TABLE SHOWING THE HIGHEST AND LOWEST POINT IN EACH MONTH FOR LOW MIDDLING TO TABLE SHOWING THE PRODUCT OF LOW MIDDLING TO GOOD MIDDLING COTTON, TAKING THE AVERAGE OF EACH ENTIRE YEAR FOR SEVEN YEARS, WITH THE RECEIPTS AT NEW ORLEANS, AND THE TOTAL CROP OF THE UNITED STATES. The total receipts at New Orleans since 1st September last, from all sources, are 1,429,183 bales. This amount includes 34,959 bales from Mobile and Flor ida, and from Texas by sea; and this being deducted, our receipts proper, including 21,760 bales received direct from Montgomery, etc., are shown to be 1,394,224 bales, being an increase of 444,004 bales over last year, and of 205,49) bales over any previous year. The total exports since 1st September are 1,435,815 bales, of which 772,242 bales were shipped to Great Britain, 196,254 to France, 210,607 to the North and South of Europe, Mexico, etc., and 256,719 to United States ports. On a comparison of the exports with those of last year, there would appear to be an increase of 189,869 bales to Great Britain, 65,892 to France, 78,701 to the North and South of Europe, Mexico, etc., and of 103,895 bales to United States ports. The total receipts at all the Atlantic and Gulf ports, up to the latest dates received, are 3,021,519 bales, but the actual crop, when made up by the New York Shipping List, will fall somewhat short of this amount, as it includes some 25,000 bales of last year's stock, which was on hand at Augusta and Hamburg, and was counted in the last crop. Thus, the largest crop ever produced in the United States has been disposed of, and with results more generally satisfactory than we remember to have witnessed in any previous year. The circumstances which have tended to these results present some remarkable peculiarities, and we propose to touch briefly upon a few of the most prominent, among which we may mention the policy of the factors generally of meeting the market freely, and thus guarding against any unwieldy accumulation of stock, which would tend to break down the mar ket. In this course they have been aided by circumstances which to many were a momentary evil of magnitude, though they contributed favorably in the gene ral result. We allude to the remarkable drought, which, while constituting a season of the most favorable character for picking, at the same time kept nearly all the tributary streams too low for the purposes of navigation; and thus the great bulk of the supplies which come from the banks of the main river had been received and disposed of before the tributaries were in a condition to contribute to the stock. We would also refer to the great abundance and cheapness of money in Europe, which brought speculators into competition with spinners, and to the remarkable increase in the consumption. This is most prominently shown by the half-yearly returns from Great Britain, by which it appears that the quantity taken for consumption, for the six months ended on the 1st July, was 1,031,764 bales, against 776,120 bales for the corresponding six months of the previous year. This made a weekly average of 39,683 bales, or an increase of about 5,000 bales per week over any previous period. Besides this, there is an increase in our exports to foreign countries, other than Great Britain, of 210,000 bales, while the quantity taken for home consumption probably exceeds that of last year by about 200,000 bales. We append a table which exhibits the import, delivery, stock, etc., in the whole of Great Britain, for the first six months of the current year, ended on the 30th June last, and a comparison of the same period in 1851: As to the quality of the last crop, it may be said to have been remarkable for its medium average, as the proportion of very inferior and stained cottons was small compared with the previous year, while the grades denominated fine and choice have been in unusually limited supply. Indeed, the well known fancy crops, which have always brought extra prices, scarcely approached the standard of former seasons. Besides this, the crop, as a whole, was deficient in staple, and we often, in our market reports, found it necessary to advert to this fact, in explanation of the wide range of prices for the same classifications. Nevertheless, it has found a ready market, and the season of the largest crop ever known closes upon lighter stocks, both in Europe and in this country, than were shown to be on hand at the same period last year. The probable extent of the coming crop, which is a matter of absorbing interest to all parties engaged in the cotton trade, cannot be determined, with any degree of certainty, until after the lapse of several months. Its present prospects, however, we conceive to be a legitimate subject of remark, and these, we are gratified to observe, are of a decidedly favorable character. It is true the crop is generally represented to be somewhat later than last year, particularly on the bottom lands, and this may possibly prove a material disadvantage; but should no serious casualty ensue, and the picking season prove a long and favorable one, it is conceded that the yield must be very ample. With respect to the market prospects for the coming crop, we think they may be said to be decidedly encouraging; for the experience of the past season would seem to give assurance of a ready demand for even a large crop, and at prices which will be likely to afford a fair return to the producer. As has already been shown, moderate prices, abundant pecuniary means, and other favorable circumstances, have greatly stimulated consumption within the past year, and there is nothing now apparent to discourage the hope that, with the same wise policy of promptly meeting an active demand, a crop even larger than the last may be dis posed of, with equally satisfactory results. The first bale of the new crop reached here on the 2d August, being eight days later than the first arrival last year, and there have been received up to this date, 5,077 bales, against 3,155 bales last year. As usual, the first few bales brought fancy prices, but the market rapidly ran down to a more appropriate basis, and the closing quotations are as follows, embracing both old and new crop, the grades below middling belonging exclusively to the former:— The total sales of new crop up to this date amount to about 2,500 bales, the greater part classing good middling to middling fair, though there have been some lots of middling received, and also a few parcels of good and fine; thus presenting a considerably higher average of quality than the early receipts of last year. The season closes with a stock on hand, including all on shipboard, of 9,758 bales, of which about 3,500 bales are on sale. The following paragraph made a part of our last year's annual report, and as the evil therein discussed has continued to be a source of much annoyance and loss during the past season, we republish it by request of both factors and pur chasers. MIXED COTTON.-We have, on former occasions, called the attention of planters to the existence of an evil which loudly calls for remedy. We refer to the culpable negligence of many whose duty it is to attend to the packing of cotton, as shown by the frequent discovery of mixed bales, viz.: bales that are found to contain two, three, or more qualities and colors. This negligence often leads to vexatious reclamations, and sometimes to expensive lawsuits, as it generally happens that the discovery is not made until the cotton has reached the hands of the manufacturer, at a distant market. Then, if any portion of the bale is found to be inferior in quality to the sample by which it was purchased, the whole bale is reduced to the value of the lowest grade found, and the difference reclaimed. Nor is this all, for reclamations are sometimes insisted on, even when the purchase has been made by a sample of the lowest grade, on the ground that mixed bales are unmerchantable. Thus the planter not only loses the difference in price between the lower and higher qualities, which careless packing has mingled in the same bale, but is called upon to pay that difference again. And besides all this, when the irregular packing is once discovered, as it necessarily must be somewhere and at some time, it throws discredit upon the planter's crop gene rally, and thus operates to his disadvantage. It sometimes happens that the discovery is made here, before sale, by drawing samples from different parts of a bale. When this is the case, the factor can seldom obtain more than the market value of the lowest sample. The evil which we have here depicted, and which is not only attended with direct loss to the planter, but is also productive of many vexatious controversies, is venal in its character, and only reprehensible for the confusion it introduces into a most important branch of trade, and one that can only be conducted with facility and economy upon the basis of good faith in the honesty and integrity of the planter. These virtues being accorded to him, he owes it to himself, to his factor, and to his purchaser, to exercise more care and vigilance over those who have his interest in charge. The following tables, which have explanatory captions, we have compiled from our records, under the impression that they would probably be found interesting to parties engaged in the cotton trade: It will be seen by the above table that the cotton alone sold in this market within the past ten years has yielded a gross product of $378,079,976. SUGAR. The crop of 1851 proved, according to the very valuable statement of Mr. P. A. Champomier, to be 236,547 hhds., estimated at 257,138,000 lbs. Of this quantity there were 203,922 hhds. brown sugar made by the old process, and 32,625 hhds. refined, clarified, etc., including cistern bottoms. This was the produce of 1,474 plantations, of which 914 are worked by steam, and 560 by horse power, and the result shows only a moderate yield, as the cane generally was not well matured, besides which the loss by crevasses is estimated to have have been about 10,000 hhds. The crop also presented a low average in quality, as besides the immature condition of the cane, it was somewhat injured by frost, and we noticed several sales on the levee as low as 14, 14, and 2 cents per lb. The following table, which shows the highest and lowest points in each month for fair sugar on the levee, will indicate the general course of the market: These figures present a considerably lower average than was obtained for the crop of last year, the increase in quantity and the deficiency in quality having both tended to this result. The reported sales on plantation have been at the following rates, for crops-31, 31, 31, 31, 4, 41, 51, 41, 44, and 5 cents per lb., the lowest being in December, for a mixed crop, and the highest in April, for a prime one. The prevailing rates of the season have been 4 a 4 cents per lb. for prime crops. * Estimated. The estimated stock on hand at the close of last season was 2,200 hhds., and this amount added to the crop of 236,547 hhds., would make a supply of 238,747 hhds. The distribution of this supply, as nearly as can be ascertained, has been as follows: Shipments out of the State... Consumption of the city and neighborhood.. Taken for refining in the city and State, including cistern bottoms .hhds. 53,000 18,000 15,000 3,000 149,547 The quantity shipped to Atlantic ports is 42,000 hhds., against 45,000 hhds. last year, and 90,000 the year previous. Besides the Louisiana crop there have been imported into the port of New Orleans from Cuba 1,781 hhds., 25,673 boxes, from Brazil 1,591 cases and boxes, 80 barrels, and 7,689 bags, and from Manilla 14,224 bags. The whole of the imports from Brazil and Manilla, and a great portion of those from Cuba, were for a St. Louis refinery. The crop of Texas last year, we have ascertained from good authority, was not far from 5,000 hhds., and there were about 2,000 hhds. produced in Florida, the greater part of which came to this market. With respect to the growing crop, we have to remark that the accounts from the interior generally concur in representing the prospects of the "plant cane as very flattering, and in some sections the "rattoons" are said to give good promise, though as a general thing the latter are said to be, to a great extent, a failure, owing to the remarkably severe frosts of the winter. What the extent of the crop may be, however, can hardly be conjectured for some months to come, as many contingencies may arise, to its advantage or disadvantage. The annexed table gives the crop of each year for the last twenty-two years, and a reference to it will show great fluctuations in the product. The crop of Texas is said to give highly favorable promise, and the yield is expected to be more than double that of last year. In an elaborate statement made up at New-York, the consumption of the United States, for the year 1851, is put down at 321,736 tons. This is exclusive of about 40,000 lbs. of maple sugar, and of a large quantity of sugar made of for eign molasses which we have no data for estimating. MOLASSES. The product of molasses from the last cane crop, was, according to the statement of Mr. P. A. Champomier, unusually large, in proportion to the yield of sugar; it being estimated at seventy gallons per 1,000 lbs., against fifty gallons the season previous. Thus the whole product is set down at 18,300,000 gallons against 10,500,000 gallons the season previous. The increased yield is attributed to the immature condition of the cane, the ripening of which was retarded by late rains. Notwithstanding this very material addition to the supply, however, prices generally have been very well maintained, as will be seen on reference to the annexed table, which exhibits the highest and lowest points in each month for sales on the levee in barrels. |