XXXIV 

 HOP-BLIGHT 



HOPS have for many years now been a very un- 

 certain investment for those who, in England, 

 devote capital to the growing, drying, and marketing of this 

 crop. In some years a fortune may be made, in some years 

 a dead loss, in many a bare return of expenditure. Hence, 

 it is not surprising that English hop-growers should wish 

 for legislation which shall make their business more secure 

 by taxing the hops produced in other countries, and im- 

 ported by our brewers. The whole subject of " hops " is 

 a very complicated one. It is the fact that every plant 

 and animal cultivated by civilised man has led to the 

 accumulation of an astonishing amount of detailed know- 

 ledge and experience in each case, and that there are 

 increasing difficulties and surprises in regard to varieties, 

 and the competition of new supplies brought from all 

 quarters of the globe. New areas of cultivation, new 

 methods of transport, new fashion and taste continually 

 disturb, and even destroy, old-established industries. It 

 is for statesmen to consider how far the remorseless 

 current of unforeseen changes should be checked and 

 manipulated, so as to prevent disaster in the old-established 

 and flourishing industries of the countryside. 



The hop (called Humulus luputus by botanists) is a 

 native of this country, and of the more temperate parts of 





