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THE HOP CROP OF 1896. 



[March 1897, 



THE HOP CROP OF 1896. 



According to the statement issued by the Board of Agricul- 

 ture in August last ; the total acreage of Hop Land in England 

 in 1896 was 54,217 acres, against 58,940 acres in 1895, showing 

 a decrease of 4,723 acres. This, with the exception of 1890, 

 when there were 54,555 acres, is the smallest acreage since 1861, 

 when it was estimated that there were only 47,941 acres. The 

 largest reduction in any hop-growing county of importance in. 

 proportion to its acreage was in Sussex, where the area fell from 

 7,489 acres to 5,908 acres, a decrease of 1,581 acres. The acre- 

 age in Kent was reduced by 1,718 acres, or from 35,018 acres 

 to 33,300 acres. The three hop -growing divisions of Kent, viz.. 

 East Kent, Mid Kent, and the Weald of Kent are sharply 

 defined by the hop trade. For the year 1896 it will be found 

 that the reduction in these districts has been 765 acres in East 

 Kent, 244 acres in Mid Kent, and 709 acres in the Weald of 

 Kent. There are now only 10 counties in England in which 

 hops are grown, and in two of these, Berkshire and Suffolk, the 

 quantity is inappreciable and is diminishing. In 1896 there were 

 only 4 acres in each county. In Gloucester there were 49 

 acres, and in Shropshire 140 acres. Twenty years ago hops 

 were cultivated in 18 English counties, but in 7 of these there 

 were only a few acres. Beginning with the earliest date for 

 which reliable statistics are available, viz., 1808, the lowest hop 

 acreage appears to have been 38,436 acres in 1808, and the 

 highest 71,789 acres in 1878. 



From the statistics of production published in October last,, 

 it appears that the average yield per statute acre of hop land 

 in 1896 was 8'36 cwt., as against 9'39 cwt. in 1895, 10'70 cwt. 

 in 1894, and 7*21 cwt. in 1893. These crops, with the excep- 

 tion of that of 1893, are considerably above the average. The 

 improvement in the annual average yield per acre of the last 

 six years is said by many to be due to the improved methods of 

 checking the injuries caused by aphides, and to the practice of 

 training the plant on strings of cocoa-nut fibre and upon wire- 

 work. 



The season of 1896 opened favourably. There was plenty of 

 bine, which was tied up to the poles in good time, except in some 

 districts in the Weald of Kent and Sussex, and it progressed 

 favourably until attacked by countless swarms of aphides, which 

 were finally cleared off by means of three or four, and in some 

 cases five, sy ringings with soft soap and quassia solutions. In 

 the first week of July the effects of the long drought were visible 

 upon the heavier soils and in localities where manuring and 

 cultivation had been neglected. The variety of hop known as 

 Fuggles especially gave way and hecame "fire-blasted" in many 



