HOP GROWING IN KING COUNTRY

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXVIII, Issue 4606, 6 October 1934, Page 4

HOP GROWING IN KING COUNTRY

It has been said by me'n with wide experience that New Zealand has made the mistake of "putting all its eggs in one basket." In other words, she has relied too much on the production of meat and dairy produce. With the present state of the dairy produce market and the shadow of a quota still hanging over the country, it would be well for the farming community to explore other avenues of production as side lines. An interesting phase of this situation is reported j from the Nelson district, where it is stated that there is a serious shortage in the hop supplies which may be off the market in a short time and have to be imported. One reason given for this situation is that the brewers bought up the whole hop supplies of Nelson in order to prevent the spread of the "homebrew" industry; another suggestion is that larger quantities of hops had been exported than formerly, and this appears to be the reasonable point of view. There is a heavy duty on hops, and if the commodity has to be imported the price will be anything from 2s 6d to 2s 8d a pound. It might be asked whether Nelson is the only district in New Zealand where hop-growing is possible? We were shown some photographs of some healthy hop vines grown less than a mile from Te Kuiti by one of the early residents, but the vines were never utilised from a commercial point of view. Hop vines can also be seen in some parts of the Northern King Country growing wild, and there seems to be no reason why this should not be made a profitable side line for farmers, especially those with families. There would appear to be no great difficulty in cultivating the vines, but cheap labour is necessary in picking. No doubt this is one of the reasons why the hop industry has been concentrated in the Nelson district. Parties go over from Wellington and make the hop-picking season a picnic. The same labour could be obtained from Auckland and Hamilton if hop-growing were taken up seriously in this district. The hop industry is cne that is well worth consideration in the Northern King Country. According to the New Zealand Year Book the quantity of hops exported from the Dominion last year was a record, being valued at £27,983, as compared with £1746 for the previous year. This does not take into account the quantity of hops used in the Dominion, which must be considerably in excess of the exports.