The Hop Industry in Victoria. 



39 



Return showing quantity of hops locally grown and imported during the years 

 1885-1901 inclusive :— 



Note. — -The year for Victorian grown hops ends on March 1st., the imports refer 

 to the Calendar Year. 



Conclusion. 



Now that the hop-sets have been distributed to the most experienced 

 growers in the principal hop-growing districts, it will devolve upon 

 the Agricultural Chemist, Dr. Howell, to bring the work to a successful 

 issue. It will be necessary to see, not only that the imported hops 

 grow well in a given district, but that they have the necessary amount 

 and requisite proportions of the soft or preservative resins, upon which 

 their value from the brewing point of view largely depends. In order 

 to obtain the best results, the picking, the drying and the packing will 

 require to be done in the most approved manner. The brewers have 

 pointed out their requirements, and it will be to the interest of the 

 growers to satisfy these as far as possible, viz. : — " A well-ripened hop, 

 skilfully dried and carefully managed, so as to leave the cones un- 

 broken and in possession of their f idl value of resin and other qualities." 



Besides an analysis of the resins, &c., in order to compare results 

 with the imported article, the action of manures in increasing the yield 

 and improving the quality will require to be tried. There has been a 

 good deal of rough experimenting on the part of growers themselves 

 and quite a large number of substances applied ; as one put it, " nearly 

 every kind of manm-e has been tried," still there is a lack of definite 

 information on the subject, particularly in regard to the most suitable 

 maniires for the different soils on which the plants are grown. 



