HOPS. 311 



THE HOP TRADE.i 



The hop market of the world, the state of which is de- 

 pendent on the crop of the current season, the stock from 

 the previous year and the probable demand, is controlled by 

 Germany, Austria and the United States, and is largely in 

 the hands of merchants who serve as go-betweens for the 

 grower on the one side and the consumer (brewer) on the 

 other, the latter generally preferring — whether as a matter 

 of convenience, credit, or for other reasons — to deal with 

 agents rather than direct with the growers. 



Export of Hops from the Jurisdiction of the German Customs 

 Union in 1897. 



Total 198,212 



The largest hop market in the world is that of Niirn- 

 berg,^ where a large proportion of the total crop finds its 



1 E. Struwe, Der Hopfenhandel, Berlin, 1891. 



2 In 1894 there were about 22 commission agents, 50 local dealers, 150 

 merchants and 42 export houses engaged in the hop trade at Niirnberg. 



