80 



Appendix II. 

 Reports on Onion' growing. 



Mrs. Gunter, Kingston. — Seeds were planted in April. The weather 

 was very dry and they did not do well. 



Mr. T. N. Cripps, Kingston. — None came up. I tried at Kingston 

 and Kingston Gardens with care and good soil. 



Mr. C. E. Smith, Kingston. — The seed was put in about October 10 v 

 in boxes protected from ants, and out of strong sun-light. It came up 

 very strong, but owing to sickness of the gardener, was not transplanted 

 in time and was lost. I tried three times since and failed to get seed to 

 start. 



Revd. A. A. Hedmann, Clifton, St. Andrew. — Although the greatest 

 eare was taken in ploughing, manuring and drilling the land, and the 

 young plants were well protected from destructive grubs, the result has 

 not been at all satisfactory. The onions matured very quickly but the 

 return was scarcely worth the trouble of reaping, the largest onion 

 being not more than f of an inch in diameter. 



Mr. A. George, Mountain Spring, St. Andrew. — I am sorry to say 

 nothing came of my seeds, perhaps the rains at the time had a good 

 deal to do with this, or may be the quantity of manure was not suffi- 

 cient, but I am willing to try again when you have another supply of 

 fresh seeds. 



Mr. Munn, Bryan's Hill, St. Andrew. — The onion seed sent me did 

 not come up at all. I think they were washed away by the heavy 

 rains. 



Mr. J. Stephens, Radnor, St. Thomas. — The Indian onion seed from 

 Botanic Gardens, Saharanpur gave a very useful crop of small onions of 

 very good quality. The seed heads gave sets with me (instead of ripe 

 seeds.) These sets on being planted increased well ; on the whole the 

 onion is a useful family onion. 



Mr. W. A. Sabonadiere, Hagley Gap, St. Thomas. — The onion seed 

 germinated very well. It was sown in December but owing to absence 

 from home the onions were not transplanted till the end of February. 

 From March to May onions were gathered fit for use. Many were very 

 small, but every one made a bulb, the largest may have weighed 4 oz. 



Mr. C. Stewart, Bath, St. Thomas. — I planted the onion seed which 

 I received last year. They grew well. I transplanted them but the 

 heavy rains in October destroyed the whole bed. 



Revd. D. W. Bland, Hagley Gap, St. Thomas. — Considering that the 

 soil, in which the onion seed was planted, was not as well prepared as 

 it ought to have been, I think that I have been very successful with it, 

 obtaining bulbs averaging 8 ins. in circumference, with 2 ins. of depth. 



The onion is mild and delicate in flavour, and is a good keeper. 



Mr. Clare, Hagley Gap, St Thomas. — I am sorry to inform you that 

 the onion seeds did not prove a success ; as soon as they grew to about 

 6 in. high, grubs destroyed most of them. 



Mr. C. H. Levy, Serge Island, St. Thomas. — Two beds were prepared 

 twelve feet in length by four feet wide, on new ground ; with a moder- 

 ate amount of well rotted stable manure forked in, drills drawn two 

 and a half inches deep allowing nine inches between the rows. 



The seed was sown in the beginning of February and covered 



