110 



BERMUDA ONIONS IN ANTIGUA. 



By Archibald Spooneh. 



The cultivation of the Whitt Bermuda Onion is gradually being ex- 

 tended here, and in a few years I think will form an important article 

 of export. The secret of success seems to be the choosing of rather 

 poorish clay loam soil containing a fair amount of lime, such as a run- 

 down cane piece, and avoiding any manure, especially artificial manure ; 

 on rich land or where manure is used, onions will hardly form bulbs, but 

 all the growth goes to leaves and stem. I have grown onions in Victoria, 

 Australia, where it was always held that heavy manuring was necessary, 

 but here in the tropics th« reverse seems the case. 



The following hints may be useful. Use only " Bermuda onion 

 seed" either "red" or " white." The seed comes from Teneriffe ; neither 

 Spanish, Italian or Madeira onion seed is any use in Antigua, the plants 

 never bulb satisfactorily, but grow either to thick necks or divide up 

 the roots like shallots. The best soil is a rather heavy calcareous loam 

 that crumbles on the top into a fine mould, by the action of sun and 

 rain, and is thus easy to weed. The land must not be too rich, a cane 

 piece from which old ratoons have been cut is quite rich enough with- 

 out any manure. Of course it must be properly drained. On land of 

 the above description, manure, especially artificial manure like sul- 

 phate of ammonia or guano, does harm, the onions nearly all running 

 to top and not to bulb. The seed should be sown in boxes in a good 

 sandy loam, quite shallow not more than a quarter of an inch of soil 

 covering the seed, and special care should be taken to compact the soil 

 round the seed, for which purpose the rows may be pounded with the 

 edge of a brick, the earth may then be watered and kept damp, but not 

 too wet or many of the young plants will die ; in seven days most of 

 the seed will be above ground. Never use any manure, esptcially dung 

 manure, in the seed boxes, the young plants are very liable indeed to be 

 killed by nematode worms and these are always worse in soil enriched 

 with dung. The young onions come up all ri^ht, but when about 1^-2 

 inches high, shrivel up just at the ground level and die. If you cannot 

 get soil free from these pests, put your earth into an oven and bake it 

 before sowing the seed : this is a good plan anyway, as the weed seeds 

 are killed too. Plant the young plants out when about as thick as a 

 slate pencil, about 6 inches apart in the rows, and the rows far enough 

 apart to work a hand hoe between. 



The best month for sowing seed here is October, planting out the 

 young plants in November. The onions will be fit to pull about March, 

 when the rains have stopped, and they can ripen up in the dry soil. 

 When the leaves are yellowish, the onions can be pulled up and left on 

 the ground for a few days to harden, then moved to a shaded but windy 

 place and thoroughly dried until the tops are quite brown and can be 

 pulled off without showing a green centre shoot, they will then keep for 

 2 or 3 months at least, in a cool and airy place, as long as they are not 

 piled up in a heap, or in barrels. Several caterpillars of moths attack 

 the plant here at all stages, especially a black caterpillar ; look out for 

 these about a week before new moon, and pick them off. 



