8/2 



Notes on Crop Prospfxts Abroad. 



[FEB., 



1885-7. 



1905-7. 



Acres. 



Acres. 



68,387 



46,876 



34,531 



56,650 



941 



1,952 



io,337 



6,025 



8,583 



7,38o 



116,678 



96.058 



503 



136 



46,800 



55,6i3 



i,340 



i,994 



574 



503 



770 



296 



596 



837 



587 



961 



parison of the average acreage under hops in each country in the latest year 

 for which returns are available and at about twenty years earlier. The figures, 

 where possible, are based on the average of the three years 1885-7 an ^ 1905-7 

 respectively. In the case of Hungary, Belgium, France, and Ontario, the 

 average of 1904-6 is taken in the absence of returns for 1907. For Hungary, 

 Belgium, United States, and Canada no figures arc available for an average 

 of the earlier period, and those for the single year which is nearest to the date 

 have been taken for this purpose : — 



England 

 Austria 

 Hungary 

 Belgium 

 France 



Germany 



Netherlands .. 



U.S.A 



Canada — Ontario ... 



Other Provinces... 



Victoria 

 Tasmania 

 New Zealand 



• Russia is the only important hop-growing country for which no official 

 returns are available. Commercial estimates of its crop are made, which vary 

 greatly from year to year, but they do not necessarily indicate any material 

 change in the acreage of the crop. Taking the figures for the countries above 

 tabulated, it will be seen that there have apparently been reductions in the 

 total area under hops in every country except Austria-Hungary, the United 

 States, Canada, Tasmania, and New Zealand. 



The greatest relative reduction of area appears to have occurred in Holland, 

 where the acreage under hops has fallen by no less than 73 per cent., and in 

 Victoria, where the decline has been 60 per cent. In Belgium the decline 

 amounts to 40 per cent., in England 30 per cent., and in Germany 18 per cent. 

 It may be added that in England and in Germany the acreage declined during 

 the three years 1905-7, and the decline continued very markedly in 1908. In 

 Victoria and Belgium there is no special indication of continued reduction 

 during the later years. 



The greatest relative increases of hop area have occurred in Hungary, 

 107 per cent. ; New Zealand and Austria, 64 per cent. ; Ontario, 49 per cent. ; 

 Tasmania, 40 per cent. ; and the United States, 19 per cent. As regards the 

 United States, however, it must be noted that, as official acreage returns are 

 only published for census years, the figures given for that country in the 

 above table relate to 1879 and 1899 respectively. There seems little doubt 

 that since the latter date there has been a substantial increase in the hop 

 acreage of the Pacific Slates, and although there has probably been some 

 reduction of acreage in the State of New York, it may be fairly assumed that 

 on balance there has been an extension of the American hop area since 1899. 



If, however, we may rely on the indications furnished by these not very 

 satisfactory figures, it would appear that there has probably been during the 

 past twenty years a net reduction in the hop area of the world amounting to 

 something between 10,000 and 20,000 acres. On the other hand, the returns 

 of production, so far as available, show no falling off, but rather an increase 

 in the total supply of hops on an average of years,. 



