§ Viscount CASTLEREAGHasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Agriculture whether he will state the present hop acreage and the year in which it last approximated to the present figure; what was the estimated population of Great Britain and Ireland in that year and now; and what was the barrelage of beer upon which duty was paid in that year and in 1909?
§ The PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY to the BOARD of AGRICULTURE (Sir Edward Strachey)There were 32,530 acres under hops last year. The next lowest figure since 1866, when official returns were first collected, was in 1908, when 38,921 acres were under cultivation. The estimated population in 1908 was 44,539,593, and in 1909, 45,004,384. The number of barrels of beer upon which duty was paid in the year ending 31st March, 1909, was 33,348,258. The figures for 1909–10 are not yet available.