=423. Gradual development of the cotton manufacture.=—The statement in a previous paragraph, that time was needed to develop the inventions before they could be made to serve the interests of manufacturers and merchants, is borne out by the history of the most important manufacture, that of cotton. Most of the basic inventions in cotton machinery were made in the last quarter of the eighteenth century. As early as 1812 a man, using the improved appliances, could produce 200 times as much as could be got from the old spinning-wheel. Yet it was not until 1820 or 1830 that cotton-spinning machinery had been practically developed and introduced on such a scale that the yarn exports began to show the full strength of this new force; while power weaving came even later, and the exports of cloth increased most rapidly in the second quarter of the century. Other processes connected with the textile manufacture present the same history. Cotton printing, for instance, had been practised in the eighteenth century, but in 1800 only 32 million yards a year were printed, while in 1830 the figure had risen to 347. The growth of the cotton manufacture was reflected in the development of towns like Manchester, Bolton, and Liverpool, which increased immensely in population. =424. Character of the import trade.=—It will be instructive to glance now at the other side of England’s commercial balance sheet, and observe the wares imported about the middle of the century. In 1854 the values were as follows, in round millions of pounds sterling: total 152.3, of which the chief items were grain 21.7, raw cotton 20.1, timber 10, sugar 9.6, raw wool 6.4, tea 5.5, raw silk 5.3. While it is not safe to make a direct comparison between these values and those given previously to show conditions about 1800, a striking change is apparent in the relative rank of the items. A great growth in the importance of the imports of breadstuffs is noticeable. We shall see a little later that the English in this period gave up the attempt to produce their food at home, and resigned themselves to depending on foreign countries for supplies which they could purchase with their manufactures. Wares like sugar, tea, coffee, and tobacco had declined in relative importance. The actual amount of these commodities imported for consumption at home had increased much more than would appear from a comparison of the figures, and their use was constantly extending among the common people; but they were now overshadowed in trade by other items. The chief group of imports was formed of raw materials for the English textile manufacture. The cotton imports, had, of course, grown immensely; the home supply of wool, which had been almost sufficient for manufactures in 1800, needed now to be supplemented by large imports from abroad; silk had taken the third place on the list of textiles away from flax and hemp.