406 



THE HOP CKOP OF 1895. 



[March 1896^ 



1895. It was not so large as in the previous year, 1894, 

 when, according to the estimates, compiled by Messrs. Barth, of 

 Nuremberg, 2,254,000 cwt. were produced; but with this 

 exception, it was certainly larger than any crop since 1889, 

 when 2,068,000 cwt. were grown, equal to about 7*75 cwt. per 

 acre on the world's acreage. 



The annual average hop crop of the world for the ten years: 

 ending 1894, as estimated by Messrs, Barth, was 1,663,200 cwt., 

 the smallest crop in this 'period having been 1,250,000 cwt. in 

 1890, and the largest, with the exception of that of 1894, 

 2,068,000 cwt. in 1889. It is considered that the world s crop 

 for 1895 may have been at least 1,900,000 cwt., but Messrs. 

 Barth's tables for that year have not yet been issued. 



Two such large hop crops as those of 1894 and 1895 have 

 naturally brought prices down to a low level throughout the 

 vrorld. In England, they have been, and are at this time, very 

 low. 



The average annual gross importation of hops into the United 

 Kingdom in the six years 1890-1895 was 196,918 cwt., and 

 it is remarkable to note how little the importation has varied, 

 taking the average of the previous 30 years. Between 1860 

 and 1869, the average annual importation of hops was 161,634 

 cwt. Between 1870 and 1879, the annual average quantity 

 imported was 185,665 cwt. ; between 1880 and 1889, it was 

 203,166 cwt., and from 1890 to 1894, both years inclusive, it 

 was 192,869 cwt. It is noteworthy that the imports of hops 

 were larger in 1869 than in any year before or since, having 

 been 322,515 cwt. In 1882, they amounted to 319,620 cwt., 

 and in 1885, to 266,952 cwt. Small crops were grown in 

 England in 1869 and 1882, but in 1885 the English crop was 

 large. 



In Messrs. Baith's tables, the world's annual consumption of 

 hops is estimated at 1,624,000 cwt., and the annual average 

 production of hops in the vorld for the five years ending 1894 

 is put at 1,625,600 cwt., so that, taking the whole five years, 

 there is but a small surplus. For the previous quinquennial 

 period, the average quantity produced, according to the same 

 authorities, was 1,700,800 cwt. If these figures are approxi- 

 mately correct, it would seem that the present reduction in 

 price is to be partly attributed to the fact that two heavy crops 

 succeeded each other. 



The exportation of hops from the United Kingdom is incon- 

 siderable. The annual average quantity of English grown 

 hops exported during the past 10 years, including 1 895, is 

 10,307 cwt. The largest quantity exported in any year of this 

 decade was 19,142 cwt. in 1886, and the smallest quantity was 

 5,763 cwt. in 1891. In the previous decade, the annual 

 average amount of English hops exported was 10,921 cwt. 



Besides the exportation of English hops, there has been some 

 re-exportation of foreign hops from the United Kingdom, amount- 

 ing to an annual average quantity of 11,242 cwt., during the 



