312 HOPS. 



way every year, and where there is a large colony of hop 

 merchants, agents and dealers. Many of these have their 

 own warehouses and conditioning houses, and there are 

 also warehouses for provisional storage in the town. Con- 

 ditioning establishments are really necessary at Niirnberg, 

 it being the custom among a large section of Bavarian 

 growers to leave to the merchant the task of getting the 

 hops ready for sale ; consequently, it frequently happens 

 that the former are careless over the drying of their pro- 

 duce. Moreover, in many cases the hops are bought by 

 the merchants as soon as picked, and are sent into the 

 town for further treatment. 



The part played in Germany by Niirnberg is performed 

 in Austria by the town of Saaz, which is the centre of the 

 hop trade in the latter country. Of course the volume of 

 business done is smaller than in Niirnberg, since the 

 supply is principally a local one ; nevertheless a large trade 

 is carried on, chiefly in the finer qualities. 



Other large hop markets are held in London, New York 

 and Warsaw ; and there are smaller business centres in 

 all producing districts. 



Where — and this is unfortunately too often the case — 

 the brewer does not deal direct with the producer, the hop 

 trade passes through several intermediate phases. First 

 of all there are the local dealers, who buy from the grower, 

 either at home or at the local market. Then comes the 

 merchant, who deals with the consumer (brewer). Next 

 there is the consignment house for export trade ; and finally 

 the commission agent, who is either entrusted by one or 

 more growers to sell their produce, or else is commissioned 

 by merchants or consumers to approach growers with 

 bids for their wares. Where the merchant buys outright 

 and conditions the goods, or stores them for a longer or 

 shorter time as his own property, the purchasing is done 



