The Cotton Situation Approaches A Crisis

Excerpt from A Paper Containing a Statement of Facts Relating to the Approaching Cotton Crisis: Richmond, Dec. 31, 1864 The annexed tables A, B, C, D, E, F, Cr and H, compiled chiefly from the Board of Trade returns, show the course of the British cotton trade for the last six years. The period begins at the cessation of the commercial panic of 1857 - When overproduction commenced - and ends with the close of last year: thus furnishing, at a glance, the history of the cotton imports, exports, stocks, manufactures and sales for home consumption in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland, for the three seasons anterior, and the three seasons subsequent to the secession of the Southern States from the Federal Union and, like wise, exhibiting the increase in the stocks of cotton and cotton goods during the first division, and the decrease during the second division of that time. In analyzing the tables, reference will be made to the present position of the cotton trade. The largest importations of raw cotton into England took place in 1860, when pounds were imported, at a cost of and the smallest receipts were in 1862, when but pounds were imported, valued at The quantity in 1861 was pounds. Worth and in 1863 it was pounds, worth -53. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Snyder traces the factors that led to the crisis--abundant crops, optimistic forecasts, surpluses, and labor unrest--and describes the proposed solutions. The suggested cotton holiday" met with opposition from the conservatives, but others greeted the plan with enthusiasm, calling state legislatures into special session to act on the proposal. Snyder sees the doomed holiday as the last gasp of the family farmer before the overwhelming tide of American agribusiness." Originally published 1984. A UNC Press Enduring Edition -- UNC Press Enduring Editions use the latest in digital technology to make available again books from our distinguished backlist that were previously out of print. These editions are published unaltered from the original, and are presented in affordable paperback formats, bringing readers both historical and cultural value.

A single seed is more than just the promise of a plant. In rural south India, seeds represent diverging paths toward a sustainable livelihood. Development programs and global agribusiness promote genetically modified seeds and organic certification as a path toward more sustainable cotton production, but these solutions mask a complex web of economic, social, political, and ecological issues that may have consequences as dire as death. In Cultivating Knowledge anthropologist Andrew Flachs shows how rural farmers come to plant genetically modified or certified organic cotton, sometimes during moments of agrarian crisis. Interweaving ethnographic detail, discussions of ecological knowledge, and deep history, Flachs uncovers the unintended consequences of new technologies, which offer great benefits to some—but at others’ expense. Flachs shows that farmers do not make simple cost-benefit analyses when evaluating new technologies and options. Their evaluation of development is a complex and shifting calculation of social meaning, performance, economics, and personal aspiration. Only by understanding this complicated nexus can we begin to understand sustainable agriculture. By comparing the experiences of farmers engaged with these mutually exclusive visions for the future of agriculture, Cultivating Knowledge investigates the human responses to global agrarian change. It illuminates the local impact of global changes: the slow, persistent dangers of pesticides, inequalities in rural life, the aspirations of people who grow fibers sent around the world, the place of ecological knowledge in modern agriculture, and even the complex threat of suicide. It all begins with a seed.