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A. J. Walker's bill from Leon Wolff - 1880 2

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Highest Cash Price Paid for Cotton
Washington, La., Feb. 17th 1880
Mr. J. W. Walker
Bought of Leon Wolff,
dealers in
DRYGOODS, GROCERIES, HARDWARE, CLOTHING, BOOTS AND SHOES
Furniture and Plantation Supplies
    To [total]  .75 & Coffee                        17/lb 13 95    
    1 Blr Flour 8 " "    
    1 sk salt  1.35  1 Pony Plow  6.00 7 35    
    1/2 Blr Potatos  1.40  1 collar  .60 2 00    
    2 Ten Pairs [sic]  .75  1 squellette  1.00 1 75    
    1/3 doz. cups & scaussers [sic]   70    
    1 Bowl  .40  1 Pair Traces  .70 1 10    
    shot  1.40  Powder  .35  Caps  2/ 2 " "    
    Thread  .55  Cups of seed  .45 1 25    
    1 Lock  .50  1 Bolt of cotton  4.15 4 65    
    To amt a/c 10 25    
    2 [?]  Rope  .15   .30    
      ---------- ------    
          53 30
Notes on back of above ledger:

By 473 # Cotton 12 1/2 ¢                                                58.12
      18 # Hides 10 1/2 ¢                                                     1.90
                                                                              __________
                                                                                         60.02
J. amt a/c                                                                        53.30
                                                                              __________
                              Balance Paid                             To = 6.72

[Note written perpendicular to the other part of the note.]

Received Payment
[signed] L. Wolff

This is a translation of the ledger of purchases made by Andrew and his family from Leon Wolff in 1880.

Leon Wolff images in the 1800s:

1. Leon Wolff Hardware and Dry Goods Store - late 1800s
2. Leon Wolff Hardware and Dry Goods Store - mid 1800s
3. Leon Wolff Home - 1800s

Cotton Trivia:

1. Cotton was the cash crop of 1800s and still is a $100 billion dollar industry in the South and Western United States producing 17 million bales (8,500,000,000 pounds at 500 pounds avg. per bale) of cotton per year on 9.8 million acres (3rd in the world behind China #1 and India #2).
2. US average is 1.7 bales of cotton per acre in current crops.
3. The average per acre in the 1800s was probably much lower (see Spokane Weekly note below).
4. One bale of cotton can make 1,217 men's T-shirts or 313,600 $100 bills.
5. Cotton is produced on about 18,600 farms in the U.S. (the median is about 527 acres per farm).

From the Spokane Weekly Chronicle, Spokane, Washington, Thursday, August 9, 1934 (go figure... they don't grow cotton in Washington)
1937 - 13,047,000 bales produced
1938 - 9,195,000 bales produced