BEER STATISTICS AND MALT CONSUMPTION. 



133 



According to this estimate, the Bavarians and Belgians are 

 the greatest beer drinkers, and after them come the English. 

 In France and some other countries of Europe a great deal 

 of beer is surreptitiously brewed, so that the proportions are 

 scarcely reliable. 



Number of licences granted to brewers in the United 

 Kingdom, duty charged, and barrels of beer brewed : 



1854 is for year ending the 5th January; the later years 

 end 31st March. 



It is curious to note the gradual decrease in the number of 

 brewers, from 45,000 to about 30,000 at the present time, 

 which indicates the centralization of the trade in the hands 

 of large firms. The proportion of brewers in the different 

 divisions of the kingdom in 1869 was as follows : England, 

 35,287 ; Scotland, 249 ; Ireland, 128. 



In the year ending March 31, 1873, there were in the 



