
mility^ urbanity, and benevolence. He was attended
to the grave in 1766 by Mr. Boulton, Mr. Baskerville
the celebrated printer, (who, from the peculiarity of hia
notkiis, arrayed himsdf on this occasion in a splendid
suit of gold lace,) and four other gentlemen oi emir

nence in Birmingham/*

This vindication of his f^hfflr'a fame, while iiishigUy

hjQnourable to the heart of the writer, diows that tkMKr

216 BARLY HISTORY OF

original plan of Wyatt was to employ a pair of rollers
for delivering^ at any desired speedy a sliver of cotton to
the bobbin-and-fly spindle^ as in a flax-wheel. Then on-
sensical mystification of a succession of other ^^rcwlers!*
and another rotation besides that which diminishes
the thready appears to have been introduced into the
patent of 1738 by Lewis Paul, and never existed nor
CQuld exist in any machine.

The delivery-roller principle of Wyatt reappeared
by itself in Paul's second patent of 1758. "Tie
several rowes or filaments so taken off (the flat cards)
must be connected into one entire roll, which beings
put between a pair of rollers or cylinders, is by their
turning round delivered to the nose of a spindle, in
such proportion to the thread made, as is proper for
the particular occasions. From hence it is delivered
to a bobbin, spole, or quill, which turns upon the
spindle, and which gathers up the thread or yam as it
IS spun. The spindle is so contrived o^ to draw faster
than the rollers or cylinders give, in proportion to the
fength of thread or yarn into which the matter to be
sjpun is proposed to be drawn."

This specification is identical with^the concluding
paragraph of the former, and therefore afforded no
valid claim to new letters patent. In the first, the card-*
roUs were joined together into a kind of rope (rf raw
wool;^ in the second, the several rows (of cardings)
must be connected into one entire roll.- The two
patents are therefore entirely the same. The second is
remarkable for the renunciation of the fantastic whim
of successive rollers with certain whii'ligig inexpli-
esible motions which c(uts so conspicuous a figure in
die first, and which was put there, like the Martello

THE FACTORY SYSTEM. 217

towers on the Irish coasts for the purpose of puzzling
posterity. The equable extension and attenuation of the
thread by means of a pair of feeding-rollers^ a pair of
carrying-rollers, and a pair of drawing-rollers, cannot
be traced in the preceding rude scheme, and they con-
stitute the very essence of roller-spinning.

No wonder the work at Northampton did not pros-
per, since Paul, with an experience of more than
twenty years, aided during a part of the time by the
sagacity of Wyatt, had never been able to spin with all
his roller-apparatus a single good thread. Had the
yarn spun in the lactory under him or Mr. Yeo, from
the year 1748 to 1764, been but tolerable, it would
have commanded a rapid sale, and secured to them
large profits.

The use of deltvering-roUers as heretofore exhibited,
so far from helping an inventor into a right system of
spinning, would most probably mislead him, and in-
duce him to try various modifications of so plausible a
scheme, instead of abandoning it altogether. This was
exactly the dilemma of Paul, who appears from his
carding patent of 1748 to have been a man of mu6h
ingenuity, and a good practical mechanic. He has
an incontestable claim to the invention of the cylinder-
card, an engine which plays one of the most impor-
tant parts in a modern factory. Of this elegant con-
trivance some particulars will be mentioned in treating
of the preparation-machines of a cotton-factory. If Mr.
Charles Wyatt had studied more deeply the principles
of cotton spinning, he would never have confounded a
single pair of delivering-roUers, with a double or triple
pair of drawing-rollers, nor would he have felt sur-
prise at his indifferent reception from Arkwright,

VOL. I. L

218 EARLY HlftTOftT OF

when bis errand was to tell the great master-spmmier
of the age, that two things in his art k> essentially im-
iikej were the same. Paul's carding invention^ in faot»
however valuable in preparing cotton for a good sys-
em of spinning, became nugatory to himself and his
partners^ by being linked to his vicious roller plan,
which rendered the industry of his whole life unpro-
ductive, and plunged him, it is believed, in eventual ruin.
The three patei^a of 1738, 1748, and 1758, appear
to have been much talked of at the time in the manu-
facturing districts ; both Wyatt and Paul having done
what they could to mske them generally known, and
to interest the world in their behalf. In the years
1739, 1740, 1741, 1742, and 1743, Mr. Wyatt was
resident chiefly in London, visiting the principal manu-
facturers of cotton goods, who then worked up East
India yarns;, purchased at a high price; and he en-
deavoured, but apparently without success, to dii^pose
of his machine-spun yarn to them. It is quite certain
that if its quality had been merely tolerable, it would
have commanded a ready sale and a remunerating
price. He also paid a fruitless visit to Lancashire on
the same errand. The machine was so radically bad
that its two schemers, after working upon it the best
part of their lives, from 1730 tUl 1764, let it drop into
the hands of Mr. Yeo, a gentlanan of the law, in Lon-
don, who became proprietor of Paul's water-power
spinning faictory at Northampton, and who, finding it
a hopeless concern, caused it to be dismantled. The
disastrous result of roller-spinning being thus univer-
sally promulgated, would naturally deter prudent men
from attempting to revive it. Sujqposing, therefore,
that Arkwrighty or any other person had gat pos-

THB FACTORY SYSTEM. 219

of Ae whole of Plfttil*g roller-macfaines^ could he
have made more^ of it than the bafled patentees had
done ? IiMfeed, the spinning project of Wyatt and Paul,
Hu^ead of being instrumental to the eonstruction of a
rational roller systenei^ must have proved the greatest
Obstade to its contrivance, and made it be looked
upon by men of business as a folly, with which it
would be dangerous to have anything to do.

The grand mechanical problem which the cotton
manufacture then oflFered to the solution of the inge-
nious may be stated as follows : To construct a ma-
ehine in whidi one member should supply continu-
ously and uniformly porous cords of parallel filaments
in minute portions; a second member should attenuate
these cords by drawing out their filaments alongside of
each other by an imperceptible gradation; a third
member should at once twist and extend these at-
tenuated threads unremittingly as they advance ; ani
a fourth diould wind them regulaiiy upon bobbins
exactly in prc^rtion as they are spun. When con-
templated a priori in its delicate requirements, this,
problem must have appeared to be impracticable ; a.
conviction strengthened by the total ftdlure of Wyatt
and Paxil to produce good yam, even at the highly re*
munerating price of that time. Their rank in the history
of roller-spinning may be justly compared to that of
the Marquis of Worcester in the history of the steam-
engine— they gave birth to an idea which was quite
erroneous for practical purposes, and which, being
pursued, did, and could, produce nothing but dis-
iqppointment and ruin to its authors, a result most un-
propitious to the progress of invention in any line of
industry.

220 EARLY HISTORY OF

That the roller-spmning scheme was one of common
notoriety in Lancashire about the year 1766 appears
from the evidence of the clock-maker, Kay, on the
trial of Arkwright's patent in the Court of King's
Bench, on the 25th of June, 1785. Kay lived at War-
rington in 1767^ when he first became acquainted
with Mr. Arkwright.

" We were talking," Arkwright and he, " of different
things, and this thing came up of spinning by rollers.
He (Arkwright) said, that will never be brought to
bear ^ several gentlemen have almost broke themselves
by it" The testimony of this man must, no doubt, be
taken with reserve, for when Arkwright returned neirt
morning to Kay, and asked him (he says) if a roller-
spinning model could be made at a small expense?
'' Yes," says I, '* I believe, I can. Says he, if you will
I will pay you." Thus, when Kay imdertook this job
for Mr. Arkwright, he made no mention of Thomas
Highs, to whom, however, on the trial, in 1785, he as-
cribed the invention of the plan of drawing-rollers. He
merely said, '' I and another man have tried that method
in Warrington." On the contrary, it transpires from Kay
in the course of his examination by the same lawyer, that
he had assumed to himself the original property of the
drawing-roller invention, and no doubt availed himself,
as far as he could, of the credit of it, to raise his repu-
tation as a workman. When questioned, as follows,
by Mr. Lee, *' You must know whether at that time
(1775) it was his own (Arkwright's) invention, or he
had it of you," he replied, " James Hargrave told me
I should have lodged a caveat."* What inference can

* This passage of the examinatioii is quoted by Mr. Guest, at
p. 65 of his CompencUout Hiitory <if the Cotton Manufacturt* 4tOi
London, 1S23.

THE FACTORY SYSTEM. 221

be drawn from this advice of Hargrave, who, being a
conscientious man, would not recommend an act of
knavery, thian that Kay had represented himself in the
year 1775, after being long a working mechanic in
Arkwright's pay, as the real inventor of the drawing-
rollers, which his other testimony proves that he was
not. Had the leading lawyers of that day been as well
versant in manufacturing subjects as they are now,
the evidence of Kay would have been entirely set
aside. In fact, the above awkward admission, though
quite fatal to his character for truth and fair deal-
ing, is in perfect keeping with the circumstances of
his absconding from Arkwright's employment with
a charge of felony at his heels. Mr. Arkwright, amid
the multiplicity of his concerns, did not choose to pro-
secute the charge against the miserable offender, who
had fled to Ireland.

In the above-mentioned trial in the court of King's
Bench, Thomas Highs, by trade a reed-maker, was
brought forward to prove that he was the real inventor
of the drawing-roller plan of spinning for which Ark-
wright had obtained a first patent in 1769, and a
second patent, of a more complete and comprehensive
nature, in 1775.

The testimony of Highs is extremely indistinct and
confused, very unlike that of a man who had invented
a really operative mechanism. He does not indeed pre-
tend to haveever made a machine capable of doing work,
but merely to have got Kay, the clock-maker, in 1767,
to put together a slight toy containing two pairs of
smooth wooden rollers, of which the one pair was to
move five times quicker than the other.

" Q. (Mr. Sergeant Bdtan.) I will take him to the

223 EARLY HISTOAT OF

rollers t you see one is fltited* the other covered with
leather. Was yours the same way ? — A. Yes, miae
was, two years after (after 1767) but not then.

Q. Not at first ?—A. No.

Q. In 1769 yours were like it? — A. They were;
mine had fluted work ; fluted wood upon an iron asds;
but the other roUer was the same, only it was eov^«d
with shoe-leather, instead of that leader; / mm
ir^ormed it is such as theg make shoes of.

Q. Whom did you employ when you &t8t <»>noemd
this invention ; wb<Hn did you employ to make it £ar
you? — A. I emjdoyed one Kay, who -came fiiom
Warrington.

Q. What trade was he? — A. He ft^owed dbek-
making at that time. I employed- him to make a
small model with four whei^ of wood to dbow faim
the method it was to work in, and desired him at the
same time to make me brass whedb, that woold mul-
tiply it about five to one.

Q. Who made you the wheels f-^A. I made tbem
myself,"

When asked wh^i and where he applied his roUeis
to roving and s^ning, he replied, ^^ In the town of
Leigh. I did not follow this new manu&cture ; I was
only improving mysdf, as I had a laiige family «t that
time, and was not able to folbw it I thoogte mktm I
came a little «bler, when I should geta frkod to insist
me4 being poor, and bavmg a kir|ge femaly ; I wwaet
willing any body should steal it from me."'''

Highs shows himself here a sorrydrtveUer, who had
neither appreciated, nor tried to mature, die fdaa ^

* 4hiett*8 ComjmuUmm Hutgryj f . 57.

THB FAOTORT STSTSM. 323

drawmg'-roUerB^ supposing him to hare sehemed some-
thing of the kind^aud which after the general talk about
roUerHq^aaii^ was a matter of no great merit. From
anything whieh appears^ however^ Arkwrigbt may hare
iav^^itedtfaedrawing-roUershimsdf ; for the testimony
of Kay, a douUe-miaded man, in open hostility with
hts late master^ eanaot be admitted to be of any
weight Highs swears, first, that the nmltiply in g wheels
of his model were auide by Kay, and in a little dler
be swears, they were made by himself. Surely a person
like Higbs, so jealons of his little contrivances as to
lay thnn aside rather than perfect them for fear of their
being stolen from htm, if he could ha^e made these
multiplying brass wheels, never would hare employed
a elock-maker to eonstruct them for htm, tmd more
eapeaaily the wooden roUers which were far more easily
made* Kay rays, he made ^ the tdbofe period two
roUer naodeb for Arkwrigbt, the <Mie a fortnight after
tJbe other^ the lart of which Arkwri^xt took wkh hun
to Preston, the place of hk resideoce.

Highs does ttot appear to have acted as the author^
a yakiaUe machine for spinning, so much sought after
then, would have done ; for in they^r 1772, five years
sBer his pc^etended invention of drawing-rollers, he was
occupied ineonstmctmganengineof a totalfydiffiBrsttt
deecriptkm for a gentiMnaa in Mandiest^/ and met
Aifewrigbt there in a social manner at a twreni, widiout
dbowing any mpmptOBM of tiiat indignalion which «n
inventor would faowe naturally displayed against the
plnaderer ef his ^eniitt. He told Arkwright, indeed,
that be never would have had the relkrs bnt for bkn,
but be does not appear to have either tbcmght»or
done, anything more about them, in that tO09t

224 EARLY HISTORY OP

birth-day of the cotton manufacture. Had he possessed
such a high character for mechanical ingenuity in Lan-
cashire as has been affirmed by Mr. Guests surely he
might easily have found capitalists willing and able to
patronize so useful an invention as that of spinning-
rollers^ had it been at all in a feasible form.

The great achievement of manufacturing good yarn
by rollers was reserved for the sagacity and energy
of Arkwright. This illustrious individual, persecuted
and calumniated as all the signal benefactors of corrupt
and invidious humanity have been, by contempo-
rary rivals, was raised up by Providence from an ob-
scure rank in life, to vindicate the natural equality of
men. He was bom at Preston, in Lancashire, on the
23d of December, 1732, the youngest of thirteen
children, and received a very imperfect education.
He was bred to the trade of a barber, which, being still
incorporated with surgely in many towns, and deriving
much profitable employment from the making of wigs,
then worn by all people of condition, was no despicable
vocation. Nor was he a mean or common-place prac-
titioner of his art, for he became skilled in a superior
process for dyeing hair, still one of the nicest operations
of chemistry. According to the testimony of Mr.
Richardson, hair-dresser of Leigh, the hair furnished
by Arkwright was esteemed the best in the country.*
In the purchase and sale of this valuable article he
had occasion to travel a great deal, and being of an
inquisitive mind became well acquainted with the
necessities under which the cotton trade then laboured
from a precarious supply of cotton-weft, and a total

* Communicated to Mr, Gacst by Mr. Richardson. See '* Com-
pmdiout Hiitory, p. 21.

THE FACTORY SYSTEM. 225

want of cotton- warp yarns. He appears to have been
curious in mechanical combinations^ and was> along
with many other ingenious men in that dawn of rational
mechanics^ intent upon the discovery of the perpetual
motion^ for he employed the clock-maker Kay to make
some brass wheels subservient to that project. This
impossible problem^ like that of the philosopher's
stone> by exercising invention in endless shapes^ gave
birth to many discoveries. The evidence of his enemy
Kay is conclusive on this point. It is probable^ however,
that Arkwright, aware of the importance of the spinning
apparatus, which he was then concocting, may have
disguised the purpose of his wheels under the name
of a perpetual motion. Having realized the outline of
his idea of drawing-rollers in a little model, made by
Kay in 1767, he applied immediately to Mr. Atherton,
a mechanist, then of Warrington and afterwards of
Liverpool, to assist him in mounting a working ma-
chine upon the same plan. This gentleman declined
taking any share in so hazardous an enterprize, as
roller-spinning was then naturally held to be, after the
failure of Wyatt and Paul, but he sent him two work-
men, a smith and a watch-tool maker, to aid Kay in the
construction of his apparatus. *'In this way Mr.
Arkwright^s first engine, for which he afterwards took
out a patent, was made."*

This straight-forward expedition in constructing a
complex machine, affords unquestionably a conclusive
proof that Arkwright must have thoroughly matured
his plan of a drawing-roller frame before he ever
called upon Kay, and that he employed this workman
partly on account of his reputation as a clever clock-

* Aikin and Enfield's Oenerai Biography,

L 5

9S6 MJkJBun HisTomr ov

smker, but <du^y ir&m his Hving at a dktettee froa
Beltion> wkete Ari^wtigbt resaded, and where lie mmaiti
not wish any hints of his project to tranfl|iiife.

The operative model being thus rapidly oooapletodi
the vigorous Biind of •the inveniCMr did not defay jm
instant to verify its powers; h^ repakiing to {Vei^Mi»
las birth-place, he found among the ootnpaiMas ^his
oarlylife one ready to assist himmth heart ^nd haad^
Mr. John Smalley , a HquoiMnerohaat aad painlMs:.
This fiiendly man procured the use of td^psrlvar rf
the house bdongmg to the FreeOrannnarScboolaf tfatt
town, in ord^ that Arkwright might fit up and wiHk
his tE|)inmng-'&aine. Being cMii^nood by tiie trials of its
atility, they ireseked to g^ <^er machines cirastructed
cm a still greater scale ; but aware of the riots wiiidi
had recently occurred at Blackburn agaiiKSt the s^pio;-
ning^jenny, the oontempiHtaneoiis^contiivaiioe of James
Hargreaves, they resolved to abandon thmr nativt
eounty, then under viokoit femuentatkHi.

The stocking frMsie of Lee had long afforded a
method of making silk and worsted ^(lockings by 4iie*.
chanism, mudi more beautiful and at a oheapeir rale
than the hand-knitter could do. But the im^ufactupe
of cotton hosiery, though higUy prized, had hitherto
languished for want of proper yam. Har^eave&» and
especially Arkwright, saw in th^r respective iiinrentions,
the means of supplying this much-wanted article, and
accordingly they both in suc^es^on commenced tlwir
career in Nottingham, -then, as still, the head quarters
of the frame-work knittmg trade. Messrs. Soialley
and Arkwright aj^lied to the Messrs. Wright, Ae
eminent capitalists and bankers of that town, wfao
readily joined in the enterprize. After a little time.

hmmemBT, trntSmg ih»t ike vrnviAm t£ Ihe m m ohmr j
w&m sot sa jdrantegatui <»* |#aiiiifig m dM^ kmA
expeotod^ tkcgr 'kook abm, ^iMnriag tk^e iM Mtoro «f
NortkamplM Wore ikeit ejmi, and mdidiew firoM
tfieconceniL Thsjr iateodMOtd Ariorr^fat in d^
dilomma to llir. ftiwiiwi itt^A^ % ^otmAutwkt jnMtw*
jktturing Imier of ilottiiaglnBi^ who Indlor a pastoer
tjHit atttHieBt mfrhaniciaB aadl cpMatteBt mimi Mr*
Jedadidii^iUt^cfI)edby, theinvoifeoroftbeoidjr'eapi^ ^^^

W iiqaiPovemeDt «m Made on ]>e'« stocking frame;,; *
tliid; for nakisg r&bed stoddngs, «tiU naaidd^fromlMi
fibee 4^ aeoidanoi^ the Derby mb. JlCr. Strutt duk
oenMd at «aoe tiie sound piinoipies of Arkwright*8
■oachttUB, and fmikiy.dedaaedluscoiivactm
siOBe alight mecbanacii ad^astmeati^ it woidd spin
esoelloit bofiiery yam— 4ibe gveategt deadaratuin in
tbe<wttoniiianu&cttii«Bofthat day; ainoe the oonamon
hand-wheel yarn, as traU as <fhe jenny-yam of Har-
greavea, iras too soft and loose for making good
stocakings.

B^ngnow asioeinled wUh capitalists of pvobity and
enieqprize, Arkwrigfat tasked bis facuhSss of mind and
body to their utmost stIi^tch to .offgaBixe more coaa-
jdetely the factory at Nottingham, whieh, with l^e aid
c^ Smal^r and Messrs. Wright, he had mounted so
early as 1768, and djiv^oi by hoi«e*-power. On the
3d July, 1769, his first patent is dated« -a year e^er
memorable also in the c^mals of industry lor the patent
inventionx of James ^att. in the following year,

1770, he was joined % Messrs. Need and Strutt In

1771, this admirable triumvnrate sheeted an excdlent
factory site at Cromford on the Derwent, where -they

. erected the firatwatgr-spinning-mill, — the nursing-plaoe

228 EARLY HISTORY OP

of the foctory opulence and power of Great Britain.
Here still may be seen at work the original frames of
the inventor, — ^proofs demonstrative, were any wanted
by the candid philosopher, that Arkwright was no
plagiarist of other men's ideas, since he had then created
a grand productive automaton, unlike everything else on
die face of the earth. But many years of indefatigable
labour passed over the inventor's head before the syst^n
was completed to his mind, — scarcely a week being
barren of some valuable improvement. ^^ About the
years 1772 and 1773," says Mr. Guest, ^' his (Ark-
wright's) attempts at spinning had excited considerable
interest in Leigh from his being so well known there,
and it was common for the respectable inhabitants of
the place to go and view his engines (at Cromford) and
buy a dozen or two of pairs of stockings, made of
yam spun by them. I have in my possession a pair of
stockings so bought at that period.'"*"

" It seems that he (Highs) and Arkwright happened
to be both in Manchester at that time (1772,) and that
one Mr. Rothwell brought them into company together,
in the parlour of a public house in that town, (Highs was
then making an engine for a gentleman in Manchester,
for which he received a premium^) and their conversa-
tion turned upon engines. He deposes that he told
Mr. Arkwright he had got his, the witness's invention."!
" In 1770 or early in 1771, he (Highs) removed from
Leigh to Camp Street, Manchester, where he con-
structed what may be termed a double jenny. This
had twenty-eight spindles on each side, which were
turned by a drum or roller placed in the centre. This

* The Britith Cott<m Manufacturety by Richazd Gkiest. Manches-
ter, 1828, p. 15. t Ibid. p. 29.

THE FACTORY SYSTEM. 229

machine was publicly worked in Manchester Exchange
in 1772^ by his son Thomas Highs, then about ten
years of age> and the manufacturers on that occasion,
subscribed 200 guineas, and presented them to Highs
as a reward for his ingenuity."* ^' In 1773, he removed
to Bolton-le-Moors where he resided until 1776. In
1776, he returned to Manchester. In 1778 and 1779,
he made machines at Kidderminster for various manu-
fticturers, among others, Messrs. Pardee, Lea, and Co."f
Such is Mr. Guest's account of Highs, at the most
critical period of Arkwright's grand invention. If the
drawing-rollers patented by Arkwright, at first in 1769,
and, a second lime in 1775, for spinning cotton, had
been the invention of Highs, they never could have
renoained for one month in the state of a monopoly,
since Highs was in the very focus of the cotton manu-
factures at Manchester, in high favour, and in con-
fidential relations with the leading manufacturers of
that district. The people of Leigih, on their return from
their visit of wonder at Cromford, would have all risen
in arms against the usurper of their townsman's in-
vention, and have interested the public in his behalf
provided there had been any good foundation for his
claims. The spirited inhabitants of Manchester would
not have suffered the ingenious man to whom they
awarded so handsome a premium for doubling the jenny,
to be robbed of another invention of far greater impor-
tance nor would they have failed to place him at once in
the foreground of an attack upon Arkwright's patents.
Priority of invention is so much more definite a plea
than obscurity of description, in attacking a patent in a

* The Britith Coiton Manufactures, by Richard Guest. Manches-
ter, 1828, p. 203. t Ibid. p. 205.

290 MAMhr KKTQST QT

coi»rt of law, that if Higfe ^ Lejgli» a tpelMoMMMi «id
BHich-«tteeaied machiie joaaker, in Maftduester^ liai
origMiaHy ootrMPed .a fmetacMe a^of dmwiD^-rDlleiii»
he would have boon aUe to eaiiibk dMm to bis fiiaBdi
aad adnipera^ and to haiw atbran^od i^rinriif^iHkk
patent in the very bbth.

Rouadeveiy. schemer '^maoh^odarj^mu^ aborfioa
Ues." That Highs had ei^ertaaned & <mgiae Mtim. af
drawing out cotton fibBsaBits bjr two laars of rafiersp
OBe pair moving &stor dun the other^ is pestle; but
it is certain fren the above ^iretunatanoes^ that bo
had never realized it in anything of a ^workaUie toftOL
I ooneluds, therefioie^ that the mfitit of a rati<Hudi
^stem of qpinmng and romg by rollers isentk>dy cbe
to Arkwright^ and that but for his high OEUBntal q^alitias,
sagacity, decision, and his unwearied adivity, die
water-twist frame; willi its offsfHcing the thioslie waA
mule, might not for ages have eamohkd the indmtry
of England.

It appears fcom the testimony given l^ Kay at the
trial in 1785, that aft^ he ent^ed into the service of
Arkwright, he lefit Warrington, and accompankd Us
master to Mandakestor, where he was employed by him
for thirteen weeks in making a clodL Aricwright had
occupied himself, we have seen, with the probkm of
the perpetual motion, and had no doulM; studied with
that view various kinds of clock movements. With a
noind full of the project of roUer-spinmng, immediately
after trying the model at Preston, would swsh apushmg
man as Arkwright have employed his mechanic at
high wages for thirteen weeks, in making an ordinaiy
clock? No surely. He must have had some peculiar
scheme of wheel-work for the measurement of time,

TfilE FAdHHtT MYVtEm. S31

be set Kay to wmk in realixiiig; After this
experi MButail jcfe was £iiislied^ Kay did nvtbiitg mope
for Arkvmgfat> till he joined hbn and Smalley at
Nottingham, for the purpose of co-operating in their
factory-spAi^ng ^enterpriae.

As Mr. Arkwright had thiis evidently directed his
attention to tilock-iBaki]^, and nstimdly enough sup-
posed himscSf the aulSior of some improvements in that
art> he chose to desigiMte htraself clock-maker in the
drawing-roBer patent of 1769, a very pardonable as-
sumption, Binoe he noight have impaired his credit as
the patentee cf complex machinery, by appearing under
the dedignafion of a handicraft which lie had now
for ever renounced.

'Hie specification of this patent is renmrkably per-
spicuous. It mentions every essential dement of a
g^ water-twist or throst^inning machine of the
present day, and is therefore in perfect accordance with
the fact already stated, that some of the original spin-
ning water-frames of Sir Eichard Ar kwright are still
spinning good yarn at Cromford, the wooden teeth of
the wheels and pinions having ground themselves into the
best shapes for diminishing friction. In the preamble
of the specification, dated 15th July, he truly says,
that he " had by great study and long applicartion in-
i^ernted a new piece of machinCTy, never before found
0at, practised, or used, for the making of weft or jram
from cotton, flax, and wool; which would be of great
utility to a great many manufacturers, as well as to
his Majesty's subjects in general, by employing a great
mmiber of poor people in working the said machinery,
and l^ making the said weft or yam much superior
in quality to any heretofore manufactured or made."

EARLT HI9TOBT OF

To no patent ever granted by a sovereign, could
the above enunciation be with so much propriety pre-
fixed. The following are his figure and description.

Fig. 18.— Aikwrlght'i oiigliiil putcnl WatirfrsiDe Spinning Mashlne sf.lTKI.

" Now know ye thai I, the said Richard Arkwright,
do hereby deaoribe and ascertain the nature of my
said invention, and declare that the plan thereof drawn
in the margin of these presents is composed of the fol-
lowing particulars, (that is to say). A, the cog wheel
and shaft, which receive their motion from a horse.
B, the drum or wheel which turns C, a belt of leather
and gives motion to the whole machine. D, a lead
weight which keeps F, the small drum steady to £,

THE FACTORY SYSTEM. 233

the forcing wheel. G, the shaft of wood which gives
motion to the wheel H> and continues it to I^ four
pairs of rollers, (the forms of which are drawn in the
margin,) which act by tooth and pinion made of brass
an^ steel nuts fixed in two iron plates, K. That part of
the roller which the cotton runs through is covered
with wood, the top roller with leather, and the bottom
one fluted, which lets the cotton, &c., through it ; by one
pair of rollers moving quicker than the other draws it
finer for twisting, which is performed by the spindles
T. K, the two iron plates described above. L, four
large bobbins with cotton rovings on, conducted be-
tween rollers at the back. M, the four threads carried
to the bobbins and spindles by four small wires, fixed
across the frame in the slip of wood V. N, iron
levers with small lead weights hanging to the rollers
by pulleys, which keep the rollers close to each other.
O a cross piece of wood to which the levers are fixed.
P, the bobbins and spindles. Q, flyers made of wood,
with small wires on the sides which lead the thread to
the bobbins. R, small worsted bands put about the
whirl of the bobbins, the screwing of which tight or
easy causes the bobbins to wind up the thread faster
or slower. S, the four whirls of the spindles. T, the
four spindles which run in iron plates. V, explained
in letter M. W, a wooden frame of the whole
machine.

There is no doubt that the above figure, as given in with
Ihe specification in 1769, is an exact portraiture of the
model made at Warrington by the aid of Atherton's
workmen, which was set up and tried in the school-
master s parlour at Preston ; and it is sufficient to con-
vince any competent judge of such matters, that the

334 lARXrY mnrorr or

andior of the nftchise w«s a great master of tlie prin-
ciples of mechanieal eombin^tioii, or, to borrovr sn ex-
pveBsaon from phrenology, Xh^t he was endowed in an
eminent degree with the organ of eonstmeli^ness.

In Deoember 1775« Mr. Ark w rig h t cAitamed Itti
second patent, which embraced the whole train of ope-
rations in a complete cotton-factoiy, mlmBrably ar-
ranged in subordination to each other, but somewhat
enignmtically cfescribed, in order, as the inventor after-
wards said, to prevent such important discovmes as
he was conscious of promulgating, fixnn being jHrated by
foreigners. So few patents were sued for in those days,
and the laws relating to them were so little understood
by patentees, Ihat a little mystification might be
thought perfectly feir and patriotie to secure the in-
vention to one's own countrymen. In this patent
Arkwright was accused of having tqpecified, as his own,
the contrivances of others ; but I conceive the charge
has as little foundation as could be Ibuikl in almost any
other specification of complex machinery, were it can-
vassed with an equally censorious spirit as Arkwnght'«
has been. This patent was for carding, drawmg,
and roving machines to be used ^m prepa i m g silk,
cotton, flax, and wool for spifning.'* Had the inv«ntor
been under the eiudanceof a ju(ticiott8patent-s^feoet,iie
.,«dd ha^ bee^, .^ hk own i^F^^MW
combinations, to have framed a patent perfectly tearibfa,
and exempt from veasoiuifale cfaalienge.

Sir Bichutl ahvays admewledged havii^ neeired
cylindar-cards from Northaaqpton, of Pasl% eonslruo*
tion, whei« they had been used for cardUng wkuBCf^
wool in a KjgnuftidiOTy of stuff hats. Bat ikef were
very defective, and indeed essentially dnffisresit £pom

TIUE FACTOftT STSTEIf. 235

tlie cards moimted ai Cromford.'*' As for tbe drawmg
machine^ a most important dement of a spinnii^ foe-
tory^ it was entirely his own, umI is clearly oontained
in his first patent^ bong his roller-series without the
spindles and flyers. The roving apparatus as first
mveated 1^ him, was nothing else but a modificatmi
of the first patent^ in whidi he used larger drawing-
rollers^ and substituted for the bobbin a tall nev<dving
tin can <m* cylind^ into whidi the pomis cord of cotton
was laid in regular coils by centriiugad foroe and
gravity combined. — See vol. ii. p. 59.

The specification of 1775 very properly affirms,
therefore, that these new machines were constructed oa
easy and »mple principles, very different from any
that had ever yet been contrived.

Patentees are often injured by not defining stricdy
what they peculiarly daim ; and by implidtly follow-
ing the usaal verbiage of s^pedefications. Thus the
phrases ^' first and wie inventor - thereof" and liiat
^^ the same bad ne^^er be^a practised by any other
person or p^'s<Mis whcnnsoever, to the bestof his know-
ledge and belief/' are regularly r^eated in every spe-
cificaticat, and must therefore be afavays libm^y and
candidly interjected. Aitwright was unquestionably
the firot and sole inventor o( the complete edifice in its
improved state, though oertain asaterials in general
use and appropriated to no person in parti^ar might
be worked up in it.

One of the most «legad^ meehanjsms in a cotton-
factory is that of the cmnk and comb for^rtrippng the
thin Aeeee of cott<m from the dotfer cylinder o{ the
carding engine. Several witnesses in the trial to re-

* See Vol, ii. pp. 29, 30.

236 EARLY BISTORT OF

duce Arkwright's second patent, swore that the above
invention belonged to James Hargreaves, the author
of the jenny. Even the widow and son of this inge-
nious man gave evidence to that efiect, and the smith
who made the crank and comb for Hargreaves con-
firmed it. Yet Mr. Baines, who had been so strongly
biassed against Sir R. Arkwright^ as to adopt, in his
octavo History of Lancashire, Guest's apocrjrphal
statement of Highs' counter-claims as a true narrative
of factory invention, acknowledges that he has recently
received decisive testimony in Arkwright's favour as to
the crank and comb, from the son of Mr. James, the
partner of Hargreaves.

" He (James Hargreaves) was not the inventor of the
crank and comb. We had a pattern chalked out upon
a table by one of the Lancashire men in the employ
of Mr. Arkwright ; and I went to a frame-smith of
the name of Young, to have one made. Of this Mr.
Arkwright was continually complaining, and it oc-
casioned some angry feelings between the parties."*

Here is a confession from James, the very person who
was the chief accessory to the piracy of Arkwright. From
this specimen we may form a judgment of the rest of
the evidence vamped up at the trial against Ark-
wright. If any one will candidly analyze his original
model, he will see how natural it was for him to ad-
vance in the straight road of improvement to which
the principles of his mechanism spontaneously led.

Arkwright had great reason to be disgusted with
his Lancashire compatriots, when he found th^n
flocking to him merely for the purpose of pilfering

* Hiitory of tht Cotton Manufacture, by Edward Baines, jun. £sq.»
pp. 177, 178.

THE FACTORY SYSTEM. 237

3 plans^ and communicating them to his piratical
mpetitors, who, if left to their own resources, would
ver have made a single hank of good yarn. It was
this way that many of his most valuable con-
vances, the fruits of much thought and exertion,

V $re snatched up and spread abroad before he had
ae to mature them to his mind, and embody them
his second patent — so that he found his own ideas

^ lien and fraudulently turned against him by his
versaries in a court of justice.
The difficulties which Arfcwright encountered in
^anizing his factory system, were much greater than
sommonly imagined. In the first place, he had to
in his work-people to a precision in assiduity alto-

„ :her unknown before, against which their listless

• i restive habits rose in continual rebellion ; in the
end place, he had to form a body of accurate me-

• inics, very different from the rude hands which then
. ' isfied the manufacturer ; in the third, he had to seek

• narket for his yarns; and in the fourth, he had
t'< resist competition in its most odious forms.
f'l )m the concurrence of these circumstances, we find

d t so late as the year 1779, ten years after the date
>1 lis first patent, his enterprise was regarded by many
tb I doubtful novelty. One event has been adduced
mdence of the uncertainty of his condition, which
-^ ;ht to excite interest in his behalf. He parted
1 . n his wife in 1779, because she would not agree to

, I him in converting some landed property into

' aey, for the sale of which her consent was required

.*v law. The property was worth, it is said, little more

i ,m four hundred pounds. Mrs. Arkwright enter-
ic* . .ed a high esteem for her husband, and always

238 BARLT HISTORY OT

spoke of him with respect; yet she preferred separatii)^
from him, to the dmnce <tf being beggared by placing
her dowry in so precarious a concern as she then thought
the water-sjunning frame to be. For some years
after this e^ent she lived altc^ther upon her own
means. Mr. AilLwrigfat was justly indignant at this
want of sjrmpathy in one so nearly related to him,
and in consequence allowed her only thirty pounds a*
year, out of his own pocket, even when he had rea^
lized great opulence. These particulars are given by
Mr. Guest on the authority of Sir Richard Arkwright's
niece, probably a disappointed and prejudiced person.*
The story has upon the whole an apocryphal air.
There was certainly no scarcity of funds in 1779, to cany
on the existing establishmentatCromford with the utmost
vigour. Arkwright was, we own, a man of no conunon
ambition. Perceivingatthis period the means of placing
HKmey to prodigious advantage in other conoams which
he projected* he might be mortified beyond measure
at the want of spirit and confidence in his wife, and
might have resented it as an insult to his understanding.
Nor are we to suppose that his water-frame mechanism,
though rude in aspect compared with the mocfero
throstle, did not spin excellent twist. He," his 8<hi, and
his partners, the Messrs. Strutt, with the machines of
that time, turned off, by dint of superior tact and at-
tention, warp and hosiery yam as fine as 80*s, or e?en
100*8, which might bear a comparison with the firmest
and most evenly water-twist of the present day. It is
the glory of modem mechanics that their machines
produce good yam on automatic principles with hands

^ T%e Briiith Cotton Mtmu/actureif by Richard Ouest. 8vo. Hao-
1828.

THB FACTORY STSUM. 2S9

relatively un^ilful^ and With very little superintend*
enee. A &w old water-firames still exists both at
Cromford and Belp^, which spin good hosiery and
thread yarns (Weighty hanks to the pound.

The malignity displayed agunst Arkwright by the
cotton manufacturers of Lancashire^ as soon as they
recc^ised the sup^ior quality of his yam> and found
they could not equal it by jenny-spinning, exceeds
anything to be found in the history oi commerce.
Tbey not only bribed away his best servants, but they
fomented the evil passions of the mob into such a pa-
roxysm of rage^ as to cause a mill built by Arkwright, at
Birkacre, near Qu>rley, to be burned, in the presence of
a powerful body of police and miUtary, without any of
the civil authorities requiring their interference to pre-
vent the outrage. But the most extraordinary piece
of malevolence, which, if not well attested, would be in-
credible, was, the manufacturers of Lancashire com-
bining not to buy his yarn, though it was acknowledged
to be superior in quality to any in the market

The fcdiowing are extracts from the Case which Mr.
Arkwright published soon after the first trial of his
patent in 1781, when it was declared invalid, on
the score of obscurity and defectiveness in the speci-
fication.

'* Mr. Arkwright, after many years' intense and
painfiil application, invented, about the year 1768, his
present method of spinning cotton, but upon very
difiereut principles from any invention that had gone
before it He was himself a native of Lancashke;
but having so recently witnessed the imgenerous tre«t-
naent of poor Hargreaves, by the people of that coun^
try, he retired to Nottingham, and obtained a patent;

240 feARLY HISTORY OF

in the year 176% for making cotton^ flax^ and wo(d
into yam. But after some experience^ finding that
the common method of preparing the materiab for
spinning (which is essentially necessary to the per-
fection of good yam) was very imperfect, tedious, and
expensive, he turned his thoughts towards the con-
struction of engines for that purpose; and in the pur-
suit spent several years of intense study and labour,
and at last produced an invention for carding and pre-
paring the materials, founded in some measure on the
principles of his first machine. These inventions
united, completed his great original plan. But his
last machines being very complicated, and containing
some things materially different in their construction,
and some others materially different in their use from
the inventions for which his first patent was ob-
tained, he procured a patent for these also, in Decem-
ber 1775.

" No sooner were the merits of Mr. Arkwright's
inventions fully understood, from the great increase of
materials produced in a given time, and the superior
quality of the goods manufactured ; no sooner was it
known that his assiduity and great mechanical abili-
ties were rewarded with success, than the very men
who had before treated him with contempt and deri-
sion, began to devise means to rob him of his inven-
tions, and profit by his ingenuity. Every attempt that
cunning could suggest for this purpose was made, by
the seduction of his servants and workmen (whom he
had with great labour taught the business). A know-
ledge of his machinery and inventions was fully gained.
Prom that time many persons began to pilfer some-
thing from him ; and then by adding something else

TfiE FACTORY SYSTEM. 241

of their own^ and by calling similar productkms and
machines by other nameSy they hope to screen them-
selves from punishment. So many of these artful and
designing individuals had at length infringed on his
patent right, that he found it necessary to prosecute
several ; biit it was not without great difficulty, and
-considerable expense, that he was able to make any
proof against them ; conscious that their conduct was
unjustifiable, their proceedings were conducted with the
utmost caution and secrecy. Many of the persons
employed by them were sworn to secrecy, and their
buildings and workshops were locked up, or otherwise
secured. This necessary proceeding of Mr. Ark-
wright occasioned, as in the case of poor Hargreaves,
an association against him of the very persons whom
he had served and obliged. Formidable, however, as
it was, Mr. Arkwright persevere, trusting that he
should obtain, in the event, that satisfaction which he
appeared to be justly entitled ta

** A trial in Westminster Hall, in July last, at a^
large expense, was the consequence ; when, solely by
not describing so fully and accurately the nature of
his last complex machines as was strictly by law re-
quired, a verdict was found against him. Had he
been at all aware of the consequences of such omis-
sion, he certainly would have been more careful and
circumspect in his description. It cannot be supposed
that he meant a fraud on his country; it is on the
contrary most evident that he was anxiously desirous
of preserving to his native country the full benefit of
his inventions. Yet he cannot but lament that the
advantages resulting from his own exertions and abi-
lities alone, should be wrested from him by those who

VOL. I. M

%4Q EABLT HtaorOBV OP'

have no pretawions tomeiii;; that they should be p^r-
nitted to rob him of his ioi^eiitkns before the expica-
tkm of the reasonable period of fourte^i yeare^ merefy
becau$e he has unfortunately omitted to point out aU
the minuti^Bof his comjdicated machines." '' In shorty
Mr. Aricwright has chosen a subject in naanufactures
(that of spinning)^ of all others the most geneifal> the
most interesting, and the most difficult H^ has,
after near twenty years' unparallded dilig^pe and
application, by dM force of natural genius, and an
unbounded inv^ition .(exc^nees sddom united),
brought to perfection machines on principles as neW
■ in theory, as they are regular and perfect in. practice.
. He has induced men of property to engage with him
to a large amount; from his important inventions
united, he has pr6du<^ better goods of their dififereiit
kinds than ever were before produced in this country;
and finally he has established a business that already
employs upwards of 5,000 persons, and a capital, on
the whole, of not less than £200,000,— a business of
the utmost importance and benefit to this kingdooL" [

Mr. Arkwright's object at this tinae was to obtain
from the Legislature an Act of Parliament to guaran-
tee to him. the patent right of which he had been de-
prived in a court of law; an object which he did jodk
prosecute any furtb^.

Hiet us now turn to another just gnmnd of com^aiiit
stated in the CtZM,

'* It was not till upwards of five years had elapsed
after obtaining his first patait, and more than £12,000
had been expended in machinery and buildiags^ that
any profit accrued to himself and partnera." ^ The
«M$t excellent yam and twist was produced; notwiil^

THE TACrCfKY SYSTEM. 243

• istattdmg which the proprietors found great difficulty to
' introduce it into public use. A very heavy and valuable
stocky in consequence of diese (Ufficulties, lay upon
their hands ; inconveniences tod disadvantages of no
small consideration followed. Whatever were the
motives which induced the rejection of it, they were
thereby necessarily driven to attempt, by their own
strength and ability, the manu&cture of the yarn.*
Their first trial was in weaving it into stockings, whic^
succeeded ; and they soon established the manufacture
of caKcoes, which promises to be one of the first manu-
factures in the kingdom. Another still more for-
midable difficulty arose ; the orders for goods which
they had received being considerable, were unexpect-
edly countermanded, the officers of excise re&ising to
let them pass at the usual duty of 3d. per yard,
insisting upon the additional duty of 3d. per yard, as
being (Indian) calicoes, though manu&ctured in
Engkmd; besides these calicoes, when printed, were
prohibited. By this unfiireseen obstruction, a vety
considerable and very valuable stock of calicoe^^accH:-
nnilaited. An application to the commissioners of
excise was attended with no success ; the proprietca^
therefore had no resource but to ask relief of the Legis-
lature, which, after much money expended, and against
a strong opposition of the manufacturers in Lancashire,
they obtained."f

Of this opposition it may be said» ^be force of envy
and hatred could carry tradesmen no furtl^r than
ior the purpose of harassing a prosperous rival, to
keep themselves and their trade in a most galling

* To work it up into cotton cloths and hosiery.
,t Case in Arkwrighe* PaUni Triai,^ 99.

244 BARLT HISTORY OF

and ruinous bondage under bad laws. Mr. Bednes re-
probates this malignant spirit with just severity : ** The
prohibition of English-made calicoes was so utterly
without an object, that its being prayed for by the
cotton manu&cturers of this country is one of the most
signal instances on record of the blinding effects of
commercial jealousy. The Legislature did not yield to
the despicable opposition offered to the reasonaUe
demand of Mr. Arkwright and his partners (Messrs.
Need and Strutt), but on the contrary, passed a law
in 1774, sanctioning the new manufacture, and ren-
dering English calicoes subject to a duty of only 3d
per square yard on being printed."*

We may now form some estimate of the formidable
obstacles with which the Genius of factory industry had
to contend during the greater part of his illustrious
career, and of his transcendent merit in triumphing
over them all. Nothing certainly could be more vex-
atious than to find the greatest channel to national
wealth ever laid open by inventive enterprise, forthwith
dammed up by the folly of fiscal legislation. Though
zealous patriots had for more than a century been

' exclaiming against the ascendency of Indian cotton
goods over our home-made linens and woollen stuffi,
yet at length, when the means c^ rivalling them in
quality and of outstripping them in cheapness are
found, they cannot be exercised ! and the inventors are
to be ruined unless they possess sufficient wealth and
influence to get the preposterous laws repealed !
Parliament was pleased in 1774 to recognize the

• propriety of permitting genuine cotton fabrics to be
made, without intermixture of linen warp, and thus

* HUiortf of the Cotton Mantefacture, p. 167.

THB FACTORY STSTBlf. 245.

removed one of the numerous shackles which their
wise predecessors had placed upon industry. In
tracing the history of the British cottrni trade^ a brief
outline of this Act for (ascertaining the duty an printed,
painted, stained, or dyed stuffs whMy made of cotton,
and manufactured in Great Britain; and for allowing
the use and wear thereof, under certain regulations,
deserves a place. Its preamble states^ that ^'Whereas
a new manufacture of stuffs^ wholly made of raw
cotton wool (chiefly imported from the British planta-
tions)^ hath been lately set up within this kingdom^ in
which manufacture many hundreds of poor persons are
employed; and whereas the use and wear of printed,
&c., stuffs wholly made of cotton and manufactured in
Great Britain, ought to be allowed under proper
regulations ; and whereas doubts have arisen whether
the said new manufactured stuffs ought to be considered
as calicoes, and as such, if printed, &c., liable to the
inland or excise duties laid on calicoes when printed
by the existing statutes, whether the use or wearing of
the said new manufactured stuffs, when the same are
printed, &c., are not prohibited by an Act passed 7 Geo. .
II., intituled. An Act to preserve and encourage the \
woollen and silk manufactures of this kingdom, and ;
for more effectually employing the poor by prohibiting
the use and wear of all printed, &c., calicoes in
apparel, household stuff, furniture, or otherwise, after
the 25th of December, 1722. For obviating all such
doubts for the future, be it enacted, that no greater or
higher duty than three-pence for every yard in length,
reckoning, yard wide, shall be imposed on the said
manufactured stuffs wholly made of cotton spun in
Great Britain when printed.

245 SA3SLT HI9T0BY 09 . :

*^ And be it further enacted, tbat it shall be lawM

for any person to wear any new manu£RCtured stuffi

wholly made of oottoB when printed^

yi' '< And be it further enacted^ that in each piece of the

. said calicoes, there shall be wove in the warp in b<^

' srirages through the whole length thereof three bhie

stripes, each stripe of one thread only ; and that each

piece when printed be stamped at each end by an

excise officer with the words British Manufactory^

Persons who sold such stuffs without the stamp were
liable to a fine of £50 for each piece, besides its for-
feiture; those who imported them were liable to £10
on each piece> besides the forfeiture ; and whoever
counterfeited the stamp, or sold goods so counterfeited^
was punishable by death. This Act, which did not
extend to cotton velvets, velverets, and fustians, is of
itself a complete demonstration of Arkwright's pecu-
liar merit, for it was framed solely to suit the new
style of goods oS which his water-twist warp was the
characteristic constituent Nobody can pretend that
at this period, and for several years thereafter, any
fe^tory except those erected and superintended \y^
Arkwright produced cotton yam fit to form the warp
of a good printing calico.

The field of enterprise in cotton spinning being now
left free by the Legislature, Arkwright, who had been
since 1771 (organizing the several members of his fac-
tory system at Cromfbrd, in co-operation with Mr*
Strutt, brought forth, as we have saod, the patent speci-
fication of it in 17751, but its constituent parts had been
undergoing for the three preceding years daily experi-
mental probation, exposed to invidioua espionage and
petty piracy, as exemplified in the crank and comb

THS 'FlOTOKg SZ8TBH. SCT

^^Most of these impror^nents (rdati?e to the carding
engine) are to be ascribed to Arkwright^ and ha^
shofred hig usual talent and judgment m combinaticm,
by putting all the improyements together^ and pro-*
ducing a complete machine, so admirably calculated
f<n* the purpose that it has not been improved upon till
the present day,"* I entirely concur in this senti*
ment On the subject of the cards, which constitute
the main novelty in Arkwright's patent of 1775 (for
the drawing and roving principles are clearly deve-
loped in the first patent), the claims of Highs will
appear not only futile but ludicrous to any one who
will candidly consider the silly answers which he made
upon the trial in 1786.

" Q. Have you actually ever made, or not, any of
these carding engines? — A. I have made carding:
machines, but not with these individual things as this
is ; there are various forms,

Q. What did you do with them ; did you sell any
of them? — A, Yes, Sir, I sold them.

r Q. How many did you?— -i4. I suppose four or five,
but then I never made but one in this method ; I tell
nothing but the truth.

Q. You never made but one of that kind ?*-^. N<^
I did not.

Q. It did not answer? — A^ It did not answer the
end the gentleman wanted it for; you know it is
nothing to me* I had nothing to do but to taork as I
was orderedJ'^^

* Hittofjfrfthe CoUm Mamtfacture, by Edward Baine*, jvn. Esq.
p-179.
•I A CompendMW Histety of the Cotton Mamtfactvre, by Ri«hasd .

248 BARLT HISTORY OP

How unlike are these statanents to these of a prluS*'
tical man who had constructed a really operative ma-
chine ? He makes only one card^ even that not from
his own invention, but as he was ordered — and, after
all, it did not answer. Such were Highs' exploits in
1772 or 1773, when Mr. Arkwright was bringing
beautiful hosiery twist into the market, in the prepara-
tion of which liis improved cards, with a perpetual
fleece taken off by the crank and comb, were em-
ployed. This continuity of the fleece also proves the
priority of his claim in the feed-cloth to Wood and
Pilkington, for though they used the same thing before
the patent of 1775 was obtained, they might most
easily have procured the plan from some of his stray
workmen, or have obtained hints of what had been done
at Cromford in 1772, and thus have stolen a march
upon him. The claim made by them goes no further
back than the year 1774. Mr. James, the living wit-
ness to the fact of the crank and comb being Ark-
wright's invention, before 1772, is worthy of all credit,
since, according to Mr. Baines, at 83 years of age,
he still enjoys a most ret^itive memory.* We may
therefore receive, without anv hesitation, the statement
given in the Case that they were his own series of
inventions which Arkwright "sold to numbers of
adventurers residing in the different counties of Derby,
Leicester, Nottingham, Worcester, Stafford, York,
Hertford, and Lancaster ; and that, upon a modei^te
computation, the money expended in consequence of

■* Mr. Quest says, at p. 19 of Wa Compendiout Hitt^^, that Har-
greaves invented the crank and comh in 1772; hut as Mr. Jamea
declares that his partner Hargreaves pirated the invention from Ark-
wright, its invention, hy the latter, most have been of an earlier date.

THE FACTORY SYSTEM. 249

such grants (or patent licences) before 1 782^ amounted
to at least £60,000. He and his partners also ex-
pended> in large buildings in Derbyshire and elsewhere,
upwards of £30,000, and he himself erected a very
large and extensiTe building in Manchester, at the
expense of upwards of £4,000, forming altogether a
business which already employed upwards of 5,000
persons, and a capital on the whole of less than
£200,000."

Mr. Kennedy, in his instructive memoir on the Rise
and Progress of the Cotton Trade, makes the following
observations : — " During a period of ten or fifteen years
after Mr. Arkwright's first mill was built (in 1771) at
Cromford, all the principal works were erected on the
falls of considerable rivers ; no other power than water
having then been found practically useful ; there were
a few exceptions, where Savary's and Newcomen*s
steam-engines were tried. But the principles of these
machines being defective, and their construction bad,
the expense in fiiel was great, and the loss occasioned
by frequent stoppages was ruinous."*

We cannot better conclude this investigation into the
origin of the factory system than by the following ju-
dicious remarks of Mr. Bannatyne, author of the in-
teresting article Cotton, in the Encyclopcedia Britan-
nica. " The originality and comprehensiveness of Sir
Richard Arkwright's mind was perhaps marked by
nothing more strongly than the judgment with which,
although new to business, he conducted the great con-
cerns his discoveries gave rise to, and the systematic
order and arrangement which he introduced into every

♦ Memoirs of the Manchester Liierary and Phiiotophicai Soctefy,
vol. iii., 2d series.

M 5

2fi0 KABLT HI&TORY OF

department of his extensive works. His pLaas of
m^iagemeBt» which must have been entirely his owiv
as no establishment of a »milar nature thcsi existed,
were universally adopted by others, and, after long
experience, they have not yet in any material point
been altered or improved,"

In another work* I have said, ** It required a vaask
of a Napoleon nerve and ambition to subdue the refrac-
tory tempers of workpeople accustomed to irregular
paroxysms of diligence, and to urge on his multifarknis
and intricate constructions in the face of prejudice,
passion, and envy. Such was Arkwright, who, suf-
fering nothing to stay or turn aside his progress,
arrived gloriously at the goal, and has for ever affixed
his name to a great era in the annals of mankind, — an
era which has laid open unbounded prospects of
wealth and comfort to the industrious, however much
they may have been occasionally clouded by ignorance
and folly. Prior to this period manufactures were
everywhere feeble and fluctuating in their development,
shooting forth luxuriantly for a season, and again
withering almost to the roots, like annual plants.'

That Arkwright derived useful hints and aids from
many quarters in his wcmderful career, is undeniable,
and that he most skilfully adapted the scattered frag*
ments of ingenuity to his grand factory system, re-
dounds much to his honour. He was, however, the
original architect, as well as the master-builder of
his new edifice. Like Columbus he meditated many
years on the erratic excursknis of his predecessors in
the narrow seas of industry, and having convinced
himself that a new world replete with wealth might

• Philosophy of Manufacturet, p. 16.

THi FAOf OKT stsm. 251

bs readied by n Mder iMtf%actioiky b^ fearibssly tfuH
barked his Hfe aiiKl fortune* m qvest of it, with mestB»
Iktle eommeiMimtte to the d2Mig8rft> diffieuhteB, and
magTHfi^eaoe of the enterprifpe. Fortunatdy for the
Eoglishmait, he did not depend on the patronage of
-ptinees and courts, tmt with the co-operation of two cft
three spirited fellow-citizens he advanced with unfaU
tering energy towards hk objeek, li^ng in afflue&ee,
and dying m honour. The Genoese, after wasting many .
piamfnl years as a needy supplicant to kings, obtained
bixt a paltry equipmast for h« l^roic expedition, and
was rewarded at lai^ by disgrace, poverty, and a pri-
son. Richard Arkwright, on the other band^ within
e^hteen years of eonstrtieting his first niiodel, bad
risen to such estimation in the great county of Derby,
that he was elated to the dignity of High Sheriff,
and soon thei^aiW received the honour of knighthood
from King George III., no indifferent judge of mecha<»
nical merit. Although athletic in form and power,
bis corporeal frame never possessed firm health ; during .
the greater part of his factory exertions he laboured
under asthmatic ailments, and in the year 1792, the
s^tieth of his life, he sunk under a complication of
ntaladies.

ITie powerful mfen who have been raised up by
I^ovidence from time to time, to move the stagnant
waters of civilization, such as Luther, Cahin, and
Knox, have been re^rded by their torpid cdrapatriota
as coarse and turbulent spirits, because they reprobated
the unprofitable, firivolous, and corrupt practices prer
valent in their day. In hke manner the intrepid re-
former of induertry, Arkwright, has been accieed of
rough^ss, becatis^ impatient of tiie slovenly habks of.

2S2. BARLT msTORT or

W0rkpeojde> he urged <m thm labours ^ith a precision
and vigilance unknown before. But a gentler or more
timid master would have been unequal to the task he
took in hand ; hence, even his failings on this account
may be said to have leaned to virtue^s sideband to have-
been of incalculable service to his country, and to
mankind.

His career in manufactures may be compared not
unappropriately to that of Newton in science. The
English philosopher has never been reproached for
making use of the prior researches of Copernicus^
Kepler, and Galileo, but has obtained immortal re-
nown by uniting and perfecting them into one great
system of doctrine. His precursors had conceived that
in all tlie bodies of the universe there exists a reciprocal
attractive force; but their attempts to ascertain the
law of the decrease of this force, by d'stance, were un-
availing, from the defect of their powers of generaliza-
tion. Descartes first conceived the bold idea of referring
to a single cause the phenomena of both the heavens,
and the earth ; but Newton had the honour of demon-
strating its nature and effects. Attraction proportional
directly to the mass, and inversely to the square of the
distance, became in his hands the main spring of the
universe. A body may be weighed at the surface of
the earth, but were it transported to the surface of
Jupiter, Saturn, or the Sun, what weight would it
have then? Before the end of the 17th century this
problem would have been regarded as incapable of solu-
tion, and its proposer would have passed for a fooL

- It excited, therefore, no small astonishment when
Newton solved it in a satisfactory manner. He dis-
covered the proportion between the masses of the Sun,

THE FACTORY SYSTEM. 253

Jupiter, and the Earth by combining the above law of
attraction with one of Kepler's laws ; and as the pro-
portion which exists between the diameters of the orbit
of Jupiter and the Earth was approximately known
before his time, he found, by division, the ratios of the
weights of the same body placed successively on the
surfaces of these spheres. Descartes ascribed to the
pressure of the moon the periodical oscillations daily
displayed by the waters of the ocean, and Galileo
referred them to the rotation of the earth, combined
with its movement in the ecliptic; but these vague
and random explanations were incapable of lifting up
the veil which covered the phenomenon. Newton
studied its causes with the aid of geometry, and
showed how all the attendant circumstances proceeded
spontaneously from his great principle of gravitation.
When the moon passes the meridian the particles of
the sea nearer this luminary than the centre of our
globe, are more powerfully attracted than that centre,
and hence rise and recede from the earth in obedience
to that excess of attractive force exercised by the
moon. The particles of the sea, situated in the cor-
responding point of the opposite hemisphere being less
powerfully attracted by the moon than the centre of
the earth, on account of their greater distance, will be
attracted more feebly towards that luminary than the
centre of the earth. Thus the particles of the ocean
will rise from the earth at the two extremities of its
diameter in the direction of the moon, constituting
high water or the flux. Invidious caviUers might
easily find, in writers before Newton's time, hints of
both planetary attraction and of the lunar influence
on the tides, but they would be laughed to scorn by

251 .BAKLY BiaT<HIT OF

all jadickms critics. In like ittaQaer aiitomal^ie sf>ia-
nkig by cards and rollers was attempted prior to
Arkwright, b«it in a raiidom» ill-digested^ and unsys*
teraatic manner.

In the neighbourhood of Pt^irton, during the juvenile
years of Arkwrigfat, there was a considerate manufisK^
ture of linen and cotton goods mixed, with the opera-
tic^ of which be had an opportunity of becoming inti-
mately acquainted; and being a man of uncomnum
natural powers, he directed his thoughts to the improver
ment of the mode of spinning. The first hint respect-
ing the means of effecting this improvement, he said,
he accidentally receired from seeing a red-hot iron hs^
elongated by being passed through iron rollers.* Be-
tween this operatiDn axid that of dmigating a thread as
now practised in spinning, there is no mechanical ana^
logy ; yet the hint being pursued, has produced an in-
vention, which, in its consequences, has been a source
of individual and natiooal wealth, unparaUeled in the
annals of the world.

The difficulties wMch Mr. Arkwright experienced
before he could bring his machine into use, even after
its eonstructicm was sufficiently perfect to demonstrate .
its vahi^ would, perhaps, have for ever retarded it$
competition, if his genius and application had been less
ardent. His circumstances were by far too unfavour-
able to enable him to commence business upon his own
account, and few were willing to risk the loss of capital
in an untried establishment.

Soon after the erection of the miE at Cromford, he

* Samuel Crompton ascribed his first idea of roller-spinniug to
th0 same observation ; and it is probable that Wyatt got his snggea-
tioii in th» tame way.

mftda im&j improrexBents in the mode of pceparmg
tb& cottcm for spiimiog^ aad in?€iitod a variety of in-
genious maehineft fosr effecting this purpose in Uie most
correct and expeditious manner; for all of which be
obtained a patent in the year 1775; and thus com^
pkted a series of machinery so various and so compli-
cated^ yet ao a^irably combined, and well adapted to
produce tbe intended eSed, in its most perfect fiMrm^ a&
to excite the admiration of every person capable of
a{^reeiating the difficulties of the undertaking.

That all this should have been accomplished by the
single efiR>rts of a man without educatioiv without
i^edfiinical knowledge^ or even mechanical experience^
is most extraordinary; and is, perhaps, equal to any
example existing, of the wonderful powers exhibited by
the mind, when its efforts have been steadily directed
to one object. Yet this was not the only employment
of this eminent man. He was iMroducing into every
department of the manuiacture a systeni of industry,
economy> order, and cleanliness, till then unknown in
any great establishments where many people were em-
ployed together ; but which he so effectually accom-
plished, that Ins example may be r^arded as the
pattern of ahnost all subsequent improvements. When
it is cofnsid^ed, that during this entire period, he was
afflicted with a grievous disorder (a violent asthma),
which was always extremely oppressive^ and some-
times threatened immediately to terminate his ex-
istence, his unceasing induaitry must excite astonish*
n^ent. In speaking of his inventioi^i,^ Arkwright
expressed ideas of their importance, which to persons
less acquainted with their merits appearedhyperbolical*
They are all now more than realized. • •

;

256 EARLY HI8T<HIT OP

Several yean before hb deaths ^ lUchard Ark-
Wright gave up to the present Richard Arkwright,
Esq.yof Willersly Castle^ his mill at BakewelL Here
the son displayed talents worthy at once of the father
from whom he had sprung, and of the manufacturing
establishment of Cromford^ where he had been trained.
I was informed by an mdisputable authority^* that
Mr. Arkwright then spun water-twist yams of as high
a count as 80s. of excellent quality^ whereby he
realized by his skill and assiduity in tliat factory alone
no less than £20^000 per annum. This drcumstance
proves^ beyond all controversy^ the perfection to which
cotton machinery had been brought by the hands of
this distinguished family.

In the year 1754 Mr. Jedediah Strutt, then a
farmer, being informed by his wife^s brother, who was a
hosier, and well acquainted with the stocking frame> of
some unsuccessful attempts that had been made to
manufacture ribbed stockings upon it, was induced
to investigate the operations of that curious and com-
plicated machine, in the hope of effecting what others
had attempted in vain. Accordingly, after much time^
labour, and exp^ise, having succeeded, he obtained^
in conjunction with his brother-in-law, a patent for the
/ invention, and removed to Derby, where he established
I an extensive manufacture of ribbed stockings, which
was successfully carried on by himself and partners
for more than half a century. About the year 1771 Mr.
Strutt entered into partnership with Sir R Arkwright
In 1775 he began to erect the cotton works at Belper

* This ciieomstance was told me by George Benfield Struts, Snq^
of Bridge Hill, Belper, during my visit to his hospitable mansion, in
Augost 1834.

THE FACTORT STSTEM. 257

and Millford, at each of which places he resided a
considerable time; but as his health declined he retired
to Derby, where he died in 1797, in the seventy-
first year of his age. His three sons had conducted
his great cotton spinning concerns for many years
before his death with progressive enterprise and in-,
telligence.

William, the eldest, had the honour of co-operating
with Sir Richard Arkwright at the very commence-
ment of his great factory career, and being a well
educated and highly gifted mechanician, was able to
appreciate the character of that extraordinary man.
Had Arkwright's schemes been mere plagiarisms of
other men's ideas, as some of his modern defamers
would have us believe, they could not have escaped the
discernment, but would infallibly have revolted the
candid spirit, of Mr. Strutt Yet no man estimated more
highly than he did the inventive genius and excellent
judgment of Sir Richard Arkwright, of which he
afforded the best evidence in the account of the Crom-
ford cotton works, which was drawn up by him for
Mr. Brayley, and inserted in vol. iii. of this learned
gentleman's Beauties of England and Wales — ^under
the article ' Derbyshire.'

"The establishment of the mill at Cromford village/'
says Mr. Strutt, "proved a source of much legal conten-
tion ; for the manufacturers of Lancashire, apprehensive
of what has actually been the result, that it would
supersede the use of the hand machines then employed,
formed a strong combination to impede its success, and
endeavoured to destroy the validity of the patent, by
contesting the originality of the invention ; and though
in two instances they obtained a favourable verdict^

298 JiABLT HI8TORT OF

from particular cur^unatlthees, aiid loBt it in a ^rilyi
there cannot be a doubt that every really essential j)art ^
of the machinery deriTed its stracture from the power*
ful genius of Mr. Arkwright. A great quantity of the
cotton spun by this machinery is used by hosiers, who
find it more suitable to their purpose than any other
they can procure."

Mr. Brayley has kindly piit into my hands the
original manuscript of the above narrative, in Mr.
Strutt's handwriting.

We have already described the dangers which the
factory system experienced in its infancy from ruf-
fian violence. The year 1779 was remarkable for a
general assault upon spinning machinery in several
counties of England Though there was no scarcity
of employment at good wages, and though much pains
had been taken to convince the populace that their
condition would be improved by the increased facilities
of manufecture,* yet a notion was artfully instilled into
th^ minds, that the n^w machines would ere long
entirely supersede manual labour. Under the in-
fluence of such illusions, a third ami more formidable,
set of mobs assembled in Lancashire, which destroyed
all the carding and spinning machinery moved by

• Particularly by Doming Rasbotham, Esq., an enlightened m'a-
gitbrata near Bolton, who ciicnlated a printed address amcmg the
weafBTs and hand spinneri^ ezplaming to them that every eontriTance
for cheapening production would increase the demand for their gooda^
and, consequently, the employment of their labourers. The upper
oiders also fermented these aoti-factory outrages, from an apprehen-
sifn that the multiplieatioa of machinery would throw a number af
idle hands upon tha parish funds. When Arkwright made his
working model at Warrmgton, probably not more than 30,000
persons were occupied with the manufacture of cotton ; now there are
many mort than a xMlMcm, and at eqoal awrage wages.

THS FAOTCttT STSTBlt. 259

^vater of hones, a^ also the hand je&Bies ooBtMniag
more than twenty spindles; the maximum prescribed
by the demagogues. TUs riot was most active in the
neighbourhood of Blaekburn^then the focus of the cotton;
industry of the county. Jennies mounted with twenty-
spindles and under being reckoned laudable inventions
w^ere respected ; but those of greater siae were either
cut down, Procrustes- wise, to the standard, or if refrac-
tory to the amputation, they were consigned to the
flames. Mr. Peel, afterwards Sir Robert, the father of
our illustrious statesman, had his machinery at Ai-
thanii totally demolished, the fragments thrown into
the river> and his person placed in imminent danger
firom a licentious mob. He consequently withdrew in
disgust from the county, transferring the benefits of
his capital, skill, and public spirit to Burton, in Staf-
fordshire, on the banks of the Trent, where he esta-
blished a cotton factory, and where he continued to
reside for many years. Thus the populace, by violence^
drew down conspicuous retribution on thiemselves ; nor
was it till a more gentle spirit prevailed that Mr.
Peel, and other refugee capitalists, ventured to resume
their enterprises among them.

The water-twist frame^ as used by Sir R. Ark-
wright, at Cromford, and the Messrs. Strutt's at Bel-
per. is represented in figure 19.

A ia a bevd wheel fixed upon a horizontal axis>
which extends through the whole length of the milL
This wheel turns a smaller one upon a vertical axis, B,
which has a drum, C, at the lower end. Round this
drum the strap, a, runs, which actuates directly all the
spindles, and indirectly the whole machine. Another
strapt 6, runs to the right hand, to work another fram^
not i^wn here. The axis B passes down through

BAia.T HISTORT OF

tig. K^-Witoi-Twla True, u SHd at Cnmljid wd B«Ipr^

the drum C, with a circular fitting, so that it slips
freely round within it, without giving motion to the
drum, till it be put in gear by two locking bolts,
which are fixed into a socket piece, d, made to slide up
and down the axis. It has a groove formed round it,
in which a fork at the end of a lever, e, ia received, so
that the fork embraces the jnece, d, tn the groove, and
w4ien lifted, raises the two locking bolts with it. This
lever is raised by the power of a second lever, D, E^

THS FACTOET STSTBK. 961

whose extremity^ E^ bekig depressed^ raises tbe lever> e,
and unlocks the drum from its vertical shafts B^ by
withdrawing the locking bolts from their <;ontact with
an arm,/, of a wheel, g, fixed to the shaft below the
drum, so as to turn with it ; the locking bolts being
let down, that their ends may project through the
drum, and intercept the cross arm,/ of the wheel, the
drum and all the machinery are set in motion.

Ilie endless strap a, a passes the whole length of
the fran»e, makes a turn round the pulley m, and
comes back again. The pulley m is fitted in a frame,
and by means of a screw can be strained to make the
strap tight.

The bobbins of rovings are set loose on skewers in
the creel of two shelves at F. The rovings pass then
down to the drawing-rdlers, which are turned by the
contrate wheels jp,j!7. The attenuated threads delivered
- by the front rollers are twisted by the rotation of the
spindles and flyers, and wound by friction round the
bobbins, which are made to traverse up and down for
the distribution of the spun yam upon their barrels,
by the rise and fall of the copping-rail M. i, i shows
a band or belt passing over the whorls of the spindles
to drive them. Under /, / the lower conical ends of the
spindles are seen supported in steps, lubricated with
cSl.

Arkwright's system of machinery was most advan*
tageously applied to spin warp and hosiery yams, of a
hard and compact fabric, of any grist up to seventy or
' even eighty hanks in the pound ; Hargreaves' to spin
soft weft-yam of somewhat inferior numbers, which
answered well for filling the surface of calico cloth;
and on these two independent plans the whole cotton

'162 tARLT HISTOKT 09*

yarn medra the kingdom was spun for a goodmainy
/ years. The jenny was, however, eventually superseded
by a very beautiful apparatus, invented by Samuel
Crompton^ of Bolton^ to which, as being the offifpring
of the above two distinct machines, and as combining
their respective features, the name of Mule, or Mule
Jenny, was fancifully, but not ins^propriately given.
This curious complex combination was contrived by
its humble author about the year 1776, but it was
not so perfected and made public as to come into
general use till a,bout the year 1786. Indeed, had
not Sir Richard Ark Wright's patent of 1775 been abro-
gated, the mule, as embodying his system of draw-
ing-rollers, must have remained in abeyance upon his
monopoly. In the place of Arkwright's bobbins and
flyers, Mr. Crompton used the spindle carriage of Har-
greaves' jenny to receive, attenuate, twist, and wind cm
the threads, after their emergence from the drawing-
rollers. Hie particukir description of fins admiraUe
machine belongs, however, to a subsequent chapter of
this work. The mule enabled the spinner to make a
prodigious advance in the fineness as well as rapidity
of his work ; and it may be considered as ihe parent
of the muslin manufacture, destined in a ^ort time to
render Europe the successful competitor of the hitherto
unrivalled productions of Hindostan.

John Kennedy, Esq., one of the most scientific
manufacturers of the kingdom, fortunately for Afr.
Crompton's fame, has favoured the world with an ac-
count of his life and labours ; a memdr which does
equal honour to its author's head and heart. Tliis ia-
teresting paper was read before the Literary and Phi-
losophieal Society of MaiM^ester, February 20, 1890.

THE VACTORY BTSTBM. : 263

Samuel Croanptcni was born on the 3d December^
^ 1753^ sd. Firwood> in Lancashire^ where his father held
a farm of small extent; and^ according to the custom
'of those days> emplo]^ a portion of his time in. card-
ing, spinnings and weaving. Hall-in-the-wood^ a pio-
turesque cottage near Bolton, became the residence of
the family during the son's infancy, and the m^no-
.rable scene of his juvenile inveiMions. His father died
when he was very young. The care of his education
devolved on his mother, a pious woman, who lived in a
.retired manner, and imparted her own sincere and
contemplative turn of mind to her son. In all his
dealings through life Samuel was strictly honest, pa-
tient, and humane*

When about sixteen years old, namely, about 1769,
he learned to spin upon a jenny of Hargreaves' make,
and occasionally wove what he had spim. Being dis--
^satisified with the quality of his yam, he began to con-
sider how it might be improved, and was thus uatur
lally led to the construction of his novel spinning
machine. He conmienced this task wh^!i twenty-one
years of age, and devoted five years to its executioik
As be was not, properly speaking, a mechanic, and
■possessed only such simple tools as his little earnings
at the jenny and the loom enabled him to procure, he
proceeded but slcmly with the construction of hifi
mule, but still in a progressive manner hi^y creditable
^0 his dexterity and perseveirance.

He often said that what annoyed kim most was
that he was not allowed to employ his Uttle inven-
tion by himself in his garret; br, as he got a better
price for his yams than his neighbours did, he wub
wturally supposed to have mounted sboae superior me-

364 EARLY HISTORY OP

chanism> and hence became an object of the prying j
curiosity of the country people for miles around ; many
of whom climbed up at the windows to see him at his
work. He erected a screen in order to obstruct ihehr
-view ; but he continued to be so incommoded by
crowds of visiters, that he resolved at last to get rid of
•the vexatious mystery by disclosing the whole con-
trivances before a number of gentlemen and others,
who chose to subscribe a guinea a-piece for the inspec-
tion. In this way he collected about £509 and was
hence enabled to construct another similar machine
upon a better and larger plan. The first contained no
more than from thirty to forty spindles.

About the year 1802 Mr. Kennedy and Mr. Lee,
of Manchester, set on foot a subscription for him,
whereby they obtained £500 ; which formed a little
•capital for the increase of his small manufactory at
Bolton. As a weaver, also, he displayed great inge-
nuity, and erected several looms for the £ancy-work of
that town. Being fond of music, he built liimself an
organ, with which he entertained his leisure hours in his
cottage. Though his means were slender, he was such
a master of domestic economy, as to be always in easy
circumstances. In 1812 he made a survey of all the cot-
ton districts in England, Scotland, and Ireland, and ob-
tained an estimate of the number of spindles at work
upon his mule principle — then amounting to between
four and five millions, and in 1829 to about seven.
On his return, he laid the result of nis inquiries before
his generous friends Messrs. Kennedy and Lee, with
a suggestion that Parliament might possibly grant him
some recompense for the national advantages derived
-from his invention. A memorial was accordingly

THE FACTORY SYSTEM. 265

drawn tip, in the furtherance of which the late George
Duckworth^ Esq.^ of Manchester, and the principal
manufacturers in the kingdom, to whom his merits
■were made known, took a lively interest. He went to
London himself with the memorial, and had the
i».tisfaction to see a bill pass through parliament for
a grant to him of £5000, without deduction for fees
X)r charges.

This sum was advanced to his sons in order to carry
-on a bleaching concern, for the support of the family*
But they mismanaged the business, lost the money, and
became bankrupt, reducing their father and sister to
poverty. Mr. Kennedy, with Messrs. Hicks and Roth*
well, the eminent civil engineers of Bolton, and a few
other gentlemen, raised, by a second subscription, a
^um which purchased for Mr. Crompton a life annuity
of £63. He enjoyed this benevolent pittance only two
years, for he died on the 26th of January, 1827, leaving
his daughter without any provision.

It would appear that the inventor of the mule had
coiBtructed, without having seen Arkwright's drawing
rcdlers,the same kind of roUer-beam as exists in his water-
twist frame. " Indeed," says Mr. Kennedy,*' we may
infer that he had not, otherwise he would not have gone
thus rudely to work ; and indeed the small quantity
of metal which he employed, proves that he could not
have been acquainted with Mr. Arkwright's superior
rollers and fixtures in iron, and their connexion by clock*
work. Even the rollers were made of wood, and covered
with a piece of sheep-skin, having an axis of iron with a
little square end, on which the pulleys were fixe<l.
Mr. Crompton's rollers were supported upon wooden
cheeks or stands. He finally put dents of brass-reed

VOL. I. I'

3B6 EABLT HISTORY OW

wire into his under rollers, and thus obtained a fluted
roller. But the great and important invention of
Crompton was his spindle carriage, and the principle
of the thread having no strain upon it, until it was
eompleted. The carriage with the spindles could, by
the movement of the hand and knee, recede just as
the rollers delivered out the elongated thread in a soft
state, so that it would allow of a considerable stretch
before the thread had to encounter the stress c^ wind-
ing on the spindle. This was toe corner-stone of the
merits of his invention."

A few machines only were made exactly on Cromp-
ton*s plan. The first deviation was that of an inge-
nious mechanic, Henry Stones:, of Storwidi, near Bol-
ton, who introduced Arkwright's metallic rollers, with
clockwork, and a chain to convey motion to the rollers
from the fly-whedi, as also some self-acting contrivance
to stop the rollers from giving out more att^iuated
roving than was desired. Hargreaves' sptnning-jeni^
had spread through a circuit of forty miles in extent,
round Manchester, including Blackburn, CHdham»
Ashton, and Stockp<Mt, so as to supersede the single-
spindle wheel of these di^ricts ; but after Crompton's
mule became known, the jenny was rapidly laid asideu
Up to the year 1783, there were not, in Mr. K en-
nedy's opmbyft^ "tm^ titeiisahd ^^^es in ^ug^race
upon Crompton's construction. Soon afUr {Seopen-
ing up of Arkwright's patent, the preparatioQ
machines included in it became available to the trader
and gave mule spinning an extraordinary develop*
aoent.

Among the co-operative aids of this iime was the
billy, a combination of the jenny and the mule.

THE FACTOBT STSTIM. 267

triyed by a person at Stockport, to whom the jenny
sptnners gave a premium for his ingenuity*

Fig. 20 is a perspective view of the slubbing-bflly
in common use. A, A is the wooden frame, within
which is the moveable carriage, D, D, which runs upon
the lower side rails at a, a, on friction wheels, 1, 2, to
make it glide more easily backwards and forwards
from one end of the frame to the other. The carriagi»
contains a number of steel spindles, marked 3, 3, which
receive a rapid rotation from a long cylinder, F, by
means of separate cords passing round the pulley or
Tvhorl of each ^indle ; the cylinder F is a long drum
c£ tin plate^ which extends across the whole breadth
of the carris^. The spindles are placed in a frame^
so as to stand nearly upright, at about four inches
apart; their lower ends are pointed conically, they
turn in brass sockets, called steps, aiid are retained in
their position by a smaller coUar of brass for each,
which embraces the sjRndle about the middle of its
length ; the upper half of each sjnndle projects above
llie frame. The drum lies horizcmtally before the
spindles, with its centre a little lower than the line c^
the wh(»rls ; the drum receives motk>n by a pulley at
one end, with an endless band from a wheel E, made
like the large domestic wheel formerly used in spinning
wool by handr and of sinnlar dimensions. The wheel
is placed on the outdde of the main frame of the
machine, having its axle supported by uj»ight standi
ardsy erected from the carriage D; and it is turned
by the spinner placed at Q, with his right hand
app&d to a winch (as plainly shown in the drawing).
Tim gives motion to the drum, and thereby causes
the spi&dks to revolve with great velocity. .

N 2

268 "EARLY HISTORY OP

Each spindle receives a soft slab or stubbing^ which
comes through beneath a wooden roUer, C,C, at one
end of the frame ; this is the so much talked of billf/^
roller ; the slabs thence proceed to the row of spindles
standing in the carriage^ so that they are extended in
a nearly horizontal plane> advancing to^ and receding
from^ the roller C> so as to extend any required length
of slubbing in any degree.

The cardings of wool which are to be spun intoslub*
bings are laid straight, side by side, upon an endless
cloth, which is strained in a slanting position between
two horizontal rollers, of which one, B> is shown in
the figure. One card-end is allotted to each spindle^
and the number of spindles may vary from fifty to one
hundred in one machine. The roller C rests on the
card-ends, which move with the cloth, and as it should
press very gently, it is made of light wood ; immediately
in front of this roller there is a horizontal wooden rail,
G, or long bar, with another beneath it, fitted to each
other, across the frame. The card-end is conducted be-
tween these two rails, the upper or movable one being
Raised to let it through ; when this bar is again let
down it pinches the card-end fast, and hence this doven
mechanism is called the clasp ; it is precisely what was
originally used by Hargreaves in his cotton-jenny.

The upper or moveable rail G is guided between
sliders, and a wire, 7, descends from it to a lever, 6.
When the carriage D is wheeled close home to the
end of the machine, a wheel, 5, Ufts up the end 6 of
the lever, and this, by the wire 7, raises the upper rail
G, so as to open the clasp and release all the card-ends.
In this state of things if the carriage be drawn back
from the clasp-bar> it will necessarily puU the card-ends

THE FACTORY SYSTEM.

270 BAELT BISTORT OF

forward on their inclined plane. There is a small
catch which receives the upper bar^ G; of the clasp^
'and keeps it from fidling till the carriage has receded
to a certain distance^ and has drawn out about eight
inches in length of the card-ends ; a stop on the car-
riage then comes against the catch and withdraws it,
80 as to allow the upper rail to fall and pinch the card-
end, while the carriage continues to recede, drawing
out or stretching that portion of the rM which is be-
tween the clasp and the spindle. Meanwhile the wheel
has been turned to keep the spindles in motion, and
to give the proper twist to the card-ends in proportion
as they are extended, in order to prevent them from
breaking.

It might be supposed that the slubbiug threads
would be apt to coil round the spindles, but as Aey
proceed in a somewhat slanling direction from the dasp^
they merely receive a twisting motion, always slipping
over the points of the spindles without being wound upon
them. Whenever the slubber has given a due degree
of twist to the rovings, he prepares to wind them upon
the spindles in a conical shape, by pressing down
with his left hand the faller-wire 8, so as to bear them
away from the points of Uie spindles and place them
opposite to their middle part. He now causes the
spindles to revolve slowly, and at the same time pushes
in the carriage, so as to wind the slubbing upon the
spindles into a conical cop.

The wire 8 is made to regulate the winding-on of this
whole row of slubbings at once, and is placed at the
proper depression for this purpose, by its connexion
with the horizontal rail 4, which turns on pivots at its
ends in brasses fixed on the standards, which rise from

THS FACTORY SYSTEM. 271

the carriage D ; by turning this rail on its pivots the
vrixe 8 is raised or lowered to any desired degree ; the
slubber^ seizing the rail 4 with his left hand, thereby
draws the carriage out, but^ on its return^ he depresses
the faller-wire at the same time that he pushes the
carriage before him. '

As the card-ends are exceedingly tender^ they would
readily draw out or break by friction if dragged up the
inclined plane. To save the necessity of this traction,
a cord is applied round a groove in the middle part
erf the upper roller, and, after passing over proper pul-
leys, as shown in the figure, it has a weight suspended
at the one end, and another, but smaller, at the other ;
the small weight serves merely to keep the rope
stretched, but tfie large weight tends to turn the rollers
with their endless cloth or aprpn round in such a
direction as to bring forward the card-ends without
putting any strain upon them. Every time that the
carriage is pu^ed home, the large wei^t gets wound
up by a piece of wood projecting fronj the carriage, and
seizing a knot in the cord at the part which lies hori-
zcmtally; this pushes the cord back a certain distance,
so as to draw up the great weight, while the endless
cloth cannot run backwards, by reason of a ratchet
and click at the end of oi^ of its rollers ; the rope,
therefore, slips round upon the roller. When the car-
nage retires, the greater weight turns the roller and
advances the endless apron, so as to deliver the card-
eands at the same rate as the carriage, by coming out,
takes them up ; but when the proper qusuitity is deli«
vered, the knot in the rope arrives at a fixed stop,
which does not permit it to move any farther, and at
the same instant the^. oiler 5 quits the lever 6, and

272 EARLY HISTORY OF

allows the upper rail> G^ of the clasp to fall^ and pinch
the card*end fast ; the wheel E being then put in mo^
tion makes the spindles revolve, and the carriage being
drawn out extends the slubbings while under the in-
fluence of twisting. In winding-on of the slubbings,
the operative must take care to push in the carriage
and to turn the wheel round at such rates that the
spindles will not take up faster than the carriage
moves on its railway.

Thus the essence of Crompton's invention, which
was the carriage, became of the greatest importance
towards other constructions ; as also (when modified in
the billy) to the original machine itself, though not
primarily intended for this purpose. The long tin-
roller, as seen in thejenny and the billy, being diflScult
to make with the requisite truth of motion for the mule,
was replaced by a series of upright drums mounted in
the carriage.

The art of spinning with Crompton's machine soon
became widely known among work people of all
descriptions, from the higher wages which it procured
above those of other artisans; such as shoe-Qiakers,
joiners, hatters, &c. ; many of whom we^ thereby in-
duced to change their employment, and to become
mule spinners. Heiice it happened, among this motley
gang, that if any thing went amiss with their machine,
each of them endeavoured to supply the deficiency
with some expedient borrowed from his former trade ;
the smith introduced a piece of iron, the shoemaker had
recourse to leather,, and the hatter to felt; whereby
valuable suggestions were obtained. The roving
department was, however, for some time a distinct
business in the hands of those who*possessed Arkwright's

THE FACTORY 3TSTEM. 273

system of carding and roving machines^ by whom the
roove was sold to the hand-mule spinners,

Mr. Arkwright had commenced his operations at Not-
tingham, because he could there obtain tranquillity to
work and a demand for his compact yarn in the stocking
trade. The whole produce of his machines was for
some time absorbed in hosiery. The yam for this
fabric requires to be particularly smooth and equal, in
order to pass readily through the needles of the
stocking frame. To ensure its possessing this quality
in the highest degree, it is spun from two rovings in
place of the one used for. calico warp; and is hence
called double spun twist. The introduction of the fine
article by Messrs. Need and Strutt produced a va^
improvement in the stocking manufacture ; it super*
seded completely the hand spun yarn, and it pro-
duced stockings which supplanted the thread ones
previously in vogue.

The oldest cotton mill in Manchester is that on
Shude Hill, which was erected about the year 1780,
by Messrs. Arkwright, Simpson, and Whitenburgh ;
being one of the numerous speculations into which the
active author of the factory system entered. It was
remarkable for its motive power, which was a hydraulic
wheel fomished with water by a single-stroke atmo-
spheric pumping steam-engine.

In his valuable paper on the rise and progress of
the cotton trade, Mr. Kennedy justly remarks that
the introduction of Watt's admirable steam-engine
imparted new life to this business. Its inexhaustible v
power and uniform regularity of moTioiA ^UppK ejj \
what was most urgently wanted at the time ; and the ,
scientific prmciples and excellehl "Wurkiuafiiship dis*

274 BARLT mSTORT OP

played in its constnictioB, led those who were ii^
terested in this trade to make raaBy and great im-
pro^eoMnts in their machines and apparatus for
bleadiing, dyeings and printing, as well as for sfist*
ning. Had it not been for this new accession of
power and scientific mechanism^ the cotton trade
wpnld have be^i stunted in its growth, and, compared
with its pcesent state, must hare become an object <^
4>nly minor importance in a national point of view.*

The first instance of the applkation of steam to
cotton spinning was at Papplewick, in Nottingham-
diire, where Bouhon and Watt erected an engine in
1785, for the i^Hrited proprietors Messrs. Robinson.
In 1787, they erected one engine tar Messrs. Puis,
cotton spinners, at Warrington, and three others in
Nottingham. Hitherto the hosiery trade gave the
principal demand for power-spun cotton. It was not
till 1789, that the calico trade of Manchester gave
birth to a factory moved by steam, when Mr. Drink-
wrater mounted a handsome mill with one of Watt* s
engines. In 1790 Sir Richard Arkwright followed
his example, in a mill erected at Nottingham. The
same year a second engine, for cotton spinning, was
fitted up in Manchester, for Mr. Simpson, and also at
Papplewick for Messrs. Robinson. It ought to be
mentioned that Sir Richard had tried steam power at
an earlier period, but, out of an iU-judged economy,
he had adopted Newcomen's machines, rendered rota-
tory by a heavy fly-wheel ; but seeing his error, he
replaced them by engines of Watt's construction.

The following detailed narrative of the successive im-

• Memoirs of the IMerary and PMof&pkieai Societp of MancheMfer
ToL ui., 2d series.

THB FACTORY SYSTEM. 275

jHroTem^its in mule-spinliing» drawn up by (me of its
greatest masters^ both in theory and practice, will be
perused with much interest by all who love to trace the
migfaty streanss of our factory wealth up to their foun-
tain head i-r-^See also MtUe Spitming, voL iL p. 148).

'^The introduction of metal rollers and clockworiL
soon enabled the mule to be extended to a considerable
length, up to 100 or 130 spindles, but this extension
again was soon at its limit. The tin rollers, which
were difficult to make, being ponderous and of great
vilnration, another contrivance was produced to obviate
this inconvenience, viz. by placing vertical cylinders or
drums in the carriage. The first attempt was made,
as above stated, by Baker of Bury.

" Originally he placed upright pullies in the car-
riage with nicks to carry six or eight spindles, with
the rim-band passing over a pulley upon the vertical
shaft, so placed as to give motion to them ; this was
soon extended to a cylinder or drum as it is now
called, (first made in wood, then in tin,) to embrace
twenty-four to thirty spindles, the wharves being put
on like the strings of a harp to embrace the whole
breadth of the druntL By this means the carriage
was soon extended to a much greater length, and the
better construction of the rollers aaid their fixtures on
the beam, facilitated the enlargement of the whole
machine. The greatest improvement was the giving
motion to the rollers by a diagonal shaft from the rim
to the rollers, which dropped out of geer at the rim
when the rollers were to stop. This was also a con-
trivance of Baker.* By this time, (1786,) there was

* ^The beveUed geexwM stilus time made of wood; probably
cut by his own pocket knife*

276 EARLY HISTORY OF

a great variety of methods for measuring the number
of revolutions of the front rollers^ in order to give out
the required length before the stretching commenced.

"James Hargreaves of Toddington contrived the
first method of bringing out the carriage, by a very
ingenious invention. It consisted of a parallel scroll,
with a small conical one attached to the same, for the
band, connected with the carriage, to wind upon ; the
whole deriving its motion from the wheel axis. Of
course there were many contrivances to eflTect the same
purpose, such as a wheel with a pulley upon it, which
was forced into a toothed wheel upon the front roller,
with a band upon the pulley connected with the
carriage, which produced a similar effect, and was
disengaged when the rollers were stopped. This was
continued for some time ; the spinner completing the
second draw by the hand and knee, which was more
or less, according to the fineness he was spinning.

*fThe difficulty of obtaining rollers,* spindles, in
short all the metal parts of these machines, and the
preparing machinery for rovings, added to the want of
experienced workmen of every kind, retarded the
progress of the spinning trade much less than might
be supposed. The fear of over-production then existed,
and did exist afterwards from time to time, whitli
caused a suspension of increase of means, and some-
times even a diminution of produce by the means that
were in existence. This is the case with every infant
trade or manufacture; an obstinate resistance to a
reduction of prices existing, until some enterprising

* " Spindles were obtained from the manufacturers of wool- combs,
and heckles for dressing flax, for the machines of both Hargreaves
and Crompton.

THE FACTOR r StSTEM. 277

spirit attempts to meet the market by some simplifi*
cation^ and better arrangement of the means of pro*
duction, so as to enable the individual to oflTer the
article produced at a lower price. This principle will
hold in all our manufactures, and in such seasons of
depression, the greatest improvements have always
been made.

"It would be vain to enumerate all the little
additions to Crompton's original machine; also, as
they arose so much out of one another, it is impossible
to give to every claimant what is exactly his due for
improvements.* It is therefore only necessary to
inention those who have well authenticated claims to
the addition of parts of great importance to the
machine. But the circumstance of the interval being
very short, in making the machine tolerably correct,
shews that many heads must have been at work. What
led to the enlargement and the forming of the parts of
the mule, with additional strength and accuracy, was
the application of artificial power, which was first in-
troduced in 1790, by Mr. Kelly, of Glasgow, f formerly
of the Lanark Mills. The way in which Kelly applied
this artificial power to the usual hand-mule, was
simply by a loose pulley, to which a catch was
attached, which could be made at pleasure to seize
Another catch fixed to the axis; on this axis was placed

* ''The roving-making then became a distinct basiness, and in this
state the cotton was sold to the little spinners. This was common
till power was applied to the turning uf the mule. Mills were then
built of a suitable width, and in the course of a few years the hand*
mule was entirely superseded.

f *' Two years after this, he took a patent for a self-acting mule.—
See his letter to me, January 8th, 1829, in the Encyclopedia Britan-
meat

278 SAmLT msTOKT or

a aerewy whieh worked idto a wheel, the number of
whose teeth governed the number of reyohitions of the
iim> by disengaging the rope firom the fast to the looee
pulley. Immediately after the introdaction of ^tm
power, Mr. Wright, an ingenioas machine maker of
Manchester, anapprentioeand woriananctfSirR.Ark-
wright's, constructed the double mule, embracing the
advantages of Kelly's application of artificial power.
The double mule was constructed by pkoing the rim
in the middle of the frame or rollers. I believehe had
four hundred spindles inthnmule, and his e^qperiment
of its success was with a horse-gin or mill, so that
Wright's double mule gradually superseded the use of
the single mule; as, by his manner of placing th^n,
the spimier could superintend and operate upon four
times the quantity of spindles, Cimipai^d with the
tomner method.'*'

^^ A few years aft^ tfa]s> Bei^amin Butler, (^BoiUm,
dispensed with the framing of the rim or wheel,
^Ltended the axis to the middle of the roller-beam,
and connected it by geering with a little coupling shaft,
which the front roller coupled each way. The shaft
ot axis c^ the rim was engaged and disengaged every
stretch, to enable the rim to effect the necessary revcdu-
tions of the spindle to complete the thread. To put
up the spun thread, he attached a small rim to the
carriage about the middle of it, and brought the drum-
band over it ; thus the little rim was connected with
that band which gave motion to the spindles, and had
a handle upoa it, by which the spinner C/Ould govern

* tf

" The squaring band, thougli insignificant in itself, wai of no
little importance to the mule. It acts like a parallel rule in guiding
out the carriage.

TBK FhCTORY STBTEM. 279

the spindles in the aet of wrapping up the thread.
This was called the &nny wheel or mule^ but since
tbat time various modifications of this kind have been
ocmstructed by succesdive artisans. About 1790^ the
muslin trade received a great stimulus at Stockport,
from the eff(»t3 of the late Samuel Oldknow^ whose
spirit of enterprise extended this branch of our manu-
fiau^re. He took new ground by copying some of the
fiiU)rk^ imported from India, which at that time sup^
plied this kingdom with all the finer fabrics^ and
which the mule spun yam alone could imitate.

" He was very successful in carrying on the ingenious
processes which he had devised; but the French
revolution creating a panic and general stagnation for
a time^ he abandoned tins branch of the trade, and
betook himself to his large water-mill at Mellor^ which
was built in the year 1790. On his retiring from the
manufacturing of fine muslin, Messrs. Horrocks, who
had just established themselves at Preston as mule
spinners, took up what he had laid down. They
became extensive manufacturers of cloth, similar to
that made by Oldknow, and supplied the same market,
London. This gave a new stimulus in that district,
and immediately upon the subsiding of the panic
caused by the French revolution, a market sprung up
on the Continent for yarns of all kinds, but principally
for muslin yams, up to the highest numbers that could
be produced. This gave a general stimulus all
through the kingdom, and Watt's and Savary's steam-
^igine supplied power for the mule spinner, which was
soon generally embraced instead of Kelly's application
of water power, the use of which can only be local.

^The mule spinning now took the lead, and became

280 EARLY HISTORY OP

important and extensive. The profits being very con-
siderable the increase was rapid. It was not until
1793 that any attempts were made in spinning fine
yams^ say from 100 hanks upwards, by power, when
I observed the process very carefully. The rollers,
according to the fineness of the thread, would only
admit of a certain velocity per minute, for instance,
with 200^ the roller? could only go at the rate of
twenty-five or twenty-six per minute, and the spindle
about 1,200. But when the rollers ceased to move,
then the spindle was accelerated by the spinner to
nearly double its former speed. In what manner the
acceleration of the speed of the spindle might be
effected by machinery without the aid of the spinner,
was suggested to me, by observing in Mr. Watt's
steam engine, that one revolution of the beam, (if I
may use the expression,) acting upon the fly-wheel by
means of the sun and planet wheel, produced a double
velocity,

" The difficulty, however, of making the necessary
apparatus at that time, induced me to use the more
comphcated method of four wheels of unequal sizes
for' producing the same effect. The description is
as follows: — ^Two of the wheels were less and two
larger ; upon the rim-axis were placed one of the small
and one of the large, and the two others were fixed in
a frame which carried the axis upon which they were
placed, and which had a shank or axis growing to it
This was placed in a vertical position, so that when the
carriage was put up, an arm projecting from this ver-
tical shank was connected by a wire with a catch which
kept the lying shaft that turned the rollers in geer* In
the elongating process the smaller wheel was in contact

THE FACTORY SYSTEM. 281

With the larger wheel upon the rim, but when, by the
disengagement of the catch, the rollers became still or
stationary, at that moment the larger wheel, by means
of a weight, came in contact with the lesser wheel upon
the rim or axis, to which it communicated a double
velocity. The shaft with its large and small wheels
working alternately, had a pulley with a catch upon
it, and was driven by the mill work, and was forced
into a corresponding catch upon the said little shaft
when the mule was to be set in motion by the steam
power (the power in this instance was Savary's).
There was a worm upon the rim axis with a wheel
upon it, the number of whose teeth determined the
revolutions of the rim, as described in Kelly's single
speed.

*'The second drawing, which had generally been
performed by hand, had also to be performed by
the machine itself. This had been done in a few
instances before power had been applied. From the
simplest of these methods I took the hint ; by driving
a shaft from the rim, by a strap from a small pulley
upon the rim-axis, and a large one upon the little axis,
which had a small pinion upon it; so that when the
drawing-out wheel and band were disengaged from
the front roller, they fell back into the little pinion,
whose axis was revolving at a very slow speed, and
consequently gave a much slower speed to the second
stretch or draw, (as it was called,) the speed of which
was more or less according to the numbers to be
spun. Messrs. A. & G. Murray at that time (like
myself and partners) were machine makers, and to a
Ismail extent were engaged in fine spinning by hand.
They fitted up, on the principle described, a few pairs of
hand mules, which they had previously made, wherein

282 SA&LT HI8TORT OF

they adopted these cootrivaacesj for <me of their cus-
tomers in Derbyshire^ who had artificial power.

^' Mr. Drinkwater, of Manchester^ was the most
extensiye fine spinner at the time of which I speak.
He was one of the early water spinners^ and in possession
of the most perfect sjrstem of roving making. His
large mill in PiocadiUy was filled with mules of 144
spindles, each of which was worked by men*s hands.

'' Mr. Owen was then his manager, and they came
to see the new machine in 1793. They approved of it,
and tlK>tigbt it practical Mr. Humphries, of Glasgow,
who was a good mechanic, and succeeded Mr. Owen
as manager, also approved of the scheme, and got
instructions to apply this system of power to his fine
work produced by the mules in Piccadilly mill ; and,
to make its advantages available, he coupled these 144
together, so that he saved one-half c^ the steam
geering, and obtained a reduction in the price dT
spinning, the spinner having double the number of
qpindles to operate upon. Mr. H. made an improve-
ment in the four wheels already described, by keeping
them always in geer with a loose clutch between the
two wheels on the rim shaft, which was alternately
fastening the little driving wheel, and then relieving it
and fastening the larger, which accelerated the speed
of the rim, with a loose pulley as already described in
my first This prevailed far some years, when I
thought that this might be simplified, which was done
by adopting three pullies, namely one on the small
wheel, and another on the larger wheel, with a loose
pulley; and by removing the driving strap, which was
on the loose pulley when the mule was at rest, to the
pulley on the smaller wheel when the rollers were to
work. Then the strap was removed to tlie pulley cxi

THE FACTORY SYSTEM. 283

the larger wheel, which accelerated the rhn and
spindles until the thread was completed, and the
strap being removed to the loose pulley, the whole
machine came to rest, and the thread was put up by
the spinner in the ordinary way. I was now able to
construct the sun and planet wheel for the acceleration
of the speed of the spindle, which was as follows : — the
sun and planet wheel had only two wheels and one
pulley, with a clutch that fastened the sun wheel, when
the accelerated motion was required* Many other
modifications were introduced, but the four wheels
prevailed, some of whidi for convemence I constructed
by making them bevils, and {dacing their axes verti-
cally to get motion from an upright shaft, which pro-
duced the same eflfect as the spur wheels. This was
suggested to me by Mr. Lee of Salford^ and I made
him a model of one in 1800.

'' Having thus briefly explained the principal modi-
fications of fine spinning by power ; I have only to
add, that they produced a great change in the value
of the fine yam, and, consequently, a great extension of
its use. The Scotch in Lanarkshire and Renfrewshire,
being long in the habit of weaving fine cambric from
flax yam and silk gauzes, had also turned their hands
to the manufacture of fine cotton fabrics, principally
from the fine yams produced by Hargreaves's, and
other subsequent machines. The Lancashire manu-
facturers followed them in the thicker and firmer
fabrics."*

What a warning voice does the fate of Hargreaves

♦ A Brief Memoir of Samuel Crompton, by John Kenedy, Esq*
Sead before The Literary and Philo«>phical Society of Manchester,
FAbniaiy 20tlt, 1830.

284 EARLY HISTORY OF

and Crompton send forth to inventors and improvers of
the useful arts I how strongly does it justify the sound
sense and self-respecting energy of Arkwright ! Until
man^ the slave of selfishness^ be regenerated by the
spirit of Christian philanthropy^ it is folly akin ta
fatuity for an industrious operative to surrender to^
the comparatively rich, without a fair equivalent, the
fruits of his ingenious toils in hopes of requital from
the world at large. How absurd such expectations are>
we daily see exemplified in the scandalous effrontery
with which avarice appropriates to its insatiable desires
discoveries which its dark spirit could never have
elicited, acting in defiance, not merely of honour and
honesty, but of the most positive sanctions of law.
What shabby tricks, nay, what infamous perjury does
not ahnost every case of patent litigation display !

No contrivance was better entitled to the reward
of an exclusive privilege for a certain number of years
than the mule of Crompton. How many individuals,
far his inferior in mechanical, moral, and intellectual
merit, has it enriched ! Had he received but 1^. per
annum for each spindle worked on his elegant plan
during fourteen years, a contribution which no honest
manufacturer should have grudged, such an income
would have been placed at the disposal of the worthy
contriver, as, while it provided him with a dignified
independence, would have done honour to his compa-
triots, and have encouraged genius in every coming age.
It is, in fact, as much for the interest of society, to pro-
tect property in invention, as under any other form.

Some idea may be had of the pecuniary value of
Crompton*s machine, even in its rudest state, from the
following facts: — Immediately on completing it, in-

THE FACTORT SYSTEM. 285

1775, he obtained 14*. per pound for the mere pre-
paration and spinning of No. 40, whereas, in 1833,
a pound of Na 40 mule-weft could be bought for 1 *.
altogether, of which the cotton wool cost 8d., leaving
only 4d. for spinning. The price now paid for spinning
one pound of cotton into thirty-six hanks weft, and re-
turning one pound of yam, (there being one ounce and
a half waste per pound,) is only Jive pence !* A short
time after the above date, Crompton was paid £15^
for spinning a pound of yam. No. 60, and at the rate
of £2 2*. a-pound for a small experimental quantity
of No. 80 j in 1786, 10*. a-pound were paid for the
mere spinning, exclusive of the preparation, of No.
100, but in 1790 the price fell to less than 4*.; about
8d. per pound is now paid for the spinning and pre-
paration of such yarn.

The first water-mill erected in Ireland for spinning
cotton twist was built in the neighbourhood of Belfast*
In the year 1771, at which time there was not a single
cotton-loom in the whole north of Ireland, the late
Robert Joy conceived the scheme of introducing into
that then desponding kingdom the cotton manufacture,
which has proved a source of industry and consider-
able opulence to the sister island. Having, in con*
junction with Thomas M'Cabe, suggested that the
spinning of cotton yarn might, as an introductory step
to the establishment of the manufacture, be a fit and
profitable employment for the children in the Belfast
poor-house, several of them were set to work on the
common wheel ; but the novel machinery in England,
giving that country so great a superiority, it was

^* Mr. George Smilh-^onmiitiee on Manufactures, p. 569.

266 EARLY HX8TOBT OSf

Sound that no benefit could be gained without the
introduction of it there. A spinning machine was
therefore made in Belfast, under the direction of Mr.
N. Grimshaw, cotton and linen printer from England,
who had some time before settled in Ireland; and
shortly after, an experienced spinner was brought
over by Mr. Joy, from Scotland, to instruct the chil-
dren in the poor house ; also, under the same directimi,
and at the expense of the gentlemen mentioned, a
carding machine was erected at Mr. Grrimshaw's, to
go by water, which was afterwards removed to the
poor house, and wrought by hand. A firm was now
formed of the original projectors and others, umierthe
name of Joys, M'Cabe, and MK]!racken, who con-
tracted with the same charitable instititfioii for the
employment of a number of its children, as well as
for the use of its vacant rooms. They also dispatdied
a skilful medianic to England, who, at perscmal risk
and considerable expense, procured a minute know-
ledge of the improved machinery there, which the pro-
prietors and inventors wished to have kept secret from
the continent as well as Ireland But so tar from
confining their hopes of gain to themselves, these
gentlemen encouraged the puUic to avail itself of their
improvements ; they exposed the machinery to open
view, permitted numbers even from distant parts to be
taught in their apartments, withcmt any charge for sudi
indulgence, and promoted the progress (d the manu-
focture of cottons, dimities, and Maraeiiles-quilting,
equally by example and instruction. These exertions
were in time followed on an enlarged scale by Messrs.
Nathaniel Wilson and Nicholas Grimshaw ; to the ta-
lent 8» property, and adventurous sjHrit of the former

THB PACTCmY STSTSlf/ 287

ef these gentleBEien^ and to the practical kftcyirledge^
genius^ and industry of the latt^^ Ireland stands Terj
highly indebted. The first mill for spinning twist by
water there was built by them in the year 17S4> from
which year the Irish cotton manufactures were con-
sidered to be fimdy established.

In the year 1800, only twenty-three years firom the
cmgin of the enterprise by Joy and M'Cabe, it ap-
peared in evidence before Pariiament that the cotton
manufacture which they had thus introdiu^gave em-
ployment to 13>500 working people, and including all
manner of persons, occupied in various ways, to 37>00O«
within a circuit of only ten miles, but comprehending
within its bounds the towns of Belfast and Lisbum.
In less than ten years from their first introducti<m
into the country, several thousand lo(Mns were em-
ployed in the manfau^ure of cotton in the towns of
Belfast, lisbum, and Hillsborough ; at present there
are eight very large cotton mills in Bel&st and its
immediate vicinity, and sevea others in different
ndghbouring towns; and» although it be difiicult to
estimate the number of hands engaged in these mills,
it is calculated that those in and about Belfast, give
GDiployment to 30,000 individuals.'*'

At the period of the remarkable development of
the cotton trade in 1787, it happaied^ unluckily for
the British manu£au!turers, that the East India Com-
pany had a very great stock of piece goods in their
warehouses, which caused a general depreciation of
th^ value; the manufacturers became alarmed,
and presented to the Committee of the Privy Council

• Hstdy** Horiken. Toomt^

288 EAULY HISTORY OP

for Trade a memorial^ charging the said Companj
with having augmented the quantity of their im-
ports of cotton fabrics, and with lowering their prices,
in order to ruin the home establishments, and destroy
British industry in favour of their subjects in Hindos^
tan and of their European commerce.

The accusation being transmitted by the Committee
of the Privy Council to the Company, it received so
complete an answer as to convince the Committee that
if any restrictions were imposed on the Company's
sales, their trade would be thrown into the hands of
foreigners, and thereby give occasion to very extensive
smuggling for home consumption. And, indeed, when
we consider that these East India goods were always
sold by public auction, it is evident that the demand
must regulate the price, which is fixed by the buyers
themselves, for the Company would always take the
highest price they could obtain. Neither was the glut of
goods which now overwhelmed the market, and pressed
so hard upon the manufacturers of small capita^
permanently hurtful to the cotton trade, but, on the con*
trary, of the greatest eventual advantage, for it caused
a vast number of new channels of sale and consump*
tion to be opened, thus diffusing a taste for those fine
fabrics in the remotest villages of the kingdom, where
they had been quite unknown before. Hence the
way was paved for a widely extended demand for the
productions of both the British and the Indian work*
shops, by which the regular sales w.ere increased
twenty-fold. Women of all ranks, from the highest to
the lowest, began to be clothed in British cotton
manufactures, from the muslin cap upon the crown of
their head to the stocking under the sole of their foot

THE FACTORY SYSTBBC. 289 ^

The taste and skill of the calico printers kept pace
with the ingenuity of the spinners and weavers, and
produced patterns of coloured goods^ exceeding in
beauty and durability of wear every thing imported
from the East.

On occasdon of the abovementk)ned panic a pamph-
let was published^ to warn the country of its danger
fix>m the competition of the East Indies in the cotton
trade. The author of this work seems as a partisan
to have greatly exaggerated the extent of the busi-
ness at the time, and must therefore be followed with
many modifications. He states that about the year
1768 the whole cotton trade of Great Britain did not
return £200,000 to the country for the raw material,
combined with the labour of the people, and that before
the introduction of the jenny and water twist-machines
the production of the single-thread wheel could not
exceed that of 50,000 spindles. Here he certainly un-
derrates the extent of the manufacture, for at the
period in question 4,000,000 lbs. of cotton wool were
consumed per annum, and their value must have been
more than doubled by labour, constituting a total value
of at least £500,000.

In 1787 the number of cotton spinning-mills in Eng-
land and Wales is rated by the pamphlet writer at 145,
and their cost at £715,000, an amount much beyond
the truth ; for, though many mills were worth more than
£5,600, yet that sum certainly far exceeded their ave-
rage value. There were said to be at the same time
550 mule frames and 20,700 jennies, containing, toge-
ther with the water-twist frames, 1,951,000 spindles,
the cost of which, and of the auxiliary machinery, was

VOL. I. o

390 BMtLT mOITORT OT

Mekmied to hafe been at least £285fi00, eonstkntiiig
a total value vested in sjanning mills of j^l ,000^000

These establishments, when in full activity, were
mated by him to be capable of producing as much cottmi-
j9am as 1/)00»OGO persens could spin wh^i diligently
employed at the domestic wheel ; yet, instead of dirai-
mslmig the occupations of the people, as had been
apprehended, they gave vast numbers the means of a
oomfortable livelihood.

Spinning and its subsidiary labours gave em{dey-
ment, according to the same x>amphleteer, to

26,090 HMii, 31,000 womuk, and 55,000 eluldreo ;

Weaving, calico-printing, &c., gave employment to

133,000 men, 59,000 women, and 48,000 children :

making an aggregate of

159,000 men, 90^0 women, and 191,009 diiUzen ;]

or of 350,000 individuals altogether.

If y^e take one-half of the abooe numbers we ^kcM
he tolercMy near the tr«th.

The cottonwool imported in the year 1787 amounted
to 23.250,268 lbs., whereas in 1781 it was little more
than 5,000,000. The cotton consumed in the m^u-
factures of 1787 was of Ae following descriptions : —

British West India • estimated at 6,600,000 lbs.

Frendi and Spanish Colonies • . 6,000,000

Dutch Colonies 1,700,900

Portuguen dkta •••••• 2,500,990

Bast India, via Ostead • • • • 100,009

IBmyrna and TurlEey 5,700,000

29,699,900

THE FAGISPRY SYSTEM. 291

The distribution of the raw material among the
different manufactures was estimated to be as follows : —

Candle-wicks 1 ,500^000 Ibt.

Hosiery ...;... 1^500,000

Silk and linen nuxtuies . • , 2,000^000

Fustians 6,000,000

Calicoes and muslins • • • 11^600,000

1 : ..

22,600,000

The weight of the manufactured articles would be
less by fully 10 per cent, fnmi waste in tfie processes.

It is a curious fact liiat muslins were maouiactured
at Zurich and St. Oall^ in Switzerland, long before
they were made in tJiis country ; but, when our mule-
jennies came into play, they soon enabled England to
outstrip and crush all foreign competitors in that fine
&bric. It has been computed that in the year 1787
not less than 500,000 peceB of muslin, with shawb
and handkerchiefs, were produced in Great Britain.

Muslin weaving was attampted at Paisley so long
ago as the year 1700, but it was soon suppressed,
in eonsequ«[u;e of the large importations of ibBt
article from India. The germ, after lying dormant for
eighty years, rapidly expanded into a flourishing busi^
nesB, showing a singular aptitude in the people of that
tor. n for this elegant brandi of the cotton trade.

392

CHAPTER II.

Oenercd View and Analysis of a Modem Cotton

Factory.

There is no textile substance whose filaments are so
susceptible of being spun into fine threads of uniform
twist, strength, and diameter, as cotton wool. It de-
rives this property from the smoothness, tenacity^
flexibility, elasticity, peculiar length, and spiral form
of the filaments ; hence, when a few of them are
pulled from a heap with the fingers and thumb, they
lay hold of and draw out many others. Were they
much longer they could not be so readily attenuated
into a fine thread, and were they much shorter the
thread would be deficient in cohesion. Even the dif-
ferences in the lengtlis of the cotton staple are of
advantage in adapting them to different styles of spin-
ning and different textures of cloth.

If we take a tuft of cotton wool in the left hand,
and, seizing the projecting fibres with the right,
slowly draw them out, we shall perceive with what
remarkable facility they glide past each other, and yet
retain their mutual connexion, while they are extended
and arranged in parallel lines, so as to form a little
riband, susceptible of considerable elongation. This
demonstration of the ductility, so to speak, of cotton
wool, succeeds still better upon the carded fleece, in
which the filaments have acquired a certain parallel-

A MODERN COTTON FACTORY. 293

ism ; for in this case the tiny riband^ in being drawn
out by the fingers to a moderate length, may, at the
same time, receive a gentle twist, to preserve its
cohesion, till it becomes a fine thread.
, Hence we may imagine the steps to be taken or
the mechanical processes to be pursued in cotton*
spinning. After freeing the wool of the plant from
aJl foreign substances of a lighter or a heavier nature>
the next thing is to arrange the filaments in lines as
parallel as possible, then to extend them into regular
ribands, to elongate these ribands by many successive
draughts, doubling, qu3drupling, or even octupling
them meanwhile, so as to give them perfect equality of
size, consistence, and texture, and at the same time to
complete the parallelism of the fibres by undoing the
natural convolutions they possess in the pod. When
the rectilinear extension has been thus carried to the
fineness required by the spinner, or to that compatible
with the staple, a slight degree of torsion must accom-
pany the further attenuation; which torsion may be
either momentary, as in the tube roving machine, or
permanent, as in the bobbin-and-fly frame. Finally,
the now greatly attenuated soft thread called a fine
roving is drawn out and twisted into finished cotton
yam, either by continuous indefinite gradations of
drawing and twisting, as in the throstle, or by succes-
sive stretches and torsions of considerable lengths at
a time, as in the mule.

Mechanical spinning consists in the suitable execu-
tion of these different processes by a series of different
machines. After the carding operation, these are
made to act simultaneously upon a multitude of
ribands and spongy cords or threads by a midtitude of

294: QKfSUt. rmw^ Aim AMji^Ttis

Mwdiameal hands and fingers. Hoirey^r sfanple aad*
nstnral the above described course of manti&ctijnre^^
■lay appear to he, inmunerable difficulties stood fcMr
ages in the way of its accoin{di«hiiieiit, and so Hcunni^
dable were they as to render their oitire removal of
late years in the cotton faolones of England one (rf the
greatest and most honourable aohievements of h\nnaci
gmnis*

The modem art of spinmiig cotton by maximery,
which has long since supplanted that by the hand-
wheel throughout civilized Europe and America^ con-
sists of the following operatioxa : —

1. The cleaning and opening up or loosening the
flocks of cotton wool^ as imported in the bags, so as
to sep«*ate at once the coarser and heavier impurity
as well as those of a lighter and finer kind.

2. The carding, which is intended to disentangle
every tuft or knot, to remove every remaining impu-
rity which might have eluded the previous operation^
and finally to prepare for arranging the fibres in
parallel lines, by laying the cotton fir:^ in a fieecy
web, and then in a riband form.

3. The doubling and drawix^ out . of the card-
eadA or ribands, in order to complete the parallelisni
of the filaments, and to equalize their quality and
texture.

4. The roving operation, wherel^ the dreaoing^
made in the preceding process are greatly attenuated,
with no more twist than is indispensable to proserve
the uniform cofttinuity of the spongy cords; which
twist either remains in them, or is taken out immn
diately after the attenuation.

5. The fine roving and giretcking come nesst; the-

OF A MODBKN COTtON WkCtOttV. 395

former operation being effected by the fine bobbin-and-
fl]frftaB% lllr lallsr by die alietcher mule.

& Tbe j p inni$ig oporatioit finishes the extension and
twiifc ni tJbe yam, and is done either in a continucus
mamer by the water twist and throstle, or disconti-
Bimmly by the mule ; in the former the yam is pn>-
grsssively drawn, twisted, and wound upon the bob-
bins; in the latter it is drawn out and twisted in
leiq^tfas of about 56 inches, which are then wound all
at Qme» upcm tbe spindles.

7. The seventh operation is the winding, doubling,
aufl singeing oi the yams, to fit them for the mu^ih,
the stocking, or tl^ bobbin-net lace manufacture.

8. The peuiking-presf, for making up the yarn into
bundles for the market, concludes this series.

9. To the above may be added the operations of the
dnaring-machmes, and,

lOl The power-IoQitts.

The site of tbe factory ou^t to be carefuDy selected
in B^rence to the health of the operatives, the cheap-
ness of provisions, the facilities of transport for the
raw materials, and the convenience of a market for the
masuliactured articles. An abundant supply of labour,
as well as fuel and water for mechanical power, ought
to be primary considerations in setting down a factory.
It slioiikl therefore be j^ced, if possible, in a populous
villagie, near a riter or a canal, but in a dtuation firee
tram manh malaria^, and with »idi a slope to the
vo«ter stvaam. as mm^ ensure the ready discharge of
all fi^nd impwilks* These circumstances hap{^
coBOfm m the tEatEiets of Stockport, Hyde, Stayley
Bridge, Duckenfield, Bury, Blackbum, &c., and have
eminently favoured the rapid extension of the cotton
manufactures for which these places are pre-eminent.

GENERAL TIB1T AND ANALTSIS

OF A MODERN COTTON FACTORY. 297

The situation chosen by Mr. Orrell for the factory
repreisented in perspective in fig. 21 is particularly
good. It stands about half a mile from Stockport^ in
a beautiful meadow^ stretching along a branch of the
Mersey, the grand river feeder of the cotton trade of
England. At a little distance the ground rises in
gentle eminences, and affords a convenient knoll for
sustaining the great chimney stalk of the boiler flues,
sufficiently distant from the spinning factory to free it
entirely from smoke. The mill consists of a main body,
a, with two lateral wings, 6, 6, projecting forwards, the
latter being appropriated to store-rooms, a counting-
house, rooms for winding the yarn on bobbins, and
Other miscellaneous purposes. The building has six
floors, besides the attic story. The ground plan com-
prehends a plot of ground 280 feet long by 200 feet
broad, exclusive of the boiler sheds, or the low build-
ing seen to the right hand in the perspective view.*

The right-hand end A, plate It, of the principal
building, is separated from the main body by a strong
wall, and serves in the three lower stories for accommo-
dating two ninety-horse steam-engines, which are sup-
plied with steam from a range of boilers, as above said,
contained in a low shed, c, fig. 15, exterior to the mill.

The three upper stories over the steam-engine gallery
are used for unpacking, sorting, picking, cleaning,
willowing, batting, and lapping the cotton wool. Here
are the willow, the blowing, and the lap machines, in
a descending order, so that the lap machine occupies
the lowest of the three floors, being thus most judi-

• The artist has taken a little licence in the sketch, by giving it
seven stories instead of six.
t See plate I, at the end of the voltmie*

298 oBimEtAL ynwm akb ak altsis

cWudy placed cm tfa^ same level widi the pr e para tion-
room of the buildiiig. On the fourtknmm ftior of the
factory there are, in the first fdace, a line of canfing'
engines arranged, near> and paralleL to, the windowB^as
shewn at B, B, in the ground plan, plate I ; and, in
the aeeond place, two rows of drawing frames, and two
of bobbin-and-fly frames, in akemate Unes, parallel to
each otlwr, as indicated by D, C, D, C, for the drawii^
frames, and E, B, B, Ei, for the bobbin-and-fiy frames
in the growid plan* The latter machines are close to
the centre of the apartment

The two stories next under the preparation-roora
are ocenpied with throstle frames distributed as
shown at F, F, in the grouiKi plan. They stand in
pairs alongside of eadi other, whereby two may be
temled by one pn^on. These principal rooms are 280
feet long, and neariy 50 feet wide. The two stmes
over the preparatkm^room, visl, the fifth and sixth
floors from the gromid, are appropriated to die mule
jennies, which are |daced in pairs fronting each other,
so timt each pair may be worked by one man. Their
naode of distribution is shown at G, 6, in the ground
{dan. The last single mule is seen standing agsunst the
end wall, with its head-stock projecting in die middle

The ground floor of the main building, as weU as
the extensive died abutted behind it, marked l^
N, H, H, in the plan, is devoted to the power-
looms, the mode of placing which is plainly seen at
H, XX, xi.

The attic story accommodates the warping mills»
and the warp dressing machines subservient to power-
weaving.

The winding machince^ andaooie txtm moka (s^-

09 A MODERN COTTON EibCTCmY.

actors), are placed in the wings; the five windinf
nfteimies being in the two tcqp roomcis of the left wing.

We shall briefly sum up the refereimes in the
ground plan as foUows : —

A> the grand apartment for the steam-engines.

B> the distribution of the carding engines, the
moving shaft or axis running in a straight line through
th»ii, with its pulleys for reccivii^ the driving bands.

C, Cf the drawing frames.

D, D> the jack, or coarse bobbin-and-fly frames.
£> E^ the fine roving or bobbin-and-fly firames.

F, the arrangement of the throstle frames, standing
in pairs athwart the gallery, in the second and third
flats.

G, the mules are here represented by their roller
b^uns, and the outlines of their head-stocks, as placed
in the fifth and sixth stori^.

H, the looms, with their driving-puUeys projecting
from the ends of their main axes. Sometimes the
looms are placed in parallel straight lines, with the
rigger-puUeys of the one alternately projecting more
than the other, to permit the free play of the driving-
belts ; sometimes the looms are placed, as generally
in this engraving, alternately to the right and lef^t^
by a small space, when the pulleys may all paxiject
equally. The former plan is the one adopted in Mr.
Orrell*s mill.

I,^ represents the cast-iron girders which supp<»t the
floocs of this fire-proof building.

K> K, are closets placed in each floor^ in the reeeaaee
of a kind of pilasters built against the outside of the
edifice. These hollow shafts are j<med at top by
faorizcttital pipes, which all t^minate int a cheat od&-

300 OBKBRAL VIEW AND ANALYSIS

nected with the suction axes of a fan, whereby a con-
stant draught of air circulates up the shafts, ventilates
the apartments, and prevents the reflux of oflFensive
effluvia from the water-closets, however careless the
work-people may be. The tunnels towards the one
end of the building are destined for the men —
towards the other for the women.

L, L, are the staircases, of a horse-shoe form,
the interior space or shaft in the middle being used
for the teagle or hoist, as figured and described at
page 47, et seq,, of the '' Philosophy of Manufactures."
In the posterior part of the shaft a niche or groove
is left for the counterweight to slide in, out of the
way of the ascending and descending platform,

M, M, are the two porters' lodges, connected to the
comer of each wing by a handsome iron balustrade.
They are joined by an iron gate.

It will be observed that the back' loom-shed has
only one story, as shown in section plate 2.

In the ground plan of tbe shed,

N represents the roofing, of wood- work.

The rafters of the floors rest at their ends upon an
iron plate, or shoe with edges (as it is called), for the
girders to bear upon.

The two steam-engines, of fully ninety-horse power
each, operate by cranks, which stand at right angles
upon the shaft marked a, both in the plan and section
plates 1 and 2. In the centre, between the bear-
ings, is a large cog-wheel, driving a smaller one upon
the shaft marked b in both plates, to which the fly-
wheel c belongs. That prime motion wheel is magnifi-
cent, and possesses a strength equal to a strain of 300
horses. From this shaft motion is given to the main

OP A MODERN COTTON FACTORY. 301

or upright shaft d in the section by two bevel-wheels,
visible at the side and on the top of the great block of
stone, about five tons weight, plate 2, which gives a
solid basis to the whole moving apparatus.

The velocity of the piston in these steam-engines is
240 feet per minute.

The first shaft makes 44*3 revolutions per minute.

The main upright shaft 58*84 ditto, ditto*

The steam-engines make 16 strokes per minute;
and the length of their stroke is 7 feet 6 inches.

As the one engine exerts its maximum force when
the other has no force at all, and as the one increases
as the other diminishes in the course of each pair of
strokes, the two thus co-operate in imparting an equa-
ble impulsion to the great geering and shafts, whichj
being truly made, highly pohshed, and placed in
smooth bearings of hard brass, revolve most silently
and without those vibrations which so regularly re-
curred in the older factories, and proved so detri-
mental to the accurate performance of delicate spin-
ning-frames.

To the horizontal ramifications from the upright
shaft any desired velocity of rotation may be given by
duly proportioning the diameters of the bevelled wheels
of communication between them : thus — if the wheel
on the end of the horizontal shaft have one-half or
one-third the diameter of the other, it will give it a
double or a triple speed.

In the lowest floor the second bevel-wheel above
the stone block drives the horizontal shaft e, seen in
the ground plan; and thereby the horizontal shaft ^
at right angles to the former, which runs throughout
the length of the building, as the other did through its

9Qt Gmmnua. viwm and Mf^LYSfii

breaddi> backwards. The shaft / lies alcmgnde of
the bsdc-window waU> near the ceiling ; and from k
the tranaverie slender shafts proceed to the ri^i and
left in the main building, and to the shed behind it,
each of them serving to drive two lines of looms.
These slender or branch shafts are momited with
puUejrSy each of which drives ftmr lo<»ns by four se-
parate bands.

In the second and third floors^ where the throsdes
are placed^ the shaft d is seen in the section plate to
drive the following shafU : —

Upon the main upright shaft, ci, there are in each o(
these stories two horizontal bevel-wheels, with th^
faces fronting each other (shown plainly over d, d), by
wUoh are moved two smaller vertical bevel-wheels, on
whow respective axes are two parallel shafts, one over
each other, g, g, which traverse the whole length g(
the building. These two shafts noove therefore with
equal velocities, and in opposite directions. They
run along the middle space of each apartment ; and
wherever they pass the rectangular line of two throsde
frames (as shown at F in tlM» ground plan) they are
each provided with a pulley ; while the steam-pull^s
on the axes of two contiguous throstles in (me line are
placed as for apart as the two diameters of the said
shaftrpulleys. An endless strap goes from the pulley
of the uppermost horizontal shaft, g^ round the steam
or driving pulley of one throstle &ame ; then up over
the pulley of the second or lower shaft, g ; next over
the steam-pulley of a second throstle; and, lastly,
up to the pulley of the top shaft, g. — See g, gf ia the
throstle floors of the cross section, plate 2.

In the pr^aration-room three horizontal shafts

OF Jt MOIIBRN COTTON PACTORT. 30S>

are led pretty dose to the ceiling, through the whole
length of the building. The middle one^ A, (see the
pbu9^ plate !.)> is driven immediately by bevel-wheels
from the main upright shaft, d, (plate 2.) The two
side ones, i, i, which run near the window walls^ are
driven by two horizontal ^afts, which lead to these
side shafts. The latter are moimted with pulleys, in
ccNTespondence with the steam-pulleys of the two
lines of carding-engines, as seen between the cards in
the plan. The middle shaft, h, drives the two lines oi
bobyn-and-fly frames, E, E, E, E, (see cross section) ;
and short shafts, i, i, seen in the cross section o
this floor, moved from the middle shaft, A, turning in
gallows fixed to the ceiling, over the drawing and
jadc frames, give motion to the latter two sets of
machines.. See C, D, in the cross section, plate 2.

To drive the mules in the uppermost story, a hoii-
sontal sdiafti Ar, (see longitudinal and cross sections, as
well as ground plan,) runs through the middle line of
the building, and receives motion from bevel-wheels
placed on the main upright shaft, d, inmiediately
beneath the ceiling of the uppermost story. From
that horizontal shaft A:, at every second mule, a slender
upright shaft, I, passing through both stories, is driven.
(See both sections.) Upon these upright branch-
shafts are pulleys in each story, one of which serves
for two mules., standing back to back against each
other. To the single mules at the ends of the rooms
the motions are given by still slenderer upright shafts,
which stand upon the head-stocks, and drive them by
wheel- work, the steps (top bearings) of the shafts being
fixed to brackets in the ceiling.

In the attic, a horizontal shaft, m, m, runs length-

304 GENERAL VIEW AND ANALYSIS

Wise near the middle of the roof, and is driven by
wheel-work from the upright shaft: this shafts m,
gives motion to the warping-mills and dressing ma-
chines..

This cotton-mill having been recently erected, ac-
cording to plans devised and executed by that very
eminent engineer Mr. Fairbaim, of Manchester, may
be justly reckoned a model of factory architecture.
It was calculated for, and will be mounted with,
eleven hundred power-looms, of which one hundred
require steam-power equivalent to twenty-five horses
to impel them, inclusive of the preparation and spin-
ning operations competent to supply the looms with
yam. A third steam engine will be added.

Ten looms, with the requisite dressing, without
spinning, are considered to be equivalent to one
horse's power in a steam-engine.

Steam-power equivalent to one horse will drive
500 mule spindles,
300 self-actor spindles,

180 throstle spindles, of the common construc-
tion,
in which estimate the requisite preparation processes
are included.

In Mr. Orrell*s mill there are 6,474 spm- SpJ»>^i^
dies in each of the throstle-frame floors, 12,948
And fourteen pairs of mules in each of the

two mule floors — containing altogether 24,928
Nineteen self-actors in the wing — con-

tainhig 7,984

Total yam spindles • • • • 45,860
One of the most compact and best-regulated mo-

OF A MODERN COTTON FACTORY. 905

dern factories^ on the small scale^ which I visited in
Lancashire^ consisted of the following system of ma*
chines : —

One willow^ one blowing machine^ one lap machine^
capable^ together^ of cleaning and lapping 9^000
pounds of cotton per week^ if required.

Twenty-one cards^ breakers^ and finishers^ which
carded 5,000 pounds of cotton every week of 69 hours*
work, being about 240 pounds per card.
3 drawing frames, of 3 heads each.
3 coarse bobbin-and-fly frames.
7 fine do. do. No stretcher mule.

12 self-actor mules, of Sharp and Roberts's construc-
tion, of 404 spindles each = 4,848 mule spindles.
10 throstle frames, of 236 spindles each = 2,360
spindles.
7 dressing machines.
236 power-looms.
2 warping-mills.
300 winding spindles for winding the warp.

The rovings have four hanks in the poimd, and are

spun into yam No. 38, on the throstle, as well

as the mule.

One bobbin of the roving (compressed) lasts five

days on the self-actors, and six days on the

throstles.

According to the estimate of Peile and Williams, of

Manchester, 66 horses' power of a steam-engine are

equivalent to 3% power-looms, including 16 dressing

machines; the cloth being 36 inches wide upon the

average ; and the yam varying in fineness from 12's

to 40's, the mean being 26's. Here, the spinning and

preparation not being included, the allowance of power

906 anoEBAL vimr Avm amm^ybib

appear to be high. The estimate gma shorn
ten toomst with the requisite dreB^ng, to (me
horse ; but the latter assigns no more than six.

For the foUowiiig ezperimenial results* eanrfully
made with an improved steam-engine indicator, upsa
the principle of Mr. Watt's construetion^ I am inddbted
to Mr. Bennet, an eminent engineer in Manchester..
His mode of proceeding was to determine, first of aU«
the power exerted by the factory steam-engine whf^
all the machines of the various floors were in action;
then to detach^ or throw out of geer^ each system of
machines^ and to note the diminution of force now
exercised. Finally^ when all the machines were dis-
engaged^ he determined the power requisite to move
the engine itself^ as well as the great geering wheels
and shafts of the factory.

He foiuid at the factory of J. A. Beaver, £sq.> in
Manchester^ that

500 calico-looms (without dressing) took the power

of 33 horses^ whiidi assigns 15 looms to oc^ horae

power.

At Messrs. Birlie's factory, in Manchester, he found

that

1,060 spindles in 3 self-actor mules took 2.59 horses,

being 417 spindles for one horse power; that
3,960 spindles in 11 self-actors took 8.33 horses,

being 475 spindles, per horse power ;
1^080 spindles in 3 sdf-actors took 2 horses., being
54D ^iadles, per hcHrse.
At Messrs^ Clarke and Sons*, in Manchester, that
535 looms for weaving fu^ians of varkms breadths
todfc 54 horses* power, exclusi^^ of dreanag
machineai b^ng 1 1 loc^ms to 1 h(»rse.

ow A ii(n]nKir cotton factoet. SOT

At J. A. Beaver^^, on an(Afaer-oocasion> he found that
1,200 spindles, of Danforth's construction^ took 21
horses, being 57 spindles per horse power; and
that in a second trial the power of 22 horses
was required for the same effect; being 54
Danforth spindles per horse power.
An excellent engine of Messrs. Bohon and Watt,
being- tried by the indicator, affi>rded the following
results in a factory : —

A 60-liorse boat-engine (made as &r a
steam-boat) took 14 J horses' power to
drive the engine with the shafts . . 14.5
3| blowing machines, with their three fans 21.55

10 dressing machines 10.^

12 s^-actor nmles, of 360 spindles each

(720 spindles per horse power) . . 6.00
6 Danforth throstle frames, contadning
570 spindles (96 in each), being 93
spindles to a horse power .... 6.20
At Bollington, in a worsted-mill, he found that

106i spindles, including preparation, took one
horse power upon throstles. N.B. There is no
carding in the long wool or worsted manu&cture
for Merinos.
At Bradford, in Yorkshire, he foimd that

A 40*hor8e power boat-engine, of Bolton imd Watfa^

drove 598 calico-looms,
6 dressing machines (equivalent to dress warp for

180 of the said looms), and
1 mechanic's workshop, which took 2 horses' pow^.
Other engineers estimate 200 common throotto
9pindks> by thcanselv^, to fa* equival^ot to the power
of one hcursB.

308 GENERAL VIEW A19D ANALYSIS

The shafts which drive the cards revcdve about 120
times per minute^ with a driving pulley of from 15 to
17 inches in diameter.

The shafts of the drawing, and the bobbin-and-fly
frames, revolve from 160 to 200 times per minute,
with pulleys from 18 to 24 inches in diameter.

The shafts of throstle frames in general turn at the
rate of from 220 to 240 times per minute, with driving
pulleys 18 inches in diameter, when they are spinning
yam of from No. 35's to 40's. The shafts of mules
revolve about 130 times per minute, with pulleys 16
inches in diameter.

The shafts of power looms revolve from 110 to 120
times per minute, with pulleys 15 inches in diameter.

The shafts of dressing machines revolve 60 times
per minute, with pulleys 14 inches in diameter.

Before quitting the generalities of the cotton manu-
facture I may state the following facts, communicated
also by Mr. Bennet : —

A waggon-shaped boiler, well set, will evaporate
12 cubic feet of water with 1 cwt. of coals; and a
steam-boiler with winding flues will evaporate 17
cubic feet with the same weight of fuel : 7^ pounds of
coals to the former boiler are equivalent to a horse's
power exerted for an hour, estimating that a horse
cain raise 33,000 pounds 1 foot high in a minute.

The first cotton-mill upon the fire-proof plan was
erected, I believe, by the Messrs. Strutt, at Belper,
in the year 1797 ; that of Messrs. Phillips and Lee, at
Manchester, in 1801 ; that of H. Houldsworth, Esq., of
Glasgow, in 1802 ; and that of James Kennedy, at
Manchester, in 1805 ; since which time all good fac-
tories have been built fire-proof, like Mr. Orrell's.

OF A MODERN COTTON FACTORY. 309-

Hie heating of the apartments of cotton-iactories
18 effected by a due distribution of cast-iron pipes,
of about seven or eight inches diameter^ which are
usually suspended a little way below the ceilings,
traverse the rooms in their whole length, and are
filled with steam from boilers exterior to the building.
It has been ascertained that one cubic foot of boiler
will heat fully more than two thousand cubic feet of
space in a cotton-mill, and maintain it at the tempe-^
rature of about 75** Fahr. If we reckon twenty-five
cubic feet contents of water in a waggon-shaped steam-
boiler as equivalent to a horse's power, such a boiler
would be capable of warming fifty thousand cubic feet
of space ; and therefore a ten-horse steam-boiler will
be able to heat five hundred thousand cubic feet of
air, from the average temperature, 50** of our climate,
up to 75^ or perhaps even to 80^ Fahr,

It has been also ascertained that, in a well-built
cotton-mill, one superficial foot of exterior sur&ce di
cast-iron steam-pipe will warm two hundred cubic feet
of air. In common cases, for heating churches and
public rooms, I believe that one-half of the above heat-
ing surface will be found adequate to produce a suf-
ficiently genial temperature in the air. The tempe-
rature of the steam is supposed to be the same with
that in Mr. Watt's low-pressure engines, only a few
degrees above 212°, — ^the boiling point of water.

The pipes must be freely slung, and left at liberty '
to expand and contract under the changes of tem-
perature, having one end at least connected with a
flexible pipe of copper or wrought iron, of a swan-
neck shape. Through this pipe the water of con-
densation is allowed to run <^. The pipes should not

810 osranuKL visw. akb joma/tstn

jbe laid in a horizoiital direction^ but h^me « 'suffident
idope to ditebarge the waier« The pipes are east
firom half an ineti to three quartan tfatok in the loetaL
In practice the expansion <tf steam-pipes of cast ison
may be taken at about one-tenth of an indi in a
length of ten feet, when they are hesyfeed from a little
fdiOFe the freezing to the boiling point of water. The
uppeir surfiice of a horizontal steona-pipe is apt to
become hotter than the bottom^ if the water be allowed
to stagnate in it ; the difference being occasionally so
great, as to causei a pipe sixty feet long to be bent up
two inches in the middle.

In arranging the steam-pipes provisiim ought to be
made not only for the discharge of the water of con-
densation, as above stated, but for the ready escape of
the air; otherwise the steam will not enter fieely.
Even after the pipes are filled with steam, a little of
it should be allov^ to escape at some extneme orifice,
to prevent the re-aocum«dation of air dkcharged firom
the water of the steam-boiler. In consequence oi
water bemg Irft in the pipes serious accidents may
happen ; for, the next time the steam is admitted into
tityBDiy the regularity of heating and expansioti is im-
peded, sos^ part of the pipe may crack, or a vidbait
explosion may take place, and the jcHnts may be
racked to a very considerable dktance, every way;
from the place of rupture, by the alternate expanuoia
^ and condensations. The pipes should therefore be
hid, so as to have the least possible declivity, in the
iUrection of the motion of the ^eam.

Formerly, when drj^ing-roonw in calico print wmiis
wcfc lieated by iron stoves, or cockles, their innettta
meiB very :aahealthy, and bmeaxme eonaciatad;

(» A MODERN C&TTOV PACTCHrr. til

they^^have been heated by steatn^'pipeB the health of
the .people has become remarkably good^ and their
appearancae fre(|uently blooming.

The following analytical estimate exhibits ttie equip-
ment and cost of two of the most recent and complete
c^otton factories in England.

1st. Mr. Orrell's mill, when mounted, as it will pre-
sently be, with 1,100 power-looms and a third steam-
engine, will have cost £85,000. It will contain the
following system of. machines.

, I. Cotton cleaning machines :

R«volatiQiu

1. Two, of Lillie's great conical willows ; speed of

. .^OMD pulley ^ . « ^ • • . • • 2M

2. Jive blowing xiracutchiogioacbines . • • . 1,600

3. Five lapping machines • ^ . . . . . 1,600

II. Preparation machines :

1. 168 carding engines ........ 114

2. Twenty-four drawing frames.

3. Twenty-four coarse bobbin-and-fly frames, con-

taining • • • 1,152

4. Fifty fine bdtdbiaHuod-fly or jadE fimies . • • 3,204

ni. Spinning machines :

1. Seventy^eigbt throstle frames, containing 12,948«pindles,

which are capable of producing 9,0001b8. of from 36'« to
40's inaweekof 69homrt, bdi^ at tlierate^f 25 himkn
of 38*8 per spindle in that time.

Spindles. lbs.

2, Fifty-sixhand mules, containing 24,923, producing 18,000
Nineteen stlf-actors, ,, ^984, ,, 7,000

32,912 25>W0

TotalHBpiadlts, 45,860
8. fke hand mvles'produoe 26 iMnIn Of 36% Ia m ^mmtu
^ The wMtidmu ^gttolw 31^ 4itto 4^MI#.

312 OBMBRAL VIEW AND ANALYSIS

4 rif winding wagtiinfn of 1,200 ipindlat, wluch are placed
in the two uppennott roomi of the left wing.

5. 1,100 powrr-loomt, aTeraging each 5f piceei in 69 honn*

work, with a speed of 120 pidai per minute. In ano-
ther factory, in Stockport, Mreral of the tame loomi are
working well at the rate of 130 picks per minute.

6. Thiry-two drewing machines.

For driving the whole of the above machines a

power of 250 horses is required.

«• if.

The price of warp-jam 36*s is • • • • 1 6| per lb*
Ditto weft-yam ,, ••••14 ,,

The cotton-wool ofthe warp costs • • • 11 ,,
Ditto oftheweftcosts • • • • 9| ,,

The prices now received for yam ready made up in
packages for exportation are —

ForSO'stwirtorwarp 1 6| psrlb.

32-s ,, 17,,

36's ,, •..••• 1 Si ,,

38*s ,, ••.... 1 H ,,

40's ,, 1 10 „

There is a great difference in the wages paid to
spinners, according to the size of the mule, as will be
more fully explained in Book IV. The general and
most approved number of spindles in mules for
spinning yams from 32's to 40's is from 400 to 500 ;
and the price paid to the spinner is S^d. per 100
hanks.

The cost of the above machines, of the best construc-
tion, at Manchester, is at present :

£• «.

The conical willow ..• 70

The blowing machine ••.••••• 70

The lap machine • 70

Carding engine, unclothed •••••••420

Clothmg (furniture) of ditto • 24

Drawbg frame ••••••• •••37 10

OP A MODBRN COTTON FACTORY. 313

:£. #. \d.

Bobbin-and-ily frame (coane) • • 2 6 per tpindle.
Ditto (fine) ... 1 11 10 ,,

Handmule •••••••. 049 ,,

Sdf-actors, about • •••••080 ,,

Throstles ••«^^«.^0 10 6 ,,

The warp of a piece, thirty-six yards in lengthy of
twenty-seven inch wide calico^ for printing, made from
36's, will take about four pounds four ounces of yam,
and eight or nine ounces of flour for dressing it.

In a great fustian factory at Manchester, each girl
weaves at the power-looms fifty pounds of cloth per
week ; in another factory of calicoes, nearly the same
weight ; in a third of finer goods, thirty-five pounds.

Mr. Fairbaim has very recently erected a spinning
and weaving factory, upon the most improved plan, for
Messrs. Bailey, of Stayley Bridge, of which the fol-
lowing is the estimated cost : —

Buildings for containing the machinery • . • 30,000
Engine-house, boiler-house, and gaa-house • • • 3,000
Two steam-engines, of 110 horse power each, with

mill geering 8,800

Steam pipes for heating the mill, and gas pipes with

gas apparatus ••••••••• 2,400

40,000 mule spindles '. .11,500

Preparation machines, including cotton cleaning and

opening 12,000

1,280 power-looms, with appurtenances • . . • 18,000
Contingencies ••••••••••• 2,300

Total cost of the factory • • • £88,000
Or, probably, £90,000.

An additional weaving shed is proposed, which will
increase the looms to 1,480, and the outlay to £100,000.
The power of these united steam-engines is conveyed

VOL. I. P

814 iu masemV' aataam eacxory.

fnmi the rim of the fly wheel, which is a new plan of
geering inilb^*-<nie already tried by Mr. FftirUaini in
another mill, and' found to exceed his most sfetnguine
expectations of steady impubion. Thus tile fly wheel
becomes, in fieu^t, the great spur wheel, so as to serve
the double purpose of regulating the* niotion or the
engines, and transmitting the power to the mill ^s^.

LIST OP MftKXftB*

316

List of Patbnts for Improvements in Cotton-Spinning^ ^c.
from Januartf 1800, ta March 1886^ bM inciusive.

Name.

Date.

Ward, J. & . .
Wood, J. . .
Johnson, Thomas

Wood, J* • • • •

Heppenstally John • •

Johnson, Thomas • •

Huddart, Joseph • •
Margrave, Thomas •.

DondonaldyEarlof • •
Clark and Bug|t>y • •
Robertson, Matthew .
Thomson, Archibald .
Ditto ditto . .

Williams> Samuel . •
XAybourn and Milboum
Bradbury, John Leigh •
DumbellyJohn • . •
Harkey, Musgraye and)
Farmery . . • • /
.Thomsen, Archibald
Stead, John • • • •
.Butt, TrettoB, and Webb
Varley, Richard . . •

Rait, Tretton, and Webb
Crai^eld, Thomas • •

Dyer, J. C

Dyer, Joseph C. • •
Rayner, Joseph • . .
Courtauld, George . .

Dver, J. C

W^ood, John • . • .
Palmer, William • •
l^ood and Wordsworth .
Sradbury, John Leigh .

Dec 30,
June 14,
Feb. 28,

Jan. 10,
June 2,
June 2,
Sept 21,
Dec 19^

Nov. 19,
June 19,
Oct. 30,
Feb. 20,
April 2,
AprU 8,
Dec 9,
Dec 24,
Aug. 25,

No7. 8,

Feb. 7.
Feb. 9,
Nc^. 21,
July 7,

Oct. 8,
May 7,
Oct. 30,
Nov. 1,
Jan. 1,
Aug. 4,
Dec. 15,
Feb. 4,
AprH 4,
M!«rch2,
Haxdi9,

800
803
803

804
804
804
804
804

805

806
806
807
807
807
807
807
808

808

809
809
809
810

810
811
811
813
813
814
814
815
815
816
816

Doubling

Spinning and reeling

Preparing; dressing ootton*
waj^s

Spinning

Spinning and twistisg

Dressing

Manufacturing and spinning

Throwing ; spinning ; dou^
bling and twisting

Spinning

Ditto

Combining machinery

Spinning

Ditto

Roving

Spinning

Flaz-spinninff

(Roving; slubbing and epia-
\ nin^; twisting & doubling

Spinmng

Making cards for carding

Ditto

Roving; spinning; doubling
and twisting

Making cards

Spinning and roving

Cards

Spinning hemp

Roving and spinning

Spindle

Cards

Preparing and spinning

Twisting

Spinning

Ditto

316

LIST OF PATENTS.

Nmme.

Date.

Welch, John • •
Simpton^ Wm. Henry
Hall, Samuel
Whitham, George
Homfray, Thomas
Eaton, William .
Main, Joseph •
White, James •
Chell.P. . . .
Criffhton, Wm. •
Hau, Samuel •
Taylor, Joseph •
Green, John •
Leach, Thomas •
Donkio, Bryan •
Gimton, T. F. .
Buchanan, Archibald
Boot, Jarvis •
Heathcoat, John
Bradbury, John Leigh •

Jefferies & Drakeford •
Price, John . • • •

Chell,P

Bodmer, John George .

Hirst, William • • •

Andrew, Tarlton, and

Shepley . • • •

Booth and Bailey • •

Badnall, Richard • •

Roberts, Richard • •
De Jongh, Maurice • •
Smith, John Frederick .

Hirst, Wm. and Henry
Hurst and Carter • .

Dyer, J. C

Brooke and Hardgrave •
Kay, James ....
Lamb and Suttill • •

Edmonds, Ezeldel • •

Aug.

July

Nov.

April

May

June

Jan.

July

Feb.

Mar.

April

June

Aug.

Sept.

Nov.

Dec

Dec.

Mar.

July

3, 1816

10, 1817
3, 1817
8, 1818

28, 1818
18, 1S18
15, 1820

11, 1820
18, 1823
18, 1823
18, 1823
29, 1823
26, 1823
18, 1823
11, 1823

6, 1823
4,1823

13. 1823

20. 1824
3,1824

July 29, 1824
Aug. 5, 1824
Oct. 14, 1824
Oct 14, 1824

Jan. 11, 1825

Jan. 11,1825
Jan. 13, 1825

Feb. 10, 1825'

Mar. 29, 1825
Mar. 29, 1825
June 21, 1825

July 16,1825
July 16,1825
July 16, 1825
July 26, 1825
July 26, 1825
Nov. 17, 1825

Dec 3, 1825

Making roUe rs

Spinning

Smg^ing

Grinding & dressing spindles

Bobbins

Roving; spinning

Preparmg; spinnio^

Ditto

Drawing ; roving ; spinning

Carding cylinders

Singeing

Spinning; doubling ; throwing

Riovine; spinning; twisting

Spinnmg and doubling

Singeing

Twisting; doublin^^

Carding

Singeing

Spinning

Twisting; spinning; throw-
ing

Swift

Spinning

Drawing; roving; spinning

Cleaning ; carding ; draw-
ing; roving; spinning

Slubbing; spinning

Throstle

Spinning; doubling; throw-

Winding ; doubling ; q>ia-

ninff
Spinning
Preparing; spinning
Drawing ; roving ; spinning;

doubling
Scribbling; carding
Mules and billies
Winding

Scribbling; carding
Spinning; preparing
Preparing; drawing; roving;

spinning
Scribbling; carding

]

LIST OF PATENTS.

317

Name.

Dyer, J. C. • •

Houldsirorth, Henzy
Smith, John Frederick
Goulding, John . •

Molineux, Francis •

Bayliffe, Edward •

De JoDgh, Maurice •

Heisch, Philip • •

Whitaker, James •

Daniell; J. C. . •

Dexter, Lambert •

Church, William •

De Jongh • • ,

Ford, John • • •
Sharp, William • •
Rhodes, Joseph . .
Lee, Qeorge William
Brooks, Charles .
Hutchison, John •
Lane, William • .
Molineux and Bundy
Sands, Thomas . •
Needham, William •
Wood, Charles • .
Potter, John and James
KLnowles, Thomas .
Lambert, Samuel •
Milne, John • .
Lang, James • •

Bales, Joshua • •
Selden, David • .
Gore, Henry •
Jellicorse, John
Shankland, Alex. Beattie
Montgomery, Robert
Bolton, Hugh . •
Wordsworth, Joshua
Jones, James • •
Newton, William .
Howard, John • •
Robertson, John •
Travis, John, jun. .

Date.

Dec. 9, 1825
Jan. 16,1826
Jan. 19,1826
May % 1826

May 23,
July 14,
Dec 18,
Feb. 20,
AprU24,
June 8,
June 16,
July 13.
Dec. 4,

1826
1826
1826
1827
1827
1827
1827
1827
1827

May 13, 1828
Aug. 19, 1828
Sept. 18, 1828
May 2, 1829
June 4, 1829
July 30, 1829
Aug. 5,1830
Sept. 21, 1830
Nov. 18, 1830
Dec. 13, 1830
Mar. 11,1831
Mar. 21, 1831
May 23, 1831
June 2, 1831
July 13,1831
Sept. 24, 1831

Oct. 27, 1831
Nov. 22, 1831
Dec. 22,1831
Jan. 28, 1832
April 13, 1832
April 26, 1832
June .5, 1832
July 26, 1832
May 25, 1833
July 11. 1833
Sept. 21, 1833
S*'pt.21, 1833
Nov. 1,1833

Wire cards

Roving

Drawing ; roving ; spinning

Carding; slubbing; roving;

spinning
Spinning; twisting; roving
Drawing; roving; spinning
Roving; spinning; twisting
Spinning

Carding; slubbing; spinning
Wire cards
Spiiming
Ditto
Ditto; doubling; twisting;

roving
Carding ; roving ; spinning
Spinning; roving
Ditto; twisting
Spinning
IMtto
Ditto

Roving frames
Roving; spinning; twisting
Spinning

Spinning ; doubling ; twisting
Ditto

Ditto; twisting
Mules, self-acting
Throstle; spindles
Roving
Spreading ; drawing ; roving ;

spinning
Roving ; twisting ; spinning
Carding; slubbing
Throstle; frames
Spinning
Ditto
Ditto
Carding

Drawing; roving; spinning
Roving ; spinning ; doubling
Roving
Ditto

Ditto; spinning
Spinning

318

LIST OF PATimTS.

Nmme.

Date.

BwAit| Pet6T . • •
Dobfon, Sutcliff, a«d

TbnUiiU • •
Saiith, Jtmet
Ditto • . • •
TV ftlton, jraiM •
SiniitoD, BidiArd
Bridton, Thomai R.
Wiltoo, Charles
Hiniiii, William
Wnght, Peter .
SUter, Jamet
Sharp aod Roberts
H <GTegor, lialcohn
Jones, James •
De Be^e, Charles
Fairbaim^ Peter
Whitworth, Jeeeph
Bodmer, John George
Kean, James ,
Dyer and Smith
Faulker, Samuel
Barber, Rkluud
Horsfail and Kenyon
Hooldswerth, John
Hyde, John . •
Champion . •
Ramsbottom
Ashworth & Oreeneugh

Not. 9, 1833

Feb. 6, 1834
Feb. 20, 1834
Feb. 27, 1834
Mar. 27, 1834
June 3, 1834
June 10, 1834
June 17, 1834
July 7, 1834
July 17, 1834
Aug. 23, 1834
Oct 8, 1834
Oct. 20, 1834
Oct. 20,1834
Nov. 15, 1834
Dec. 23, 1834
April 14, 1835
May 27, 1835
July 3,1835
July 17, 1835
Aug. 6, 1835
Oct 22,1835
Dec 9, 1835
Dee. 9, 1835
Dec. 31, 1835
Jan. 6, 1836
Jan. 6, 1836
Feb. 5, 1836

Mule-spinning -

Roving; sjnnning

Preparing; spinmng

Carding

Cards

Roving; slubbing

Dr^in^ cotton

Spmnmg

Roving

Spinning; twisting

Bleaching

Spinning and doubling

Slubbing ; roving ; spinaing

Roving; spinning; doubling

Spinning; twisting

Preparii^; slivering; rovii^

Spinning; doubling

Papering; roving; ^nutiiig

Throstle; flyer

Winding

Carding ■

Reels

Carding

Drawing ; slabbing

Carding-

Spinning ; twisting ; dombKng

Roving ; spinning ; doabting

Preparing; spinmng

NSWTON AND BisilRY,

Office for PaietOM,
66, ChoHceiy Lame, Lomdom.

NtJTHiS.

Note A.— p. 9.

The commentsrieB of schoolmen upon the notieef tt
natural history and the arts which occur in the claanes, wtt
often no less amusing^ from their ignorance than then* dog-
matism. Vifgil has in particular sufiferad severely at their
bands, notwithstanding their pretended reyerence for his
learning. He is uniTersaliy allowed to be the most exact
of ancient authors in describing the productions of natuM^
and in selecting epithets appropriate to their qualities ; ibr
be was a proficient in all the philospphy of his age,
Addison says, *' We treceive more strong and lively ideas
of things from his words than we could have done from the
olijects themselves." His language is so graphic as to lead
another critic to sayi ** that he found out living words.'^
.Of all literary compositions, ancient or modern, his Geor-
gics are reckoned to be the most highly finished, displaying
a vividness of conception, a regularity of thought, a felicity
of diction, an accuracy and extent of information, which
could have resulted only fi-om the deepest study, animated
•by the brightest genius. Virgil was peculiarly conversant
with the appearances, properties, and geography of the
animal and vegetable tribes. His description of the cotton
plant in the couplet quoted in the text is no less picturesque
than philosophical, including also two of its most remarlc-
able localities, — Ethiopia, and the country of the Seres, or
Bochyra. How strangely has the learned Warton travestied
the original in the followii^ jdoggrei rhyme : — -

^^'From gSHkiop't wwMii, wkeie «m^ i^iwet jmimm.
How Syrians comb the fifgitatde fltoM !"

320 NOTES.

Woolly leaves, and the Syrians combing the woods of
Ethiopia ! What a pity he had not gone to school with
Mrs. Malaprop and become acquainted with the contagious
places. It was the Seres of whom Virgil speaks, an Indian
people far enough from Syria, who were famous then, as
they are now, for the growth and manufacture of cotton.

Martyn, in his learned edition of Virgil, Oxford, 1829,
thus comments upon the line " Velleraque ut foliis depec-
tant tenuia Seres.''

*' The Seres were a people of India who furnished the
other parts of the world with silk ; the ancients were gene^
rally ignorant of the manner in which it was spun by the
silkworm, and imagined that it was a sort of down ga-
thered from the trees."

There is no evidence that the Seres supplied the world
with silk, though there is, that they supplied it with muslin
robes. But who that ever saw a silk cocoon enclosed in
its entangled net-work of floss, would think of combing it
out, or would charge Virgil with the folly of applying the
word depectant to it ; whereas to the fleece of cotton-wool,
waving tress-like from its opened pods, the term depectant
is most appropriate. The phrase, tenuia vellera^ or deli-
cate fleece, also corresponds to the character of cotton-wool
as known to the Romans, and as described by Pliny, but
is quite inapplicable to the silkworms* colls. The poet
and the naturalist probably derived their knowledge of
cotton plants from the same source — ambassadors and
other distinguished travellers who came to Rome from
Eastern Asia.

Note B.— p. 189.

For the following important document I am indebted
to James Cosmo Melville, Esq., the accomplished Secre-
tary of the East India Company : —

NOTES.

321

Statement of the Quantity of Cotton Yam imported from
India in each Year from 1700 to 1760.

1700)
1701

The General Bookt for these

1731

lbs.
, 20,496

1702

years are missing.

1732

, 46,405

1703

> . 114,100 lbs.

1733

. 70,976

1704

► 4

. 72,938

1734

, 5,924

1705

> «

> 39,155

1735

. 91,394

1706

> 1

, 48,120

1736

, 40,274

1707

• <

. 219,879

1737

. 2,083

17081

The General Books for these years

1738

. 3,024

1709

do not particularize the goods im-

1739

. 8,445

1710

> ported; the Subsidiary Books,
from which the information could

1740

» 3,339

1711

1741

. 20,055

1712

be supplied, are missing.

1742

. 11,366

1713

.. . . 135,546 lbs.

1743

. 9,904

1714

. 12,768

1744

. 14,593

1715

nil

1745

nil

1716

nil

1746

. nU

1717

nil

1747

nil

1718

37,714

1748

nil

1719

nil

1749

» nil

1720

» 21 ,350

1750

. 14,112

1721

» 50,624

1751

. 4,704

1722

. 10,800

1752

336

1723

. 24,025

1753

nil

1724

. 21,588

1754

nil

1725

5,809

1755

. 37,632

1726

• ..

» . 54,300

1756

. 6,061

1727

. 27,254

1757

, 4,357

1728

. a, 424

1758.

. 12,869

1729

. 18,816

1759

. 4,390

1730

• .*

» ,*

. . 32,351

1760

, 2,814

Eatt India House, March 23, 1836.

The above Table shows that during the early part
of the last century the cotton yam imported from
Hindostan bore a very considerable relation to the whole
cotton wool imported into Great Britain. Thus in 1710
the total importation of cotton wool was 715,008 lbs.
while in 1707 that of Indian yarn wa? 219^879 lbs, and
in 1713, 135,546 Jbs/ The quantities of yarn imported
by the Company seem to have suffered extraordinary vicis-

lie Ttgidar eoaBse of the lioaw
mmnu&ctorts latD wfakfa tfaey entered. It is reasonable,
.theie&ce, to infier that there must have been in the inter-
vals very Iprge importations of -tiwse yams throti^ the
coMtrabaiid traders, who are known to have supplied the
finropean markets, to a great extent, with the highly prizeft
and then* inimitable muslins and calicoes' of- the Eastern

• • • ■ *

world.

Average Price of Cotton Yam per lb., from HOOto 176^,
. as sold by the East India Cempaasy.

'' ^' j Nopazticalan^atieymanxaii
• • 1 bepvco.
2 2| ^

1700 to 1706

1706

1707

1708 4o 1726

1729

1730

1731

1732

1733

1734

1735

1736

1737

1738

1739

1740

1741

1742

1743

1744

1745

1746 to 1748

1749

1750

I7dl

1752

1753

1754

1755

1756

1797

1758

1759

1760

I IH

Ditto,

ditto.

a, dm

Some iinrbAks toUL «t 8 1
Ditto •••••• 88

Ditto ... . ^ ^ 21 2

None 80M.

Some fttw baits told at 17 2

Ditto
Ditto
Ditto

14 7

12 8

8 1

None sold.

Ditto.

Seme Um iMlet told tt 16

Ditto •

Ditto •
None sold.

16
14

NOTES. 323

For the above Table I am also indebted to the courtesy
of James C. Melville, Esq. The duty, as would appear
from the following letter of J. D. Hume, Esq., Secretary
of the Board of Trade, was about ii^d, per lb.

15, Russell Square^ April 3, 1836.

Dear Sir,— I have looked back to some old Custom-
house books, and see that in 1757 the duties on cotton
yam were, — East Indian, the pound 4^d, and a very small
fraction, and all other yam a fraction under Sd. the pound.
The firactions arose from the gross duty being formed of
various rates, and also various per-centages, additions upon
some of these rates, — so that scarcely any gross duty on
any article conformed to our coinage.

As the duty above given is quoted from a book published
in 1757, 1 cannot say how long it had stood at that amount;
and considering that, previous to Mr.Pitt's first consolidation
in 1787, the sums payable were always composed of nu-
merous duties, added from time to time to some ancient
first duty, it would be hardly possible at this day to trace
them back so as to find how they stood at still earlier
periods. / should have thought that the East India House
must have had records of their imports and payments, so
as to have cleared up the question by reference to actual
transactions, I am, dear sir,

Yours very truly.

Dr. Ure. J. P. Hume.

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APPENDIX.

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356

APPENDIX.

Mills and Factories in which the Machinery is worked by Mechanical
in the Northern half of Ireland (North of the county of Dublin), in the
moreland, and the North-east angle of Yorkshire, being the district assigned

Counties.

ManoiSeictare.

Cotton.

Wool.

Flax.

SUk.

TotaL

Lanark • •

Renfrew ,

Ayr

Bute

Dumbarton ••••••

Stirling • •

Clackmannan ••••••

74
41

• •

♦ •
2

3
46
80
14

Linlithgow ••••••

llldinburiph . ...«.•

Fife

. «

Forfar •••• ••••

• •

Perth

Kincardine. ••••••

• •

Aberdeen

Selkirk. «••••••

Roxburcrh •

i; r.o •

Dumfries •••••••

Kirkcudbright ••••••

Wicrton .*•••••

Antrim* •••••••

Deny •«••••..

Down ••••••••

Meath •....,..

134

159

388

10
1
3
1

• *

• •

• •
1
5

• •

1
4
6
1
1

Camberland • • . • • .

Northumberland

Durham •••••••

• •

. •

• •

12
3
5

7
3
6
• •
3

• •

• •
1

• •

1
3

Westmoreland

Yorkshire** ••••••

• •

* No Return from a Mill near Gitborough.

APPENDIX.

357

Fower^ engaged in the Manufacture of Cotton, &c. in the whole of Scotland^
counties of Cumberland^ Northumberland, and Durham, a part of West-
to Leonard Homer, Esq.^ Inspector of Factories, as reported in July, 1834.

MoTins Power. 1

or whom, of Thirteen
and under Eighteen Years.

Of whom 1
under Thirteen Years. 1

Steam.

Water.

Total of 1
employed
Factories.

Total

Male.

Female.

Total.

Male.

Female.

Total.

Horses.

2,i394

520

2,914

17,949

1,345

3,702

5,047

756

895

1,651

550

650

1,200

7,615

722

1,759

2,481

304

706

1,010

146

365

511

1,271

147

238

111

150

261

499

110

175

244

334

1,339

163

227.

390

116

205

479

527

1,615

151

306

457

148

206

354

• •

154

540

100

151

153

360

105

355

389

744

2,669

126

610

736

220

299

1,166

315

1,481

5,701

405

1,174.

1,579

471

470

941

)

• •

432

1,457

136

281

417

137

114

251

• •

174

473

598

1,071

4,363

315

1,216

1,531

263

523

786

• •

161

258

• •

189

545

131

189

114

104

199

§ •

• •

5,330

4,822

10,152

46,825

3,799

9,922

13,721

2,552

3,676

6,228

642

275

917

3,887

358

1,075

1,433

114

181

291

• •

177

710

115

134

249

I-.

126

574

165

204

• •

107

• •

733

547

1,280

5,395

525

1,440

1,965

170

257

427

136

270

406

2,147

227

479

704

180

130

387

214

102

316

1,277

220

275

151

• •

132

462

438

895

3,960

319

800

1,119

207

211

418

358

APPENDIX.

SSPORT OF DR. KAT OF MANCHESTER TO THE 00MMISSIONBR8
UNDER THE POOR LAW AMENDMENT ACT, 89d JULY 1885.

Quantity of Steam Power recently erected^ but not supplied with
Handi, or which is ordered and will be in Operation in a Tear and
a Half or Two Years^ in the Cotton District of Lancashire and its
immediate Vicinity.

Miles Dtotant

from
Mancheiter

to
Town, &o.

7
20

5
11

8
12
14

6
18
10
12
13
20

9
17
25
26
20
30
30
12
20
20
20
17

Name of Town, Township, or Parish,

which form the

Centre of the District so called.

Township of Hyde • . •
Ashton and Dukinfield . •
Stayley Bridge • • • •
Saddleworth (Qreenfield) •

Stockport

Rochdale (district) . • .

Heywood

Spdtland •••'•••
Bag^ate ...••.

Birch « •

AccringtoB • • • • •
BoHon (district) . • • •

Leigh

Horwich ..••••

Wigan

Bu^

Hatlingden

Burnley ••.••.
Bacup (district) . • . •
Tednorden .....
Colne .......

Preston

Lon^endale^ near Mottram

Blackburn

Chorley

Bollingtou, near Macclesfield

Glossop-dale

Manchester

Oldham

Total Horse Power

NunbOT of

Firms
to which the

Power is
tobesupidied.

Number

Horse Power.

9
8
9
1

•2

486

640

606

936

660

755

175

325

70
241
196
285
100
422

70
280

80
187
395

7,507

From the preceding Table it appears that 7,507 horses*
power will be erected, and, if possible, brought into opera-

APPENDIX. 359

tion in the cotton district of Lancashire in the course of
the next two years. One only doubt affects the limit of
the period when this power will be in full operation, and
this arises from the difficulty of supplying, in that time,
even with the utmost exertion of every mechanist in the
trade, the machinery which this prodigious force is intended
to move. The impossibility of accomplishing this will, in
the opinion of some of the most experienced manufacturers,
delay the period when this vast accession to the trade will
be in full employ.

Within whatever period this power is brought into
complete activity, (calculating on an extensive average of
mills in different departments of the trade,) six *'mill
hands" at least will be required for every horse-power, or
the introduction of this power presupposes the employment
of 45,042 '^ mill hands ;" and if we take into account the
unemployed members of the families of ^' mill hands," as
well as mechanics, labourers, handicraAsmen, warehouse-
men, dyers, calenderers, finishers, shopkeepers, &c. &c. &c.,
in fact the whole population necessary to complete the
social fabric of which these 45,042 ^' mill hands " will form
a part, we must add an equal number.

This steam power will, therefore, place in immediate
relation with itself a population of 90,084.

The outlay in buildings and machinery necessary to
bring this horse-power into operation may be safely esti-
mated at £500 per horse-power, without taking into ac-
count the capital necessarily employed in trading transac-
tions in connexion with the power ; or, in other words, the
erection of this power presupposes an outlay of«^3,753,500
in buildings and machinery, and which outlay we have
shown will occur in the cotton district of Lancashire within
two years.

END OF

^L. r.

■%

"'^-<///.

LONDON :

Printtd by William Clowks and Sons, Stamford Street.

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