CULTURE AND PRODUCTION IN ENGLAND. 69 



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, there- 

 fore, 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." 



A writer in the * Chambers of Agriculture Journal,' in 

 September, thus speaks of the home and foreign hop planta- 

 tions in 1876 : 



"Another hop season has passed away, which has been 

 marked in its course by somewhat unusual vicissitudes. It 

 has differed totally from that of 1875, which will be remem- 

 bered 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 



