The economics of growing Farnham hops in the 1850's

The select committee report has some very detailed information on hop growing. Including the economics of the business.

They're still questioning Mr . Harris, a farmer from Hampshire. First, the ask him about cost of growing hops.

"3421. Chairman.] Will you state to the Committee what you consider the expense of cultivating an acre of hop land ? — I never took that into consider ation, being a small grower. I was not aware that I should be called here to-day. In taking that point into calculation, I should think it is something, like £22 or £25 an acre. If I had known that I should have been called upon, I would have looked a little into it.

3422. Mr. Bass.] Is that exclusive of the expenses of the picking and the duty ? —Yes.

3423. Chairman.] What do you set the other expenses at ? — Picking, drying, and duty we generally consider at something like 50s. a cwt. ; from 40s. to 50s. a cwt.

3424. Mr. Bass.] Does not that include the selling ? —Yes.

3425. Chairman.] What do you consider a good crop ? —We grow very little; I was looking back to my previous crops since I received the orders the other day to come here, and I find that my crop for seven years previous to 1855 was 4.5 cwt.; but 1855 was something more. In 1855 it was 18 cwt.; but last year it was a little over half a ton; I never grew more than half a ton on my own land the whole of the time, since I have been a farmer, until 1855.

3426. How do your hops compare in the market with Kent Goldings? —The Kent Goldings are worth considerably more than our hops as we are told; it is a very difficult matter to get at what they are worth.

3427. What do the white bine hops, such as you grow, fetch? —Last year we made from 65s. to 70s. The year before, I calculated that I sold in the early part of August at 1s. a pound, and it was not a bad speculation. They would have been sold at four guineas, or something of the kind, if I had taken them to market.

3428. Mr. Brand.] When white bines are worth 70s., what would the Goldings be worth? —I have seen very little of Goldings. I have seen Mr. Payne's growth of Farnham and at Weyhill."

Report from the Select Committee on Hop Duties, 1857, pages 179 - 180.

Those numbers just don't add up. It looks to me as if Mr. Harris were losing money by growing hops. He had 12 acres under hops, so taking the higher value of £25 an acre, that makes £300. In addition, Picking, drying, and duty amounted to 50s (£2.5) per cwt. Taking a good year, where the yield was 10 cwt. an acre, that comes to an additional £25 an acre, making £600 in total expenses.

Now let's take a look at how much Mr. Harris could sell his hops for. Taking the higher amount of 70s a cwt., his total receipts for 12 acres come to just £420. Leaving him with a loss of £180. Only in 1855, when he had an exceptionally good crop of 18 cwt. per acre, would he appear to have made a profit. That would have netted him £720, a profit of £120.

The price of hops, however, was highly variable. As this table shows:

London hop prices
Year.	£ s. d.
1842	4 8 10
1843	6 0 9
1844	7 3 0
1845	6 10 0
1846	5 0 0
1847	3 10 0
1848	2 15 0
1849	7 10 0
1850	3 10 0
1851	6 10 0
1852	4 5 0
1853	11 11 0
1854	20 0 0
Source:
"A Practical Treatise on Malting and Brewing" by William Ford, 1862, page 289.

Farnham hops in the 1850's

Something really about hops this time. Taken again from the report of the Parliamentary Select Committee into the hop duty.

I've learnt a few things from this excerpt of an interview with a Franham hop grower.

"Mr. James Harris, called in ; and Examined.

3399. Chairman.] YOU are a Hop Grower, in Hampshire ?— I am, to a small extent.

3400. To what extent ? — I farm about a dozen acres.

3401. Have you been long a hop grower ? —I have been a grower 21 years; I have always been upon the same land.

3402. In what part of Hampshire is your farm ?—At Sutton ; it is about six miles from Farnham.

3403. Are there any larger hop growers in the neighbourhood ? —Yes ; in Alton, and Farnham, and Binstead, and that district.

3404. How many acres do the farms consist of? —From 15 to 100 acres ; Sir Thomas Miller's is from 50 to 60 acres.

3405. Are the hop growers owners of large farms? —A good many of them are ; some are very large.

3406. You farm yourself about a dozen acres of hops ?— Yes.

3407. How much other land do you farm ? — I farm about 520 acres altogether.

3408. What proportion of hop land to other land do any of those other, farms possess ?— It is different ; near Binstead and Alton there is a larger proportion of hop land to the other farms ; that is in the immediate neighbour hood of Alton.

3409. Have any of them as much as a quarter of their farms in hops ?—No, I do not think so, where they farm to any extent ; but some of them have nearly that.

3410. What sort of hops do you grow ? —White bines principally; I have one acre of green bines, but mine are principally white bines.

3411. What kind of soil is it that you grow your hops upon ? —The soil that I grow my hops on is principally clay, with a chalk sub-soil ; as you get to Binstead you get a marl land, and all that side of Alton.

3412. What depth do you go before you get to the chalk ? —We vary from two to four feet.

3413. Is not the white bine a fine quality of hop ? —Yes.

3414. Is not that what is known as the Farnham hop ? —Yes, principally. There is not quite so much white bine as there used to be, but there is a great deal.

3415. Mr. Brand.] Is it grown in any other district but the one in which you reside ? —I am not acquainted with any other hop district besides my own.

3416. Are there any other kinds of hops besides the white bine grown there ? —The green bines and other hops. I have heard of some few Colegates and Goldings.

3417. Sir John Shelley.] Is the white bine of the same quality as the Golding ? —No; it is a different quality from the Golding.

3418. Mr. Bass.] Is it like the Canterbury white bine? — I do not know; it is, perhaps, the same I have seen, the Kent hops and the Sussex hops.

3419. Are you in the Farnham branch, or in the country branch? —I am in the Farnham country branch."
Report from the Select Committee on Hop Duties, 1857, page 179.

What did I learn from that? For a start, that much of the Farnham hop district wasn't in Surrey, but in neighbouring Hampshire, as was Mr. Harris's farm. Looking on a map, I see that Farnham is right in the southeast corner of  Surrey. In fact it looks like the county boundary bulges so that it includes the town.

I'm surprised that there were so many hop farms in this region. Especially in Binstead, which is on the Isle of Wight. Quite a way from Farnham. I assume by Sutton, Mr. Harris actually means Long Sutton, which is about six miles due East of Farnham.

Though the quantities of hops grown in Surrey and Hampshire were tiny compared to Sussex and Kent:

Hop duty by district 1819
district	duty			lbs hops	% of total
	£	s	d
Canterbury	90,153	1	4	10,818,368	21.19%
Essex	4,088	13	4	490,640	0.96%
Hants	1,083	9	11	130,020	0.25%
Hereford	34,943	14	6	4,193,247	8.21%
Lincoln	8,647	15	8	1,037,734	2.03%
Rochester	127,668	2	2	15,320,173	30.01%
Surrey	107	6	2	12,877	0.03%
Sussex	136,563	13	2	16,387,639	32.10%
Worcester	7,897	17	8	947,746	1.86%
Source:
(Source: "The Spirit, Wine Dealer's and Publican's Guide", by Edward Palmer, London, 1824 page 247-249.)
Note:
Weight of hops calculated assuming duty of 2d per pound

The numbers are a few years earlier, but demonstrate how concentrated hop growing was. I've left out most of the districts where very few hops were grown before you start telling me my numbers don't add up. Lincoln, not exactly a renowned hop-growing district, produced more than 8 times as many hops as Surrey and Hampshire combined.

Note how small a percentage of the land was used for hops in the Farnham district. In Mr. Harris's case, just 12 out of 520 acres. The largest hop farm in the area was only around 100 acres, according to Mr. Harris. Compare this to the endless vista of hop poles you see in parts of Bavaria.

Finally something I already knew: that Farnham hops were a type of white bine.  Well, most of them were.

Lots more hops-related stuff to come.

Hops in the 1850's

Thanks to qq for pointing me in the direction of this.

It's taken from the report of a parliamentary committee into the workins of the hop duty. These reports are great sources. Because they asked people really involved in the trade about its workins. And those witnesses see mto have answered pretty honestly.

This section provides an overview of the hop growing regions and what types of hops were grown there. The man being questioned was a hop merchant.

"1492. Mr. B. Blakemore.] I think in Sussex they grow there principally the grape and the Colegate hops? —Yes.

1493. Are those the coarser sorts or the finer sort? —They are the coarser sorts.

1494. Could you give any idea of the average produce of that land per acre? —I think it is reported at 11.5 cwt.

1495. Mr. Brande.] Are you speaking of one year? —One year, 1856.

1496. Mr. B. Blakemore.] What are the sorts grown in the Weald of Kent? —Generally grapes, and some Jones's, and some Colegates.

1497. Sir John Shelley.] Are those the same sorts that are grown in the Wealds of Sussex? —Yes, I think they are, precisely.

1498. Then when you say the Sussex hops are of a coarser sort than the Kent hops, do you mean that the Colegate hop, and the grape hop, or Jones hop
grown in Sussex is a coarser hop than those of the same kind grown in the Weald of Kent? —There is a little difference in the Sussex hop compared with
the Weald of Kent ; they are, I think, in most instances rather a coarser hop.

1499. Are the same hops coarser in Sussex than in Kent? —Yes; it is brought on by the soil.

1500. Mr. B. Blakemore.] In Mid-Kent what are the sorts grown? —In Mid-Kent they have the Goldings, and they have a superior kind of grape hops
called the Canterbury hop.

1501. Are you a general hop merchant ?—I have been.

1502. Do you buy Worcestershire and Herefordshire hops? —No.

1503. You know nothing of their quality? —No. My traveller has bought them when he has been on his journeys, occasionally.

1504. How do you rank them? — Not below Sussex ; I have seen them of a higher quality.

1505. Are they generally coarser? —From what I have seen of them, they are of great variety ; I have seen Worcestershire hops equal to anything grown

in Kent ; but I have seen some no better than Sussex hops.

1506. Do you know much of them from your own experience? —Very little.

1507. Sir Edward Dering.] What do you consider would be the average yield per acre in ordinary years of the Weald of Kent for the last seven years? —I should think 8 cwt., taking blights and large crops together.

1508. What should you think was the average of the Mid-Kent Goldings? — Mr. R. Tooth. There are different sorts ; there is no distinct part Golding hops only ; they have a mixture. of Mid-Kent which grows Golding hops only; they have a mixture.

1509. What should you say was the fair average growth of the hops of Mid-Kent? —I should think 6 cwt. for the period of seven years.

1510. Do you know anything of the East Kent hops? —Yes.

1511. What sorts are grown principally in East Kent?—They have produced great quantities of the Jones's hops lately ; I should think there are onethird
Jones's, one-third Golding's hops, and the other third grapes.

1512. Have the Jones's been introduced into the best districts of East Kent? — It is an additional plantation. I may mention that there has been a greater
demand for the best sorts of hops than there has been a supply for the few last years; so that the best hops really have not been supplied in the quantity the brewers have stood in need of; and hence it has occurred that the East Kent planters, as well as some of the Mid-Kent planters, have introduced the
Jones's hop.

1513. Have the East Kent planters generally diminished or increased their gardens during the last seven years? —I should think rather increased.

1514. Mr. Bass.] That is to say, they have increased generally, but not the fine hops? —Yes.
1515. Have not they increased generally, but diminished the growth of fine hops? —They have not diminished the finer sort. I think they have increased
the produce of the other hops.

1516. Sir Edward Dering.] Do you think there are as many good sorts of East Kent hops grown as there were years ago? —There may be as many, but
the increase of consumption is very considerable ; therefore they require a greater supply."
Report from the Select Committee on Hop Duties, 1857, pages 75-76.

 I'm surprised that the dealer wasn't that impressed by Farnham hops. They seem to have been highly regarded by brewers, who valued them more even that the best Goldings.