The record-union., 1899-10-14
HOP CROPS
IN ENGLAND.

lIN LlSOLhlNDs
| The following reports on the growth
of hops in the English plantations for
| the week ending Wednesday, Septem-
| Der y, 1899, are furnished by the
| "Kentish Observer" Of Canterbury,
| Kent, and presented with the compli-
| ments Of M H. burst of AZ Effra Road,
| Brixton, s. W., London, resident agent
| in England for the burst Bear River
| hops of Yuba County, California. These
reports are furnished gratuitously, and
! in the hope that they will be of ser
vice in keeping the growers advised OF
| the crop prospects abroad:
| The hop harvest will be practically
/ completed by the end of the present
week 1t is already over in most parts
of Kent and Sussex, though here and
there the pickers are still at work, and
| in the Worcestershire district it will
| probably extend into next week. The
| late pickings have been of very variable
| quality; some places have kept ex-
| tremely well, being entirely free from
| disease and scarcely discolored, while
others have gone off, some slightly and
some seriously those affected with ver-
min having been rendered either en-
| tirely or next to worthless. Many acres
| of these blight-stricken hops have,
| however, been picked, though 1t can
! hardly be expected that they will find
| buyers at anything like remuneratiye
prices.
| 1t does not appear that the acreage
| left unpicked will be very large, after
| all-certainly not so considerable as
| seemed probable a fortnight ago, when
| the attack of verrpin developed so sud-
denly. AT the same time we feel bound
| to say that it would have been ad-
visabIe if many pieces which have been
| picked after deterioration set ir had
| been left to blow away. On all sides
we hear condemnation of the grossly
| exaggerated and utterly ridiculous
statements that were wired to the Lon
| don papers from Canterbury alleging
| complete collapse" of the hop crop in
Kent and Sussex. The adverse condf-
| ton of prospects which set in all OF a
sudden, just when everything was
| looking particularly bright and hope
! full, was indeed serious and most un-
| fortunate, as we pointed out at the
time; but there was no justification for
| the alarming report of a complete col
| lapse" of the crop, and it is much to be
| deplored that such an absurd story
| should have been circulated through
the medium of the daily papers.
| 1t is the quality of the later pickings,
rather than the general yield of hops,
| that has been affected by the vermin
and red mold; but even here the de-
| terioration has not extended to all the
grounds, a large proportion having es-
| caped altogether. On the whole the
| 1899 season has been a satisfactory
| one. but prices are disappointing, espe-
cially for the sound and colory growths,
| and it is to be hoped that they will
| speedily undergo a substantial advance
| Benenden- Weald)
| Rough winds have knocked the late
| hops about very much, and lice are
| doing a. lot of damage. Picking, how
| ever. is still going on. The crop is an
enormous one, and many of the
growths are of superior quality.
(Biddenden Weald)
/ Most of the hops will be picked this
week if the weather continues fine; If
| not, a good many won't be worth
| picking. The cooler weather has been
more favorable for keeping than the
hot sun. The parish will average
about 13 cwt
| Canterbury Parishes.)
| The ingathering in the Canterbury
| district is now practically hnlsheo.
| Fortunately, notwithstanding that in
/ one or two parishes a good many acres
are left unpicked, owing to the hops
having deteriorated either through YER
min or red rust, the yield all round has
been a. very large one and the quality
frst-rate. Many of the growths have
averaged from 16 to nearly 20 cwt. per
acre. At Wincheap, Thanington, and
/ Stuppington the hops have Kept weil
| and have produced splendid samples
| On a ground of seven acres at VIM
cheap seventyfour pockets were OBJ
| tained. all the hops being bright ana
| sound This quality, which works out
! at about is cwt. per cWt. per acre, IS
/ thirty pockets in excess of last year
growth. The only really disastrous in
stance due to the late attack OF YER
min was that of Mr.. Lillywhite on his
| Wincheap farm, fifteen or sixteen acres
/ being left to blow away
/ (Chilham.)
The hop-pieking will be pretty well
or quite finished this week. Consider
ing the high winds of late the hops
where sound have kept fairly we'll and
are making some good samples at pres
/ ent.
(Chislet)
| The hop crop in this parish has
/ turned out well--exceptionally heavy
in bulk and for the most part Of splen-
did quality. The hops kept much bet
/ ter than in some places, the attack Of
1 verrnin being very light.
! (Cranbrook Weald)
Picking is practically over, and a
very large. crop has been secured. Ow-
! ing to verrf1in and the high winds Of
/ last week the tail end Of the growths
/ is Of inferior quality, but where the
| hops kept well. the samples come otst
bright and very fine in condition. One
grower is reported to have sold his en-