The Hop Industry in Victoria. 81 



THE HOP INDUSTRY IN VICTORIA. 



By D. Mr Alpine. 



When Minister of Agriciilturo, some three years ago, the Hon. 

 Geo. Graham directed that investigations should be made in order to 

 ascertain the reason for the decline in the production of hops in this 

 State, and also decided that experimental work be undertaken in the 

 endeavor to place the industry in a more satisfactory position. It 

 was necessary first of all to obtain some explanation why our 

 local hops command such low prices in comparison with the imported, 

 and in this phase of the work Mr. A. de Bavay, F.C.S., was associated 

 with me. 



As regards quality it is well-known in the trade that the Victorian 

 hops do not generally compare favorably with the imported ones, 

 especially the choicest Bohemians, and this is the principal reason why 

 some of the brewers, at least, are willing to pay two or three times as 

 much for these choice hops as for the Victorian. The use of these 

 hops is likewise an absolute necessity for the production of lager beer, 

 on account of their special flavor and aroma, and the same may be 

 said of Kent hops. They are used only for the better class of beers, 

 and when it is desired to produce an article similar in some degree 

 to English beer. This question of aroma and flavor is a most important 

 one, and althou^'h these qualities are not capable of exact definition 

 yet the best prices are only paid for those hops with an agreeable odour. 

 They vary with each variety of hop, the country in which they have 

 been grown, and very often the same, variety will produce hops varying 

 greatly in quality and value, even when grown in adjacent parishes. 



It is evident, therefore, that the first step towards improvement 

 will be to import some of the best varieties from those countries 

 producing superior qualities, and test them in various hojj-growing 

 centres, with different soils and varying altitude. Of course, it does 

 not necessarily follow that these imported hop-plants will produce here 

 hops of the same high quality, but it is quite possible that one or two 

 varieties may be found exactly suited to our special conditions. 

 Hitherto the trials in this direction have not extended beyond a few 

 varieties of English hops, and in some districts Goldings alone are 

 grown. No doubt the better hops are generally grown in the cooler 

 climates, but there is such a great variety of climate in Victoria, at 

 different altitudes, that I see no reason why we should not find the 

 exact place where some of these varieties could be grown to perfec- 

 tion. 



That this is quite possible is shown by what has been done in 

 America. American hops were formerly very inferior and particularly 

 coarse in flavor, but now, by improved cultivation, better curing, and 

 improvement in the varieties grown, great advances have been made^ 



