The Daily Telegraph. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 11, 1883.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3869, 11 December 1883, Page 2

The Daily Telegraph. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 11, 1883.

The hop industry may be said to have been fairly .started in Hawko's Bay, and, though the commencement lias only its small beginnings, it promises to add considerably to the products of this district.. The difficulty in this part of the colony, it seems to us, has boon to solve the question, how can the small fanner obtain a. substantial living , from the land. Small farms have not been a success in the open country of Hawke's Bay; there may have been one or perhaps two or three exceptions, but they have been duo to causes that do not always fall to the lot, and cannot be counted upon as the reasonable portion of the small holder. It seems to have been laid flown as an axiom that fanning- will not pay hero; it has been tried, and experience has shown that in a series of years it has not paid. When we speak of small farms we do not mean an area of land capable of grazing , a flock of sheep. We mean from fifty to one hundred acres of ground from which by agriculture a married couple and a family can get a good living. We have not got that class of people in our community ; not because there is not land to bo had by either purchase or lease, but because there is nothing here at present to attract fhe settlement of small farmers. The Seventy-mile Bush has drawn all our small holders from the open lands, and there they have every prospect of doing well. Anything, therefore, that promises to be profitable to cultivate in our open country in small holdings we should be grateful for. For some years now hops have been successfully grown at Wairoa, but though the cultivation of the plant has only been limited to one garden the product has proved itself to be a sound marketable article. Last season, it will be remembered, the Nelson small farmers made large profits, and in some cases fortunes, out of hops, and the .success obtained there 7io doubt urged the introduction of the industry in this district. Mr Ormond, Mr Tanner, and Mr Birch have planted some acres with hops, and their venture will be watched with interest. If they arc successful others will follow their laudablo example till we may hope it will be placed beyonfl a doubt that a source of profit has been established for the small holder. In the meantime it may bo of interest to lay before our readers the opinion of the " profession" in England on what is termed is in the Brewers' Journal "Australian hops." Mr E. R. Southbj-, a brewing specialist, was entrusted with tho duty of giving these hops a thorough' examination, and ho arrived at the following results :—"That the Tasmanian samples contain a great many brown and discoloured hops, and a good deal of leaf, &c. Taking the hops, both individually and in bulk, the colour is low, but tho aroma is good, and, taking good Konts as a standard, tho strength is up to tho average. With more care in pit-king, those bops -would answer tho purpose of Knglish brewers well, espeoi.illy as they would coinn in when our hops are losing .strength. Tho Yietorian ,-;uuplos uiv jjwd in evlour suul w oil pioked, luit wry \wA and with but little utviusi. The\ uit> iU>wii to powdei my e;t>ilv, There i> iu>tlm»x ot>jtvtuuuiMo iiKutt (Iα- lu»p , vi l?.vt, it i> ii mv j-tuiple, but U-* wv-ikm uui".( umith u-\hiiv in Nuliu- u> t-'v-wi-i* It ,0u.«,-U-»-. «i"» ««t*l"-J "* bu»'">; tim M u!e rtU, -Ny» 'n'«'.l -;'" "\ m U'kuil -Uut -U'lV.V.'H...' Ho nnoi..<...li'. K>Ml|l(l ' ii! , uM:i\ n.xwbk', wil.v f.lw u/t ii*» '-"•" and.

there is a good deal of broken and small hops. All the above are good safe hops, free from mould and sound ; they are, abto), all of them quite free from that rank, coarse flavour which characterizes most foreign hops, the aroma being as delicate as that of the English hops. They are well worth the attention of brewers, who will run no risk in using them, and if the Tasmanian hop could bo picked so as to equal the Victorian in appearance, it would take a very good English hop to beat it." The above opinion, says the Brewers' Journal, fairly points out the principal defects of these hops, which are nevertheless, worthy of attention. Sentiment is rarely allowed in this country to interfere with business transactions, and it is deserving of consideration whether it would not be practicable for English brewers to encourage hop growing in the English colonies, seeing how many hops are brought from Germany and America. We import yearly some 150,000 cwt. to 200,000 cwt. of hops, which quantity could, in the course of a few j r ears, bo fully supplied by our Australian colonists. Let the Australian growers only sco an opening in England for their trade, and they would soon pay more attention to the curing and sorting of their produce. Hop culture in the Antipodes up to within the past year or two was but an experiment, and it was only at the Melbourno Exhibition that the first show was held, and tho colonist made alive to the advantages of their climate and soil for hop production. Since, 1880, however, thousands of acres in Victoria, South Australia, and other places have been purchased for hop farms, and considerable interest, we believe, is felt in the colonies as regards the result of tho present trial. It is probable that, in •fhc hurry to get off the hops to England, sufficient care was not exercised in picking, drying, and baling; and the deficiency in aroma (a most important point) may bo largely attributable to this cause. Few substantial hop kilins exist at present in the colonial hop districts, a very rude diying apparatus has to do snrvico for tho purpose. If the colonist, however, see an opening for trade in tho mother country, it may fairly bo predicted that before next season tho best and most modern appliances will bo obtained for curing the hops in tho best manner riossiblc. If our colonists should suoced in supplying our market with new hops in May, just when our own hops are losing strength, they will certainly hold a most important advantage over Germaay and America, the obvious value of which to the brewers of this country it would bo difficult to estimate.