IQ07-] 



A<< < >M M< )I).\TI< )N < > I I lOI'-I'K KKKS. 



The Local Government Board recently instructed one of 

 their Medical Inspectors, Dr. Reginald Farrar, to enquire 



Lod°in°- and ^ H * oc te m £ [lU( ^ accommodation 



, of hop-pickers and pickers of fruit and 



Accommodation 11 , , 



. _ , vegetables, and his report has now been 



of Hop-Pickers. . b , ' n v 



issued (No. 252, Reports of Medical 



Inspectors, Price is.). 



In giving some details as to the hop industry, it is mentioned 

 that, in 1890, the cost of cultivation and of placing hops 

 on the market was stated in evidence given before the Select 

 Committee to be rather over £40 per acre ; so that, allowing 

 10 cwt. to the acre to be a fair crop, a price of more than 

 £4 the cwt. must be made in order to realise a profit. Since 

 1890, however, the demand for quality in hops, rather than 

 quantity, has grown, and successfully to cultivate high-grade 

 hops requires increasingly skilled and costly methods of culti- 

 vation, large expenditure on hop-washing (for which purpose 

 a mixture of quassia and soft soap is generally used), and 

 scientific methods of drying the hops. The necessary outlay 

 on labour, machinery and plant has, according to some of the 

 largest growers, both in Kent and Worcestershire, brought 

 the COSt of production (including the placing of hops on the 

 market) up to a figure which is nearer £60, or even £80, per 

 acre than £40. 



Under these circumstances, the grower must either raise a 

 j> of more than 10 cwt. to the acre, or make a price of 

 more than £6 to £8 per cwt. in order to realise a profit on his 

 outlay. 



The effect of the changes that have taken place since 1882 

 is, that while the large grower or syndicate possessing capital, 

 who can afford to practise intensive cultivation and scientific 

 methods of drying, Sec, can still make a fair profit on the 

 growth of hops, and, by averaging the bad years with the 

 good, or holding over the crops from one year to another, 

 can tide over the fluctuations of crops and markets, the small 

 former, possessing but little capital, cannot afford scientific 

 culture, and cannot make headway against the fluctuations 

 of the market, but is often, to avoid bankruptcy, obliged to 

 sell his crop for less than the cost of product ion. 



In consequence, there is a tendency for the smaller farmers 



