Working _by day only_, the yearly consumption of cotton is 10,597,600 lbs. Deduct the whole Mexican crop of 70,000 quintals, at 100 lbs. per quintal, 7,000,000 " Deficit, 3,597,600 " 2d. Working by day--yearly consumption, as above, 10,597,600 lbs. Add three-fourths for night work, 7,948,200 " __________ Total consumption, 18,545,800 " Deduct Mexican crop as above, 7,000,000 " __________ Deficit, 11,545,800 "[25] Cotton varies, as we have seen in price according to demand, at Tepic, Mazatlan, Vera Cruz, Tampico, Puebla, Durango, the valley of Mexico, &c., from fifteen dollars, per quintal, to forty-eight. If we rate it, on an average, at twenty-five dollars per quintal, the value of the deficit on _day_ consumption will be $899,400, and on _day and night_ consumption, $2,886,450, all of which must necessarily, be made up by importation. We have prepared the preceding table in order to attract the attention of cotton _producing_ countries, and to demonstrate the fact that Mexico, in all likelihood, may become a _manufacturing_ nation, inasmuch as the surplus population of towns, the women and children, may be successfully employed in this branch of human industry, when they have no agricultural district from which they may easily derive support with the least labor. There is reason to believe that water power, for the use of factories is abundant all over the republic. The natural drainage of a mountain country will at once prove this fact. Innumerable small streams, falling from the crests and sides of the _sierras_, pour through the ravines and barrancas; but in consequence of the scarcity of wood and the costliness of its transportation, it is not probable that steam power can be advantageously used. Factories of paper near the capital, at Puebla and in Guadalajara are working with success, but they do not produce enough for the consumption of the republic. At Puebla and Mexico there are several factories of the ordinary kinds of glass and tumblers, whilst woollen blankets, baizes, and, at present, _fine_ cloths, are yielded by several establishments erected before and since the war. The well known Mexican _serape_, or _poncho_,--an oblong garment, pierced in the centre to allow the passage of the head, and which falls in graceful folds from the shoulders of a horseman over his person--is one of the most generally demanded fabrics from native looms. These blankets are often of beautiful texture, composed of the richest materials and colors, and, according to the fineness of their wool and weaving, vary in cost from twenty-five to five hundred dollars. The