THE BREWING INDUSTRY IN IRELAND. 467 



siderable part of the crop goes into ordinary consumption or is used for seed, 

 whilst a quantity of barley as well of malt made from barley is used in 

 distilleries, or is exported to English breweries, and consequently a large 

 quantity of foreign barley has to be imported. In fact over 1,300,000 

 bushels of barley were imported into Ireland in 1901 direct from foreign 

 countries, and probably at least as much again was imported via England. 



Though it is difficult to say exactly what proportion of Irish barley finds 

 its way into Irish breweries, there can be no doubt that very considerably 

 over 50 per cent, of the crop each year is converted into malt which is used 

 for brewing, and this fact alone suffices to emphasise the dependance of 

 Irish barley-growers upon the brewing industry. 



There can be no doubt that good Irish barley possesses specific qualities 

 , „ that render it entirely suitable for the production of 



T • h°B^^l ™^^^ beverages, and owing to its superior quality, to 



irisn uariey. ^^^ nothing of the desire to foster home industries, 

 Irish brewers have aKvays shown a marked preference for home- 

 grown barley, though they are forced, owing to the insufficient supply, to 

 import foreign barley. Whilst probably the supply of inferior Irish barley 

 is quite equal to the demand, and cannot be profitably increased, there can 

 be no doubt that the Irish breweries form a profitable market for well-grown 

 and cajrefully harvested high class Irish barley, and that their demand would 

 increase with any increase in the supply, for at present many brewers 

 use foreign grain simply because a sufficient supply of good class home- 

 grown barley is not available. The brewing quality of barley turns not only 

 upon the suitability of the seed corn employed, but also on the character of 

 soil, climatic conditions, and the care taken in manuring, harvesting, stacking, 

 and artificially sweating the grain, and many brewers throughout the country 

 have done much good work in assisting in bringing about an improvement 

 in the methods of growing and harvesting barley. Thus Messrs. Arthur 

 Guinness Son and Co. have for several years co-operated with the Irish 

 Agricultural Organisation Society and with the Department f Agriculture 

 and Technical Instruction for Ireland in carrying out barley-growing 

 experiments, chiefly in County Cork and County Wexford, the objects of 

 which are to test the suitability of different artificial manures, and the 

 respective merits of different varieties of barley. 



Farmers find by experience that some land is not fit for the growth of 

 barley, and maltsters find that if barley is grown on certain soils it will not 

 make good malt. Light calcareous soil is the best and usually produces 

 an excellent crop, as also does well manured sandy soil, but cold clay land, 

 even when well drained, will not produce the best malting barley. There 

 is also room for improvement in the present methods of stacking, dressing, 

 and grading the barley for market ; the mixing of first class and second 

 class grain is to be regretted ; if each were sold on its own merits, the 

 farmer would obtain a higher price all round, and would be more certain of 

 obtaining regular customers. 



Hops are the second ingredient that calls for attention. On the average 



nearly 2 lbs. of hops, as well as about 2 bushels of 



Hops. barley are generally used in making a barrel of beer, 



and it is commonly estimated that over 500,000 cwts. of 



hops are used in the United Kingdom for brewing each year, and the amourit 



used in Ireland is probably not less than 60,000 cwts. The quality of hops is 



