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COTTON. day's work, which averages from 10 to 15 cents; but the standard of intelligence and faithfulness among operatives is so low that, measured by the amount and quality of the product, the real cost of labor is high. In Japan, it is particularly hard to keep steady employees. The girls are used to the freedom and out-of-door life of the country and will not stay long at their situations, so that mill operators are constantly hampered with green hands. In Japan the weaving of cotton and other fabrics is still largely a household industry. In 1896, according to the French consul at Yokohama, 660,408 dwellings or establishments contained 949,123 looms, at which 1,043,866 persons were engaged in weaving. The yarn used in this household art is largely factory-spun, thus increasing rather than diminishing the demand for cotton-factories.

Japan had 200,000 spindles in operation in 1889, and 1,358,125 spindles in 1899. Japan consumed 99,375 bales of cotton in 1890, and 644,818 bales in 1898. China had 570,000 spindles in operation in 1899. It is estimated that on July 1, 1900, the world's working spindles numbered 105,000,000.

. Description and cultivation.—True, “The Cotton Plant,” in United States Department of Agriculture Office, Experiment Stations, Bulletin 33 (Washington, 1896); Wilkinson, Story of the Cotton Plant (New York, 1899); Lecompte, Le coton: monographie culture, histoire économique (Paris, 1900); Hohnel, Ueber die Baumwolle (Vienna, 1893); Parlatore, Le specie dei cotoni (Firenze, 1866); Todaro, Relazione sulla cultura dei cotoni in Italia. . . (Rome, 1878); Mallet, Cotton: the Chemical, Geological and Meteorological Conditions for Its Successful Cultivation (London, 1862); Bowman, Structure of the Cotton Fibre (Manchester, 1881); Monie, The Cotton Fibre: Its Structure (Manchester, 1890); Tompkins, Cotton, Cotton Oil, Cotton Planting, Harvesting. . . (Charlotte, N. C., 1901); Dana, Cotton from Seed to Loom (London, 1878).

Manufacture and Uses.—Ashworth, Cotton: Its Cultivation, Manufacture and Uses (Manchester, 1858); Ellison, Cotton Trade of Great Britain (London, 1898); Brooks, Cotton and Its Uses, Varieties, Structure of Fibre. . . (New York, 1898); Hammond, The Cotton Industry (New York, 1897); Latham, Alexander & Co., Cotton Movement and Fluctuations (New York, 1899); Royle, Culture and Commerce of Cotton in India (London, 1851); Marsden, History of Cotton Manufacture (London, 1895); Posselt, The Structure of Fibres, Yarns and Fabrics (Philadelphia, 1892).

Statistics.—Shepperson, Cotton Facts (New York, annually); Statistical Abstract of the United States (published amiually); United States Department of Agriculture, Office of Experiment Stations, Bulletin 33, and Publications of the Statistical Division and Section of Foreign Markets, Twelfth United States Census (Washington, 1902). See ;  COTTON,. A material made in Germany from the wood of the fir-tree, which is reduced to thin shavings. These are washed, then steamed for ten hours, after which they are treated with a strong solution of sodium lye and then heated under great pressure for thirty-six hours. The wood is then said to be changed to pure cellulose. To give the material greater resisting power, castor-oil and gelatin are added, after which it is ready to be spun into thread and reeled.  COT′TON, (1630-87). An English translator and poet, said to have been educated at Cambridge. He was a friend of Izaak Walton, to whom he addressed several poems, and to the fifth edition (1676) of whose Compleat Angler he contributed as the ‘second part’ an essay on fly-fishing. His works, nearly all in verse, include a translation of Corneille's Horace (1671); the Life of the Duke d'Espernon (1670); The Fair One of Tunis, published anonymously (1674); The Scarronides, or Virgil Travestie (1664); The Voyage to Ireland, and The Wonders of the Peak (1681). Cotton was a famous angler and was horticulturist enough to write an excellent Planters’ Manual (1675). Some of his poems have been much admired for their sweetness and directness of style. Wordsworth and Lamb particularly praised his Ode to Winter. His best work, the English version of Montaigne's Essays (1685, and frequently since), places him among the greatest of translators.  COTTON, (1843—). An American naval officer, born in Milwaukee, Wis., and educated at the Naval Academy. In 1861 he entered active service, and participated in several of the principal naval engagements of the Civil War. He was on the frigate Saint Lawrence when that vessel captured the Petrel (July 28, 1861), and took part in the fight between the Merrimac and the Monitor (March, 1862). He also participated in the battle of Mobile Bay, and soon after the close of the war was appointed lieutenant-commander. During the Spanish-American War he was in command of the auxiliary