statistics of each parish in every hop-growing district, the probable result being as follows, viz. :

Or equal to an old duty of 185,500%.

Now, as to the foreign crops, I hold a circular under date 14th September, issued by a leading brewers' house, in which it states: Of the continental crops very little need be said; they are short everywhere, and in some parts-in Bohemia, for instance there is almost an entire failure. A good general continental crop would probably yield, say about 1,000,000 to 1,200,000 cwt.; the aggregate estimate of this year's produce is 260,000 to 300,000 cwt.; the estimated annual consumption is set down at about from 550,000 to 600,000 cwt.; the stock on hand, including that with brewers, is assumed to be between 150,000 and 180,000 cwt. It is therefore not improbable that foreign merchants will be buyers on our market, rather than sellers; and we may here note that already a considerable demand is reported at New York for Bavaria, where prices of their growth are far above ours.'

66

Having dealt with the home and foreign crops, let us

turn our attention to the stocks of old hops on hand. It is said that brewers hold largely of yearlings: probably they do; but if so, no one else does. Growers never held fewer, and the London merchants are admittedly bare of good coloured hops, the chief supply being low in colour, but, at same time, good, useful porter-brewing sorts, which will be wanted by-and-bye for consumptive purposes. If we look beyond yearlings for a supply it must be disappointing, there being little or nothing left. The coming consumption, therefore, will necessarily be upon the new crop and yearlings; and putting them together, what is it to meet a large and growing demand for home and foreign requirements ? Another point must not be lost sight of, viz. the crop of excellent barley, which is already selling at very favourable prices for the brewers."

6

A writer in the Chambers of Agriculture Journal,' in September, thus speaks of the home and foreign hop plantations in 1876:

It

"Another hop season has passed away, which has been marked in its course by somewhat unusual vicissitudes. has differed totally from that of 1875, which will be remembered as having produced an enormous crop of indifferent quality; but it may be said to be more like that of 1868, which was also a year of heat and drought. In that year, however, persistent attacks of red spider caused a short crop. In this year aphis blight has reduced the amount grown to less than half that of the abundant yield of last year. The bine came away weakly and backward in the spring, as the plants were, no doubt, somewhat exhausted by the heavy crop of the previous season. The Grapes, which are usually

much more strong and hardy than the Goldings, were especially sleek of bine, 'spindly,' and sickly-looking in all districts; in many places these were not tied, as they would not furnish, until June, and in some cases not even then. Then came the aphides in swarms, which further affected the delicate plants and kept them back, so that a portion of the bine hardly reached the summit of the poles. In parts of the plantation the aphides remained steadily, and multiplied excessively, so that a regular black blight ensued, which ruined the chances of a good crop in Herefordshire, Worcestershire, North Kent, West Kent, the Weald of Kent, and Sussex, with a portion of the Hampshire country. Though Mid Kent, East Kent, and Farnham were visited by the plague of flies, which duly bred lice, these disappeared as if by magic, just as the planters were getting their washing engines in order, and inquiring the price of soft soap, and it was curious to see part of the plantations in Kent black and blasted by blight, while the other part was green, and comparatively luxuriant. All districts, however, were deficient in bine; even in East Kent, which has held the sway easily throughout the whole season, the bine was not over plentiful at any time, while the Grape bine in all the Mid Kent district was 'platty' and short throughout, so that it was impossible that a large crop could have been grown had the weather been different. The heat and

drought hindered the growth of the weak bine in a degree, and prevented the action of the artificial manures, such as rape dust, guano, and patent hop manures, that were plentifully applied to force it up the poles. At one time these extreme weather influences were affecting all the hop plants,

even those upon the Kentish rag, which generally stand any amount of heat; and if the welcome showers had not come in the last week of August, the crop must have been very far short of that which has been realized. Notwithstanding the dryness of the atmosphere for eight or nine weeks together, mould was very troublesome, and threatened to run fast when the hop cones were developed. Enormous quantities of sulphur were applied, in many instances four or five applications of it were made, which seemed to be of no avail until the wet came, when the mould, as a rule, was stayed, except in parts of East Kent, and here and there in Mid Kent. Mould literally defied sulphur in a few spots in East Kent, where some acres were left unpicked in consequence of its ravages. Generally speaking, the cultivation of the hop plantations was not so good as usual in the winter and early spring, nor was the manuring so liberal, for the planters as a body had lost much money by the last two crops, and this may in some degree account for the bad start made by the

bine.

"The winter of 1875-6 was very wet, and not at all suited to the cultivation of heavy land; the early spring was also wet, and the long spell of dry weather came upon the planters before they had succeeded in properly working the rain-battered soil, and in obtaining a good tiller for the rootlets and fibres. Clay lands in the Weald of Kent and Sussex were very rough and cloddy throughout the whole summer, and there was no chance of penetrating the surface or of pulverizing the clods before the fibres were fairly dried up. Planters assiduously washed the plants in many cases in the worst blighted districts. Some washed as many as four

or five times, and were rewarded for their perseverance with a crop of from 4 to 5 cwt. per acre. Others took the chances of the blight going away in time to allow the plants to recover; but in most cases recovery came too late, and the bine had been too completely exhausted by its enemies to make a fresh start when the showers arrived.

Though the rains came late, they were of infinite service to the healthier part of the plantation, and added considerably to the amount of its produce; for even on the best soils, upon the ragstone, of which it is said that the hop plants there would not suffer in a summer quite without rain, there were evident signs of flagging energies. Rain, however plentiful and grateful, cannot make bine at the end of August; all it did was to make the late bur grow out into goodly hops, and to cause the hops that were developed to become larger and better conditioned. There were great complaints of blind bine, and of the tendency of the bur to dry up and fall off, particularly in the Goldings, and the rains came just soon enough to stop this generally. In Sussex the rain increased the crop most materially, by causing every blossom, every tiny bur, to turn into a fine sized hop. Blight had vanished in East Sussex before the rain, and the plants were in a fit state to derive all the advantages it could give.

"A much better crop has been grown in the whole of the Eastern Division of the county than any thought possible in the early part of August. Tons an acre have been grown in a few lucky spots, and the average of this district was about 7 cwt. per acre. The whole average for this county was much reduced by the small quantity grown in the