108 MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 169. 



explained. The growing season of 1911-12, for example, was marked by 

 severe droughts wliich resulted in a short crop of onions, small in size, but 

 of excellent keeping quality. During this season most growers sold early 

 at around $1.50 per bag, wliich they considered a fair price. But the 

 buyer who sensed the situation stored and sold later at prices ranging from 

 $3.50 to $4.50 per bag. It so happened that the southern crop in 1912 

 was late and very short because of frosts, which was another lucky break 

 for the storage man. 



Following the short crop of 1911 and the correspondingly high prices 

 that winter, a greatly increased acreage resulted and 1912 onion produc- 

 tion was overdone. The result was a record crop and very low prices. 

 Then came the reaction, a smaller acreage for 1913, and a yield much re- 

 duced by drought and the thrips, but very good prices. The 1914 acreage 

 was again very large, the yield exceptional and the prices very low. In 

 1915 the acreage planted was about normal, but the quantity harvested 

 was very small on account of the exceptionally heavy rainfall and conse- 

 quent floods which destroyed thousands of acres in the commercial late 

 onion-growing belt. As might be expected the price was satisfactory to 

 both the grower and the dealer. 



Marked variations in the supply may, therefore, be attributed to two 

 reasons — the price the previous season and the general weather condi- 

 tions during growth and harvest. 



Variations in Demand. 

 For seasoning purposes the onion is used in practically every home, and 

 the demand for good onions continues throughout the year. In this re- 

 spect it has practically no competing vegetable and is purchased in the 

 small quantities demanded by the average home, no matter whether the 

 price is high or low. In this field the demand is stable or inelastic. In 

 our own markets, however, the demand seems to be increasing, due, first, 

 to the growth of our foreign population, many of whom are from southern 

 European countries and are large consumers of onions, and, second, 

 because the onion is used as a vegetable in an increasing numiber of homes 

 at all seasons of the year. 



Wholesale Prices of Onions on Boston and New York Markets. 



The weekly prices of Connecticut Valley onions per 100-pound bag for 

 the four seasons, 191 1-15, on the Boston market, according to the Boston 

 Produce Market Report, are plotted on Fig. 32, page 107. 



Two other charts are presented. The first (Fig. 33) shows the average 

 monthly prices for four seasons on the Boston market. A study of this 

 chart indicates among other things (1) that, in general, an exceptionally 

 good season is followed by a poor one, and (2) that for any one season the 

 September, October and November prices are fairly constant. The second 

 chart (Fig. 34) shows the difference between the wholesale quotations at 



