74 QIJALITr A'ND KEEPING OF HOPS. STATISTICS OP 



there. The rest of th"e Surrey and Hants gardens were 

 more or less blighted, and the whole return of the 5500 

 acres has been estimated at about 6 cwt. per acre. No more 

 than from 1 to 1J cwt. per acre can be claimed for the 

 "Worcestershire and Herefordshire plantations, for the aphides 

 grievously tormented them from May till August, so that 

 they never had the ghost of a chance to get away. 



" Putting the acreage of the United Kingdom at 68,500 

 acres, which is very near the mark, the following table, 

 giving the acreage of each district and its yield, will show 

 the total amount of hops grown this year (1876) : 



Equal to an old duty of 200,OOOZ., or an average of close 

 upon 6 cwt. for each 'acre in cultivation ; rather less than the 

 amount of an average crop. Partisans of the planters hold 

 that considerably less than this has been realized ; partisans 

 of the consumers, or of the merchants, hold that it is far 

 under the mark. 



" The ' Times ' correspondent, writing on hops, puts the 

 yield at some 600,000 cwt. this year ; an estimate absurd 

 and ridiculous, as unfortunately is too often the case, in the 



