§ Mr. PATRICK WHITEasked the hon. Member for South Somerset whether he could give an estimate of the total yield of British hops this year; how much it would fall short of the quantity required for an average year's brewing; how much the deficiency would cost if purchased from foreign countries at the present average price; if he would state how many additional acres under cultivation in this country would render imports unnecessary; whether he could state the approximate cost of planting and bringing to maturity an acre of hops; and whether he could give an estimate of the total expenditure involved in cultivating the additional acreage necessary to produce sufficient to meet the demands of home brewers?
§ Sir E. STRACHEYWe are not yet able to give an estimate of the British yield of hops this year. The average annual imports during the last five years have amounted to rather more than 227,000 cwt., which would represent the produce, at the average yield per acre in England during that period, of nearly 25,000 acres. The cost of production of hops varies considerably, but the Select Committee on the Hop Industry thought that £40 might be taken as the average annual cost of raising and placing on the market the produce of an acre of hops.