o 
complaint as to any failure of crops from his correspondents in America 
although the crops in Bermuda raised from the same seed are reported 
to be very defective 
The OPEN es for me onions themselves this year (1886) were Prices of 
ee 3s. to 4s. 6d. a quintal (i00 Ibs.) for the white, and 2s. 6d. to 4s, onions. 
uintal for ‘the ted: The white variety comes into the tape rather 
valier than the red and thus commands a rather higher pri 
The onions grown in the Canary Islands suffer from two distinct Diseases o 
diseases, in ah ate to which sometimes the plants wither after being pa te the of 
n 
“Hither ‘to none of these have caused any failure in the crop or given 
rise to much anxiety amongst the cultivators. The loss has never 
exceeded 20 per cent., and that is very exceptional. 
The disease which is called in the islands La Escarcha (hoar frost) I. La cana 
or La Ceniza (ashes), takes the form of a light powder which is found ° La Ceniz 
on the leaves of the affected plant. At its first appearance the powder 
is of a light ashy colour, but as the disease increases it becomes darker, 
and if the plant is severely attacked, quite black, giving a velvety 
appearance to the leaf. The powder occurs all over the leaf and on all 
the leaves of an attacked plant. Some cultivators say that it does not 
occur uniformly throughout the plantation, but only in patches here 
and there, others say that the whole crop is affected, but in some places 
much more intensely than in “chore 
The disease attacks plants on all kinds of land, and hence it is difficult to 
avoid, but it is not feared so much as the second disease—the Quesillo— 
because it does not rot or destroy the bulb, but only arrests its growth. 
The onions remain small, but can still be used. Since the habe of 
the plant is arrested no head is produced, and the plant give 
he disease attacks both red and in varieties of onions indifferently, 
but the former resist it slightly bette 
e most favourable atmospheric idadi for the development of 
this disease is when a heavy dew falls after along period of drought. 
The powder then makes ue Bes ah on the leaves. A heavy shower, 
or artificial watering, or, a high wind will sometimes 
cleanse them ; preni welbahetveved- piala are favourable to the 
progress of the disea 
It is highly probable that this sii is caused a a fungus; it is 
often spoken of in the islands as the Oni idium, in some parts it is 
usual to dust the leaves with flowers "of siti and vélenilly the same 
means are taken to arrest its progress as prove efficacious with the 
Oidium Tucheri of the vine. 
It is worth notice that plantations near the sea never suffer, except 
perhaps a few plants growing close under a wall. 
This disease is more feared than the foregoing, because it sa be II. El quesillo. 
arrests the growth of the plant, but it rots and destroys the bulb 
It usually makes appearance when the bulbs have already dsid 
large size; and it commences by a. blackening and subsequent Potting 
of the roots. 
The parts of the plant above akat show but very slight signs of 
eme affected; at most the leaves begin to lose colour, their tips 
especially becoming paler; so that asa rule it is not until the plants 
are gathered that the disease is first noticed. Then it is seen that the 
roots and usually the outer leaves of the bulb are black and rotten. 


