that of 776,144 cwt in 1886 and the smallest that of 281291
cwt in 1888, the former being more than 2§ times the size of the latter The crop of 1899, estimated at 661,373 cwt., was so large that prices receded to an extent such as to leave no margtn of prof1t to the great body of growers, whilst some planters were able to market the crop only at a loss The calculated annual a erage yields peracre over the years 1885 to 1907 ranged between 12 76 cwt in 1899 and 4 81 cwt ll] 1888 No other staple crop of l%r1t1sh agriculture undergoes such w ide fluctuations in yield as are here indicated, the size of the crop produced bearing no relatton to the acreage under cultivation For example, the 71 327 acres in 1885 produced only 509,170 cwt, whereas the Sl 843 acrcs in 1899 produced 661 373 cwt *IQ,484 acres less under crop yielded 152,203 cwt more produce Comparing the quantities of home-grown hops with those of nnported hops, of the total available for consumption about 7000 011 the average is home produce and about 50% is imported produce The imports, however, do not vary so much as the home .produce Table IV shows the average quantity of imports to and exports (home-grown) from Great Britain during the decades 1877-1886, 1887-1896 and I8/Q7"1QO6 TAB1 E l . f
Annual Average Annual Average
P@f1°<1> Imports (cwt) Exports (cwt).
18774886 7 215,2 179 10,805 V
1887-1896 194,966 9»437
| 1897-1906 186,362 14,808
The highest and lowest i1npo1ts were 266,952 cwt. in 1885 and 14: 122 cwt 1n 1887, the latter in the year following the biggest home grown crop on record On a series of years the largest proportion of imports is from the United States During the twenty-tive years 1881-1905 the annual values of the hops imported into England fluctuated between the wide hmtts of £2,962,631 in 1882 and £427,753 in 1887 in five other sears besides 1882 the value exceeded a mtllion sterling The annual average value over the w hole period was £Q2I, OOO, w hilst the annual average import was 194,000 cwt, co11seque11tly the aw erage value per cwt was nearly fa, ISS, which is approximately the same as that of the exported product The quantities and walues ot the imported hops that are again exported are almost ins1gn1f1cant.
HOP PRODLCTIOIN IN 111s U1.11LD Sums
The distnbution of the area of hop cultivat1o11 in the United btates showed great changes during the last decades of the 19th and the first decade of the 20th century During the earlier port1o11 ot that period New York was the chief hop-growing state of the Lnton, but tow ard the end of It a great extension of hop-growing took place 011 the Pacific coast (in the states of Oregon, California and Washington), where the richness of the SOll and mtldness of the climate are favourable to the bines The average annual produce of hops in the United States fron1 1900 to 1906 was 423,471 cwt, of this quanttty 80 % was raised ll] the three states ot the Pacinc coast, where the yield per acre IS much larger than 111 New York In the latter state the yield does 110t appear to exceed 5 or 6 cwt per acre, whereas in Orcgon it in 9 or IO cwt, and in Washington and California from 12 to 14 cwt The average annual export (chiefly to Great Britain) 1n the years from 1899 to 1905 was 108,400 cwt, the average import (chiefly from Germany) IS about 50,000 cwt Hoe CULT1 411011
As the county of Kent has always taken the lead in hop growing in England, and as it tnrludes about two thirds of the hop acreage of the Br1t1sh Isles the recent developments 111 hop cult1 at1o11 cannot be better studied than 111 that county They were well QUITIHIAYI/£(l by f1 Charles Whitehead in his sketch of the agr1cult11rc 01 Ktntl wherein he states that the hop grounds or hop gardcns as the; are called ll] l{c11t-ol 1, GUY Ro /lg/If Soc 1899.
OP
poor character and least suitable for hop production have been gradually grubbed since 1894, on account of large crops, the importation of hops and low prices At the beginning of the 19th century there were 290 parisl1es in Kent in which hops were cultivated A century later, out of the 413 parishes in the county, as many as 331 included hop plantations. The hops grown in Kent are classified in the markets as “ East Kents, ” “ Bastard East Kents, ” “ Mid Kents ” and “ Wealds, ” according to the district of the county in which they are produced The relative values of these four d1v1sions follow in the same order, East Kents making the highest and Wealds the lowest rates. These divisions agree in the main with those denned by geological formations Thus, “ East Kents ” are grown upon the Chalk, and especially on the outcrop of the so1ls of the London Tertiaries upon the Chalk “ Bastard East Kents ” are produced on alluvial so1l and soils formed by admixtures of loam, clay loams, chalk, marl and clay from the Gault, Greensand and Chalk formations “ Mid Kents ” are derived principally from 1 the Greensand soils and outcrops of the London Tertiaries in the upper part of the district “Wealds” come from soils on the Weald Clay, Hastings Sand and Tunbridge Wells Sand. As each “ pocket ” of hops n1ust be marked with the owner'S name and the parish in which they were grown, buyers of hops ca11, without much trouble, ascertain fron1 which of the four divisions hops come, especially if they have the map of the hop-growing parishes of England, which gives the name of each parish There has been a considerable rearrangement of the hop plantations in Kent within recent years. Common varieties as Colegate's, ]ones's, Grapes and Prolifics have been grubbed, and Goldings, Bramlings and other choice kinds planted in their places T he variety known as Fuggle's, a heavy-cropping though slightly coarse hop, has been much planted in the Weald of Kent, and in parts of Mtd Kent where the soil is suitable 111 very old hop gardens, where there has been no change of plant for fifty or even one hundred years in some instances, except fron1 the gradual process of filling up the places of plants that have died, there has been replanting with better varieties and varieties ripening 1n more convenient succession, and, genially speaking, the plantations have been levelled up 1n th1s respect to suit the demand for bright hops of fine quality. A recent classification of the varieties of English hops arranges tl1em 1n tlnee groups (1) early varieties (c g Prolific, Bramling, Amos's Early Bird), (2) mid-season or main-crop varieties (c g. Farnham Whitebine, Fuggle's Old ]ones's, Golding); (3) late varieties (e g Grapes, Colgate'S) The cost of cultivating and preparing the produce of an acre of hop land tends to increase. on account of the advancing rates of wages, the intense cultivation more and more essential, and the necessity of freeing the plants from the persistent attacks of insects and fungi In 1893 Mr Whitehead estimated the average annual cost of an acre of hop land to be £39 IOS., the following being the items679
/lanure (wlnter and summer) £6 IO 0
Digging 0 19 0
Dressing (or cutting) 0 6 0
Pohng, tylng, earthing, ladder-tying, strangling, lewlng 2 3 0
%1111nn11ng, 1'l1(l§ €t1llg, Cllgglllg round and hoeing hills 3 0 0
Qtacking, strlp ing, making bines, Scc o 17 0 Annual renewallof poles 2 IO 0
Expense of plcklng, (lI'¥1l'1g, packing, carrlage, sampling, selllng, &c, on average crop of, say, - 7 cwt per acre IO 5 0
Rent, fates, taxes, rcpdirs of oast and tacls, interest on capital 6 0 0
Sulphuring 1 o 0
Washing (oft< 11 two, three or four tlmes) 2 0 0 total £35 IO o
Seven years latex the average Lost per acre Ill lsent l1ad risen t qu1te £37
O
2 I Pe11ial, “Th< llop and its l'111;l1sl1 'a1tttit~, " ]nur R0 V
lg/II o1, 1001