MALT AND HEALTH
[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] venture to congratulate you on the letter you published in your issue of September 3rd from Sir William Arbuthnot Lane, on the subject of malt and its uses. It is to be hoped that this letter will help to bring home to the general public the importance of malt to British farming.
Lamentably for the malting trade, the terrific load of taxation on beer has resulted in drastic lowering of gravities, tI ith a consequent lessened demand for malt.
Before .the War the duty on a standard barrel of beer was 7s. 9d., while it is now 114s., an increase of 1,370 per cent. Official figures show that in 1913 the malt used in brewing was 19,638,000 cwt. while in 1930 it was only 10,368,000 cwt. In the malting industry the percentage increase of unemployment has been equal to the decrease in consumption and barley farmers have obviously been equally hit by this. lessened demand for their product. To-day a yield of approximately half a million less acres is required.
Recently, however, the valuable health-giving qualities of malt products as a food have been more appreciated, and its growing use in the preparation of foodstuffs and beverages will be of great help to these important British industries.— I
Hertford.
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