132 



THE AGRICULTUEAL NEWS. 



April 25, 1914. 



CO-OPERATION. 



PROGRESS REPORT ON THE ANTIGUA 

 ONION GROWERS' ASSOCIATION. 



During the past year or two, agricultural progress in 

 the West Indies has been characterized by the institution of 

 what may be termed commercial experiments, in contradis- 

 tinction to experiments immediately related to the cultivation 

 of crops. One example of this type was the St. Lucia lime 

 juice factory, another of somewhat older origin, the Arrowroot 

 Growers' Association of St. Vincent, whilst most rer^ent of all 

 has been the formation of a co-operative society in Antigua, 

 for the collection, grading and selling of onions. 



Several references have appeared in this journal during 

 the last few months to the progress made by the Association. 

 A report recently received makes it very evident that the 

 Association has now reached the stage when its activities are 

 definitely making themselves felt. It is proposed in the 

 following paragraphs to give extracts from the contents of 

 the interesting report just referred to, which will demon- 

 strate the truth of this remark. 



The possession of a drying house by the Association has 

 rendered possible the investigation of a number of important 

 points The ordinary course of work in the drying house 

 consists in the weighing of the onions, their grading, curing 

 and packing. It is worthy of note, that in regard to packing, 

 it has been found possible by careful manipulation, to increase 

 the actual amount of onions in each crate; thus the average 

 weight of a crate packed in the Association's house is from 

 58 to 60 B). — a figure in excess of the average of former years. 



Owing to the heavy demand for accommodation, the 

 drying house has recently been increased in size to enable 

 30,000 R), of onions to be handled. Up to the present time, 

 419 crates of onions have been cured, graded and packed 

 and exported by the Association, and it is hoped that before 

 the end of the season about 900 crates will have been 

 handled in this way. 



Account sales have as yet been received in respect 

 of 57 crates only. It is proposed that distribution of the 

 proceeds should be made on each lot of 100 crates shipped. 



It is satisfactory to be able to record that very favour- 

 able reports have been received on the produce exported so 

 far by the Association, particularly from Barbados; while 

 the first shipment to Canada produced a cable 'repeat order 

 for 200 crates', which would appear to augur well for the 

 success of the operations. Up to the pre.sent, shipments 

 have been made to Barbados, St. Lucia, Dominica, Martinique 

 and St. John, N.B. In each of these places the Association 

 has been in communication with firms of merchants who have 

 agreed to act as special agents, and to these agents produce is 

 consigned. Shipments are made every week, alternately 

 south and north. The destination is decided by a sub- 

 committee of the Board which is guided by the fortnightly 

 reports of which the Association are in regular receipt from 

 different sources as to the price of onions. 



In the West Indian markets, smaller sized onions are 

 preferred, while the reverse is the case in Canada. Accord- 

 ingly, the larger grades are sent to Canada and the smaller 

 grades disposed of locally. A matter of some importance is 

 the intimation received from Barbados that onions jilaited into 

 strings are likely to get higher prices in the intercolonial 

 markets. In consequence, experiments were made in 

 Antigua, and it has been found possible to turn out what may 



be regarded as satisfactorily plaited onions. The results of this 

 form of treatment on prices will be watched with interest. 



The results at the drying house appear to indicate that by 

 careful handling and proper curing, the keeping qualities of 

 onions can be greatly enhanced; but it is a matter for regret 

 that growers occasionally send in damaged onions mixed with 

 good ones. The attention of members is directed to the 

 necessity, in their own interests, for preventing the occurrence 

 of this undesirable admixture. A further important point in 

 relation to the conditions attaching to the delivery of onions, 

 is that they must be packed in standard crates, which, it is 

 added, should be complete and not omitted; if this condition is 

 not complied with, no alternative will be left but to refuse 

 delivery of onions coming in this v/ay. 



With regard to the projected service of fortnightly 

 adv'ces as to the prices in intercolonial markers, the Board 

 are happy to report that this service has been satisfactorily 

 brought into existence. Cable advices are received from 

 Barbados and Trinidad on the Monday following the 

 departure of the mail, and these are combined with 

 written information from the smaller islands to form 

 a fortnightly circular of prices, which goes into the hands 

 of members usually speaking early on Tuesday following 

 the departure of the mail. In being able to carry this into 

 effect the Board hava to express their thanks to Messrs. 

 C. S. Pitcher and T. Geddes Grant in Barbados and Trinidad, 

 respectively. It may be added, in passing, that the timely 

 receipt of a cable despatch from Mr. Geddes Grant advising 

 a heavy drop in the price of onions in Trinidad was the 

 means of diverting considerable shipments from that island, 

 and thereby preventing serious loss to more than one 

 member of the Association No charge has been made by 

 either of the firms mentioned above for their advice, and the 

 Board of Management would point out that the advantage 

 of such a service has never before been placed at the disposal 

 of onion growers in this Pressdency. 



The Board regrets to report that no response has as 

 yet been made to the proposals for inspecting onions before 

 shipment; circumstances, however, appear to show that it is 

 doubtful how far such a .system is feasible, and it would 

 rather seem to be a sounder line of policy to extend the 

 packing operations as at present in progress in subsequent 

 seasons. 



It would appear to be an established fact that the most 

 important point in connexion wich the intercolonial onion 

 trade is to keep in touch with the small markets and to ship 

 as opportunity occurs. In this connexion it seems clear that 

 falling prices may be anticipated towards the end of 

 February, and if the best results are to be realized, the 

 onions must be got on the market early; at the same time, 

 if the quality of the produce and its keeping power can be 

 improved and maintained, there appears to lie every reason 

 to hope that a sound reputation for Antigua onions can be 

 built up throughout the West Indies; whilst by dint of 

 judicious pushing and advertisement, there appears to be no 

 reason why a similar reputation should not be firmly estab- 

 lished in Canada The important point is uniformity, and 

 this has, up to the present, been the watchword in the work 

 of the Association. 



The report concludes with a reference to certain changes 

 which have been made in the organization of the society. 

 It is suggested that provision should be made for the election 

 of members of the Association by the Board of Management 

 and not by a genera! meeting. This step is rendered desirable 

 in view of the fact that the Association is a business under- 

 taking and not a society.- 



