THE DUTCH BRINED VEGETABLE INDUSTRY.

Cultivation and Brining of Onions.

The area devoted to the cultivation of onions of all kinds in Acreage of the Netherlands is estimated at 7,500 acres on farms. In onions. addition there is a large production of pickling onions in market-gardens which does not come into the official estimates. About half the entire crop is grown in the province of Zeeland, and the remainder mainly in the provinces of North and South Holland.

The yield per acre varies considerably with the seasons, but Yield per the average may be taken at about 300 bushels in the case of acre. the common large onions, though in some years the produce has amounted to over 370 bushels per acre.

The holdings upon which these onions are grown are usually Size of small, seldom exceeding five acres in extent, and more fre- holdings. quently being about half that area. Small holdings are, however, a general feature of the agriculture of the Netherlands. Over 80 per cent. of the total number of holdings consists of farms of 50 acres and under, and about 45 per cent. is represented by holdings of less than 12 acres each.

The onion crop in Holland this year has been exceptionally Prices of large. Ordinary brown pickling onions which were quoted f.o.b. onions. Rotterdam at 3s. 4d. per bag in July were sold at 2s. 3d. in September, and white picklers at 2s. 4d., the bags being included in each case.

Silverskin Onions.

The small white onions known as "silverskins are grown Silverskins mainly in the provinces of Gelderland and North Brabant, though in recent years they have also been cultivated on a small scale in South Holland and Zeeland. The total acreage sown Grown in with this variety does not, however, exceed 125 acres. The small growers are mostly small market-gardeners or peasant farmers gardens. occupying about 2 acres of land; a few of them rent larger areas, but their holdings seldom exceed five acres. They are nearly all tenants paying rents ranging from £3 7s. to £5 per Rents. acre according to the quality of the land, and their cottages are rented at 2s. to 3s. 6d. per week.

The soil in which the onions are sown is clay, and as its Soil. surface elevation is maintained at a little over three feet above the water level of the dikes and canals, it never gets very dry.

In cultivating silverskins the land is usually marked off into Preparation plots about 30 yards wide, separated by a furrow. After having of land.

Manure.

Seed.

Labour.

Cost of labour.

Average yield of silverskins.

Price paid for raw onions by brining factories.

been thoroughly cleaned it is manured, then well dug over two or three times with a spade and finally raked. No horse labour is employed. The manure used is cow-dung, which is applied at the rate of 40 tons per acre, and costs about 4s. per ton delivered into the purchasers' boats.

The growers usually produce their own seed by selecting from the crop in autumn the best specimens of small, round, silvery white onions with thin stalks and few roots. These seed onions are carefully dried and preserved from frost through the winter (either by covering them with earth, hay or straw and storing in the open, or by placing them in lofts) and again planted out in the early spring in favourable situations. One grower, who is also the owner of a brining factory, obtains fresh. seed from the South of France, but this is not the custom.

It is the practice to sow the seed in April, about 56 lbs. per acre being used. in order that the onions may grow closely crowded together. This preserves the whiteness of the bulbs by saving them from too great exposure to the light.

On the holdings of 2 acres little outside labour is required, as the occupier is usually able to work the land with the aid of his wife and children: and large families are the rule rather than the exception amongst the small growers. It is the practice to put children to work on the land at 10 or 11 years of age when they are taken away from school. Sometimes, however, and especially in cases where the area cultivated amounts to five acres, occasional labourers are employed to help in digging and clearing the land, and again at harvest, sufficient work being found for two men for about three months in the year. But, wherever it is possible, women and children are employed as their labour is cheaper. Children are largely employed for pulling the onions.

Adult male labourers earn from 2s. 6d. to 3s. 4d. per day. Women are paid 2s., and children 1s. a day. No food or other perquisites are given by the employers.*

There is much divergence of opinion as to the average yield per acre of silverskins in Holland. According to one authority an average crop is 112 bushels, or 2 tons, to the acre, and an abundant yield about 190 bushels, or just over 4 tons. Another grower estimates the average production at 7 tons per acre where the seed is sown very thickly. In one case the yield this year is stated to have amounted to 12 tons to the acre, but this is quite exceptional as the crop has undoubtedly been a remarkably heavy one this season.

After the onions have been pulled and dried they are sold raw and unpeeled to the agents of the brining factories. The

In one case where Silverskins are grown on land belonging to the owner of a brining factory, the women received 2s. 3d. to 2s. 6d. a day for pulling, and 18. 8d. per cwt for tailing the onions.