THE HOP INDUSTRY.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXI, Issue 9077, 29 April 1908, Page 5

THE HOP INDUSTRY.

AGITATION IN KENT. ' Received April 28, 8.1 a.m. LONDON, April 27. General agitation continues in Kent, and enormous public meetings are being held co protest against the unrestricted imporation of foreign hops.

The special correspondent of the London "Daily Express" wrote from Maidston, Kent, a lew weeks ago:-—"Enquiries which I have made to-day among some of the best authorities in the County show that unless immediate measures are taken to protect the Kentish hopgrowers against unfair foreign competition the whole industry is doomed. The same story of farmers grubbing their hops, because they are unable to withstand any longer the ruinous competition of the foreign-grown produce, comes from almost every village in the hopgrowing districts. A local magistrate, who has inside a special study of the industry, told me he estimated that between 4,000 and 5,000 acres had been grubbed in the County this year. 'Most of the land,' he said, 'has been laid down in grass. The grubbing of this large area means a loss of labour to about 1,500 argicultural labourers, who, with their wives and families, must seek other employment. The number of people indirectly affected is, of course, iruch greater than this. Some 9,000 fewer pickers will be required in the autumn, and this will be seriously felt in the East End of London.' " The correspondent estimates that the acreage under hops has decreased 30 per cent, in the last twenty-seven years.