For the present, and for the future, as far as that may be seen, the United States will have to continue to supply the greater part of the world’s raw cotton. Staples of unusual length and strength have been grown in some foreign regions, and short and inferior fibers have come from still others. But the cotton belt of the Southern States, producing millions of bales, is the chief source of supply for all the world.
The following table, taken from "The World’s Cotton Crops, 1915," by J. A. Todd, gives the comparative production of the great cotton-growing areas, for the 1914-1915 season:
| America | 16,500,000 | bales | of | 500 | pounds |
| India | 5,000,000 | " | " | 500 | " |
| Egypt | 1,300,000 | " | " | 500 | " |
| Russia | 1,300,000 | " | " | 500 | " |
| China | 4,000,000 | " | " | 500 | " |
| Others | 1,300,000 | " | " | 500 | " |
| ----------- | |||||
| Total | 29,400,000 | " | " | 500 | " |
The American crop is thus approximately fifty-six per cent. of the world’s 6 total. The other producing countries have shown since the beginning of the century an interesting, if not a remarkable growth, that of China being the largest in quantity, and that of Russia, the largest in proportion. The American increase has been larger, absolutely, than that of any other region, and there is little indication that it will not continue to hold first position.
English Spinners
Dominate World Market
In the manufacture of cotton, Great Britain’s supremacy, while not so great proportionately as that of America in growing it, is for the present not likely to be challenged. The following table of the number of spindles in the chief manufacturing countries is based on English figures compiled shortly before the outbreak of the World War. The number of spindles is the usual basis upon which the size of the industry is judged. It is not a perfect method, but it has fewer objections than any other:
| Great Britain | 55,576,108 |
| United States | 30,579,000 |
| Germany | 10,920,426 |
| Russia | 8,950,000 |
| France | 7,400,000 |
| India | 6,400,000 |
| Austria | 4,864,453 |
| Italy | 4,580,000 |
| Latin America | 3,100,000 |
| Japan | 2,250,000 |
| Spain | 2,200,000 |
| Belgium | 1,468,838 |
| Switzerland | 1,398,062 |
| Scattering | 2,499,421 |
| ---------- | |
| Total Spindles 1 | 42,186,308 |
Such figures can be only approximate. The war has brought growth in the United States and in Japan, but has certainly reduced the numbers of spindles in Germany, Austria, and Russia. It is doubtful, moreover, how well the French industry has been able to maintain itself. But the tabulation is accurate enough to show the relative standing of the various countries. There are, as has been indicated, other standards than the number of spindles. The United States, through the fact that it specializes, generally speaking, on the coarser fabrics, uses about 5,000,000 bales of cotton annually, as compared with Great Britain’s 4,000,000. The British product, however, sells for much more. Thus the value of the spindle standard is affirmed. England, then, produces well in excess of one-third of the cotton cloth of the world; the United States considerably more than one-fifth of it, with the other countries trailing far behind, but prospering nevertheless.
The Individuality
of the Cotton Fiber
