PART V. 



STATISTICS OP PRODUCTION. 



CoNCTJEEENTLT with the annually increasing consumption 

 of beer has grown the demand for hops, and naturally the 

 area under hop cultivation has kept pace to a corresponding 

 extent ; and when the brewing industry was flourishing hop- 

 growing proved highly remunerative. The result of this 

 was that competition soon brought about a condition of 

 discord, the production^ exceeding the demand, and this 

 state of things has been perpetuated by the introduction of 

 improved methods of storage, by which failures of crop can 

 be more or less counterbalanced. This over-production, 

 however, applies to the grand total of hops grown, and 

 not to those of fine quality ; nevertheless it is calculated to 

 seriously affect the welfare of the growing industry as a 

 whole. 



If the various continents be arranged in the order of 

 their production of hops, Europe takes the foremost place, 

 America coming next, and finally Australia. 



In Asia (India) and Africa (Cairo) the cultivation of hops 

 has not as yet gone beyond the experimental stage. 



{See Table on pages 300-301.) 



Of European countries Germany takes the front rank 

 in hop-growing ; then follow England, Austria, Eussia, 



' This has doubled in the last twenty years. 



